Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Parts Brewing
I will be playing a concerto for piano and harpsichord (http://www.aredition … com/rr/rrc/c044.html) for and exam. The score calls for piano, harpsichord two violins and basses. I had a hard time recruiting some people that would accept to play in an exam (what?? no concert???) but I indeed succeeded in finding some nice guys who would join me in this adventure. The only problem is… I just have the score. The orchestra does not read from the score! argh! AR does make the parts, but it is friday and I need the for monday. ri-argh! I will have to do them myself!
The Workspace
Now, I regard myself quite knowledgeable about music notation programs, but making good parts is quite a challenge. Music notation is an artform on it’s own, and I regard poorly notated music like an insult. So I decided to extract manuscript parts. It is easy and fast, and the music (possibly) comes out beautiful. Yes, copying music by hand IS faster then typesetting it on the computer (please note the use of the word typesetting, I mean doing a GOOD job). And after all, I’m a musicologist. I know many scholars who never bothered to copy a piece of music for practical purposes, and yet pretend to interpret and know better than many musicians or copyists. bah.
Making parts is a really nice exercise, and helps you figure how many little thinks work (oh no! the score here says p but the parts does not! the composer changed his mind! let’s write a 2400-page book on the subject!) - and it is FUN! and it took more or less 3 hours of work for three complete sets (Violino 1 e 2, Bassi). I’m quite satisfied, and the instrumentalists where too (WOW!! MANUSCRIPT PARTS???? oooHHH!!!)!
Here are some photos:
The complete set
Fotocopies are nice too!
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Got printed!
I was searching something on the online catalogue of the DAMS library here in bologna, and, just as a joke, I entered my name. It found two entries! I was REALLY astonished reading them:
Cazzati, Maurizio [Trattenimenti per camera. op. 22]
Trattenimenti per camera : d’arie, correnti e balletti : à due violini e violone se piace : con passacaglio, ciaccona & un capriccio sopra 12 note : op. XXII : Bologna 1660 / Maurizio Cazzati ; edited by Rodolfo Zitellini. - [Partitura] - 2003 - D3.CAZZ.4
They downloaded my edition of the Trattenimenti da Camera and even printed it out! I was so flattered! …and had to get it to really believe it!