NOTATIO

wouldn't "sordini/sordino" mean without using the SOFT pedal, rather than without the damper pedal? anyone debating this may have some linguistic and pianistic problems that aren't related to Beethoven's notation. I was taught that the movement was meant to be played pp, but without the a...

My own practice (and I have written harp parts in many pieces) in this situation is to have the same rests in both staves and only to have rests for when the harp is not playing in either. I don't know whether or not this is correct; but it works. I think the hairpin and dynamics are OK, but it's no...

out of curiosity, is there a comma missing after the first word "Rain"? it's unusual to see twice the same word without a comma between them. I am following (as far as possible) the poet's (general lack of) punctuation. The line “Rain rain rain” is a recurring one. The poem has been writt...

Thank you.

I don't usually use dotted minim (half) rests in 4/4, but do people agree that such a rest is clearest here? (I want the pedal to be released for the final silent beat.)

To me it does not look too dense. However, I don't work with US paper sizes, so I may be misjudging. FWIW, at a quick trial it is nearly the same width on my MacBook screen as a B4 page, and is easily legible on that screen. I've certainly seen more dense full scores. The 3 x divided violins are per...

Out of curiosity I've just checked an MS score of my own from about 25 years ago in which Clarinet 2 doubles Alto Sax. Even in my manuscript I seem to have kept the Sax in the Clar 2 position. As far as I know, this causes no confusion to anybody; but it's probably not best standardized practice. Fr...

Score order is nowadays very close to standard, but it certainly was not always so. In Wagner operas the order can vary from passage to passage, even page to page, according to how the instruments are being used, which must have been a nightmare for the original copyists (and would likely be an even...

I don't think there's anything inherently ‘wrong’ in an absolute sense with having the Piccolo below the Flute(s) in a score. Ricordi full scores of Verdi and of most of Puccini place the Piccolo below the Flutes, as do some other full scores on my shelves from reputable publishers. However, it is i...

My choice would be to notate both starting octaves in full; but I don't know whether or not that is officially correct.