Typesetting music that exists only in manuscript

[wanamadw]

Hi,

I found a Brazilian composer on IMSLP, Alberto Nepomuceno, and some of his pieces have the manuscript as the only upload. This one for example (and only one out of the two songs of the set!). I had some free time so I quick typed it up from the manuscript (attached). As a pianist and singer, I felt confident doing that, and also modifying which staff some of the piano part lay on, and what clef it was in. I did what I would want to see as a pianist reading that music. I did not modify any pitches except to add one in m2 where it seemed like the same chord should be repeated and there was one note missing, and I put it in parentheses.

1. Would it be appropriate to add my engraving to the page for this work? It seems unfortunate that this piece of music is unavailable in a form that performers could actually use. I am not a professional engraver, but I know what I'm doing, and I know some Portuguese so I know how the lyrics are supposed to fit. It appears it was published formally until 2004, in an anthology of Nepomuceno's songs for voice and piano, and not at all before then. In any case this piece is in the public domain, so it is within my right to post a score of it.

2. Is there a need for typesetting of works which exist only in manuscript? Or of works with poor quality scans/old-fashioned engravings? If so, would my volunteer typesetting help be appreciated/wanted? Is there a wish list of manuscripts to be typeset? I would think that my engraving would be better than nothing at all.

3. Is there a house style for IMSLP? I read the Typesetting Guidelines page, but that is all pretty broad. I am wondering about fonts, staff size, margins, syllabic beaming y/n that sort of thing. Are there global preferences for that on the site, or is it just whatever looks good? (Hoping we can do without syllabic beaming in this day and age!) I have seen a lot of Lilypond editions, and I am fluent with Sibelius, but I have escaped learning Lilypond so far in my life.

Thanks,

Dan

[coulonnus]

I have done this several times. See e.g. https://imslp.org/wiki/Capriccio_in_C_m ... ni,_Luigi) I believe
such typesettings are appreciated.