Critical Edition Critical Reports

[sbeckmesser]

If a Critical Edition qualifies as PD for the purposes of posting -- for example, the recent upload of the Dvorak Wind Serenade Op.44 -- should not also the critical notes typically printed at the end of such editions also be PD? Can they not also be included in the posted scores?

Why this is important. The critical notes contain the a listing of differences between the critical edition and other sources (1st and subsequent earlier printed editions, the composer's autograph, printing proofs, etc). Some of these other sources may also be at IMSLP. Critical notes are essential for an informed evaluation of the changes in the critical edition and a careful perfomer will at least want to look them over and decide whether some of the more significant changes may be ignored or followed. The critical notes may contain significant variants in dynamics, tempo markings, articulations and even the notes themselves, some of which the performer might decide are preferable to the version chosen by the edition's editor for inclusion in the score proper.

Also, if a performer downloads a critical edition and compares it to some other non-critical edition, there may be confusion as to which version may more accurately reflect the composer's intentions unless the critical report of the former is also at hand. Even the mere inclusion of the critical report, whether it is read over or not, will signal that its editor has carefully considered the alterations in the critical score (at least one hopes so). For example, there are, on occasion, significant (i.e. likely audible in performance) differences between HC Robbins Landon's edition of Haydn Symphonies (many of which appear at IMSLP) and other critical editions of them, including the new ones from Eulenburg, Barenreiter and Henle, not to mention older non-critical editions (from Breitkopf and older Eulenburg scores). Without the critical reports available, how is a performer to decide what makes the most musical and historical sense? Even such a well known, comparatively recent and presumably well-established text such as that of Dvorak's New World symphony has lready seen at least 2 different Czech critical editions (the 1955 Dvorak Edition plus a 1977 revision of that editon), as well as a recent one from Barenreiter. Comparing these three without their critical reports would drive one crazy, especially if you compare any of them with the 1st Simrock printing available at IMSLP.

--Sixtus

[Carolus]

This is problematic from a copyright point of view. The essential argument for an urtext edition being only entitled to a very limited term of protection - in those places (like the EU) where they even have formal protection extended - is that the score itself lacks originality in terms of what the editor actually contributed. In contrast, the editor's critical report, along with prefaces and afterwords, is probably the only actual original editorial contribution in many such scores. The specific example you mention is additionally complicated by the fact that Bartos and the other Czech editors were simply state employees who produced the edition - including all prefaces, critical reports, etc. - as part of their employment. For the time being, we don't allow critical reports unless the author is dead more than 50 years (plus the usual insanity generated by the situation in the USA).

I'm glad you brought the issue up and naturally welcome more input on the subject. Do any of our EU contributors here have additional insights as to how far and specific the urtext provisions of the German and Italian laws go in this regard? I note, for example, that the Mozarteum has all the critical reports available for download along with the scores of the NMA. They have official permission form Baerenreiter, of course.