The Value of Urtext Editions
The very term "urtext" has fallen into disfavor among some critics and scholars, perhaps because it is perceived as overselling what an edition can accomplish. Plainly, the fidelity with which a printed edition can represent the composer's intentions must vary, and is never total. Moreover, the composer's intentions themselves are not completely well defined.
Yet performers of classical music use the term "urtext" frequently, because they usually value urtext editions highly. It is plain that knowing the composer's intent is only the starting point in the preparation of an effective musical performance; a great deal of independent thought and practice is necessary as well. But most musicians today would judge that the process should begin with the most faithful version of the composer's intent that scholarship can muster.
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Famous quotes containing the word editions:
“The next Augustan age will dawn on the other side of the Atlantic. There will, perhaps, be a Thucydides at Boston, a Xenophon at New York, and, in time, a Virgil at Mexico, and a Newton at Peru. At last, some curious traveller from Lima will visit England and give a description of the ruins of St. Paul’s, like the editions of Balbec and Palmyra.”
—Horace Walpole (1717–1797)