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Thoughts/Comments on Music Editions
Editions of classical guitar music from previous periods (Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic and early Modern) might be categorized as facsimile, authentic, authoritative, interpretive, or transcriptions. This is especially true for editions of music from earlier periods of western music. As you explore new music or new editions of familiar music you need to keep in mind that much of what you see printed is, to some degree, an expression of an editor - hopefully the editor's contribution will assist you in exploring the music. I will speculate/hope that more recent edtions are closer to Urtext than any other type of edition.
Music editors (and publishers) approach the preparation of a musical score based on their backgrounds, intents and publishing needs. Every edition tends to display these somewhat personal aspects of an editor's approach to preparing an edition. How an editor changes/alters/enhances an edition is part of what distinguishes their work from other editions (or publishing houses.)
- Urtext (authentic) - an edition that attempts to only include what the composer would have presented; usually based on original manuscripts (an actual copy of the composer's autograph copy of a work.)
- Facsimile - an edition which is a replica (typically, a photographic copy) of a previous edition. These editions may contain additional historical or other discussions by a modern editor.
- Interpretive - an edition presenting a single, typically modern approach to the music.
- Authoritative - an edition that may be a combination with Urtext, Facsimle and interpretive components. Such editions are typically prepared by or with the assistance of a musicologist or other expert with domain knowledge of the composer or music from the musical period contained in the edition.
- Transcriptions - any score that was originally written for another instrument - quite a bit of what is played on the guitar was originally written for other instruments; in some cases instrument related to the guitar (i.e. Bach Lute Suites), in others direct transcriptions (i.e, Asturias by Issac Albéniz - a work originally written for and still performed on the piano.)
Why is this significant? Simple - 1) you should review any notes provided by music editors and perhaps let such notes guide your purchase decision and 2) editors make mistakes and so do publishers - so there are no absolutes about notes on a page... In very broad terms you should:
- consider fingerings to be one solution to any given fingering problem; modern guitars are quite a bit larger than the guitars from previous musical periods so older fingerings may simply not make sense on a modern guitar.
- based on their needs, editors will change notes, harmonies, rhythms, dynamic markings, etc. Usually, editors will provide notes indicating what they changed and why they made the change.
- in some cases editors will have to complete and un-finished work; again they should provides notes and perhaps explain their approach for the edition.
- the work of some editors is friendlier for new guitarists - the editions provide editorial fingerings and other notes that will assist you in performing and interpreting the music.
- in some cases the instructions provided by a composer may not be clear - so you will find a number of opinions on how to perform the music (i.e. harmonics in the music of Villa-Lobos.)
The many editions (of the same works!) of music by these Composers of Classical Guitar Music are good examples of the choices that editors make: Matteo Carcassi, Ferdinando Carulli, Mauro Giuliani, Fernando Sor, Heitor Villa-lobos. As you explore different editions you may find some that are better suited to your needs or to the needs of your students (i.e. see my comments on the Carcassi page about the 25 Studies.)
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