Critical editions of music have not received the level of attention that research in Digital Humanities has given to textual criticism, which already has an established scholarly production of written contributions and digital publications. Digital representations in literary criticism are used for analytical purposes as well as for accommodating critical editions in the digital medium, which offers a high degree of interactivity and opens toward experimentation with new formats of publication. Nonetheless, there has been little debate about music editing in the new medium and only a few digital publications have been developed.
Several aspects of digital textual criticism can find an application on music documents because similar issues exist in the representation of primary sources and editorial intervention. In fact, since the early stages of music scholarship, musicologists looked at the editorial practices of classical philologists while working towards a definition of their own scientific finalities (Grier, 1996). The study of documentary sources transmitting a written work (manuscript or printed) is the main correlation between music and textual criticism. For instance, the discrepancy identified by Tanselle (1989) between text and the artefacts that transmit it, is a condition that applies to music notation as well as literature; however, literature is ‘a one-stage and music a two-stage art’ (Goodman, 1976:114; also discussed by Feder, 1987). A musical work, in fact, does not exist only as written notation but also requires performance to reach its final receiver. For this reason, understanding the complexity of the music work-concept and its associated cultural practices is central to the digital representation of music critical editions. Even though the recent research in digital textual scholarship provides a rich paradigm for the emergent field of digital editing of music, there is the need for more research on digital representation and publication of detailed notation data.
The work conducted for a postgraduate dissertation (MA) at King’s College London attempted to discuss some of these issues. This poster presents the results of the dissertation’s case study: a digital edition of Claude Debussy’s Syrinx (La Flûte de Pan) for flute solo. The XML-based model represents notation, variant readings and editorial intervention; additionally, several different views are extracted and rendered for presentation with vector images.
Syrinx (La Flûte de Pan)by Claude Debussy
Syrinx (La Flûte de Pan) by Claude Debussy (1862 – 1918)
is a short piece for flute solo originally composed as theatrical interlude for
the play Psyché (1913) by Gabriel Mourey under the title
La Flûte de Pan. Despite Debussy showing little
interest in the publication of the piece, the first performer, Louis Fleury,
contributed to the reception of the piece as independent from Mourey’s play. The
piece maintains a relevant role in the solo flute repertoire. Two principal
sources have been used for the digital edition: the first edition published
posthumously by Jobert in 1927 under the new title Syrinx
and a recently discovered manuscript in a private collection in Brussels dated
1913 (MSB), which constituted the base text.
For the creation of a digital model for the new edition, the use of a combination
of TEI and MusicXML was initially considered;
The Music Encoding Initiative (MEI) provided an alternative choice.selection from the observable
and the recoverable portions of this infinite set of facts’. This selection represents what the edition ‘knows […] about the work edited, its genesis and/or
transmission, etc.’. This body of information is ‘declarative’.
The poster will show how the MEI model represents some editorial aspects common
with textual editing (i.e. bibliographical metadata, correction and
regularisation) and editorial issues related to the nature of the music notation
(i.e. apparatus, rhythmic constraints, performative instructions). In particular
it will show: The header: similarly to TEI, MEI provides a
“header” (<meihead>) that allows documenting information about the
digital file and its sources. Notably, the elements in the description
of the manuscript source MSB attempt to emulate the much more detailed
encoding model offered by the TEI manuscript description module. The
header also documents the encoding criteria for notation.
<measure>
<staff>
<layer>
//- Notes
<note>, <beam>, <tuplet>, etc.
...
</layer>
//- Phrase marks
<slur>
...
//- Dynamics, tempo markings and
directions positioned above the staff
<dir>, <dynam>, <breath>, etc.
...
//- Dynamics, tempo markings and
directions positioned below the
staff
<dir>, <dynam>, <breath>,
etc.
...
</staff>
</measure>
Example 1: Encoding criteria for notation
Variant readings: The MEI file represents this
edition’s base text (MSB) and adds additional information every time a
difference in the other sources occurs. If the sources agree, it is
expressed silently. This criterion is identified by the TEI guidelines
as ‘internal parallel segmentation’.
<measure id="m28" n="28">
...
<app>
<rdg source="MSB">
<slur staff="1" tstamp="2" dur="4"
place="above"/>
</rdg>
<rdg source="FEJ" type="ed">
<slur staff="1" tstamp="2"
dur="2.875" place="above"/>
<slur staff="1" tstamp="3"
dur="3.75" place="above"/>
</rdg>
</app>
...
</measure>
Example 2: Alternative phrase marks in bar 28 from source MSB
and FEJ.
Editorial conjecture and intervention: change
of hand, additions, corrections and supplied notation have been encoded
with elements equivalent to the ones employed by the TEI. Problematic cases: bar 22 in MSB presents an
incongruent rhythm and a missing barline to separate it from bar 23. The
encoding used an empty-element version of <beam> to encode the
differences in beaming resulting from the different rhythms and a
<gap> element for the missing barlines.
For this edition, a number of different perspectives from the MEI document are
produces using XSLT 2.0 to serialize into a text format for Mup, a program that
converts its own notation format into Post Script vector graphics (PS). To
extract musical information from the encoded edition, a heavily customised
version of a MEI to Mup XSLT provided on the MEI website under the Educational
Community Licence. The poster will show the following views: The edited piece. The XSLT script extracts all
the variant readings chosen for the edition, includes the editorial
interventions marked with <supplied> and creates a new MEI
document tree containing only the notation for the edition. This tree is
then serialised into Mup language and rendered in PS.Synoptic apparatus. Instead of printing a
traditional apparatus, this edition proposes a synoptic apparatus of the
two main sources (MSB and FEJ). This is automatically built to display
measures that contain variant readings. Moreover, it has been programmed
to display the notation of the two sources in a semi-diplomatic manner
and excluding editorial intervention. decrescendo in MSB
Breath marks. MSB has fewer breath marks than
the first edition FEJ and it is possible that Debussy did not provide
all the breath marks necessary for performance. Trevor Wye (1994), in
his edition of Syrinx, introduces a number of recommended breath marks
to support the performance. Since Wye employs MSB as a base text, his
breath marks are suitable for this edition’s notation as well. The
encoding for this case study edition includes Wye’s additions with the
element <add resp="Wye">. The XSLT programmed to
transform the edited music notation can, if requested, include these
marks in the Mup output.
The views created for this prototype are static; however it would be highly desirable to combine them in an interactive environment. For example, the apparatus could be enhanced allowing moving measures on the screen to be compared. Performers might be interested in knowing different tempi and breath marks from other editions, like Wye’s breath marks, and include them in the edition to be printed out with a printing device at home. Paper editions with a similar approach are not uncommon, but often include comparative tables of tempi and resolution of ornaments that cannot be directly included in the edited text (see Palmer, 1991).
Even though the Web is currently the preferred digital publishing environment,
there still is not a straightforward method to output notation as HTML and
possibly there will never be. The only possibility to publish music on the Web
is through graphic information; however, systems for delivering complex
interactivity based on image formats are becoming increasingly common.
OpenLayers, for example, shows how images can be made highly interactive through
the superimposition of layers.
N.B. All websites mentioned in footnotes have been accessed 6 March 2010.