O.K.  all of you philosophers out there; let the ex-Middle School Music
teacher from California silence you all:  The score will always be an
approximation of the performance, and not vice versa.

My proof? It exists in computer programs that translate keyboard playing
into musical notation.  By necessity, the program offers the option of
*rounding off* the just-performed piece to the nearest 16th note.

Since the composer writes from a performance in his (or her--California
upbringing), head the same inevitable rounding-off takes place.  The
conceptual moment of a piece occurs in the head with or without the aid
of an instrument *before* the score.

Until others have real-time access to our musical thoughts, the score will
always be an approximation.

John "Kant touch this" Smyth