Steve Schwartz wrote:

>I'll say it as plainly as I can.  Neither one of us can refer to a
>composer's intent, since all we have is a score, and the two aren't
>necessarily identical at every point.

So, if I write an autobiography, and for personal reasons I decide not to
detail every single aspect of my existence, then you can know nothing about
me from reading my autobiography.

I suppose we'll just have to agree to disagree on this point.  I believe
the score can be a an excellent document of what the composer wanted, and
therefore we can say a great deal about the composer's intent.  You believe
differently.

>What this may have to do with repeats is this: the repeat may not only be
>musically unnecessary (though of course failing to follow it changes the
>formal structure of the score), it may even harm the musical structure of
>the piece.  In other words, I find it very hard to believe that several
>generations of musicians of greater skill and culture than most of us here
>were insensitive boors when it came to playing Mozart.

But then the implication is that Mozart was an insensitive boor and
mindlessly put those repeats in there, his music could only be saved by
"generations of musicians of greater skill and culture than most of us".
That rankles, but perhaps that's your intent.  No wait, I can't know
anything about that because all I have is what you wrote...

>I expect performers to give me not the composer's intention, but their
>best effort toward realizing the score, to put the score in the best light.

Now perhaps we're making progress.  See, I don't care about any of that.
I expect performers to communicate as much of what the composer musically
intended as possible.  This is what "realizing the score" means to me.
I expect the composer to speak to me through the performer via the score.
If the performer wants to compose, then they are free to create their own
scores.  Frankly, there are so many important things the performer brings
to the music that can never be captured in the score that when I see
interpretive emphasis on repeats it's a sign to me that the performer is in
trouble, perhaps failing to see deeper into the interpretation.  As I tell
the senior designers who work with me, don't keep re-inventing the wheel,
instead use what's there and apply your talents to creating something that
doesn't hasn't yet been done.

Dave
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