Len Fehskens wrote:

>Jocelyn and I have not been arguing that what a composer writes is
>sacred or perfect in any sense.  What we have been trying to say is
>that if you don't play what the composer wrote, fine, admit as much;
>just don't claim that what you've done is better than what the composer
>wrote because you know better than the composer.

Sorry, but I feel that Len has "sugar-coated" Jocelyn's views on repeats.
My take on this is that she has inserted a relatively sacred component in
the matter of repeats.  Also, in addition to stating that the performer is
obligated to "admit" the deviation from the written score, she has stated
that the performer has the absolute obligation to "justify" the deviation.
And she has stated that a performance which does not observe all repeats is
an unacceptable performance.

I appreciate that Steve Schwartz has headed the opposition to Jocelyn's
views.  Although I don't agree with every single view expressed by Steve,
we agree that the issue of observing repeats is a "variable" one and that
the artist has every right to deviate from the written score and listeners
will make up their own mind concerning the results.

I might have mentioned this earlier, but the Peter Serkin recording on RCA
of the Goldberg Variations leaves out most if not all of the repeats.  But,
this was not acknowledged on the front or back cover of the cd.  Do I feel
cheated and deceived? No way.  Serkin played the work the way he wanted to,
and I very much wanted to buy and listen to *his* interpretation.  I would
have preferred that he observe all repeats, but I consider it a great
performance anyways because there's much more to a performance than the
matter of repeats.  Koroliov's Goldberg Variations observes most if not
all of the repeats.  Does that make it better than Serkin's? Only if their
performances are equal in all other respects, and they definitely are not.

What about "wrong" notes?  Whether intentional or not, a wrong note
indicates that the performer has not been entirely faithful to the written
score.  Is this performance unacceptable as well?  Taking Jocelyn's basic
premise and extending it outward, we could get to a point where there are
very few performances that are acceptable.

Don Satz
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