Thanh-Tam Le <[log in to unmask]> writes:

>We know as a fact that some composers refuse to modify a single note
>from their scores (e.g.  Bartok with Menuhin about his solo violin sonata)
>while others tell performers whom they trust to go ahead and make slight
>changes if they find the result better that way (e.g.  Montsalvatge with
>Szeryng about his Poem).

How strict the composer wants to be on this account is for the composer,
and only the composer, to decide.

>Which category did Beethoven belong to?

As has been covered, as a rule, he did not like performers messing with
his works.

>To the point, I agree that the vast majority of repeats should not be
>suppressed -- I am often frustrated not to hear many of them.  But none
>of them, not ever?

Only those that the composer has specified are optional.

>What should we think of performers who, with the living composer's
>consent, made *cuts* in scores? More often than not, those cuts had
>not been planned by the composer himself.

When the composer says it's OK, then it's OK.

>So what gives us the right to state that a repeat is something
>which should never be suppressed for any reason? Just the fact that
>the composer died before anyone thought of suggesting the idea to him?

When the composer says so within his life time, then it is, of course,
acceptable.  Hypothesizing that any repeat is fair game because the
composer might have reconsidered it if someone had asked him to, were he
alive today, is speculation at best without substantiation.  One might,
on equally shaky ground, say, "He might have done the entire development
section differently, so I'll just redo it myself to what I think it should
be."

>I am not questioning the fact that one must be very careful and
>respectful about musical scores.  But I do wonder why the composer's
>text is so absolutely absolute and unquestionable about repeats while
>it is not about so many other aspects.

The variable aspects of the score such as those you mention ("trill
conclusions, dynamics" etc.) cannot possibly be done exactly the same each
time by even the same performer, even the composer himself, so it is a
given that there will be differences that do not necessarily violate the
spirit of the piece.  But there are only two options regarding repeats:
either play them or don't.  Playing them clearly follows the composer's
intent.  Not playing them clearly does not.

-Jocelyn Wang
Culver Chamber Music Series
Come see our web page: www.bigfoot.com/~CulverMusic