Dear listers, Sorry if I repeat some arguments here, I confess not having
read all the messages in the thread.

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).

Is one category less worthy of respect than the other?

Which category did Beethoven belong to? We know that Mozart was extremely
fastidious when he wrote his scores, but not all composers were so precise.

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?

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.  And yet he accepted them when somebody else
suggested them.  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?

Which part of musical performance strictly follows durations as marked on
the scores, trill conclusions, dynamics regarded as a number of db, and so
on?

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.

Best wishes,

Thanh-Tam Le
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