Mark Landson <[log in to unmask]> writes:

>Which is more musical? To be faithfully redacting a score written by
>Beethoven, or to use the score as a point of discovery as to the music
>which lived ephemerally in the mind of Beethoven? The experience of an
>orchestra being true to the score is like visiting a museum full of
>dinosaur bones - the only surviving artifacts of an era which can barely
>be comprehended.

Being true to the score and using it as a point of discovery are not
mutually exclusive.  In fact, with true musicianship, one cannot do one
without the other.  A Beethoven score is hardly a fossil, and, if the era
can be barely comprehended, why bother? Besides, Beethoven's works have
survived because they have transcended the era in which they were created,
as is the case with all great works created so long ago-- otherwise, they'd
be mere musical footnotes.

Jocelyn Wang
Culver Chamber Music Series
www.bigfoot.com/~CulverMusic