O.K. all of you philosophers out there; let the ex-Middle School Music teacher from California silence you all: The score will always be an approximation of the performance, and not vice versa. My proof? It exists in computer programs that translate keyboard playing into musical notation. By necessity, the program offers the option of *rounding off* the just-performed piece to the nearest 16th note. Since the composer writes from a performance in his (or her--California upbringing), head the same inevitable rounding-off takes place. The conceptual moment of a piece occurs in the head with or without the aid of an instrument *before* the score. Until others have real-time access to our musical thoughts, the score will always be an approximation. John "Kant touch this" Smyth