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Review Author(s): Michael Colby Review by: Michael Colby Source: Notes, Vol. 42, No. 4 (Jun., 1986), pp. 779-780Published by: Music Library AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/897789Accessed: 17-05-2015 03:43 UTC

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Book Reviews 779

against over-interpretation. If there is any doubt, it is best to stick to stand- ard patternings, limiting the cross-beam to simple subdivisions of the bar (e.g. = J* rather than f

But the "standard patterning" is itself an interpretation, and an especially insidious one, since it wears the sheep's clothing of accepted (and for Renaissance music, ir- relevant and anachronistic) convention. It invites the performer to apply all kinds of assumptions he makes about "music in general" to a specific repertoire with which he is probably not very familiar-assump- tions especially difficult to shed because one is generally unaware that one entertains them. Let the reader-without reflecting on the matter in advance!-"sing" the two notations in the extract above-preferably into a tape recorder, so that it can be played back-and see whether the two renditions in fact came out the same. Has he not "squeezed" the tie in the first instance, in accordance with an implicitly felt beat? What has that got to do with Renaissance rhythm?

If an editor, after much study and re- flection, feels he knows how the music he is editing ought to be accented and artic- ulated, he is bound, if he takes his respon- sibilities seriously, to offer his interpreta- tion to his reader. This will appear to many a radical and willful idea. But my basic point, one that I wish more editors would ponder, is that both alternatives offered by Caldwell are interpretations. I prefer to re- gard as "over-interpreted" the version that

covertly enlists the performer's uncon- scious prejudices, rather than the one that, by virtue of an unconventional appear- ance, calls attention to itself and may enlist the performer's critical faculties through the old, familiar device of Entfremdung.

End of sermon. The very fact that Cald- well's book provoked it should show its value. To me it is seriously marred by a positivistic prejudice against interpretation that is such an old story in twentieth-cen- tury intellectual history by now, a view- point that discourages ventursomeness and counsels contentment with small gains. At times it even veers off into what might be termed "editorial formalism," as where (pp. 37-38), rather incredibly, the author holds up William Waite's thoroughly dis- credited transcriptions of organum duplum as "com[ing] near to editorial perfection" because of its exemplary handling of cer- tain details of formal presentation. But withal, the book is an excellent and, ob- viously, highly stimulating introduction to the issues. It is not a self-tutor. A student using it would need to be exposed to the other side of many stories by an experi- enced teacher (and would have to be cau- tioned in particular that the author's grasp of editorial accidentals is unsophisticated). As a basis for properly directed discussion Editing Early Music has no current peer. All the same, I would hate to see even its own publisher turn it into a style manual.

RICHARD TARUSKIN Columbia University

Sheet Music Cataloging and Process- ing: A Manual. By Sarah J. Shaw and Lauralee Shiere. (MLA Technical Re- ports, 15.) Canton: Music Library As- sociation, 1985. [51 p.; $11.74 (mem- bers, $9.40)]

This recent MLA Technical Report com- prises a manual developed for the Title-TI- C-funded Sheet Music Cataloging Project at Brown University. The project utilized AACR2, LC subject headings and classifi- cation, MARC scores format, and the RLIN scores database. Whereas cataloguing was entered into RLIN, authority and biblio- graphic searching was conducted on OCLC

as well, making this manual equally useful to OCLC users. The information can be used by those engaged in manual catalogu- ing as well.

Sheet Music Cataloging and Processing is predominantly concerned with catalogu- ing; the discussion on processing occupies but two pages. Cataloguing procedures, on the other hand, receive a thorough treat- ment. The section on authority searching offers detailed guidelines for searching personal and corporate names in RLIN, OCLC (both bibliographic and Name Au- thority Files), and secondary reference sources. Work-flow is also covered, with a description of how duties were divided be- tween librarians and other staff.

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780 MLA Notes, June 1986

The bulk of the manual addresses the content of the bibliographic record for sheet music. Following the MARC format, a field by field discussion of the cataloguing data is presented. The section on notes is es- pecially thorough. Appendixes include a sample Cutter list, examples of search and authority cards used, and a selected bibli- ography of secondary reference sources.

I found but a few minor points to ques- tion. The manual instructs that music for one instrument (such as solo clarinet) should be coded as "u" in the SCO fixed field, while the RLIN II Field Guide states that such material be coded "z." Similarly, the code "vu" for "voices unknown" is recom- mended when recording unspecified voices in the 048 field, when "vn" for "voices un- specified" seems more accurate. I also wondered why searching for titles and cor- porate names was conducted only on OCLC, as the RLIN system contains features which can make such searches quicker and more efficient. Obviously, these are slight criti- cisms.

As the manual was written specifically for the Brown project, it reflects the needs of that collection. Cataloguing for individual pieces of sheet music was done in a man- ner similar to that for rare books. This in- volved a detailed collation area, the inclu- sion of the publisher's address, copious notes (including such information as what adver- tisements appear on the item), and a great many tracings and special file entries for illustrators, performers, subjects of cover illustrations, and the like. Many libraries may not want to go to these lengths in cat- aloguing sheet music, and may easily revise or delete material to suit local needs and practices. So all in all, this manual should be a valuable resource for any type of li- brary interested in the cataloguing of sheet music.

MICHAEL COLBY San Francisco Public Libra?y

A Chinese Zither Tutor: The Mei-an ch'in-p'u. Translated with commen- tary by Frederic Lieberman. Seattle: University of Washington Press, and Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 1983. [xi, 172 p.; $30.00]

This work is an English translation of the Chinese ch'in-p'u, or zither tutor, of Wang

Pin-lu (1867-1921) as edited by his student Hsu Li-Sun. Named for the Mei-an cam- pus at which the master had taught, it was published posthumously in 1931. As such, it continues to serve as the most popular and widely used contemporary tutor-book for an ancient, but flourishing, art.

Frederic Lieberman is a highly regarded ethnomusicologist and organologist whose bibliographical efforts and documentary recordings have greatly increased Western access to Chinese musical materials and traditions. With this translation he has made a significant source available to the non- Chinese reader for the first time.

In order to clarify the exposition for the Western student, Lieberman occasionally found it necessary to rearrange sections of text; he also decided to omit from his translation certain brief passages which seemed redundant or superfluous. Since such alterations are clearly indicated in the edition, the treatise has improved in trans- lation without obscuring the relationship of such passages to the original document. As a further aid to our understanding of the monograph, Lieberman personally dem- onstrates correct and incorrect playing techniques in photographs accompanying the text. Noting the presence, as well, of unidentified symbols in the original, he has developed interpretations and suggested realizations through careful research.

Throughout the text Lieberman has also supplied brief clarifications and identifi- cations, adding these words or phrases in brackets. In those places requiring emen- dation, deletion, or relocation of material, the translator's solutions are responsible by contemporary professional standards, and are further consistent with the intention of the Chinese original to present practical in- formation to students with elegant clarity.

Although the volume has been provided with detailed editorial notes, bibliography, and a handy glossary-index, Lieberman's most significant contribution is in the form of commentaries which explain passages throughout the text. These extended an- notations, set in a contrasting type-face, help the reader develop an understanding of this performing art within the wider context of Chinese cultural history. By means of such commentaries, Lieberman provides histor- ical and analytical perspectives, addresses and resolves original and translation am- biguities, assesses the significance of par-

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Article Contentsp. 779p. 780

Issue Table of ContentsNotes, Vol. 42, No. 4 (Jun., 1986) pp. 721-956Volume Information [pp. 925-953]Front Matter [pp. 721-726]Bloch Manuscripts at the Library of Congress [pp. 727-753]Index to Music Necrology [pp. 754-762]New Music Periodicals [pp. 763-766]Notes for NOTES [pp. 767-770]Book ReviewsReview: untitled [pp. 771-773]Review: untitled [pp. 773-775]Review: untitled [pp. 775-779]Review: untitled [pp. 779-780]Review: untitled [pp. 780-781]Review: untitled [pp. 781]Review: untitled [pp. 782]Review: untitled [pp. 782-783]Review: untitled [pp. 783-785]Review: untitled [pp. 785-786]And Briefly Noted...Review: untitled [pp. 786]Review: untitled [pp. 786-787]Review: untitled [pp. 787]Review: untitled [pp. 787]Review: untitled [pp. 787-788]

Books Recently Published [pp. 789-802]Music Publishers' Catalogues [pp. 803-809]Index to Record Reviews: With Symbols Indicating Opinions of Reviewers [pp. 810-845]Music ReviewsReview: untitled [pp. 846-847]Review: untitled [pp. 847-849]Review: untitled [pp. 849-851]Review: untitled [pp. 851-852]Keyboard MusicReview: untitled [pp. 852-853]Review: untitled [pp. 853-854]Review: untitled [pp. 854-855]Review: untitled [pp. 855-856]Review: untitled [pp. 856-857]Review: untitled [pp. 858]Review: untitled [pp. 858-859]

Instrumental Solo and Ensemble MusicReview: untitled [pp. 859-860]Review: untitled [pp. 860-861]Review: untitled [pp. 861-862]Review: untitled [pp. 862-863]

Vocal and Choral MusicReview: untitled [pp. 863-865]Review: untitled [pp. 865]Review: untitled [pp. 865-866]Review: untitled [pp. 866-868]Review: untitled [pp. 868-869]

Dramatic MusicReview: untitled [pp. 869-870]

Music Received [pp. 871-885]Communications [pp. 886-887]Back Matter [pp. 888-956]