This is a brief summary of John Rink's 2021 article, "Digital Editions and the Creative Work of the Performer," where he argues for a fuller dialectic around the modern creation of EDMS, ones which prioritize and bolster the performer's freedom and agentic liberties.
The goal of sheet music is to present the music of X composer with the greatest ease during the heat of performance. The difficulty comes with its digitalization, more so when performance practice and publication discrepancies are considered. By deciphering and individuating what performers actually use and ask for in their choice of manuscript, more educated methodologies can be applied in deciding what the future of sheet music will look like. Capitalizing on recent technological advancements has already and can continue to serve the musical community greatly if we are aware of what is and is not possible, especially concerning “Digital Editions of Music,” otherwise known as EDMs.
In Dr. John Rink’s recent article, he champions, through an exhaustive interrogation of available resources, this very notion. How do EDMs best emulate the “dynamic flux” between the most-preferred, physical “fixed version” abreast the digital demands of musical scores. Tasked with the goal of flushing out the “digital edition concept” and creating an ideal EDM which would allow for the greatest amount of agency [prioritizing the tenants of “practicality and performability”], Rink first delineates the four types of digital scores, asking then four questions, concluding with his findings on the ideal EDM.
As noted by Rink, the four types of digital scores are 1) “plain” [faithful facsimiles], 2) digitally-enhanced [page-turning, part-learning, low-light accessibility], 3) “dynamic editions” [cross-version analysis], and 4) the everything else [ “hybrid edition” and multimedia initiatives]. In each category, he denotes several examples and makes the distinction that the first two options hold more practical feasibility, while the latter two serve to benefit researchers, and the inquisitive performer.
The distinction between these is paramount to negotiating the liminality between the shifting dichotomy of usable “critical editions” vs. educational “critical editions.” Such partitions need to be identified when considering the “multidimensional space” model, where experience of the application differs between users and the features they choose to use versus not use. The concern with ignoring calls for digital usability comes with the realization that digital resources [opposed of digital editions], while enlightening, if made without performance in mind can lead them farther from performance readiness.
Rink asks four questions in response, 1) What do performers want and expect from DEMS?, 2) What is enough/too much for DEMs which espouse performance teleology?, 3) What is the role of the DEM editor? Should their be an Editor?, and 4) How do DEMs exhaust the features of digital media, how could they tackle the dependency on digital sheet music?.
For question one, citing Bertoglio’s research on lesser-researched “instructive editions,” Rink lists features performers are asking for, while noticing their desire for editorial authority. In question two, Rink notes the need for more heedfulness in assessing and ultimate choosing published editions stating, “More is needed than the music itself.” The third question explored the need for an editor in the age of edition abundance, the consensus being drawn that editorial influence must be laced within the EDM itself in order to be a useful component. Finally, Rink follows Gabler’s argument that digital editions copy print modalities only because there is no other alternative. Thus, the “text” in music scores will always be a given, no matter what adaptations are used.
Rink finished by devising tenants for an ideal EDM. While laying out an 8-tier roadmap for interested developers, the overarching tenants were toggle availabilities for greater performance feasibility, source-comparison features in-sync with musical communities, and editorial judiciousness.
By prioritizing “the sharing of knowledge, authority, and agency” in the ideal EDM, the performer can be given their freedom.
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