What performing musicians need

What I have learned

I received quite an education during my forty-year career with the St. Louis Symphony. What a gift I received every day from conductors, soloists, and my orchestra colleagues. Sound qualities, phrasing, balance, interpretation, articulations, note lengths and shapes—great examples were provided to me every day. I heard and performed many of the greatest orchestral works ever composed. The sounds of unfamiliar composers opened up my ears, and I encountered new ways to think about what music can communicate. And I also learned what performing musicians need.

Of course we need good instruments, in good repair. No musician can thrive without supportive colleagues who are prepared to achieve a common musical goal. And lest we forget, musicians are human beings who live in human bodies, so we need comfortable chairs, sturdy music stands, and proper lighting.

Ready for rehearsal

But what about the music we play? Did the folks who prepared it give us what performing musicians need? We also need music that is well-written for our instruments. Are the parts are laid out clearly and unambiguously? We need the staves and the note heads to be large enough but not too large. All musicians need well-planned page turns so we don’t have to run to the photocopy machine. The paper on which the music is printed should be heavy enough but not too heavy; it shouldn’t be so glossy that glare prevents us from easily reading the notes. The parts need to lie flat on the stand. If we read our music from iPads, we need the music to fit our screens. Also, we need reasonable cues, measure numbers, and rehearsal marks that connect us with the musical structure.

When I began to compose and arrange myself, I came to understand that a lot has to happen between the composer’s inspiration and the first rehearsal. Is the music playable? Is it notated so that rhythms can be easily interpreted at sight? Are the pitches notated in a clef that makes it easiest to read, without excessive ledger lines? Are the tempos reasonable and clearly indicated? Do the dynamics make sense? If the parts are handwritten, is the notation clear? If the parts are generated with the help of a computer, have the software’s default settings been adjusted in a way that makes the music easier to read?

Finding the right stuff

From my own searches for repertoire, I have often been frustrated by the lack of information about a piece of music. Often enough, a music catalog displays only the composer’s name, the title, the instrumentation, and the price. These days, brick-and-mortar music stores in which one can leisurely study the offerings are increasingly rare. How can a musician intelligently choose repertoire?

I was inspired to launch Ascenda Music Publishing to address this need. Ascenda seeks out music worth performing from composers and arrangers who have been too busy earning a living as performers to even think about finding a publisher. We offer scores and parts that are meticulously prepared, in formats that real musicians need. We clearly display our offerings on our website with sample score pages and recordings of the musical works, with relevant information that helps the musician to decide what piece is right for them. My goal is to present a catalog that musicians can rely on in a web store that provides musicians good tools to find what they need.

Musicians are endlessly resourceful in finding the best music for their performances. The music you choose should be ready to use the minute you put it on the stand. But it shouldn’t be so hard! Publishers have a huge role in giving performing musicians what they need. I think that’s the most important part of my job.