Review

Author(s): Michael Colby

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

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/
info/about/policies/terms.jsp
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content
in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship.
For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Music Library Association is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Notes.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 148.206.159.132 on Sun, 17 May 2015 03:43:14 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

779

Book Reviews

If there covertlyenliststhe performer'sunconagainst over-interpretation.

is anydoubt,itis bestto stickto stand- sciousprejudices,
ratherthantheone that,
thecross-beam by virtueof an unconventional
limiting
ardpatternings,
appearof the bar (e.g. ance,callsattention
to simplesubdivisions
to itselfand mayenlist
= J* ratherthan f
theperformer's
critical
faculties
the
through
deviceofEntfremdung.
is itselfan old,familiar
Butthe"standardpatterning"
End of sermon.The veryfactthatCaldand an especiallyinsidious
interpretation,
one, sinceit wearsthesheep'sclothingof well'sbook provokedit should show its
accepted(and for Renaissancemusic,ir- value.To me it is seriouslymarredby a
prejudiceagainstinterpretation
convention.
It positivistic
relevantand anachronistic)
invitestheperformer
to applyall kindsof thatis suchan old storyin twentieth-cenhistoryby now, a viewassumptionshe makes about "music in turyintellectual
ventursomeness
and
withwhich pointthatdiscourages
repertoire
general"toa specific
withsmallgains.At
notveryfamiliar-assump- counselscontentment
he is probably
tionsespecially
difficult
to shedbecauseone timesit even veersoff into whatmight
as where
formalism,"
is generallyunawarethatone entertains be termed"editorial
theauthor
them.Let the reader-withoutreflecting (pp. 37-38), ratherincredibly,
dison thematterin advance!-"sing"thetwo holdsup WilliamWaite'sthoroughly
of organum
duplum
notations
in theextractabove-preferably creditedtranscriptions
so thatitcanbe played as "com[ing]near to editorialperfection"
intoa taperecorder,
handlingof cerback-and see whetherthetworenditions becauseof itsexemplary
But
in factcame out the same. Has he not tain detailsof formalpresentation.
"squeezed"thetie in the firstinstance,in withal,the book is an excellentand, obhighlystimulating
introduction
to
feltbeat?What viously,
accordance
withan implicitly
A student
rhythm? theissues.It is nota self-tutor.
hasthatgottodo withRenaissance
If an editor,aftermuchstudyand re- usingit wouldneed to be exposedto the
feelshe knowshowthemusiche otherside of manystoriesby an experiflection,
is editingoughtto be accentedand artic- encedteacher(and wouldhaveto be cauthattheauthor'sgrasp
ifhe takeshis respon- tionedin particular
ulated,he is bound,
is unsophisticated).
to offerhis interpreta- of editorialaccidentals
sibilities
seriously,
directeddiscussion
tiontohisreader.Thiswillappeartomany As a basisforproperly
a radicaland willfulidea. But my basic EditingEarlyMusichas no currentpeer. All
point,one thatI wishmoreeditorswould thesame,I wouldhateto see evenitsown
turnit intoa stylemanual.
offered
by publisher
ponder,is thatbothalternatives
I prefertoreCaldwellareinterpretations.
RICHARD TARUSKIN
theversionthat
gardas "over-interpreted"
ColumbiaUniversity

Sheet Music Cataloging and Processing: A Manual. By Sarah J. Shaw and

Lauralee Shiere. (MLA Technical Reports,15.) Canton: Music LibraryAssociation,1985. [51 p.; $11.74 (members, $9.40)]
ThisrecentMLATechnicalReportcomprisesa manualdevelopedfortheTitle-TIC-fundedSheetMusicCatalogingProject
at BrownUniversity.
The projectutilized
AACR2,LC subjectheadingsand classification,MARCscoresformat,
and theRLIN
scoresdatabase.Whereascataloguing
was
enteredintoRLIN, authority
and bibliographicsearching
wasconducted
on OCLC

as well, makingthis manual equally useful

to OCLC users. The informationcan be
used by those engaged in manual cataloguing as well.
SheetMusic Catalogingand Processingis
predominantlyconcerned with cataloguing; the discussionon processingoccupies
but two pages. Cataloguing procedures,on
the other hand, receive a thorough treatment. The section on authoritysearching
offers detailed guidelines for searching
personal and corporate names in RLIN,
OCLC (both bibliographicand Name Authority Files), and secondary reference
sources. Work-flowis also covered, with a
descriptionof how duties were divided between librariansand other staff.

This content downloaded from 148.206.159.132 on Sun, 17 May 2015 03:43:14 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

MLA Notes, June 1986

780
The bulk of the manualaddressesthe
recordforsheet
ofthebibliographic
content
a field
theMARCformat,
music.Following
data
of thecataloguing
byfielddiscussion
is presented.The sectionon notesis especiallythorough.Appendixesincludea
sampleCutterlist,examplesof searchand
cardsused,and a selectedbibliauthority
sources.
reference
ographyof secondary
I foundbuta fewminorpointsto questhatmusicfor
tion.The manualinstructs
should
(suchas soloclarinet)
oneinstrument
be codedas "u"intheSCO fixedfield,while
the RLIN II Field Guide statesthatsuch
the code
materialbe coded "z." Similarly,
"vu" for "voices unknown"is recomvoices
unspecified
mendedwhenrecording
in the048 field,when"vn"for"voicesunspecified"seems more accurate. I also
fortitlesand corwonderedwhysearching
onlyon OCLC,
poratenameswasconducted
which
contains
features
as theRLIN system
can makesuchsearchesquickerand more
theseare slightcritiefficient.
Obviously,
cisms.

for
As themanualwaswritten
specifically
theneedsof
theBrownproject,it reflects
thatcollection.
Cataloguingforindividual
piecesof sheetmusicwas done in a mannersimilarto thatforrarebooks.This involveda detailedcollationarea,theincluaddress,
copiousnotes
sionofthepublisher's
as whatadversuchinformation
(including
tisements
appearon theitem),and a great
manytracingsand specialfileentriesfor
subjectsof cover
illustrators,
performers,
and the like. Manylibraries
illustrations,
maynotwantto go to theselengthsin cataloguingsheetmusic,and mayeasilyrevise
or deletematerialto suitlocal needs and
So all in all, thismanualshould
practices.
be a valuableresourceforanytypeof liofsheet
in thecataloguing
braryinterested
music.

MICHAEL COLBY

San FranciscoPublicLibra?y

A Chinese Zither Tutor: The Mei-an

ch'in-p'u. Translated with commentary by Frederic Lieberman. Seattle:
Universityof Washington Press, and
Hong Kong: Hong Kong University
Press, 1983. [xi, 172 p.; $30.00]
Thisworkis an Englishtranslation
ofthe
Chinesech'in-p'u,
or zithertutor,of Wang

Pin-lu(1867-1921) as edited by his student

Hsu Li-Sun. Named for the Mei-an campus at whichthe masterhad taught,it was
published posthumouslyin 1931. As such,
it continues to serve as the most popular
and widelyused contemporarytutor-book
for an ancient,but flourishing,art.
FredericLieberman is a highlyregarded
ethnomusicologistand organologistwhose
bibliographical efforts and documentary
recordingshave greatlyincreased Western
access to Chinese musical materials and
Withthistranslationhe has made
traditions.
a significantsource available to the nonChinese reader for the firsttime.
In order to clarifythe expositionfor the
Western student, Lieberman occasionally
found it necessaryto rearrange sectionsof
text; he also decided to omit from his
translation certain brief passages which
seemed redundant or superfluous. Since
such alterationsare clearlyindicatedin the
edition,the treatisehas improvedin translationwithoutobscuringthe relationshipof
such passages to the originaldocument.As
a furtheraid to our understandingof the
monograph, Lieberman personally demonstrates correct and incorrect playing
techniques in photographs accompanying
the text. Noting the presence, as well, of
unidentifiedsymbolsin the original,he has
developed interpretationsand suggested
realizationsthroughcareful research.
Throughout the textLieberman has also
supplied brief clarificationsand identifications,adding these words or phrases in
brackets.In those places requiring emendation, deletion,or relocationof material,
the translator'ssolutionsare responsibleby
contemporaryprofessionalstandards,and
are furtherconsistentwiththe intentionof
the Chinese originalto presentpracticalinformationto studentswithelegant clarity.
Althoughthe volume has been provided
withdetailed editorialnotes, bibliography,
and a handy glossary-index,Lieberman's
mostsignificantcontributionis in the form
of commentarieswhich explain passages
throughoutthe text. These extended anhelp
type-face,
notations,setin a contrasting
the reader develop an understandingof this
performingart withinthe wider contextof
Chinese culturalhistory.By means of such
commentaries,Lieberman provides historical and analyticalperspectives,addresses
and resolves original and translationambiguities,assesses the significanceof par-

This content downloaded from 148.206.159.132 on Sun, 17 May 2015 03:43:14 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions