Expert: David Froom - 4/15/2005

Question
Hello. My question is pretty minute, regarding just one
spicific note in Holst's "The Planet".  
However, it's bugging me very much so that I'd really
appreciate it if you have anything to say about this. ( hope
you have the score of this or can get it easily)
It's the 4th movement, Jupiter and four measure after XV
(3/4). The notation in
the score for the second violin is a quarter note of B double
flat ( =A), but
our conductor thinks it's a mistake and corrected to G flat
to go with cello and double bass and all the strings move (
pizzicato) in fives. But I hear the B double flat in the famous
recordings such as by VPO and Karajan and it doesn't
sound wrong.  Our conductor
says that they didn't catch the mistake and is so convinced.
But I am not convinced. Is that possible that the orchestra
like that doesn't catch a 'mistake" where each player
does extensive study on scores, let alone Karajan,
Bernstein?  And our
regional orchestra conductor is right?  ( though he's a
very talented man)
How can I find out which notation is right?  

Answer
There is only one way really to make sure.  That would be to look at Holst's original manuscript.  That might not answer the question (it could be illegible, or Holst could have made a mistake himself), but it might.

Mistakes do show up even in famous pieces.  I remember in graduate school coming across probable mistakes or hearing about certain mistakes in things like Shostokovich 5th Symphony, Bartok Concerto for Orchestra, Stravinsky's Firebird.  And sometimes these mistakes, if they were of tiny things that didn't make much difference, would show up in lots of recordings by famous conductors.

It is possible your conductor is correct.  I don't have a score with me, but I'm guessing that wouldn't make any difference, because from what you say, your conductor's correction is logical -- and, on the other hand, the notation in front of you is plausible.

Here is the bottom line:  It is the conductor's perogative to make this correction.  It is really not your place to raise an objection beyond what you've already done.  He might be right.  He might be wrong.  But unless you can prove he is wrong by checking with the original mauscript, given orchestra politics, you should go along.

I wonder where one would find the manuscript to the Planets.  Probably in England somewhere, either at the publisher's archives or in some library? If you were to spend some time in a good library with a decent research librarian, you probably could find this out.  And if it is in a library, you might be able to visit it if it isn't too far away -- or you may be able to send a question about this spot to the people who run that library?  But that's probably more work than you want to do.

David Froom