I made a bunch of MusicXML exports for a client who works in Sibelius and when opening up the files in Sibelius, the client got a dialogue box that said that this MusicXML file uses an old version of MusicXML.
Why is that? Seems unlikely that Sibelius is somehow hipper than Dorico in this respect – or is Dorico using an older version of MusicXML for wider compliance?
Thanks!
(for avoidance of doubt, I’m using Dorico Pro 3.5.12.1066)
Dorico exports MusicXML version 3.1, which was the current version until Version 4 was released in “June 2021”, so I’d be surprised if Sibelius was already up-to-speed on it.
In any case, a standards-compliant XML reader should be able to read older versions, as they are known and documented.
What happens when he presses “Continue”…?
Normal stuff… it opens… and looks pretty normal. 
Sibelius’s MusicXML may be misinterpreting the situation. I’ve definitely seen scenarios whereby someone tries to open a new MusicXML file in an old version of Sibelius (e.g. Sibelius 7.5, which predates MusicXML v3.1 by a number of years), and Sibelius complains that it’s an “old version of MusicXML”. It isn’t; it’s just unfamiliar to that version of Sibelius.
Check what version of Sibelius your client is using.
(Oh, and I’ve just tried exporting from Dorico 3.5.12 to Sibelius 2021.latest, in both compressed and uncompressed MusicXML versions - no such error message here.)
They’re using Sibelius 2019.9 build 1837… so even the Sibelius version is nearly 2 years old, right?
2019.9 dates from September 2019, yes.
I’ve just tried exporting from Sibelius 2021.2 and Sibelius is still exporting MusicXML v3.0.
In answer to your initial question, Dorico’s more up to date than Sibelius with MusicXML (though, to be fair to Sibelius, there are things that Dorico can’t import that Sibelius can, and things that Dorico can’t export that Sibelius can). Tell your colleague to ignore the warning…
Thanks, Leo!
