The Sibelius octave slurs shown in your example are lazy for my liking. They either start way too far from the notehead (as in the opening bars of the Vln 2 and Vla) or end way too far from the notehead (as in the opening bars or the Vln 1).
Defaults are just that. It’s obvious from this thread alone that no software developer is going to please all of its customers with factory defaults (though the factory defaults for slurs have been refined in recent Dorico versions).
You’re right. I guess I was fixated on the slurs in the first measure of all 3 staves, which are all very good, and pretty much as I’d like to see them.
The Sibelius slurs don’t do much for me.
What is the source of these B&H guidelines?
It’s the Boosey & Hawkes Style Guide by David Bray. My copy has a 2012 copyright date but perhaps it’s been updated since then. I think it was intended to only be for in-house distribution. I was doing some work for them back then and my supervisor gave me a copy. There are copies floating around though.
Thanks! the paragraphs you quoted were really helpful in dealing with those large-interval slurs that Dorico inexplicably draws with the bottom end curling under. I wish that Dorico would change this behavior; I can’t imagine a scenario in which that shape of slur would be acceptable. And if anyone has access to a copy of those guidelines that they would be willing to share, (i.e. copy) I’d be happy to pay for it.