Wagner "Rheingold" as a digital score

Dorico
1

Hi there,

I’m wondering, if anybody here as ever put this score into a notation software (Dorico, Sibelius, Finale or whatever). I would be very interested.

(You can also send me a private message, if you prefer.)

Thanks, Stefan

2

I checked imslp.org, and they only have pdf files plus an mp3 of a performance of excerpts by a college orchestra. One of my former teachers, Richard Oldberg, copied out the entire Ring cycle by hand! But not in software alas…

3

Was that before software?

I must admit I never think about writing music down without software anymore for the very reason that even if it takes longer to do initially, once done there’s so much more you can do with the data.

4

Thanks for feedback. IMSLP doesnt help unfortunately. I’m looking for an editable file (Sibelius, Finale etc.).

And wow, copying out by hand, did he do that just for the fun of it? Or saving publishers fees…? (Seems to be quite a lot of work though for that :slight_smile:

Cheers!

5

If I had done it, I’d be looking for a large fee for all those hours I spent! :smiley:

Are you planning to edit the whole thing further?

6

Richard Oldberg played third horn in the Chicago Symphony, and one night on tour he got so angry with all the mistakes in the Ring cycle he just sat down at his hotel table with pen & staff paper and started on Rheingold, bar 1. I’ve lost touch with him but I believe he did eventually finish all four operas, entirely by hand. I saw a little bit of it once.

So in case someone wants to input it, there is a score with fewer mistakes available!

7

You can’t beat it as a way to learn what’s in a score. Actually writing the notes on paper seems to work a lot better than using keyboard, whether computer or MIDI. And there are no distractions from the playback while you are doing it!

8

My music master (Roland Creuse) learned everything in music by copying entirely “Tristan und Isolde”. Took him three months.

9

I think all musicians should copy out a major piece as part of their education. Wagner copied out the Ninth Symphony. I copied out Mahler X from the facsimile. Apart from improving your musical handwriting, it teaches you things you would not otherwise be aware of. Whenever I have had a tricky piece to learn, I have found copying it out by hand (perhaps reducing it from full score to short score) has been very helpful. That said, the whole Ring, or even the 2.5 hours of Rheingold, is a little daunting!

David