ABSTRACT
“It is true that all Beethoven’s works need a certain amount of editing. For look here,” he said — explaining with the aid of the score of the Pastoral that he had before him — “Beethoven counted on artists, not artisans, for the conducting as well as the playing. He didn’t write everything in such minute detail as Richard Wagner was later to do, nor was he so experienced in orchestral technique as never to make a mistake in notating the sound he wanted, particularly later on when he lost control over this because of his deafness. So in order that the music should be played as it was meant to sound, one has to add all sorts of dynamic indications to the parts, so that the principal voice stands out and the accompaniment retires into the background. One must take care, too, that the bowing and expression produce the effect that the composer wanted.”
