Owen Orchestration

The Critical-Performing Edition - a case for the hybrid

You have probably heard of Critical Editions - academic tomes that look deep into the music but which sometimes fail to see the big picture: music is meant to be performed!

You may also have heard of Performing Editions - lightweight products that appeal to the mass market by freely adapting the music until it is at its blandest and most palatable.

But if you combine the two approaches, you negate the downsides of both and you are left with purely a good product.

My Critical-Performing Editions give:

• Surety that the mannerisms of the composer have been clarified and kept whole;
• Confidence that the mistakes from the composer, copyist, or initial publishers have been rectified;
• An exhaustive section - ‘Critical Remarks’ - that tells you every change from the source material;
• Pristine and intelligible layout, ready for performance.

I have lead lives on every side of music:

As a composer and orchestrator writing at the highest level, I understand why someone writes what they write on the page. I understand a composer's intent. I also understand their flaws - because I have them too! 

As a professional cellist working across many different genres, from opera houses to wedding quartets, from Baroque music to contemporary classical - and even avant garde improvisation! - I have seen every possible error and cause of frustration cross my stands. Impossible pageturns, impossible passages, poor notation of basic elements and techniques. I understand what players need. 

As a conductor, working with a variety of groups from the largest symphony orchestras down to intimate chamber ensembles, I understand what a conductor needs to see in order to efficiently guide a group of musicians through complex music for the first time and/or across a period of several months.

And so as an editor and engraver, I understand how to present music that facilitates the best rehearsals and the best performances, whilst staying true to the voice of the composer.