I have noticed that occasionally, new scores of existing works appear here. An example is #28951, a score of Haydn's symphony Hob I:96, sometimes known as 'The Miracle' (although the report about a crashing chandelier should actually be associated with Hob I:102). The score in question, by the CCARH team, can be downloaded, and orchestral parts can be purchased. The problem is that the score is a faithful copy of one of what Hans Keller used to call "the naughty old editions": it contains many changes made anonymously, probably in the nineteenth century. The string parts are intact, but most of the woodwind parts are altered, and the trumpet parts in particular are transformed (for example, the trumpets and timpani play at the very start of the symphony, which is incorrect). There is even a place in the Trio to the Minuet, where a solo trumpet copies the solo oboe line at the octave.
I know this 'old' version well, as it was my introduction to Haydn (Bruno Walter's 1953 recording is almost identical). However, the Robbins Landon score, also available on this project, shows the actual notes that Haydn wrote, and to be honest, it sounds a lot better, as well as being correct. My question therefore is, shouldn't 'new' versions of a score try to be accurate, or is it acceptable if they perpetuate corrupt editions? If they are 'allowed', shouldn't they at least own up to their inaccuracy?
New versions of exisying works
Moderator: kcleung