CJ Replay: Suggestions for the Publishing Industry

We congratulate and comment to purchasers, those publishers who DO include the following helpful features in their choral publications:

 

1. Stapling sheets together.

2. Avoiding loose (single) sheets when at all possible. (We have before us a number with a single sheet and no music on front or back covers!)

3. Indicating ranges of voice parts.

4. Indicating sources of texts and melodies (especially the latter, in the case of arrangements. )

5. Providing historical and performance notes.

6. Indicating other voicings available for a particular number.

7. Providing approximate performance time, especially for larger works.

8. Indicating measure numbers (usually in multiples of four, not five, please) to facilitate rehearsals.

 

(Lest we be over-subtle, we also are making a plea that other publishers could, without lessening their profits, or appearing to be imitators, follow suit.)

 

Since the price-per-copy is affected by the number of pages, may we suggest some ways in which excessive pages might be avoided, thereby holding down the price without affecting the essential musIc:

 

1. Notate extensive unison passages on one staff.

2. Utilize repeats, D. S., etc. (with "2nd stanza" for different text), instead of durchkomponiert style, when at all possible.

3. Omit a) advertising, b) listing of other numbers, and c) fancy title pages, all of which necessitate extra pages. (We do understand that the above may be justified in avoiding a loose, half-sheet, however.) We doubt if anyone objects to the music starting right on the front page.