an Artistic Score Engraving July 2023 update
Dear all,
Welcome to the first update for Summer 2023. It is very hot and uncomfortably damp here in NW Italy, and being forced to keep windows shut because of asbestos removal is not helping. Luckily, we can take refuge in the school where we teach, enjoying some cello practicing alongside the rest.
We will soon leave for Belgrade to spend the rest of the summer there, and I just cannot wait for the change!
NEWS!
I am finally able to share two great news that I have been teasing you about in the past months.
Collaboration with M° Antonio Meneses
A new edition, Piatti’s Capriccio sopra un tema della Niobe di Pacini, Op. 22, for cello solo, has just been published. This contains something unique besides the critical score and notes you all are used to in my editions by now: it comes bundled with an extra cello part curated by Maestro Antonio Meneses! He recorded this on his CD Capriccioso, and I proposed him to make his playing immortal with an edition. With great artists, who are just too busy to believe, you can never expect much, but this time luck shone on me as he enthusiastically agreed on this, actually suggesting more projects for the future! I can only be grateful for this since, for a cellist, working beside such an incredible artist is the chance of a lifetime, and simply being allowed such an honour is worthy more than anything else!
You can find his video here, the digital score here, and the printed copy here.
Collaboration with Sol Gabetta
As I write these words, Sol Gabetta should have just finished the first world performance in modern times of J. S. Bach’s First Suite in G major (BWV 1007) for cello solo, with piano accompaniment composed by Alfredo Piatti, at the 2023 Solsberg Festival. I suggest you follow her social channels and the Solsberg Festival YouTube channel to see when the recording becomes available.
The digital score can be found here, while the printed copy is available here. Once more, I can only express my gratitude for the privilege to be allowed to offer my work to such a galactic star.
How are things going?
After completing the opera, I am trying to take things easy, forcing myself away from the computer every time I can. Some new engraving jobs are coming in, this time with challenging contemporary notation!
The Dotzauer Project is proceeding nicely, with two of the next three editions already nearing completion. I have also managed to get in touch with a possible descendant of Dotzauer himself.
The Piatti Opera Omnia is also getting a big boost, at least in motivation. I have just finished reading a biography given to me by a private, independent researcher, and found so much in common with how musicians’ lives then and now. I hope I will be allowed to write more about this in the future.
General direction
As you may have noticed, I am trying to shift the focus of my editions so that each one is—if possible—connected with a great artist who may at least perform them.
Sales have been very disappointing these last six months, so much that my 2023 budget for printing is already all spent. If nothing changes, I won’t be able to print more until 2024. Talking with colleagues in the sheet music printing & distribution business (even big companies), they all confirmed that sales plummeted to the ground this year. What we all feel is a general attitude by people only wanting what they can get for free.
In my case, this is now filling the role of business card, and it is allowing me to keep my skills sharpened.
What will I do?
For the next six months, I will revise existing editions, publish new ones, but all digitally. If they sell enough to cover their printing costs, I will print them. An exception could be Piatti’s Quartettino for cellos, which recently rose to be a bestseller beside Goltermann. The focus of my efforts, though, will be marketing. I need to get people around to know I exist. I will start from music magazines and music shops, then teachers, schools & specific artists.
Likewise, I asked for a re-indexing on Google, but it is not bringing much, even if you search exactly the title of my editions. Other actors are clearly paying to cover things up, and there’s nothing I can do: this is how it works.
Scordatura (updated)
Last month I talked critically about scordatura and my teacher told me how he found it very hard to practice Kodaly’s Cello Sonata where you see something and the sound coming out is another one. I wonder if this may be due to having perfect pitch or not. It is just a guess, since he has it, and I don’t. What’s your opinion on this? Do you prefer to see what you have to play or what the resulting sound should be?
What’s up for the summer?
I am exhausted, and I am in dire need of a vacation. Changing air by going to Belgrade will certainly help, and I just want to sleep more (thank you workers for starting to drill at 7 am!).
I hope to improve my level of Serbian during this summer and to enjoy a generally more relaxed attitude. For example, I look forward to being allowed to throw the garbage any day of the week, something that my country doesn’t allow me to do. You know, simple things.
Bottom Line
Thank you for reading through this update.
You can join my mailing list here, browse my digital editions in the catalogue, and check what’s available for print on the HNE Store.
My YouTube channel contains video renditions of most of my editions, check it out, it would mean a lot to me.
If you want to actively support what I do, be sure to check out my Gumroad Support Program: it starts at a couple of coffees a month, and it gives back much more than it takes!
I wish you a peaceful summer wherever you are.
Until next time, thank you!
Michele
Music Preparation Services 