An Artistic Score Engraving update from November 2026
Dear all,
Welcome back to a new instalment of the ASE newsletter. Finally, I can say that my spine-shoulder system is showing serious signs of improvement, thanks to the daily dose of exercises and, quite unexpectedly, to a new pair or slippers for the home. It may sound incredible but, as a professional who often purchases technology that is overkill for the task at hand—only to then see that choice pay off down the road—I went for a pair of ‘professional slippers for healthcare workers’. Let’s think about that for a moment: those people need to stand nonstop for at least eight hours a day; their feet need to be properly aerated to avoid both sweat and smell; their back need to survive the day’s ordeals. The way they achieve that is with a rubber-like exterior that can be washed both in professional sterilising machines (autoclave) and in standard washing machines up to 90 °C; a memory-foam, almost cork-like patented replaceable insole, and a raised heel to improve posture and walking. I don’t think I have ever worn such comfortable slippers and felt my spine being pushed up straight even when sitting! So, overall, I am overjoyed just to see my daily dose of back pain be on a downward trend.
School is back in full swing and, this year, we got a new request: everyone wants to have their class between 6 and 7 PM. Before 6 they are too busy, or their parents are still working so they cannot bring them over; after 7 they need to go home to cook dinner. So, ultimately, I am using the school as my triweekly dose of walking, seeing some real people to detach myself from the screen, and do some music. Not ideal but far from bad because in any case the realisation that, with music, one could live from it only if hired by a public institution, came many years ago.
Damaged shipments
As promised last month, I wanted to share a couple of events that concerned damaged shipments containing my scores. First, I suggest anyone who has the possibility to do so to try to run their own, small business. Do not invest sums you do not have, do not take loans, just use what you are willing to lose and, absolutely, start small. The idea here is not to make money, but to learn an astonishing number of things that you would not learn otherwise. A few examples of some of the things I have learned over these few years of running a super-tiny self-publishing business:
- building packages that can withstand weather and people (!) — more on this below;
- dealing with couriers, their terms & conditions, their sometimes shady practices;
- writing emails with a legal tone and jargon when you need to obtain a refund;
- organising your stock, protecting it from dust, paper-eating insects, and managing optimised spreadsheets.
There is more, but this gives you an idea of a handful of skills that I have learned—and that I am still refining every day—and that I would have never learned otherwise. Now, back to the main topic.
Event #1
Anyone who runs a business where goods need to be shipped around will know that damaged shipments are just part of the game. Regardless of how carefully you package your stuff, there will always be some Ace Ventura on the prowl out there. Actually, when calculating cover prices, you need to account for up to 30% of either damaged or returned (and potentially non-reusable) goods. Back in June, I shipped the standard monthly package to one of my customers. I carefully padded and packaged it as I always do, added the ‘Fragile’ stamp on it, and shipped it. The courier accepted it without reservation (and this is legally important) and delivered it punctually. A few days later my customer contacted me saying that all items had been damaged in transit, provided pictures of the damage, and requested an additional shipment. Knowing how well I had packaged the items, I raised a complaint with the courier through the service I was using to manage my shipments. It took them about 40 days to get a survey from the courier, after which it was resolved that the cause of damage had been poor packaging. They also shared their terms and conditions and their suggestions on how to properly package things, the highlight being that there should be about 5.5 cm (~2 inches) of padding around delicate items. Allow me to explain what this means: my scores are about 25×32 cm in size. The boxes I use have about 2 cm in each direction to account for all the padding and armour I add inside. According to their recommendations, I should have had 37×44 cm or larger boxes, which is just insane. Luckily for me, I had taken pictures of the products before shipment, of the padding process, and of the finalised package. Furthermore, according to the Italian Civil Code, if the courier accepts the parcel without reservations, anything that happens afterwards is their responsibility. Nevertheless, they did not accept being responsible for this. Knowing this well in advance, I had bought a shipment protection insurance from my provider, only to have them say that, in this case, they would not cover me. Using certified emails, carefully picked legal jargon, and threatening the intervention of my legal advisor, I managed to have them refund half of the sale value of the items. Now I want to ask you: if they were 100% sure of being right, would they have accepted to refund me? I think we both know the answer.
Something that I have learned from this experience is to add even more armour to my packages, making them hideous to look, but virtually indestructible. Or, to say this better, should they destroy that added portion it would be clear whose the fault was!
Event #2
In the attempt to have some of my scores visible on the territory, I involved a nearby shop from where I had been buying scores for the last 15 years. After about 6 months, this shop decided to bail out and to return unsold stock. A massive parcel got back to me, already heavily battered from the outside. Inside, despite the abundance of padding, the scores were in a miserable state because they had not been protected from movement and nothing had been placed between each other. Since laminating a cover has prohibitive costs for small print runs—and even that would not be a 100% guarantee of safety—as soon as you ship books piled on top of each other, any horizontal movement runs the risk of peeling off part of the ink or, worse, staining adjacent covers. Of the 38 books that got back, 15 were damaged in this way. Transport law states that consignment stock is considered property of the original owner until sold, meaning that any damage done to it must be repaid in full. Knowing the person, and due to our longstanding relationship, I reported the issue (which I had documented in video and pictures1, and asked them to cover only for the printing cost of the damaged items. What happened is so typically Italian: they replied with language specifically intended to wound me and the quality of my work—e.g., no one even considered touching your scores in the shop. In the end, they paid requested amount immediately, but they didn’t download the pictures and videos I sent to demonstrate the damage.
The sad and bitter lesson learned here is that, in business, one needs to forgo all emotions. By offering them to pay less I was doubly damaged: I got less money and also closed a personal relationship. At the moment I decided to ask for damage compensation I should have just asked for the full amount. If I wanted to keep the relationship with this person, I would have had to swallow the damage. There is no in-between. A further lesson learned: do not make business with friends, or, if you do, treat them as everyone else. Make them sign an agreement where everything is crystal clear. If I know my compatriots, though, I do not believe this last thing would have significantly helped.
NEW EDITIONS
Two new editions are joining the family this month, while two more have just been printed. The first new edition is the Air Suisse varié for piano and cello (ASE Editions 0107), written four-handedly by Antonia Helene Pesadori (1798–1834) and Justus Johann Friedrich Dotzauer (1783–1860). Mme Pesadori was a virtuoso pianist, a piano teacher, and a composer who studied music theory with Dotzauer in Dresden. I encourage you to read the detailed Editorial Notes that will be published on this blog in the second half of November, as her story is as fascinating as tragic is her early death. The piece is composed by a long introduction, a bucolic Swiss theme, and six variations. The piano has a prominent role throughout, but the cello part is both challenging and masterfully written. Here’s an excerpt of the theme:
You can find the digital edition here while the printed book will become available by the end of the year as I am trying to optimise on (the outrageous) shipping costs. This piece was premiered on 13 June 2026 in Dresden by Friedrich Thiele and Andreas Hecker.
The second new edition is by once again by Dotzauer, and it is the third ‘Italian Flower’ from the collection Les Fleurs d’Italie, Op. 164, for piano and cello (1842). These ‘flowers’ are subtitled as ‘elegant fantasies on themes by Donizetti’. In this case, No. 3 is based on the aria ‘Esulti pur la barbara’ sung by Nemorino during the opera L’elisir d’amore. Here’s an excerpt from when the theme gets first exposed in full:
The Editorial Notes will be available here next month. Meanwhile, if you cannot wait, you can grab a digital copy of the edition here.
This piece was also premiered on 13 June 2026 in Dresden by Sebastian Fritsch and Andreas Hecker.
In late October, finally, two new editions were printed, the Six Pieces for Three Cellos, Op. 104, and the Caprice on themes from von Weber’s Oberon, Op. 96, by J. J. F. Dotzauer. Here are a few preview pictures taken from the books:
You can find these editions at the following links:
- Dotzauer, J. J. F., Caprice on favourite themes from the opera ‘Oberon’ by C. M. von Weber, Op. 96, for cello and piano:
- Dotzauer, J. J. F., Six Pieces, Op. 104, for three cellos:
Bottom Line
Thank you for reading this up to the end. I hope you enjoyed this episode. Please, share with me what you think. I read everything and do my best to reply as swiftly as I can. Tune in next time for new, exciting journeys in the world of music notation and independent music publishing.
You can join my mailing list to get weekly gifts and promotions; browse my editions and contact me directly for printed titles. My YouTube channel, finally, contains video renditions of most editions.
See you next month for the next ASE update. Please let me know what you are doing and where your musical adventures are bringing you.
Yours,
Michele
- I always film the unboxing of every single parcel I receive. ↩
