Why Buy Sheet Music?

In December 2002, John Apple wrote: "It is of interest to note that since Warner Bros (owned by Time-Warner) has acquired the Belwin-HW Gray etc catalog, much of it has been discontinued. In fact, in comparing the catalog of 2000 to 2002, half of the organ music is gone. I talked with an employee who stated that an organ piece must sell 200 copies per year in order to remain in print. I cannot imagine how many organ pieces can meet that number! The employee also said that they are not even keeping archive copies. This is really a tragedy when you consider that during the last 100 years HW Gray published over 1,000 organ pieces in its St Cecilia Series in addition to its Contemporary Series and other works. Most of the J Fischer Series is gone, and that is only the organ music! Much of the choral catalogs of these companies are out of print. What is being published in their names bears little resemblance to the older music.

These companies will not continue to publish any sheet music as more people download for reduced prices or for free. Supporting a small company like us can keep a few things available for a while longer."

Since then, the music controlled by Warners has been passed around (the control, not the actual music) and currently resides with Alfred Publishing Company. You should avoid compilations of images on digital media because the images are often low quality, highly compressed, shrunk, and you have to print them to use them. Ever try to put a 15 page piece printed on 8.5x11 copy paper on a music rack? Besides, the dealers who sell these have absolutely no commitment to producing new music in the future.

Music Restoration

The Original Music

The printing industry has relied on a business model of spending a great amount of time to produce a master from which very many copies could be made. Printing runs of hundreds of copies were sold to music dealers who kept them in stock and sold them in their stores. Producing such a great number of copies kept the price low. It also gave the engravers a chance to show off their artistic skill with complex and beautiful covers, many in color. In a retail music store, these eye-catching covers were an effective tool for attracting the attention of customers.

Sadly, this model no longer works. The hundreds of publishers have now been folded into only a few. These larger companies, for the most part, do not have copies of the music, much less the original plates from which to print new copies. Some sheet music has been maintained in collections, but most has been discarded after the death of the original owner. A few collectors and libraries continue to hold their sheet music collections but many have simply, usually automatically and poorly, scanned the originals, and then discarded the originals due to lack of storage space and the false impression that the storage of the image file fulfills their responsibility as an archive..

The few remaining copies, being a product of their time, were not intended to last for decades of use. The oil based inks have lasted but the paper with its residual acid content often has not. Tears are common, especially at folds and dog ears (folded corners meant to make page turning easier). Then, there are the markings, some heavy and obliterating, in pencil and in ink, stickers, cellophane and plastic tape, secondary stitching into the margins, trimming ragged edges of paper to fit shelves, mold and mildew infestation, insect damage, water damage, and missing parts of pages and even whole pages to deal with. If none of these problems is evident, there remains the wear and tear of the most useful music being played repeatedly over the many years. Most organists are familiar with what happens to music that they have used often: broken binding, loose signatures, detached pages, dried glue, and more.

Restoration

To make a piece of sheet music available for sale, it must be on good, sturdy acid-free paper, and the notes must be sharp and in high contrast. The paper finish should be flat and not reflective of light that would cause glare. The original paper size, if possible, should be used for the newly printed music, and the original colors and engravings and process color graphics should be reproduced. Any missing bits should be replaced and any errors should be corrected with notes on the reason for correction, if necessary. Since this music is decades past current styles and understanding, a short article on the music, its composer, and related subjects is helpful.

This article is available in its entirety with examples of restored music and a link to an excellent video of music printing on my website, michaelsmusicservice.com.