Music - Score Editions Guide

A manuscript is a source that is written by hand. An autograph manuscript is a manuscript written at least in part in the composer's hand (rather than by a copyist or printed).

Though an autograph manuscript may seem like the most authoritative source, keep in mind that it may not represent the composer's final draft of or edits to a piece, but represents just one moment in this history of a piece. They are also sometimes hard to access, and hard to read or perform from.

When might you need to access a Manuscript?

1. When you need help analyzing editorial choices in an edition(s). 
   • As you will see in later tabs, different editions of the same piece often differ from each other. This is because editions require interventions by editors, who may or may not agree. Looking at a manuscript alongside other sources can help you analyze these editorial changes.
2. When you are interested in a composer's composition process, or compositional procedures and stylistic features at a particular time. 
   • MS can tell us a lot about an individual composer’s process and development – indeed, sometimes a Manuscript helps scholars dictate the order in which different works were composed—but they can also tell us a great deal about general compositional procedures and stylistic features of the time. For instance, compositional sketches from the 16th century show composers worked phrase by phrase and prioritized imitation and text-setting, while MS from the Classical and Romantic Eras show how important larger formal structures had become. 
3. When you need to know more about a particular musical culture.
   • Manuscripts often give information about the recipient, users, occasions it was written for, prestige and musical ability/knowledge of recipient and users, and the prestige of music generally, or this style/genre in particular.
4. When you want to understand the intentions of the composer at a particular point in the compositional process.
   • A manuscript reflects a moment in the history of a piece of music and in the composer’s life and work. It also may reflect a moment in the history of performing practice, of the institution or patron who owned the manuscript, and of the people who performed it and heard it.
5. When you want to humanize a composer, or get a hint about their personality.
   • Rigbie Turner, curator of music manuscripts at the Morgan Library and Museum wrote in a New York Times article in June 25, 2006 (“Composers' Autograph Manuscripts at the Morgan Museum”): “When music historians uncover original manuscripts, they will often have discovered a version of the piece that the composer later found to be flawed. But what always comes through in an autograph manuscript is the personality of the composer. I especially value seeing autographs of the great masters because they poignantly humanize their creators. You are reminded that these towering figures were hard-working, sometimes frantic professionals, struggling to realize their visions and meet deadlines.”