The Maestro's Notebook

When I was 17 my dad predicted that paper music would soon be replaced by computer screens. Ten years later this still makes a lot of sense, although I don't know of any orchestras or ensembles who have made the jump.

Sheet music is a crutch classical musicians don't want to give up. And with a massive orchestral repertoire it's unreasonable to expect them to memorize everything. Maybe a few pieces.

But a screen with WiFi access would mean the whole canon in an 11x17 display. Think about that: hundreds of years of notes & composers' instructions, all accessed within seconds of a click...or a foot tap....or however musicians would control it. And making annotations would be a snap: the principal player will make expressive markings or clarifications, and everyone's music would instantly update. Like Google Docs sharing for music. Or the conductor could flag the music on the fly to alert musicians of a sticky passage, or an upcoming gesture she'd like to make. Sweet.

But wait: what if instead of screens they wore VR glasses? It might only work for fully-immersive, solo practice sessions.....there's a high premium for eye contact in ensemble play.


Regardless, I only mention this as a (somewhat pricey, initially) alternative to the status quo, but the price of physical copies of orchestral music is formidable. Why not reduce the cost of printing, and make it up by selling thousands of copies, instead of hundreds? Why not let the audience follow along on their own computers?