What can one learn from this
material?
This
is the subject of an
article on its own; but to mention a few examples:
- virtually
all the pieces I have seen have only one copy of each part:
since the parts are mostly well-used, it seems clear that
"one-to-a-part" was normal, even in sinfonias for strings;
- cellists
could read from G-clef; a second-violin part in a duet might
also be playable on a cello;
- Haydn's
string quartets were published with figures above the basso
part (it's not called 'cello'), for improvised extra parts
on harpsichord, organ or forte-piano;
- Mozart's
well-known 'Trio for clarinet, viola and piano' - in which
the clarinet-part is not at all as characteristic for the
instrument as are Mozart's other clarinet-parts, nor has it
a particularly leading role - turns out in a Skara copy to
be a 'Sonata for harpsichord or piano, with accompaniment
for violin or clarinet, and viola' - a very different kettle
of fish!
