Music

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Although I work on texts covering a variety of topics, my specialism is the music of the baroque period to the twentieth century. From Bach to Bernstein, Liszt to Lutosławski, if you have a concert programme, CD booklet, article, book, exam syllabus, dissertation or publicity material which needs proofreading, I can help.

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If you entrust me with your work, not only will I give it a final polish, correcting language and layout errors, I will also:​

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• not be fazed by the countless Italian – or French, or German – performance directions and won't have to waste time (and thus your money) looking up their meanings and spellings

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• be able to cross-check displayed material, including excerpts in any of the four clefs, and their labels and descriptions within the text efficiently, weeding out any less-obvious mistakes

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• be able to understand the content properly and therefore identify sentences which don't make sense, or statements which are plainly incorrect, such as inadvertently stating that a perfect cadence is a I–V progression

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• be able to spot errors in the finer details of work titles and composer names, like rogue accents, or that Brandenburg Concerto No.1 has accidentally been credited to J.C. Bach.

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FAQs

 

Q: The music text I would like proofread is not about classical music, but a different genre. Can you help?

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A: Yes. Although my in-depth musical expertise is heavily weighted towards classical music, my knowledge of the subject as a whole is usually transferrable to other genres such as pop music, and I am more than happy to work in those areas too. I particularly enjoy music of the 1970s and 1980s, and am rather partial to a bit of disco!

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Q: I’ve got a manuscript which needs checking before publication. Do you offer a sheet music proofreading service?

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A: This is a service I hope to offer in the future, but at the moment I’m afraid I only proofread text.

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Musical CV

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• Classical specialist with a particular love of baroque ensemble music and romantic piano concerti

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• University of Birmingham: Bachelor of Music with Honours (2.1): degree included musicology, analysis, composition techniques, orchestration, harmonisation, musicianship and baroque performance practice

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• Alumna of the Royal College of Music Junior Department​

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• ABRSM Grade 8: Clarinet, Piano (distinction); Violin, Theory of Music (merit)​​

                                    

• Experienced solo and ensemble performer of the music of composers such as Bach, Scarlatti, Mozart, Weber, Mahler, Crusell, Rachmaninov, Gershwin, Lutosławski, Arnold and many more

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• Five years' experience as Hire & Copyright Manager of United Music Publishers, playing a part in the publication of works by contemporary composers such as Stephen Montague and Richard Barrett, and the UK representation of French music by composers including Ibert and Messiaen

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• Music Publishers Association: MPA Induction Course; MPA Specialist Seminar: Copyright, Digital, Royalties & Tracking

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• Foreign languages: German (working proficiency) – French (A Level) – Italian (GCSE)

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• Well read on the contextual history from the seventeenth century onwards.