The “Authenticity” of the Reconstruction of Missing Parts? Some Reflections on a Misplaced Problem

Abstract

Some would argue that the idea we get of a composer by listening to his incomplete music in which a voice has been reconstructed is not “authentic”. But the idea we can get of him by ignoring his incomplete compositions altogether, as if they never existed, is much less “authentic”. The article examines the issue and validity of the reconstruction of polyphonic music with one or more missing parts in critical editions from a philosophical, philological and practical point of view and establishes some criteria for the acceptability of the results.

Keywords

• authenticity
• reconstruction of missing parts
• critical edition
• music analysis
• emendatio