Editor

As Printed on a Score

Shown by editorial brackets, small type, dotted slurs or footnotes signed Ed.; such markings, usually explained in the edition’s preface, distinguish an editor’s additions from the composer’s text.

Abbreviations: Ed.

Also spelled: editorial

How Composers Use It

When editing, mark additions clearly — brackets for added dynamics, dotted slurs and ties, smaller type for added accidentals — so performers know what is original, and explain the conventions in a preface. In your own scores, avoid marks that look editorial, since they may be mistaken for an editor’s insertions and treated as optional.

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