Scanning, scanning, scanning.The Florodora vocal score is scanned and now I'm scanning the orchestra parts. Some of the orchestra parts are quite old and fragile and have a lot of edge damage from years of quick page turns and many repaired tears fixed with - now yellowing - tape. The binding on the covers is quite old and the deteriorating tape on rips and replaced adjacent pages is sticking together. And as with all old ephemera, the acid in the paper is causing some foxing and ink is fading a bit, but this isn't an issue - yet.
All this, you can imagine, makes the scanning (even more) tedious. So far, the 14 numbers comprising the cello parts of Act 1 need the most TLC. They are the top of the list for re-entering in a modern notation program.
But - happy news - most of the orchestra parts are VERY readable and still could be used out of the box. In fact, some of the pages never seem to have been used (well not, say within the last 50+ years). The second act was most recently re-copied very meticulously by hand for all of the parts on very good paper.
But - happy news - most of the orchestra parts are VERY readable and still could be used out of the box. In fact, some of the pages never seem to have been used (well not, say within the last 50+ years). The second act was most recently re-copied very meticulously by hand for all of the parts on very good paper.
At one time there must have been at least 14 full sets of Florodora in circulation - these parts are marked "Set 'N'", and I have a couple of books marked "Set 'H'". Some have "1952" written on the cover.
Even if we can't do the Discovery with full orchestra, I will feel good having preserved Florodora. Too many of these old shows have lost their orchestrations over the years.
Even if we can't do the Discovery with full orchestra, I will feel good having preserved Florodora. Too many of these old shows have lost their orchestrations over the years.