Concerning the Review of the Urtext Edition of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony

by Jonathan Del Mar

The new edition of the nine Beethoven symphonies has of course been quite a major task, so it is with some eagerness that I have been looking forward to a considered, professional reaction from the world of musicology. Unfortunately, David Levy's review in Beethoven Forum ("Urtext or Performing Edition?" 9/2, pp. 225–32) of the Urtext edition of the Ninth is something of a different animal. I find myself somewhat bemused at the unremitting attack that Professor Levy directs at me, and indeed to the extent to which it is purely subjective (such as the imputation that my edition is responsible for "new—and quite possibly false—traditions" [p.232]) it is unanswerable; but to those substantive points that he makes, I am delighted to have this opportunity of answering.