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Hello, all

I am interested in finding out how some of you acquire parts to music by living-day composers, or music that is otherwise under copyright. I'm curious because there are a few pieces, by John Coolidge Adams, specifically, that I've been wanting to work on.

I understand that Short Ride in a Fast Machine has been seen on a few tuba and trombone auditions, so, if you were to play an audition with that excerpt (or if you actually did), how would you get the part?

I'm aware that publishers of Adams's music have published scores of the pieces that I want to check out, and that is how I will probably get the parts I'm looking for, but I'm still curious as to how others might go about getting these parts (Obviously, this excludes orchestra members who perform(ed) the pieces). I've search the forum, and the only thing I saw there was regarding getting the part from a university music librarian, and I am not in a university right now.

Thanks!

-Jackson

There are some orchestral works under copyright that do have parts for sale. I don't believe this applies to Adams' works.

Normally, when an orchestra requires copyrighted works for an audition, they work out an agreement with the publisher which allows the orchestra to send you the part once you have submitted the audition application and fee.

Although it can sometimes be expensive, you can purchase a score and extract the part. This has an additional benefit of letting you see how the part fits into the work. From listening to Short Ride on a Fast Machine, I think it would be very good to know what the bass trombone is doing.

Thank you, Mark. That bit about the orchestra having an agreement with the publisher makes sense. Though the scores for sale are not as cheap as a Dover pocket score (between $30 and $50, I believe), I think they are good prices for a full score.

Besides extracting these parts, I greatly enjoy this music and want to really analyze it to benefit my own composing.