Elaine Gould, the senior music editor at Faber Music and well-known to Scoring Notes readers as the author of the music notation reference Behind Bars: The Definitive Guide to Music Notation, will retire at the end of September 2023. Gould, who has been with Faber in a full-time role since 1987 and before that in a freelance basis since 1983, will continue in the new role of editor emeritus.
As a result, Faber has announced that the company will be hiring for the role of managing editor in contemporary music.
Gould to retire
In a news release published by Faber on January 5, Gould made the following statement:
“Faber Music has consistently sustained the core values of quality, care, and with the interests of our composers at the heart of our business. This has been one of the prime motivations and satisfactions in my work over the last 36 years. This job has given me the most enviable opportunity to collaborate with some of the greatest musicians of our time. Seeing our composers grow and flourish from the inside – from the inner workings of their scores and manuscripts – has been a unique privilege.
No other publisher would have lavished such care, attention, and devotion in producing Behind Bars, which was the most fruitful collaborations of my career, and one of which all of us at Faber Music can be especially proud.”
Richard King, CEO of Faber Music, said, “Elaine has been both a friend and the closest of colleagues for over 30 years. Watching her grow from editor to authority, then guru, over that time has been one of the joys of my professional life. Her uncompromising standards define Faber Music and will live on through both the immense canon of contemporary music publications issued under her authority, and the editorial standards she has permanently instilled in the company. Never has a retirement been more deserved!”
To date, Behind Bars: The Definitive Guide to Music Notation has sold more than 15,000 copies, according to Faber. It is also available as the German-language edition Hals über Kopf, published by Faber Music with Edition Peters.
Further, Faber announced that Part I of Behind Bars — the General Conventions, presenting the basic principles of music notation — will be published as a standalone volume this spring. Retailing at less than one-third the price of the full edition, the General Conventions will include the ground rules; chords, dotted notes and ties; accidentals and key signatures; grace notes, arpeggiated chords, trills, glissandos and vibrato; meter, tuplets and repeat signs.
Position available: Managing editor, contemporary music
As a result of Gould’s retirement, Faber announced today an open position for the role of managing editor in contemporary music.
This full-time position has an annual salary of £34,000 to £40,000, dependent upon experience. Applications will be accepted until February 13, 2023, with a target start date in April or May. The office’s location is in Bloomsbury, London, UK, with hybrid working.
The job description, as provided by Faber:
About the role
As a key member of our close-knit team, you will work alongside the Head of Editorial (Contemporary Music) in servicing the performance works of our world-renowned roster of composers. As well as editing works yourself, you will help to manage a team of freelance copyists to bring performing materials to fruition and oversee printed publications.
Core responsibilities
- Prepare, edit and proofread performance material to the highest professional standard. Devise clear, unambiguous solutions for notating (often complex) music from across a broad aesthetic spectrum.
- Maintain close working relationships with a diverse array of composers, overseeing projects from their initial submission to final supply of materials, as well as dealing with subsequent corrections and revisions. Maintain editorial records. Draw together covers, texts and music for publication scores.
- Identify, brief, and supervise freelance editors in editing scores, part extraction, and producing publication-standard material.
- Close collaboration with Faber Music’s Promotions team (delivery timeframes, work specifications, etc.) and Hire Library (revisions, recall of material, etc.)
Requisite experience:
- Significant experience editing contemporary scores to a publication standard, ideally working with a professional music publisher
- Fluent and efficient using Sibelius software (Dorico and Finale experience desirable)
- Good communication, budgeting, and project management skills.
- Meticulous attention to detail and a flair for organisation.
- The ability to work well both independently and as part of a team
- Ideally practical experience of one or more orchestral instruments, as well as keyboard skills
Those interested in the applying for the position should send a CV, examples of work, and a cover letter to: recruitment@fabermusic.com. Applicants will be notified within 14 days of the closing date if their application has been successful.
If you’re interested and decide to apply, we wish you the very best of luck!