Edition: U.S. / Global  Finding the Truth in the Composer's Hand
Published: May 14, 2000  IN his sparsely furnished apartment
perched high above West End Avenue and dominated by a Steinway
grand, the pianist Robert Taub was poring over musical
manuscripts one recent afternoon, as he often does.  ''When I
learn a piece,'' Mr. Taub says, ''I ask myself, 'Why am I
learning it?' And the answer is that I feel a lot about it and
think there's something about it that I can communicate. But
then I ask: 'Why did the composer write it? What did it mean to
him?' And the best answers are in the sketches and the autograph
scores, where you can see what choices were made and why.''  It
is not impossible to interpret a piece of music from the printed
score alone, and often an artist has no choice. Still, the
printed score is the diagram of a result, whereas a manuscript
captures the shape of inspiration on the wing. That, ideally, is
what Mr. Taub wants to see.  ''No editor will print a double
negative,'' Mr. Taub declares