Following is an excerpt from a presentation about the collaboration between a conservator and a curator. It does not describe the treatment performed on any of the music scores pictured.

Aside from the text or images that might be written, printed, or drawn on a piece of paper, there can be much more to the historical narrative paper can convey. For example, in the image to the left, my text is superimposed on the image but otherwise there is no text there. Yet, what do I know about how this piece of paper was used? As you can likely guess, at least the two rings in the upper left corner indicate the person using this paper was likely a coffee drinker. The other drops would need to be tested, but they appear to be ink. The additional facts related to the paper’s use may or may not become important to a future researcher, but removing this evidence through conservation treatment would deny the researcher an opportunity to consider them at all. 

The conservator may not always know which aspects of damage to an item are important parts of its narrative, the story of how it was used, for the researcher. For this reason, the curator of a collection and the conservator must collaborate in treatment decisions. This collaborative relationship happens behind the scenes in special collections and archives but is integral to a patron’s experience of an artifact. The curator’s insight into research value and future use is critical to the decision making process of the conservator. As a conservator, I am not always qualified to make those decisions, so I rely on curators to consult about any treatments. 

Primary resources, like these music scores, can be duplicated or digitized to enhance access to the items, but it is impossible to fully replicate the experience of studying an artifact in person - a fact that has been discussed regularly over the course of the last few years as many archives were closed or providing only virtual services due to COVID-19. The materiality of the object becomes part of its story. Paper can serve as evidence for how it is used and, in this case, as a witness to the life of the musician using it. 

Often sheet music can be loose leaves of paper, but in many cases we must treat bound copies of scores. If the spine of a bound score is damaged, then the spine may continue to decompose or crumble. It is important that any treatment performed does not interfere with or impede the function of the object - such as a score that must be opened widely to be viewed and handled. 

Often, musicians get creative in finding their own solutions to the problems of how a score functions. In the image below, cellist Lubomir Georgiev (1951-2005) taped the pages together to facilitate his page turns.

Luigi Silva (1903-1961) was one of the great Italian cellists of the 20th century. When he met Pablo Casals, a master cellist and teacher, he was told his hands were too small to ever allow him to be a great cellist. Silva dedicated his life to demonstrating Casals incorrect, becoming a renowned teacher, performer, and recording artist. This dirty hand print on the back of a score in his collection is believed to be Silva’s.

It may be possible to remove, or at least lighten, the hand print or similar markings. In the case of Silva’s hand print, it is a physical reminder of his ability to overcome the challenge of having small hands to become a gifted musician and teacher. 

Paper is uniquely suited for recording information quickly in the moment that we want access to for the long term. It is easily transported, can be manufactured almost anywhere in the world, and it is absorbent. We don’t have to carve into stone or etch into metal plates, we simply mark the surface with ink or graphite. That type of notation can communicate the artistry of a master to a budding cellist many years later in a way that a recording of the same music cannot. And, it is due to the collaborative relationship of curator and conservator that the ephemeral, such as a scribbled notation or a hand print, will be protected and preserved.

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Sawyer [Helms], S. M. & Krim, S. (2021, April). Preserving the Ephemeral: Issues in Music Conservation [Conference presentation]. Society of North Carolina Archivists Annual Meeting.