The musicologist says that the dropped bassoon line was the largest error he's ever discovered in a Ravel score, though he found numerous other discrepancies between the manuscript and the published score in terms of accent marks, dynamics and tempo changes.

WSJ: Ravel| Mother Goose| New York Philharmonic| Arbie Orenstein

Mr. Orenstein's "Mother Goose" edition, a so-called urtext, will contain textual notes setting out the differences between the composer's manuscript and the existing Durand score to accompany the musicologist's corrected score.

WSJ: Ravel| Mother Goose| New York Philharmonic| Arbie Orenstein

"I think that ... the Bach manuscript or the changes that Mozart made in the score or the markings absolutely unknown and authentic on Brahms' Opus 118 are going to inspire performers, are going to inspire a generation of students here, " Kovner said.

NPR: Juilliard Chairman Donates Trove of Rare Artifacts

Although the process of transferring a musical composition from a gleam in the composer's eye into a handwritten manuscript and, finally, a performance-ready score has come a long way from the days of copper-plate engraving, it's a process rife with the possibility of transmittal error.

WSJ: Ravel| Mother Goose| New York Philharmonic| Arbie Orenstein