JTT, I should ask how you go about composing classical pieces. No, I'm not looking for a tutorial—way over my head—I mean do you compose by ear at a MIDI keyboard, or do you just write the score directly from your head like Mozart? Do you need playback or just high-grade publishing? Is the computer input your first draft or is it merely a final transcription of your completed score?

I ask these questions because there are free tools around that allow you to produce beautiful scores for classical music but address only the typesetting or engraving side of the task. A couple of these are MusixTeX and LilyPond. The input for LilyPond is something on the order of ABC files in that you enter each part separately. With MusixTeX, you enter the notes for all parts on a measure by measure basis.

Here are some LilyPond examples if any of this sounds interesting.

      - Mark