From handwritten sheet music to digital notation: Exploring the way Greek Composers compose their works using digital score

The study investigates whether and how Greek composers use the digital score at the stages of the creative process, from the initial idea to the final product. The research followed a mixed methodology: an online questionnaire addressed to the members of the Greek Composers’ Union, with 41 responses in October and November 2019, and semi-structured interviews with composers. All participants stated that they use the digital score at some stage of composition. The manuscript remains common for capturing initial ideas, while it is now rarely used for the final product: only 17% had given a handwritten score to musicians for performance in the last five years. Finale dominates among notation software, followed by Sibelius and MuseScore. The interviews are largely consistent with the quantitative findings and, at certain points, offer a first interpretation of them.