There are two corrections that need to be made to the Carl Fischer Edition of Debussy’s Sonate pour flute, alto, et harpe. One of these was an engraver’s mistake which none of us caught when proofing the galleys. The other is a case of misreading Debussy’s microscopic handwriting in the original manuscript. In both cases, there were three of us going over the manuscript and the galleys, and we all missed them!!
Both corrections are in the flute line. The first is at rehearsal number 5 (measure 63). The flute, in all editions, plays a high G on the downbeat. In the manuscript that note is a high A(one step higher than the printed G).
The other correction is at measure 161, again, in the flute line. At the end of the third beat, there is a printed thirty-second note E. It should be an F#. It is only the second E in the measure that should be changed, not the first one! This one was an engravers mistake that we didn’t catch.