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Information and IdeasVery hardEvidence for a claim about a composer's manuscript

Information and Ideas practice question

A musicologist argues that a manuscript score was written by the composer's assistant, not by the composer himself, though it bears the composer's signature.

Which finding, if true, would most directly support the claim?

  1. A. The handwriting of the notes matches the assistant's letters in every distinctive feature, while the composer's own manuscripts show a different hand; only the signature matches the composer.Correct
  2. B. The composer employed an assistant for twenty years.
  3. C. The manuscript is on the same paper the composer usually used.
  4. D. The score has several corrections.

Answer: A. The handwriting of the notes matches the assistant's letters in every distinctive feature, while the composer's own manuscripts show a different hand; only the signature matches the composer.

The hand is the assistant's; only the signature is the composer's.

Why the other answers are wrong

B. The composer employed an assistant for twenty years.
Employment does not show who wrote this score.
C. The manuscript is on the same paper the composer usually used.
Shared paper supports either author.
D. The score has several corrections.
Corrections do not identify the writer.

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