How Much Detail?

In a previous post I talked about how in Writing Down The Bones (WDTB) Ms. G. says to provided details in your writing, do not write “there was a flower in the window”. Instead write; “There was a fresh rose in the bay window with a wee bit of morning dew still on it”. The first gives you a fact, the second paints a picture and possibly invokes a memory or emotion. In my previous post I suggested that this too applies to us as composers. That we need to supply more than just the notes, instruments and a simple metronome marking.

But what is detail in music? (Or at least how i am using it here.) In my previous post I only game one short example. I think for our discussion composing details include such things as dynamic markings (more than just one at the beginning of the piece) and changes in dynamics. Tempo and mood indications, phrase markings, bowing and breath markings. What else?

What I am not including are the actual notes themselves, meter, basic tempo indications, and instrumentation. ...

Ursus Demens