diff --git a/mscxyz/score.py b/mscxyz/score.py
index 7d8d049..b96d23c 100644
--- a/mscxyz/score.py
+++ b/mscxyz/score.py
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 from mscxyz.meta import Meta
 from mscxyz.settings import get_args
 from mscxyz.style import Style
+from mscxyz.xml import Xml
 
 if typing.TYPE_CHECKING:
     from lxml.etree import _XPathObject
@@ -46,6 +47,8 @@ class Score:
     xml_root: _Element
     """The root element of the XML tree. See the `lxml API <https://lxml.de/api.html>`_."""
 
+    xml: Xml
+
     version: float
     """The MuseScore version, for example 2.03 or 3.01"""
 
@@ -74,19 +77,23 @@ def __init__(self, src: str | Path) -> None:
             self.xml_file = str(self.path)
 
         self.errors = []
-        try:
-            self.xml_root = lxml.etree.parse(self.xml_file).getroot()
-        except lxml.etree.XMLSyntaxError as e:
-            self.errors.append(e)
-        else:
+
+        element, e = Xml.parse_file_try(self.xml_file)
+
+        if element is not None:
+            self.xml_root = element
+            self.xml = Xml(element)
             self.version = self.get_version()
 
+        if e is not None:
+            self.errors.append(e)
+
         if self.extension == "mscz" and self.version_major == 4 and self.zip_container:
             self.style_file = self.zip_container.score_style_file
 
     @property
     def xml_string(self) -> str:
-        return utils.xml.tostring(self.xml_root)
+        return self.xml.tostring(self.xml_root)
 
     @property
     def version_major(self) -> int:
diff --git a/mscxyz/xml.py b/mscxyz/xml.py
index 1374f43..1dfaf65 100644
--- a/mscxyz/xml.py
+++ b/mscxyz/xml.py
@@ -21,16 +21,16 @@
 class Xml:
     """A wrapper around lxml.etree"""
 
-    element: _Element
+    root: _Element
 
     def __init__(self, element: _Element) -> None:
-        self.element = element
+        self.root = element
 
     def __get_element(self, element: ElementLike = None) -> _Element:
         if isinstance(element, _ElementTree):
             return element.getroot()
         if element is None:
-            return self.element
+            return self.root
         return element
 
     def __normalize_element(self, element: ElementLike = None) -> _Element | None:
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ def __normalize_element(self, element: ElementLike = None) -> _Element | None:
         return element
 
     @staticmethod
-    def read(path: str | Path | TextIOWrapper) -> _Element:
+    def parse_file(path: str | Path | TextIOWrapper) -> _Element:
         """
         Read an XML file and return the root element.
 
@@ -50,12 +50,24 @@ def read(path: str | Path | TextIOWrapper) -> _Element:
         return lxml.etree.parse(path).getroot()
 
     @staticmethod
-    def from_file(path: str | Path | TextIOWrapper) -> Xml:
-        return Xml(Xml.read(path))
+    def parse_string(xml_markup: str) -> _Element:
+        return lxml.etree.XML(xml_markup)
 
     @staticmethod
-    def parse(string: str) -> _Element:
-        return lxml.etree.XML(string)
+    def parse_file_try(
+        path: str | Path | TextIOWrapper,
+    ) -> tuple[_Element | None, Exception | None]:
+        element: _Element | None = None
+        error: Exception | None = None
+        try:
+            element = lxml.etree.parse(path).getroot()
+        except lxml.etree.XMLSyntaxError as e:
+            error = e
+        return (element, error)
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def new(path: str | Path | TextIOWrapper) -> Xml:
+        return Xml(Xml.parse_file(path))
 
     def tostring(self, element: ElementLike = None) -> str:
         """
diff --git a/tests/test_xml.py b/tests/test_xml.py
index 07058d0..889f476 100644
--- a/tests/test_xml.py
+++ b/tests/test_xml.py
@@ -13,17 +13,17 @@
 
 root = helper.get_xml_root("score.mscz", 4)
 
-xml = Xml.from_file(xml_file)
+xml = Xml.new(xml_file)
 
 
 def test_read() -> None:
-    element = xml.read(xml_file)
+    element = xml.parse_file(xml_file)
     assert element.tag == "museScore"
 
 
 def test_from_file() -> None:
-    x = xml.from_file(xml_file)
-    assert x.element.tag == "museScore"
+    x = xml.new(xml_file)
+    assert x.root.tag == "museScore"
 
 
 def test_find_safe() -> None:
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ def test_xpathall_safe() -> None:
 
 def test_xml_write(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
     dest = tmp_path / "test.xml"
-    element = Xml.parse("<root><a><b/><c/></a><d><e/></d></root>")
+    element = Xml.parse_string("<root><a><b/><c/></a><d><e/></d></root>")
     xml.write(dest, element)
     result: str = utils.read_file(dest)
     assert result == (