A new star in the Henle firmament – Béla Bartók Complete Critical Edition

Posted on January 30, 2017 by Annette Oppermann

After nearly three decades the time was ripe for a new complete edition at Henle –and so in 2016, Beethoven, Haydn and Brahms have welcomed in Béla Bartók a new addition. In an earlier blog when the Urtext edition of Bartók’s Allegro barbaro (HN 1400) was released, we already took “a peek through the keyhole” at the complete edition that we are publishing in collaboration with Editio Musica Budapest. But the door has now opened: A few weeks ago, For Children (HN 6200), the first volume of the Béla Bartók Complete Critical Edition appeared, which we now want to examine more closely with László Vikárius, editor of the volume and director of the complete edition.

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Posted in Bartók, Béla, Monday Postings, notation, piano solo, transcription | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Urtext from A to Z! What you’ll want to know about our new edition of Alexander Zemlinsky’s Clarinet Trio op. 3

Posted on January 16, 2017 by Dominik Rahmer

With our freshly released Urtext edition of the stunning “Brahmsian” Clarinet Trio Opus 3 by Alexander Zemlinsky (HN 578) we are closing two gaps at once. First of all, we are adding an important work to our offerings for this classical scoring, clarinet, piano and cello (or viola), to join such illustrious company as Mozart’s “Kegelstatt Trio” K. 498, Beethoven’s “Gassenhauer Trio” op. 11 and Brahms’s Trio op. 114 (not forgetting Schumann’s Märchenerzählungen op. 132 and Max Bruch’s Acht Stücke op. 83 for the same scoring). Furthermore, our first edition of a Zemlinsky work now has the nifty side benefit of actually extending our comprehensive Urtext catalogue from A(lbéniz) to Z(emlinsky) .… Continue reading →

Posted in first edition, Monday Postings, Trio for Piano, Clarinet and Violoncello op. 3 (Zemlinsky), Zemlinsky, Alexander | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Christmas Blog

Posted on December 24, 2016 by publisher

It is not only the Christmas season that comes around again to private homes once a year, but also the Christmas tree, at least since the 19th century. Friends and relatives are invited, there must be decorations and lots of other things have to be organised.  Not even a composer’s household was spared. Continue reading →

Posted in Liszt, Franz, Monday Postings, Wagner, Richard | Tagged | 1 Comment

Autumnal thoughts on “Buntes Blatt” in f-sharp minor by Robert Schumann

Posted on December 12, 2016 by Wolf-Dieter Seiffert

Robert Schumann, Bunte Blätter op. 99, First Edition, Robert-Schumann-Haus Zwickau, Archiv-Nr.: 1996.23-D1; the download of this image is prohibited. Click to enlarge.

A little birthday gift
for András Schiff (December 2016)

Coloured leaves everywhere, on the trees and on the ground. I can see them outside my window, on Forstenrieder Allee in Munich, where the G. Henle offices are. Coloured leaves everywhere – that’s the keyword for today’s blog post on Schumann’s seldom-played “Bunte Blätter” op. 99. Continue reading →

Posted in Bunte Blätter op. 99 (Schumann), harmonics, piano solo, Schumann, Robert | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Editions also have their histories. The revision of César Franck’s violin sonata

Posted on November 28, 2016 by Peter Jost

The question of why from time to time editions in the Henle catalogue are re-published as revised was already dealt with in an earlier blog post. Following up on this, I’d like today to present a special case, that is, the just about to be published revision of César Franck’s famous violin sonata.

Henle first published Franck’s masterwork as HN 293 in 1975, so more than forty years ago. That edition was then based on two sources: the (allegedly sole) autograph, together with the first edition, which had not yet been separately treated as score and separate violin part (as is usual today). Continue reading →

Posted in articulation, autograph, dynamics, first edition, Franck, César, Monday Postings, new source, piano + violin, Urtext, Violin Sonata (Franck), Yehudi Menuhin | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Johann Jacob Froberger on his 400th birthday

Posted on November 14, 2016 by Norbert Müllemann

Many Urtext enthusiasts will already have noticed in 2014 that the G. Henle publishers are now also exploring the “pre-Bachian” period. Appearing that year was an edition of Johann Kuhnau’s complete works for keyboard instruments. Admittedly, Kuhnau is not all that far removed from Bach, being only 25 years older and also his predecessor as cantor at the St. Thomas church in Leipzig. Continue reading →

Posted in autograph, Froberger, Johann Jacob, measure numbering, Monday Postings, piano solo, Urtext | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

At full length – finally, an Urtext edition of Tchaikovsky’s unabridged Valse-Scherzo

Posted on October 31, 2016 by Dominik Rahmer

Tchaikovsky and the violin – surely everyone first thinks here of his splendid violin concerto, long since available, of course, in the Henle Urtext edition (HN 685). But violinists also love his other, smaller works for violin and piano now being gradually added to our catalogue in reliable Urtext editions. Continue reading →

Posted in arrangement, Monday Postings, piano + violin, Tschaikowsky, Peter, Urtext | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Haydn’s complete cello concertos at Henle: 3, 8, 5 or 2?

Posted on October 17, 2016 by Annette Oppermann

To the question of how many cello concertos Joseph Haydn left us there have been startlingly different answers in the last 200 years: Haydn’s own works’ catalogue of 1805 lists three concertos; in the 19th century the number grew to eight before it was reduced in the 20th century to those five found in Anthony van Hoboken’s catalogue of Haydn’s works. But our Urtext catalogue records only two! Why’s that? The short answer is that our Haydn Urtext Editions go back to the complete edition, Joseph Haydn Werke – and not only to what is printed, but also to what is not printed. The long answer provides an insight into a special area of Haydn research, the issue of authenticating the works dealt with under his name. Continue reading →

Posted in autograph, copy, first edition, Haydn, Joseph, Monday Postings, Urtext, versions, violoncello | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

The “Henle Library” app – looking back, looking forwards

Posted on October 3, 2016 by Norbert Gertsch

Our “Henle Library” app has now been available to musicians around the world for nearly eight months and so it’s time to take stock of what has happened and to give you an insight into what will happen in the near future.

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Posted in Android, App, Digital, Henle Library, Monday Postings | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

The charm of the unsettling. A special autograph correction of Mozart’s in the finale of the F-major string quartet K. 590

Posted on September 19, 2016 by Wolf-Dieter Seiffert

Mozart connoisseurs and admirers know of course about what is bizarre in the finale of his very last string quartet, K. 590. In its development the harshness of the tone language is particularly unparalleled in the Mozart oeuvre. But the unsettling already starts shortly before the end of the first section: The otherwise so airily sparkling sixteenth notes stall all of a sudden in an almost stranded-like repetitive three-note kink. It is just this spot that Mozart vehemently corrected in his manuscript. The investigation of this correction offers us at hand an analytical key to the understanding of this absolutely special movement. Continue reading →

Posted in articulation, F-major string quartet K. 590, Monday Postings, Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus, string quartet | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments