Will versus Caprice. On the the closing measures of Robert Schumann’s C-major Fantasy op. 17

Posted on August 20, 2012 by Wolf-Dieter Seiffert

What you can see here is the last page of Robert Schumann’s C-major Fantasy op. 17 is in the handwriting of the copyist Carl Brückner of Leipzig. Continue reading →

Posted in autograph, Fantasy op. 17 (Schumann), Monday Postings, piano solo, Schumann, Robert, variant reading | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

‘Play it again’ – is a repeat sign missing in Brahms’ Paganini Variations?

Posted on August 6, 2012 by Dominik Rahmer

Some time ago we received an interesting query from a pianist who had come across something formally odd in Johannes Brahms’ Variationen über ein Thema von Paganini op. 35. As we know, Brahms too was inspired by Nicolò Paganini’s 24 Capricci op. 1 for violin solo, as were already earlier Schumann and Liszt. Continue reading →

Posted in autograph, Brahms, Johannes, first edition, Monday Postings, notation, Paganini Variations op. 35 (Brahms), piano solo | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

“Rock” or “stone”? Schumann’s text changes in “Liederkreis” op. 39 on poems by Joseph von Eichendorff

Posted on July 23, 2012 by Annette Oppermann

You know the Lorelei? You know that from the high cliff at St. Goar she peered into the depths of the Rhine (disastrously for many) … But not for Henle in our edition of the Liederkreis op. 39 (HN 550): following a Schumann text revision in Waldesgespräch, Lorelei’s castle is said to be on a “Fels” [rock] – lost, of course, is the Eichendorff “Stein” [stone] rhyming with “Rhein”, but the conciseness of the expression is enormously enhanced. Whether such deviations from a song text model are permissible, rational or as errors to be corrected where possible in a reliable edition, is a much-discussed question that faces any editor of a lieder edition. Continue reading →

Posted in autograph, first edition, Liederkreis op. 39 (Schumann), Monday Postings, piano + voice, Schumann, Robert | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

‘Fontana’s version’ – genuine Chopin?

Posted on July 9, 2012 by Norbert Müllemann

A glance at the table of contents in our Urtext edition of Frédéric Chopin’s Waltzes (HN 131, 230, 9131) may already have put a frown on the faces of many Chopin enthusiasts. Such famous pieces as the Waltzes op. posth. 69 & 70, published only after Chopin’s death, are being offered in two versions: first, in a ‘version according to the autograph’, followed by a ‘version according to Fontana’. Continue reading →

Posted in Chopin, Frédéric, Monday Postings, piano solo, Urtext, variant reading, versions, Waltzes (Chopin) | Tagged , , | 9 Comments

Hit and miss? – A purportedly wrong note in Beethoven’s Sonata op. 14 no. 2

Posted on June 25, 2012 by Norbert Gertsch

For almost ten years now I’ve been working with Murray Perahia as co-editor of a new edition of Ludwig van Beethoven’s piano sonatas. Ten sonatas have appeared meanwhile, and I promise you it won’t take another twenty years to get the other sonatas ready!

Among the already published sonatas is that in G major op. 14 no. 2 (Sonata ‘No. 10’ in case you’d rather count them). Continue reading →

Posted in Beethoven, Ludwig van, first edition, Monday Postings, piano solo, Piano Sonata op. 14 nr. 2 (Beethoven), variant reading | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Going down, coming up or on the up and up? – stumbling block in Erik Satie’s ‘2ème Gymnopédie’

Posted on June 11, 2012 by Peter Jost

At first sight Urtext editions of Satie’s piano music do not seem to pose any great challenge. Continue reading →

Posted in autograph, first edition, Gymnopédie (Satie), Monday Postings, piano solo, Satie, Erik, Urtext | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Getting the accents right. On the Rondo theme in Schubert’s “Arpeggione” Sonata (3rd movement)

Posted on May 28, 2012 by Wolf-Dieter Seiffert

Tabea Zimmermann, the fabulous violist, writes: Continue reading →

Posted in accent, Arpeggione Sonata (Schubert), Monday Postings, notation, piano + viola, Schubert, Franz | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Debussy: to finger or not to finger…? Why we are adding fingering in the “Études”

Posted on May 14, 2012 by Dominik Rahmer

In summer 1915 in the solitude of Pourville, the small seaside resort in Normandy, Claude Debussy finished his last major piano work, Douze Études pour le piano. To the 12 etudes in the printed edition that appeared the following year, he prefixed a somewhat curious comment in his inimitable style. Continue reading →

Posted in Debussy, Claude, Douze Études (Debussy), Monday Postings, piano solo, Urtext | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

How to drive the devil out of a waltz or: Liszt’s Mephisto Waltz for everybody?

Posted on April 30, 2012 by Norbert Gertsch

It’s still ringing in your ears, this warhorse for orchestra or for a pianist. Doesn’t it – when convincingly interpreted – almost drive you crazy with its wild, diabolical tempo, its sensual surge in the slow middle part? And now honestly, for once: Can you even whistle a tune from Liszt’s Faust symphony? Continue reading →

Posted in arrangement, Liszt, Franz, Mephisto Waltz (Liszt), Monday Postings, piano solo, versions | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

On the lookout for the lost measure: Bach’s C-major Prelude from the Well-Tempered Clavier I

Posted on April 16, 2012 by Norbert Müllemann

Those in the know among our readers will be aware that wandering through the music world like a ghost is an extra measure at the famous opening of Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier I. It goes by the name of ‘Schwencke measure’. Continue reading →

Posted in autograph, Bach, Johann Sebastian, copy, Monday Postings, piano solo, Urtext, Well-Tempered Clavier (J.S. Bach) | Tagged , , , | 23 Comments