The series Urtext classischer Musikwerke<\/em> (Urtext of Classical Music Works) initiated in 1895 by the Royal Academy of Arts in Berlin turned against such verbal overloading of music; our modern Urtext editions go back to this impetus.<\/p>\n It was a challenge then as now to keep the music text in these editions as clear of commentary as possible.<\/p>\n Therefore we, too, traditionally group the necessary information in our Urtext editions around the music: Whereas the Preface <\/em>comes up with remarks on the work\u2019s origin and transmission, the Comments<\/em> at the end of the volume provide a painstaking report as to why whichever source was or sources were consulted for the edition and where on good grounds the editor differs from them. In the Individual comments<\/em> given at various measures, minor traditional differences as well as fundamental questions about the meaning of an indication can be explained so that here the interested reader finds all essential information, but is not encumbered with it while making music.<\/p>\n So far, so good \u2013 but experience shows that doing entirely without footnotes won\u2019t work. That, for one thing, is because of the Urtext concept itself: even when we very accurately render the model, many times a commentary is still necessary, whether it be the translation of an uncommon performance direction such as \u2018lange Haltung\u2019 (long fermata) in Schubert\u2019s Hirt auf dem Felsen<\/em> (HN 969, S. VIII\/1<\/a>, just look inside) or relativizing a tempo indication by referring to the Preface<\/em> as in Roussel\u2019s Joueurs de fl\u00fbte<\/em> (HN 1092, S. 8\/9<\/a>). Such information is crucial for the performance of the music \u2013 which is why it has to be given on the music page itself.<\/p>\n The same goes for the classic problem with the piano sonatas of Beethoven, Mozart or Haydn: For the edition the autograph is also commonly consulted here in addition to the original edition, and when there are many differences between sources it\u2019s hard to decide straightforwardly whether they have to do with the composer\u2019s deliberate modification or are simply in error. This is especially so in the realm of dynamics \u2013 which is why here at crucial passages such as in Beethoven\u2019s \u2018Waldstein\u2019 Sonata <\/em>op. 53 (HN 946, S. 14\/15<\/a>), the editor reports the source findings in a footnote in order to make the musician directly aware of another feasible choice.<\/p>\n But once in a while a footnote may even have to be given sort of pre-emptively in order to \u2018save\u2019 the musician from making another choice \u2013 because often enough the unauthorized variants of a work are so generally known and popular that the Urtext can hardly prevail against them. So, numerous editions of Beethoven\u2019s 3 Duos for Clarinet and Bassoon <\/em>WoO 27 are based on a very error-ridden first edition, yet one that was soon followed by a revised print. Our Urtext edition now prints the work from this better source and requires\u00a0quite a few new notes\u00a0of interpreters familiar with this music \u2013 which to be on the safe side we have distinguished by footnote references to the comments (HN 974, S. 2\/3<\/a>).<\/p>\n While as a rule we are able here to be brief enough that the appearance of the music remains practically unaffected, there are also extensive footnotes at times in exceptional cases \u2013 whether it is to document an earlier version such as Haydn\u2019s famous F-minor Variations<\/em> (HN 912, S. 8\/9<\/a>) or in order to review the numerous authorized variants of such well-known works as Chopin\u2019s A-flat major Ballade <\/em>op. 47 (HN 937, S. 4\/5<\/a>) that are widely disseminated in later editions. With this as with others of our Chopin editions the footnote is not really about offering musicians a performing alternative \u2013 here they can come to know instead how a variant of this passage possibly known to them is regarded and where in the traditional context it stands. With this, though, we are heading towards the limits of an Urtext edition, actually yes, to avoiding commentary in the music text \u2026 But we find that our editions will tolerate that much verbal text \u2013 and what do you say?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A serious scholarly book publication can be recognized by the … Continue reading ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blog.henle.de\/en\/files\/2013\/01\/Beethoven_Sonata_21_Opus_53_Seite_1.jpg\")
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