{"id":8606,"date":"2026-09-14T08:00:48","date_gmt":"2026-09-14T06:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.henle.de\/en\/?p=8606"},"modified":"2026-09-14T09:46:04","modified_gmt":"2026-09-14T07:46:04","slug":"25-etuden-aber-beileibe-nicht-nur-fingerubungen-friedrich-burgmullers-beruhmtes-opus-100-en","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.henle.de\/en\/2026\/09\/14\/25-etuden-aber-beileibe-nicht-nur-fingerubungen-friedrich-burgmullers-beruhmtes-opus-100-en\/","title":{"rendered":"25 Etudes, but not just finger exercises \u2013 Friedrich Burgm\u00fcller\u2019s famous opus 100"},"content":{"rendered":"

Every edition is different. The work itself often captivates. Sometimes, a particular source situation makes editing methodologically interesting. What really grabbed me as the editor of the Urtext edition discussed in this blog post is not just the outcome, but also the incredibly varied path leading there.<\/p>\n

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Friedrich Burgm\u00fcller, Lithography, ca. 1840<\/p><\/div>\n

When I was assigned to edit the 25 Etudes, op.\u00a0100<\/a>, by Friedrich Burgm\u00fcller (1806\u20131874), my first thought was: \u201cBurg who?\u201d Looking back, though it\u2019s hard to believe, those standard piano pedagogy works called \u201cEtudes\u201d, \u201cInstructor\u201d (\u201cLehrmeister\u201d), or \u201cMelodious Exercises\u201d hardly arose in my own piano lessons, and, in fact, I remained largely untouched by the Burgm\u00fcllers, Hanons, Diabellis, and Czernys. So, I approached the Burgm\u00fcller edition without any personal childhood memories, idealisation, or any bad experiences. And in the following months, I had many of those smaller and larger episodes that make the profession of editor so varied and rewarding.<\/p>\n

My first discovery was the pieces themselves. In the 19th century, loads of pieces were composed that were called \u201cEtudes\u201d: by Chopin, by Liszt, by Charles Valentin Alkan (the almost even more virtuosic finger-twister) \u2013 or, on the other hand, just simple finger exercises belonging to the elementary piano-pedagogy level. Burgm\u00fcller\u2019s Etudes occupy a truly wonderful position somewhere in between. According to the original French title, they are easy, of increasing difficulty, and equipped by the composer with fingering specifically for small hands: \u201c25 Etudes faciles et progressives pour le piano, compos\u00e9es et doigt\u00e9es express\u00e9ment pour l\u2019\u00e9tendue des petites mains par Fred.ic<\/sup> Burgm\u00fcller\u201d (who, although a native of Regensburg, worked in Paris and also became a French citizen).<\/p>\n

At first glance, this title sounds rather dull and pedantic. But Burgm\u00fcller\u2019s \u00e9tude collection doesn\u2019t simply present a series of dryly numbered finger exercises; instead, it consists of 25 delightful little character pieces. Titled \u201cArabesque\u201d, \u201cTendre fleur\u201d (\u201cA Tender Flower\u201d), and \u201cLa Styrienne\u201d (\u201cStyrian Dance\u201d), they are vivid, catchy, rhythmically lively, and melodically charming. Real music, if you will, into which the respective technical exercise itself is cleverly woven. That, I liked immensely, and it quickly became clear that with our edition, we didn\u2019t just want to hand young players a score without commentary, but rather to guide them and explain what they are seeing there in front of them. Of course, our focus in this context was not on the editorial methodology (which, as customary in the Henle Urtext edition, is explained in the Comments at the end of the edition). No, we were thinking about the musical and technical-exercise features of the individual pieces. Why would this Etude be called \u201cL\u2019Hirondelle\u201d (\u201cThe Swallow\u201d)? What musical characteristic would bring to mind the little bird with its acrobatic flight \u2013 and what exactly is being exercised with all those high notes that Burgm\u00fcller notated for the left hand, constantly requiring you therefore to cross over the right hand?<\/p>\n

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above: Opening of \u201cL\u2019Hirondelle\u201d, Henle Urtext, HN 1726<\/a>
below: \u201cL\u2019Hirondelle\u201d, accompanying text by Melanie Spanswick<\/p><\/div>\n

For these explanatory notes, we were able to enlist the renowned piano pedagogue Melanie Spanswick, who wrote truly enchanting texts for us. In addition, she expanded Burgm\u00fcller\u2019s insightful, but somewhat sparse, original fingerings with further information, ensuring that during playing no fingering questions remain unanswered. Of course, Spanswick\u2019s fingering additions (printed in grey) are easily distinguishable from Burgm\u00fcller\u2019s original (in black). Henle Urtext is Henle Urtext.<\/p>\n

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The composer\u2019s original fingering (in black) with helpful
additions by Melanie Spanswick (in grey)<\/p><\/div>\n

Anyone opening our Burgm\u00fcller Etudes will see music pages that are distinctly different from those in other Henle editions. To showcase effectively Spanswick\u2019s explanations in German, English and French, we devised a new design. We didn\u2019t want to cram the explanations onto mundane pages of text, but rather to place them where they belong: directly with the music pieces, clearly relating the music and text to each other, thus, attractively designing the whole piece as a \u201ctotal artwork\u201d. \u00a0No, we didn\u2019t commission anyone to draw illustrations for the pieces, an embellishment here, a pretty nature scene there \u2013 such a picture-book-like overextension of the Henle design guidelines would have risked G\u00fcnter Henle\u2019s hurling lightning bolts from heaven. But using our famous, clear Henle notation, the easily readable texts at the bottom of the music pages, and an almost daringly bold piano-key icon as a design element, we have created what I personally find to be a stunning graphic design that makes you want to browse through this edition and play from it.<\/p>\n

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Combining music and commentary, new approaches in the Henle layout<\/p><\/div>\n

Another graphic element immediately catches the eye upon opening the book: the coloured frontispiece showing Burgm\u00fcller\u2019s autograph manuscript of the Etude \u201cLa Pastorale\u201d.<\/p>\n

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\u201cLa Pastorale\u201d, Later version based on the manuscript,
B. Schott\u2019s S\u00f6hne Historical Archive,
Bayerische Staatsbibliothek,
Shelfmark Mus.Schott.As 73-1<\/p><\/div>\n

This autograph represents the volume\u2019s distinctive editorial highlight. During my research on the Burgm\u00fcller Etudes, I soon came across an original manuscript, from the historical archives of the Schott Music publishing house, preserved in the Bavarian State Library. We ordered the source, I sat down in the reading room \u2013 and was initially quite disappointed. This \u201cPastorale\u201d in front of me, this \u201cArabesque\u201d, and several other pieces were not \u201cmy\u201d Burgm\u00fcller Etudes at all. Completely different music. Such a beautiful autograph \u2013 and utterly useless for my edition. Then it clicked. These were indeed my Etudes. Just different. Sometimes, the title simply bore Burgm\u00fcller\u2019s autograph comment, \u201cTo be taken from the Etudes.\u201d Notated sometimes were the opening measures of a piece, sometimes several, even many measures familiar to me musically, others unfamiliar, interspersed with blank measures as placeholders. Strange! Finally, a picture emerged: Burgm\u00fcller had selected some of the Etudes from opus 100 and regrouped them. He had even compositionally reworked five of the Etudes, changing the order of their individual sections, adding a new introduction or conclusion \u2013 and in doing so, he employed a kind of abbreviated notation in which complete pieces emerge from what is written in the autograph and those measures to be inferred from the Etudes, op. 100. A compositional development, then, versions of the works previously unknown. In our edition, they are presented in an appendix, for the first time ever as edited music scores.<\/p>\n

What gave me great pleasure was collaborating with all who contributed to this edition and its many components. Our music engraver, Paul Hangstein, meticulously worked on the layout, on font sizes, column widths, and experimented with different icons. Melanie Spanswick and our English super-translator, John Wagstaff, worked with me to fine-tune the texts and titles. Sometimes, we were initially \u201clost in translation\u201d. No translations by Burgm\u00fcller of the French titles of the individual pieces have survived. But we needed translations, because without them, many piano students would have no idea what the works were about. It was fascinating to delve into the nuances of meaning with John Wagstaff. Take, for example, the Etude \u201cLa Babillarde\u201d. In previous editions, it\u2019s been called \u201cPlapperm\u00e4ulchen\u201d (\u201cChatterbox\u201d), \u201cDie Tratschtante\u201d (\u201cThe Tattletale\u201d), or \u201cDie Schwatzhafte\u201d (\u201cThe Gabber or Prattler\u201d) in German, and in English, usually just \u201cChatterbox\u201d. How should we approach it? Does the title describe a lively, bustling, cheerful conversation? Or is it referring to someone who talks incessantly and annoyingly without pausing for breath? What emphasis is being conveyed, and which fits the music? And if it is a person, who\u2019s to say it\u2019s a woman (\u201cDie Schwatzhafte\u201d in German definitely refers to a woman) who talks (too) much here? Because someone in the 19th century, who wasn\u2019t Burgm\u00fcller himself, simply assumed so? Would \u201cPlaudertasche\/Chatterbox\u201d (referring to the person) or \u201cPlauderst\u00fcndchen\/A Little Chat\u201d (referring to the situation) be more fitting as a new German\/English translation? What about gender roles in general? Take \u201cLa Chevaleresque\u201d, for example. Here, the German\/English title translations of previous editions are particularly varied: \u201cIm Trab\/Trotting\u201d, \u201cDes Edelfr\u00e4uleins Ritt\/My Lady\u2019s Ride\u201d, \u201cReiterst\u00fcck\/Music for a Cavalier\u201d, \u201cRitterlich\/Gallant\u201d. Do the French feminine article and the meaning of the foreign word \u201cchevaleresk\/chevaleresque\u201d in German or English lead us astray? Is it about chivalry? About elegance in general? About the elegance of a person on horseback, or simply about the motion of riding? And if someone is riding, why should they be a \u201cEdelfr\u00e4ulein\u201d (\u201cNoble Miss\u201d)? What would be the effect if, in 2026, a new translation used the now pejorative German term \u201cFr\u00e4ulein\u201d? That should if possible be avoided!<\/p>\n

Melanie Spanswick\u2019s texts also occasionally featured delightful wordplay in the clash of languages. \u201cLa Bergeronnette\u201d (\u201cDie Bachstelze\/The Wagtail\u201d), for example, is a cheerfully lively piece \u2013 and so it was natural for Melanie Spanswick, in her English texts, to allude to the English name of this creature (\u201cThe Wagtail\u201d), indicating that its restless, rapid tail movement is musically depicted. The only problem was that the German bird\u2019s namesake, as the name suggests, doesn\u2019t wag its tail, but rather wades around in a stream (which, incidentally, doesn\u2019t sound nearly as playfully charming as the English version, but rather more like a stork hunting for frogs to gobble up). So, the linguistic image didn\u2019t work \u2013 and here, as in many other places, solutions had to be found that would be effective in all three languages. Beyond the usual editorial work, this involved a splendid effort to work out many details.<\/p>\n

I hope the result will be generally considered a success, so that this newly printed Urtext edition will bring as much joy to many as it brought me during its creation.<\/p>\n