Solo sonatas written in Italy in the early decades of the 17th century dazzle with originality imaginative impulses and instrumental virtuosity – aspects that have all been taken into consideration when choosing pieces for this attractive compilation of Italian Baroque violin music. Along with violin sonatas by Italian maestri Arcangelo Corelli Antonio Vivaldi and Tomasi Albinoni this volume offers the chance to get to know lesser-known composers of this genre such as Carlo Farina and Michele Mascitti who introduced Italian violin music to Germany and France. Our Urtext edition glows with a variety of Baroque gems from that era.

These variations are among Handel’s best-known keyboard works. The composer was allegedly inspired to create its unusual theme when seeking refuge in a smithy’s shop from a sudden rain-shower he heard the blacksmith singing a cheerful melody to the sound of his anvil. Handel used the theme with five variations as the closing movement of his fifth keyboard suite which he published in 1720. With its catchy theme the Harmonious Blacksmith variations enjoyed increasing popularity thereafter including as an independent piece. The edition presented here uses Handel’s edition of the Suite as its main source (since he definitely checked it personally) along with the availablemanuscript sources. G. F. Handel (1685-1759) was a German-born British composer and organist who spent his life working in London. In addition to his well-known large-scale works like the Water Music and Music for the RoyalFireworks he wrote nearly 200 smaller works for keyboard instruments. The Harmonious Blacksmith is a popular name given to the final movement of Handel's Suite No. 5 in E major forHarpsichord more properly known as Air and Variations (HWV 430). The work was published in 17620 but the name was added at some point in the 19th century some 75 years after the composer’s death.

The cycle with three movements composed at the end of 1907 and published at the beginning of the next year contains a singular innovation: Debussy notated the highly differentiated piano part that goes into the extreme registers on three staves. The first movement (Cloches à travers les feuilles) is reminiscent of a deathknell the second (Et la lune descend sur le temple qui fut) conjures up far-off India or also China- and as for the third movement (Poissons d’or) Debussy was inspired by an enamel painting of goldfish in his study. The dedicatee of the third movement Ricardo Viñes gave the first performance of the cycle.Henle Urtext Edition of the second series of Claude Debussy's Images for Piano solo edited by Ernst-Gunter Heinemann.

Joseph Haydn composed twenty-one string trios for two violins and violoncello of which three have been lost. These chamber music gems which do not turn up very often on concert programs are full of surprises and provide much playing enjoyment. Based on the Haydn Complete Edition also published by G. Henle Haydn’s eighteen surviving string trios are presented in two practical volumes. The first contains Trios Hob. V:1–8 and 10–13. The preface to this Urtext edition offers valuable information about the genesis of the trios. Moreover it contains numerous hints on performance practice concerning for example the execution of embellishments.

Andante F major for a Musical Clock K. 616-Automata of all types including musical automata had their moment of fame in the 18th century in “art cabinets” that exhibited inter alia musical clocks equipped with a wind-up cylinder and a bellows mechanism. Clockmakers often invited celebrated composers to write pieces for such a clock. This led to the composition of little works by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Haydn Mozart and many others. Mozart’s three works for the Flötenuhr K. 594 608 and the Andante K. 616 are nothing less than pearls of this literature which also includes the arrangement for piano presented here.

As with the g minor Quartet op. 25 the origins of opus 26 reach back into the 1850s. However it assumed its final shape only in summer and fall 1861. While in her first evaluation of the work Clara Schumann felt that the piece would “grow on the listener once he knows it perfectly and has often heard it ” Brahms’ friend Joseph Joachim wrote to him after a hasty perusal that he had “grown more and more favourable towards the A major Quartet. The tone of great intimacy and delicacy alternates beautifully with a fresh love of life.” With its use of a “brighter” key opus 26 is clearly the more accessible of the two adjacent piano quartets.Piano Violin Viola and Cello.

Etudes-Chopin succeeded in doing something truly remarkable with his two cycles of Etudes op. 10 and op. 25 published in 1833 and 1837 respectively. Probably no one before him had composed technical practice pieces that at the same time reached such musical heights. Chopin’s Etudes are character pieces that are full of tension written for the concert hall. The virtuosic works including long-running hits such as the “Revolutionary Etude” op. 10 no. 12 belong to the pianist’s core repertoire. In addition to the two cycles op. 10 and op. 25 our Urtext edition also contains three Etudes without opus number which Chopin composed for a Parisian piano method in 1840: wonderfully lyricalminiatures which can hold their own with the 24 grand studies. Twenty-seven of Chopin’s Etudes including all of Op.10 and Op.25 brought together in one superb volume. There is a wonderful collection of studies and melodies here all in varying styles and levels of difficulty but all have adeep-rooted sense of passion and expression. This Urtext edition has been edited from authoritative sources texts and original editions by Ewald Zimmerman and represents an authentic and accurate reproduction of thesemagnificent works by one of the greatest Piano composers of all time. These pieces remain popular today and are valuable and highly enjoyable concert pieces which emphasise musicality as well as technical principles.

Johann Christian Bach settled in London in 1762 after acquiring extensive experience in Italy. His Six Sonatas op. 5 are signposts towards the future classical piano sonata. Bach wrote them for the “Hammerflügel” which was still a very new instrument at that time he esteemed the instrument and frequently performed on it in public. On his own London concert tour the young Mozart manifested his enthusiasm for the piano works of the so-called “London” Bach. He was so enchanted by them that he reworked Sonatas 2-4 into piano concertos known today as K. 107.

It is fully justifiable to claim that Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy is the foremost German church-music composer of the 19th century. This is due above all to his many sacred vocal works in various formats and to his many compositions for the organ. The most important among them are without a doubt the six Organ Sonatas op. 65 which have become an indispensable component of the general organ repertoire. The spark was possibly lit by two English publishers who – thrilled by Mendelssohn’s organ playing – ordered various organ pieces in different formats from the composer. These pieces were written in 1844/45 and then collated to form six organ sonatas. However they didnot constitute sonatas in the strict sense of the word but rather suites. In their multiplicity of forms – reminiscent of chorales and lieder of polyphonic and virtuoso pieces – they form a genuine compendium of organ playing. Felix Mendelssohn's Organ Sonatas Op.65 as edited by Hubert Meister with fingering and pedalling by Wolfgang Stockmeier.

Domenico Scarlatti is today considered one of music history’s great piano composers and the first-ever piano virtuoso. The present collection contains 24 sonatas from various creative periods offering a survey of the rich and varied output of this Italian musician who worked at the Spanish court. Scarlatti triumphed over the heavy Baroque style with his characterful themes natural cantabile melodies and dance-like movements. The performance-technical moment is a formally constitutive element within his one-movement sonatas. For the first time in the history of piano music the interpreter must cross the hands and master wide leaps. Renowned pianist Bengt Johnsson providesinformation on Scarlatti’s life and career as well as on the various sources on which this edition is based in his preface to the edition. A few sonatas appear in print here for the first time. An additional “bon-bon” is the reprint of a preface to the edition of 30 of Scarlatti’s piano sonatas published in 1738. Absorbing reading for all who wish to acquire a deeper understanding of Scarlatti’s piano music. This Henle Urtext edition contains a selection of 24 Piano Sonatas by the Italian composer Domenico Scarlatti .

für zwei Hörner zwei Violinen Viola und Bass-It is hardly surprising that Beethoven did not write any more chamber music for winds after 1800. Following the change to middle-class musical culture demand declined for buoyant serenades and divertimenti intended for court circles – a genre that Beethoven had reservations about as it was. Composed in 1795 with no known occasion in mind his Sextet op. 81b is thus all the more remarkable standing out on account of the unusual virtuosity of the horn parts. Our edition is the first to provide the bass part as originally intended by Beethoven: for violoncello supported by a double bass. In addition to the original horn parts in E flat it also contains transposed parts in F.?It is hardly surprising that Beethoven did not write any more chamber music for winds after 1800. Following the change to middle-class musical culture demand declined for buoyant serenades and divertimenti intended for courtcircles – a genre that Beethoven had reservations about as it was. Composed in 1795 with no known occasion in mind his Sextet op. 81b is thus all the more remarkable standing out on account of the unusual virtuosity of the hornparts. This edition is the first to provide the bass part as originally intended by Beethoven: for violoncello supported by a double bass. In addition to the original horn parts in E flat it also contains transposed parts in F.

Franz Schubert’s piano works belong to pianists’ core repertoire and of course to Henle’s too. Our catalogue contains almost all of Schubert’s piano compositions. This volume contains the piano works that are played the most: the two collections offour Impromptus (D 899 and D 935) as well as the six Moments Musicaux (D 780). Our edition was first printed in the year that the publishing house was founded in 1948. The editor and person who provided the fingerings was a pianist who is stillgreatly admired: Walter Gieseking. We have made numerous “cuttings” from this main “plant”- single editions with the identical musical text ofthe Impromptus op. 90 The Urtext edition of Schubert's Impromptus And Moments Musicaux for piano solo as edited by Walter Gieseking. Contents include: 4 Impromptus Op.90 D.899 6 Moments Musicaux Op.94 D.780 4Impromptus Op. post. 142 D.935

Max Reger’s reception of Bach was not limited to the organ and orchestra. Like Bach Reger wanted to compose sonatas and suites for a solo string instrument that were not merely études but rather presented a compositional compendium. Among them are his three Suites for viola solo op. 131d. Reger published these in the last year of his life 1914/15 together with Six Preludes and Fugues for violin solo Three Duos in Ancient Style for two violins and Three Suites for violoncello solo grouping all these works under the opus number 131. The present Urtext edition of the Suites for viola solo op. 131d is based on the first edition of 1916 which was prepared using the nowlost manuscript. The editor discusses all the divergences between this edition and the first edition in his preface and Critical Report.

When Günter Henle founded his Urtext publishing house in 1948 he opened his catalogue with our two-volume edition of Mozart’s complete piano sonatas these still bear the publisher’s numbers HN 1 and HN 2. The four-digit order numbers HN 9001 and 9002 merely designate the reduced-sized pocket scores of these larger reference editions and are textually exactly the same. Naturally both Mozart volumes (large and small) have been revised many times over the years enabling G. Henle Verlag unlike other music publishers to guarantee that they offer a musical text that reflects the most current state of research. Mozart’s autograph manuscript survives for many of the sonatas andfor some works the composer lightly revised and enriched his text before printing which is why the Henle Urtext edition reproduces both versions in such cases. The editor’s preface and Critical Commentary provide detailed information about all sources and textual issues.

Versions 1913 and 1931-Finally G. Henle Publishers is able to offer one of Rachmaninov’s most important most substantial piano works in a meticulous Urtext edition that does justice to the work and to the editorial difficulties it raises. Rachmaninov was unhappy with the dense textures and the length of his Piano Sonata in b-flat minor so almost 20 years after its composition and publication he made numerous cuts and “streamlined” it – though this has been criticised by pianists down to the present day. For this reason it is mostly the first version that is played today – or even a mixture of the two versions such as Vladimir Horowitz used to perform (albeit with the permission of the composer).This Henle Urtext edition also takes into account the autograph in the Moscow Glinka Museum. As in all the Rachmaninov editions in the catalogue of G. Henle Publishers the fingerings here are by Marc-André Hamelin one of the outstanding pianists of our time.

for Piano Four-hands-The decisive role that Norwegian folk music played for Edvard Grieg can be felt in almost all of his works. The Norwegian Dances op. 35 of 1880 presented here in an Urtext edition are arrangements for piano four hands of old folk tunes that Grieg took from a collection published by the musician and researcher Ludvig Mathias Lindeman. For this Henle Urtext edition all the extant autographs in the Grieg Archive in Bergen Norway were consulted along with the contemporary first editions. The co-editor here is the Norwegian pianist and Grieg specialist Einar Steen-Nøkleberg who is also responsible for the fingerings.

Bartók’s Rumanian Folk Dances composed in 1915 are among his best-known works. They exist in multiple forms since as well as several piano arrangements and a later orchestral version of his own there also exist arrangements by his contemporaries that were made with his consent. Today we can even access performances of the dances by Bartók himself; these recordings document varied repeats enriched by octave doublings to make a sort of “concert version” of the dances. Bartók expert László Somfai brings order to the rich fund of sources and in Henle’s Urtext edition enters significant variants directly into the musical text itself.

Piano Sonata No. 1 in f minor op. 2 1-La première sonate pour piano que Beethoven a publiée avec numéro d’opus révèle immédia-tement toute la singularité de ce compositeur qui malgré tout ce qu’il doit à ses prédécesseurs se différencie nettement de Haydn et Mozart. Le mouvement lent est une adaptation du 2e mouvement du quatuor avec piano WoO 36 no 3 lui-même directement inspiré de Mozart et composé alors que Beethoven était encore à Bonn. Cependant il est évident que Beethoven emprunte de nouvelles voies notamment dans les deux mouvements extrêmes animés d’une forte intensité dramatique.

268 Scottish Songs

für Klavier (Cembalo) mit zwei Violinen und Violoncello