Bärenreiter Urtext

There is a wistful and melancholic, yet warm and passionate quality about the Elgar Cello Concerto which perhaps initially endeared it almost exclusively to English hearts. Slowly, however (and doubtless with the help of the deservedly famous recording by Jacqueline du Pré), it is conquering the world, and is becoming recognised as one of the very few greatest cello concertos of all time. The complete autograph solo part is reproduced in full color facsimile in the Critical Commentary, which should prove an irresistible source of inspiration for cellists the world over. - Jonathan Del Mar.

In 1832, the Royal Philharmonic Society of London honoured the young German composer Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy with several commissions. One of the works composed as a result was the A major symphony, the "Italian", based on Mendelssohn's experiences in Italy in 1830 and 1831. The work was premiered in 1833, conducted by the composer. Today, the Italian Symphony has a firm place in the canon of classical masterworks, though at its premiere and both the following performances, the work was not entirely positively received. Mendelssohn himself was unhappy with it. In 1834, he revised the last three movements, but did not complete this revision. To this day, the early version of the "Italian" is the one played everywhere, whilst the revised version has remained to a large extent unknown. Bärenreiter's critical new edition, edited by Christopher Hogwood, includes all the performance material for the complete version of 1833, together with the last three movements in the composer's revised version. Conductors can now choose between the early and revised versions; the revised one includes the first movement from the early version. - Publisher.

Like every other great 19th-century solo concerto, Dvorák's famous Cello Concerto was a collaboration between composer and virtuoso. It has long been known that certain solo passages in Dvorák's autograph score were actually written by the cellist Hanuš Wihan; but Bärenreiter's edition now reveals that some details in the orchestral parts are also in his writing, showing just how closely the two musicians were working together. The editor Jonathan Del Mar has painstakingly examined all the surviving sources, including two that have hitherto been either ignored or crucially undervalued, in order to produce an authoritative edition which restores -- for the first time since the original edition was published in 1896 -- Dvorák's final and definitive version of the solo cello part. This differs, in details, in almost every bar from the version found in all other modern editions, while hundreds of corrections have also been made to the orchestral parts. - Publisher.

Mozart composed the majority of his works for solo string instruments and orchestra during the years 1773 to 1779. Especially important in this context are the years 1773 and 1775, which witnessed the creation of the five concertos for violin and orchestra as well as several single movements for the same scoring. The reasons for this flourish of activity in this domain lie partly in the fact that Mozart, who still occupied the post of concertmaster to the Prince-Archbishop, was either obliged or inspired to provide such works for special occasions during this long period spent in Salzburg. But another reason was certainly the possibility of experimenting with all the new compositional techniques acquired during his third trip to Italy and his stay of several months in Vienna from July to September 1773. - Publisher.

This new edition, in contrast to the array of Bach Cello Suite publications available today, has made use of all the five sources which have come down to us. The basis for this edition is the most reliable of the sources, the manuscript copy in the hand of Anna Magdalena Bach. All variant readings from the four other sources are clearly laid out for performance. Cellists now have the possibility of rendering performances based on just one of the five sources as well as the option of combining the sources in a mixed version. - Publisher.

Leos Janacek wrote only two works for cello and piano, of which only Pohadka (Fairy Tale) became established in the concert repertoire. Although he completed the work, the composer did not want to have it published. The history of the work's composition is long and complicated. Janacek began writing the work before 1910, however, the Pohadka (Fairy Tale) only received its final form after a series of corrections in 1923. The second composition, the Presto, is incomplete. Only a sketch exists which Janacek did not develop further. The original tempo marking of Allegro was changed by Janacek himself to Presto. The work has been discussed under this title in recent Janacek literature. In the supplement of this edition an early version of A Tale is included. The source to this version is a copy owned by Antonin Vana , one of the first interpreters of the composition. The early version of A Tale offers a valuable and interesting alternative to today's known version with its marked differences such as the considerably changed ending of the first movement and the original form of four movements. Includes a detailed new foreword by Jiri Zahradka (Czech, English, German) - Publisher.