Beethoven Concerto editions

October 14, 2009 at 02:11 AM ·

Henle is pretty good. All the Urtext editions are expensive for available violin concertos.Sorry, I don't have Beethoven yet.

If you want Free Urtext editions of Bruch #1, Saint Saens #3, Mendelssohn e minor, and Lalo Symphonie Espagnole you can go to my website and download them. There is also an edited version and piano part. http://www.baylor.edu/music/strings/index.php?id=41608

October 14, 2009 at 11:14 AM ·

In some of the older editions such as Schirmer that weren't carefully edited according to modern musicological standards (i.e., basing the text on Beethoven's autograph manuscript and other contemporaneous sources), you're liable to find a lot of errors have crept into the score.  And the fingerings and bowings will probably reflect the way violinists played 100-150 years ago, which is generally not thought to be idiomatic to Beethoven's era--more position shifts and hence slides, among other things.  Oistrakh and Francescatti produced mid-20th century editions.  Most people seem not to like Francescatti's fingerings and bowings, which are supposedly very personal to his unique playing style.  (Although I sometimes wonder whether the big names the publishers attach to their editions actually did the editing.)

The Henle edition has added fingerings and bowings; the new Baerenreiter edition probably won't.  The advance publicity for the new  Baerenreiter edition trashes its Henle competitor, alleging that even the revised edition published in 2003 is still riddled with errors.  (I'm just reporting this--I haven't personally gone back to the autograph and compared.  It's apparently in existence in some library somewhere, most likely in Bonn or Berlin or Vienna, but I'm just too lazy.)  It will probably be a few months before the Baerenreiter edition is available, since it has just been published.

October 14, 2009 at 11:47 AM ·

Urtext is not always expensive: There is a very nice and cheap Urtext edition from Schott, edited by Igor Ozim (only solo part, no piano part). This edition is very interesting. It clearly shows how to think about the (impossible) legato bowings: it's purely about articulation, Beethoven didn't care how the violinist will handle it. You have to think and decide yourself when using this edition (no "Urtext" with fingerings and bowings by an editor). The cleanliness of the text shows how many common bowings but also dynamics reflect a romantic tradition but not the ideas of Beethoven. However, those traditions nevertheless became part of the concerto. The Schott edition really is stimulating and thought-provoking, not offering solutions. That's how Urtext should be. Another option: take your old edition and buy the Henle Urtext full score.

October 14, 2009 at 01:40 PM ·

I learned from the Henle, but my teacher didn't use many of the bowings and fingerings.  Henle is not an Urtext edition, it is Schneiderhan's edition.

I am looking forward to the new Barenreiter edition, and if we are lucky, they will produce something similar to their Mozart concerto editions, which include an edited part, an Urtext part, and different cadenzas to choose from.

I also am fond of the paper stock Barenreiter uses.  I don't know much about these things, but Barenreiter's paper holds up great, and is a nice creamy color.  The music size and style are easy on the eyes.  Maybe there are music font nerds out there that can explain the specifics, but just because I don't know the names doesn't mean these things go unnoticed and unappreciated...

October 14, 2009 at 02:31 PM ·

What Bill said.  Most editors added a large number of bowings, so you want an edition that shows what bowings Beethoven actually intended.  I used Henle urtext, which has additional edits, but only because I had not discovered the Schott.

I remember my father telling me that he saw Szymon Goldberg play the concerto in the 1950s, after Goldberg had researched the manuscript, and he said it was a revelation. 

October 14, 2009 at 03:18 PM ·

Anne:  I believe you must have a different Henle from mine.  Looking at it, it says "Henle Urtext" and the fingering and bowing of the violin part is added by Wolfgang Schneiderhahn.  There's a very interesting preface in the piano reduction, where it says that the "solo violin part contained in the piano score is a reproduction of the urtext as appearing in the Complete Edition Beethoven Werke."    Henle Ref no is 326.

I really like this Henle and find it suits my requirements very well, it is nicely set out, easy to read, I can refer to the piano reduction for more Urtext detail if I want etc. 

October 14, 2009 at 03:37 PM ·

Hi Rosalind, you are correct, I am wrong, I was thinking of the Henle Beethoven Sonatas, which are just as overly-edited as the Schneiderhan edition, which is the edition I use.

Thanks for catching my mistake.  I'm correcting my entry.  Sigh.  It has been one of those weeks...

(But still giddy about the new Barenreiter edition!)

October 14, 2009 at 03:54 PM ·

 Actually, the Henle does have some mistakes...most egregiously a couple of notes in the transition to the recap.  I don't have the part on me or I would label the bars.  Barenreiter is good.  Actually, the most faithful edition I have seen is the 1905 (approx.) edition by Joachim.

October 15, 2009 at 12:01 AM ·

Andrew - if you have a moment with the music, please would it be possible to give more details on these erroneous notes.  It would be great to be able to jot them into my violin part. 

October 16, 2009 at 05:46 PM ·

Thanks, everyone! I will look into getting Baerenreiter.