Mendelssohn violin concerto music edition

July 3, 2016 at 02:14 PM · I would like to think mine. You can download it for free at http://www.baylor.edu/music/index.php?id=925996 .It includes an urtext version and a piano score, all notated on Finale.

The fingerings and bowings are derived from my studies with Josef Gingold, Ivan Galamian, and Dorothy Delay. There was also input from myself and other violin teachers.

You can also find my editions of Bruch g minor, Saint Saens b minor, and Lalo Symphonie Espagnole, all with urtext and piano reductions.

July 3, 2016 at 03:13 PM · Barenreiter - no question / no debate

July 3, 2016 at 03:54 PM · Thank you Mr. Berg for offering the free download with your fingerings. There are always spots here and there in pieces that seem a bit difficult or awkward for my usage and I am interested in looking at your annotations on this work.

July 3, 2016 at 05:39 PM · If you wish to learn the original version of the violin concerto which Mendelssohn revised to the version that everyone plays then you should get the Bärenreiter edition for $56. Or you can pay $35 to get the Henle edition which is edited by Igor Ozim.

July 3, 2016 at 09:25 PM · The International edition is also perfectly serviceable, but is not an urtext, and it can be very useful to look at an urtext if you want to avoid "how everyone always plays it" as a starting point.

Bruce, out of curiosity, are the fingerings in your edition primarily selected for ease of reliable execution for students, reflection of the most common performer's choices at the current time, or something else?

July 3, 2016 at 10:13 PM · Bruce, the Barenreiter that most people buy is indeed the revised version. This is the most commonly available version they sell. They also sell an edition comparison of the two different versions, however I haven't seen it yet.

July 4, 2016 at 12:42 AM · Is there a big difference between Mendelssohn's original and the revised? Is one more difficult than the other?

July 4, 2016 at 01:02 AM · If you are working with a teacher get the edition your teacher tells you to get!

One other factor involved here is how the print quality lines up with what is visually comfortable for your reading.

If you are going about this without a teacher, I think Dr. Berg's edition will be very helpful in providing good fingerings - and enough of them. The pedigree of his pedagogy is topnotch.

I learned this and several other concertos from a book (of 10 concertos) called "Standard Violin Concertos" that cost me about 15 cents per concerto back around 1949 and is now clearly out, out, out of print (maybe out of the universe, since my attempts to "refresh" my copy this century have failed). Later editions I acquired (often Schirmer) did not add much for me. You will work out your own fingerings whatever edition you use if you are not satisfied with those in your edition -- and based on your abilities and your instrument, your own bowings and you will likely use those personalized approaches whatever edition you refresh yourself from in later years.

July 4, 2016 at 03:19 AM · Bruce, I just took a read through your Bruch edition (first movement). Generally the fingerings and bowings seem quite agreeable to what my daughter's teacher has put into her part. Note that the bar line between bars 84 and 85 is obscured by a note stem. Fingering in bar 86 seems harder for me than 4-3-2-3-1-3 but I can see the point of what you have there. Have you thought of posting it on IMSLP?

Edit: Check bass notes in bars 12 (F?) and 27 (A?) of the piano score.

July 4, 2016 at 09:12 AM · Helen - I have not seen the score, but the revised version is a result of Ferdinand David's corrections, which he worked on with Mendelssohn. Usually when a violinist collaborates with a composer (Mendelssohn was a viola player not a violinist), the result is a more idiomatic piece to the instrument. I suspect the original version might be more awkward.

July 4, 2016 at 09:37 AM · Helen, there are differences in both version, but not structurally, only a few passages with a lowered octave in the early version. There is however a different chord in the second movement that I have spotted so far.

The early version is slightly easier.

July 4, 2016 at 09:52 AM · Thanks James and Kenny.

July 4, 2016 at 03:06 PM · Thanks Kenny. I need to have a look!

July 4, 2016 at 03:06 PM · Thanks Kenny. I need to have a look!

July 4, 2016 at 09:52 PM · Hi Jacob!! If you need I can send you an scan of Mendelssohn music! Send me an email! Good luck

July 5, 2016 at 02:22 PM · Paul,

There are several reasons for the fingering in M. 86. The change from 4-3 on the downbeat gives emphasis to the first beat which remains the same (a flat). The fingering eliminates the augmented 2nd between f # and e flat. It is easier to give a vibrato accent on Beats 1 and 3 using 3rd finger.

Thanks for pointing out the 2 mistakes in the lower octave bass notes in the piano part. As you did most pianists would figure out that the correct notation is an octave, not a 9th. I will fix that in a revised edition. I do not think that there are any wrong notes in the violin part. I checked very carefully for that. If someone does discover one, I would be happy to know about it. I did ask ask a number of other well known university teachers to look through and give alternate bowing and fingering suggestions.

July 5, 2016 at 10:12 PM · Bruce, yes, your points about M. 86 make perfect sense.