BEETHOVEN String Quartets, Op. 18: No. 1 in F major and No. 4 in C minor

This new scholarly-critical edition of String Quartet Op.127 the first of Beethoven’s late quartets follows upon Urtext publications of Opp.18 59 74 and 95.Once more the editor is the renowned Beethoven authority Jonathan Del Mar. All surviving sources have been consulted including sketches to clarify the conflicting readings in the autograph. Not only has Del Mar reconstructed Beethoven’s original beaming phrasing articulation and length of crescendo hairpins he has also corrected wrong notes that have taken hold in editions published over the years and has supplemented missing notes.Urtext edition at the cutting edge ofscholarship with detailed separate Critical Commentary (Eng)Parts ideally laid out for performance purposesParts (BA9029) & study score format 22.5 x 16.5cm (TP929) available for saleAlready published: String Quartets Op.18 BA 9016 parts TP 916 study scoreString Quartets Op.59 BA 9017 parts TP 917 study scoreString Quartets Opp.74 95 BA 9018 parts TP 918 study score

String Quartet F major op. 135-Beethoven’s Op. 135 one of the last works he composed is equally famous for its compositional clarity and for the inadequacy of previous editions. The problem lies in the surviving sources forBeethoven’s autograph score contains a great many contradictions compared to his autograph set of parts. In 1827 after Beethoven’s death the German publisher of the first edition posthumously ironed out thesediscrepancies as he saw fit and later editions simply adopted his interventions. Rainer Cadenbach’s volume is the first attempt to produce an authoritative text for Op. 135. Beethoven’s contradictoryformulations are laid bare allowing musicians to make their own decisions.

The E-Flat Major String Quartet Op. 127 is a key work not only in Beethoven’s oeuvre but in the entire history of the genre. The first of the late quartets it 'transfers the formal and symbolicaspects of his two major works for Chorus and Orchestra [the Missa solemnis and the Ninth Symphony] to the more intimate domain of chamber music' (William Kinderman). For years music lovers have been waiting for a new editionbased on the scholarly text from the new Beethoven Gesamtausgabe. The wait has paid off! The highly complex source situation was examined for the first time and thus Beethoven’s 'final intentions' are nowavailable in an urtext edition. The set of parts (HN 740) and the score (HN 9740) both come with a detailed preface and editorial notes.

The string quartet is generally considered as the chamber-music genre of the classical era: invented by Haydn elaborated by Haydn and Mozart and brought to its compositional peak by Beethoven. All later quartet composers had to measure themselves against the works of these three masters. This applies first and foremost toMendelssohn who has always been called a “classical romantic.” His Quartet in a minor op. 13 in particular is said to have strong Beethovenian stylistic traits. It was composed in late summer and fall 1827 shortly after Beethoven’s late quartets appeared in print works that Mendelssohn was no doubt familiar with. The Quartet in E flat major op. 12 was written two years later during Mendelssohn’s first tour of England.A textually identical score of the two quartets is published in Henle’s Study Scores series (HN 9270).