Performance notes on the Violin Concerto op. 64 and on the Chamber Music for Strings by Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy

Beethoven himself left no cadenzas for his Violin Concerto. This edition is unique in drawing together for the first time a selection of cadenzas to one of the most famous works in the history of music written by composers and violinists over 150 years. This publication contains not only the well-known cadenzas by Leopold Auer and Joseph Joachim but also several which are seldom performed such as those by Ferdinand David (the first surviving cadenza to op. 61) Louis Spohr Eugène Ysaÿe Camille Saint-Saëns Henri Vieuxtemps Jakob Dont and for the first time one by Henryk Wieniawski.Commentaries (German/English) on the composers and on performancepractice are included. The edition complements the new piano reduction BA901990 and will be invaluable for all violinists studying Beethoven’s Violin Concerto.- Indispensible for all violinists studying this masterpiece- First publication of a cadenza by Wieniawski- With notes on performance practice- With an informative detailed preface (Ger/Eng)- For full score performance material and violin & piano reduction see BA9019

Each of the solos in this collection has been carefully selected from the most popular of the great orchestral pieces and expertly arranged for the intermediate to advanced cellist with Piano accompaniment. The arranger Geoffrey Pratley has included performance notes for each piece.The 8 pieces in Great Orchestral Solos For Cello - Book Two includePiano Concerto No 2 and Swan Lake byTchaikovsky Symphony No 8 Le Soir and Symphony No 13 by Haydn Poet and Peasant Overture (Suppé) Sous les Tilleuls (Massenet) St Matthew Passion (Bach) and Tosca (Puccini).Pull-out part for Cello.

2me Polonaise brillante pour violon avec acompagnement de piano op.21 Henryk Wieniawski wrote only two polonaises. The first one, op. 4 in D minor, is one of his youthful works; the other, op. 21 in A major, is one of the last works he composed. Moreover, H. Wieniawski is the co-author of another polonaise, op. 8, for violin and piano, which he wrote with his brother Józef Wieniawski, a pianist. The latter polonaise, like the Polonaise in D minor op. 4, is also a youthful composition (1852). The polonaise as a genre, therefore, does not occupy much space in Wieniawskis heritage. Nonetheless, both polonaises, in D minor and A major, constitute an essential part of his artistic inheritance. Likewise, both polonaises had been composed in two versions: for violin and orchestra, and for violin and piano. The Polonaise in A major was completed in 1870. It is not known precisely which of the versions, the one with the piano, or the one with the orchestra first came into being. It was the version with orchestra that the composer performed for the first time on 17 March 1870, in the Grand Theatre in St. Petersburg. But merely two months later he performed the Polonaise in Warsaw, accompanied by his brother Józef at the piano. It is quite possible that Wieniawski had already performed this version of the Polonaise. It is certain, nonetheless, that both versions either appeared simultaneously, or one was composed shortly after the other. From its first public performance until the end of his concert career, Wieniawski often included this Polonaise in his concert repertoire, playing one version or another, the choice depending on the needs and circumstances. Just to mention one occasion, he played the orchestral version during a concert tour of Sweden in 1870, when he dedicated and presented a manuscript of this piece to King Charles XV of Sweden. The dedication, however, was changed in print, and both versions were eventually dedicated to François van Hal. Both versions were published simultaneously, by Schott Publishers in Mainz, with the same plate number, though the orchestral version appeared only in parts, which was a common practice in those days. The piece was most probably not published earlier than 18751. The Polonaise was praised by the critics. The reviews reported that it was a magnificent piece2, and this opinion was shared by later critical reviews, both Russian and West European. The Polonaise remained popular after the composer had died, which is evident from the number of later editions of the piece (more than ten) issued by different publishers, mostly German, and prepared by different editors. In Poland, the Polonaise was published twice after the Second World War. All the editions introduced some more or less significant changes into the text, mostly concerning performance indications, but in a sense blurring the composers intentions. All those changes were pertinent to the violin and piano version, and it was mostly in this form that the piece appeared in concert and teaching repertoires. The performances with an orchestra were much more seldom which was, among other factors, due to limited availability of the orchestral version, as it had never been published again after the first edition, until now. The Polonaise in A major was composed approximately at the same time as the Violin Concerto No. 2 in D minor3. This convergence in time had influenced a certain similarity with regard to both composition and technical means, and also to the themes. In particular, the similarity becomes quite obvious in the second theme of the Allegro in the Concerto, and in the theme of the Polonaise. The Polonaise in A major is also in a certain way similar to the first Polonaise (in D minor), the motifs of the themes in both polonaises are alike. However, both pieces differ in style. The Polonaise in D minor shows the composers fascination with technical writing. Wieniawski makes the most of double-stops, chords, and all other sophisticated virtuoso techniques. The Polonaise in A major, written 18 years later, is much more mature. Although it is a virtuosic piece as well, the techniques used are somewhat more limited and subordinated to the expression. The virtuoso character of this piece is more fragile, much closer to the brillant style. At the same time, the Polonaise is typical of Wieniawskis violin playing technique. Here the composer uses the means regarded by his contemporaries to be typical of him, e.g., long staccato fragments played with one bow. The Polonaise is a concert piece in one movement extended form with a considerably abbreviated return of the first section at the end. The middle section is contrasting in character, due to the modulation to F major, change of tempo (meno mosso) and the reduction in the number of instruments (in the orchestral version). All the sections show thematic similarity. The first section, too, consists of three subsections, including a contrasting middle subsection (in E major). Zofia Chechlińska Footnotes 1. See The Critical Commentary, p. ? and onward. 2. See V. Grigoriev, Henryk Wieniawski. Życie i twórczość. [Life and Work] Warszawa - Poznań 1986, p. 184. 3. The first version of the Concerto No. 2 in D minor was completed in 1862, but in 1870, i.e., not until the Polonaise in A major was completed, Wieniawski had been working on the Concerto and implemented quite a few changes. Publisher: PWM/Towarzystwo Muzyczne im. Henryka Wieniawskiego w Poznaniu Series: Henryk Wieniawski - Complete Works Cover: softback Nr ISMN: 979-0-2740-0753-9 Number of pages: 34+8 Format: N4 stoj. 235x305 Language version of text: pol., Eng.

This book contains nine pieces from ABRSM?s Grade 8 Violin syllabus from 2024, three pieces chosen from each of Lists A, B and C ? ideal for both Practical and Performance Grade exams. The pieces have been carefully selected to offer an attractive and varied range of styles, creating a collection that provides an excellent source of repertoire to suit every performer. The book also contains helpful footnotes and, for those preparing for exams, useful syllabus information.Audio recordings of all nine pieces, plus piano accompaniment tracks, are included via the download code in the book.

In der Continuo-Gruppe sind 2 Cembali besetzt-(First Set Of 1720 - The Eight Great Suites) By George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) edited by Rudolf Steglich Terence Best. Collection for solo piano. Urtext of the Halle Handel Edition. 114 pages. Published by Baerenreiter-Ausgaben (German import). (BA.BA4224) ISBN M006446247. With introductory text performance notes and manuscript facsimiles (does not include words to the songs). Baroque.