Beethoven: Sonatas For Piano And Violoncello, Revised Edition

Incl. Cello Version of the Horn Sonata op. 17 Edited from the sources by Christiane Wiesenfeldt Arrangement of the cello part and notes on interpretation by Heinrich Schiff. Fingerings of the piano part by Christian Ubber Urtext With his sonatas for violoncello and piano, Beethoven laid the foundations for a totally new chamber music genre which inspired subsequent composers such as Johannes Brahms and Richard Strauss among others. The extent of what has survived of the five works by Beethoven is quite different. Whereas all original manuscripts of the two early sonatas Op. 5 are missing, unusually comprehensive source material is extant of the late opus 102 which, however, leaves no less serious questions unsettled. The new edition of the Wiener Urtext Edition provides a musical text obtained from the critical comparison of the sources which, however, avoids suggesting absolute certainty at problematic passages. Here, the editor rather suggests the most plausible solution as main text, but alternatives are made available to the musician in footnotes and remarks - and, in the case of major divergences, even in the separate cello part so that the cellist can see such information without having to look in the Critical Report. This volume also contains the cello version of the Horn Sonata Op. 17 the alternative instrumentation of which can be regarded as absolutely authentic according to recent research. Thanks to fold-out pages and optimized page-turns, the performance material is extremely practical. The arrangement of the violoncello part by Heinrich Schiff takes into account not only the musicians' individual playing techniques but also the differences between the individual instruments.

Violoncello and Piano-Originally Beethoven wrote Sonata Op. 17 for Horn and Piano. This composition was intended for the famous Horn virtuoso Johann Wenzel Stich who called himself Giovanni Punto. Punto had greatly expanded the playing techniques on the natural Horn. Accordingly Beethoven tailored the solo part completely to the unique playing skills of this virtuoso musician. Punto performed the work several times; to other hornists however it remained unaccessible at that time because of its difficulties. That probably was the reason why this work was published in a version for Horn or Violoncello one year after the world premiere already. It isdeemed to be fairly certain that this arrangement goes back to Beethoven himself. Carl Czerny already ranked this sonata among Beethoven's original Cello sonatas and listed it chronologically as No. 3. Like the 1801 edition of the Viennese publisher Tranquillo Mollo the Wiener Urtext Edition publishes the sonata for Horn or Violoncello and Piano. Whereas the Horn sonata was very difficult to play at the time of creation the arrangement for Violoncello curiously enough is one of the easiest among Beethoven's Cello sonatas. For this reason the composition is increasingly popular among cellists as an accessible approach to Beethoven's oeuvre for violoncello and piano. Consequently the work is now available in the Wiener Urtext Edition series as separate edition as well.