Frédéric Chopin: Polonaises Published Posthumously B 2: Piano: Instrumental

Edited from the sources by Christian Ubber-Regarded as the highlight among Chopin's polonaises the great Polonaise in A flat major Op. 53 has also become known as 'octave polonaise' because of the distinctive octave passages in the middle section. As was customary at that time the work was published in a German English and French first edition each. There also exists an autograph which served as an engraver's copy for the German first edition. Some personal copies of Chopin's pupils occasionally contain entries of the composer thus providing additional information e.g. original fingerings. Unfortunately all three first editions contain a different not always reliabletext. The new edition of Wiener Urtext Edition is based substantially on the autograph and the – to a large extent – carefully revised German first edition yet also takes some variants of the French first edition into account which give the impression of a last-hand version. The problems with regard to the sources and transmission are explained in detail in the preface and the critical notes. Variants containing a specific component with regard to the performance practice are commented on in the notes on interpretation.

Facsimile Hardback-The Polonaises Op. 40 belong to that later group. They comprise two works: a Polonaise in A major and a Polonaise in C minor. These two works comprise the second opus of piano polonaises to be published by Chopin and they form a powrful contrastwith one another representing two varietes of the heroic polonaise: the triumphant and the tragic. They also mark a further stage in the evolution of the polonaise: on the hand in the direction of monumentalisation; on the other towards a gradualweakening of its dance features so that the dance in transformed into a kind of dance fantasy.

This Alfred Masterwork Edition boasts the complete Piano Waltzes of Frederic Chopin edited from the original sources by Willard A. Palmer. Like his world-famous Mazurkas Polonaises and Etudes Chopin's Waltzes have become an integral part of the serious Piano repertoire offering some of the most warm and delightful melodies you could ever wish to play. Chopin's ingenuity inventiveness and imagination allowed him to craft works that today still sound refreshing and vital.