Seven Sonatas

SKU: AP.6-299791

ISBN 9780486299792. English.

Series II contains Medtner's final seven sonatas: Sonate-Ballade, Op. 27; Sonata in A Minor, Op. 30; Sonata-Reminiscenza, Op. 38, No. 1; Sonata tragica, Op. 39, No. 5; Sonata romantica, Op. 53, No 1; Sonata minacciosa, Op. 53, No. 2; and Sonate-Idylle, Op. 56. A bonus selection of three melodies includes Canzona matinata, Canzona seranata, and Alla Reminiscenza.

SKU: HH.HH528-FSP

ISBN 9790708185413.

Among Vienna’s many composers and pianists of the time, Anton Eberl (1765–1807) was the one considered most worthy of comparison with Beethoven. His Sonata in B flat major, Op.10 No.2, is the first known Viennese sonata for keyboard with clarinet, offered as a first-named alternative to violin. The alternatives are included in this edition. It is probably the fourth of his seven sonatas which included the violin and was published with an optional ‘basse’ – doubtless intended to be a part for a cellist – which permits performance as a piano trio. The sonata was composed around 1800 and dedicated to Franz Joseph the Prince of Dietrichstein, an official at the court of Emperor of Russia Paul I in St Petersburg. Eberl spent two periods in that city, 1796-9 and 1801-2, as Kapellmeister, performer and teacher. The work was first published by the St Petersburg firm of Gerstenberg & Dittmar. As contemporary reviewers found Beethoven’s Sonatas Op.12 with violin – works published in 1799 – challenging and ‘overladen with strange difficulties’, so too were the two sonatas Op.10 thought to be overlong and excessively complex. But in its duration, formal and harmonic novelty, and in the lively relationship between the clarinet or violin and the keyboard, his Op.10 No.2 shares much of the musical ambition and quality of Beethoven’s works in this genre.

SKU: HH.HH364-FSP

ISBN 9790708092940.

Partly on account of their instrumentation, the Op. 18 sonatas are closely modelled on Corelli's Opp. 1aEUR4, both in terms of style and violin technique. Each consists of four or five movements, at least one being a dance; most of the slow movements feature the familiar Corellian walking bass, while one of the fast movements in each sonata is fugal or based on imitative entries. In spite of their adherence to Italian models, however, the sonatas do display certain French elements, along with characteristics of Boismortier's individual style. The harmonic language is particularly rich, with a marked predilection for chords of the seventh, and two of the sonatas feature the composer's own version of a (loosely constructed) double fugue.

SKU: HH.HH426-FSP

ISBN 9790708146278.

Among Vienna’s many composers and pianists of the time, Anton Eberl (1765–1807) was the one considered most worthy of comparison with Beethoven. His Sonata in F major, Op.49, is probably the first of his seven sonatas with violin, and was published posthumously in Vienna the year after his March 1807 death.

SKU: HH.HH424-FSP

ISBN 9790708146254.

Among Vienna’s many composers and pianists of the time, Anton Eberl (1765–1807) was the one considered most worthy of comparison with Beethoven. His Sonata in B flat major, Op.35, his last of seven sonatas with violin, was composed around 1805 and dedicated to Maria Walburga, the Princess Bretzenheim. This was one Eberl’s last works, as he died prematurely, at the age of forty-one, in 1807. Unlike many of Eberl’s lesser contemporaries, in its duration, formal and harmonic novelty, and in the lively relationship between the violin and keyboard, his Op.35 shares much of the musical ambition and quality of Beethoven’s works in this genre.

Very little is known about the two sonatas which appear here in their original keys. They were placed in the library of the Music School in Oxford at the end of the seventeenth century in a form convenient for playing (i.e.unbound). The library was catalogued by Hake between 1850 and 1855 and the sonatas were eventually bound in 1855 with other instrumental and vocal manuscripts of the same period, some of which are dated 1698.

Thesonatas are both inscribed on the title page Sonata à Violone Solo. Col Basso per l'Organo, o Cembalo. A third sonata bears the words Sonata à Violino e Violoncino … di Giovannino del Violone.Giovannino(=Little, or Young John) must have been a performer, and although the third sonata has been copied by a different hand, it is conceivable that Giovannino is a connecting link between the three. He cannot, however, beassumed to be their author.

The Violone was a six-stringed instrument with frets, and there is evidence to suggest that the Contrabasso of the same period was similar but probably a little larger; the Violoncino(=Little Violone, or Violoncello) must have been smaller. The word 'Violone' was also used as a collective term embracing all members of the Viol family, which means that the sonatas might well have been written for a tenor or abass Viol, and not necessarily a Violone as such. Indeed, when they are played on a Violone, or Double Bass the continuo bass line must be played at a lower pitch than the solo instrument, to prevent inversion of the intendedharmony. (The use of a Violone/Double Bass continuo or 16' organ tone would overcome this problem.)

The editor has added no ornaments or embellishments to the solo part as it appears in the original manuscript. It isopen to debate whether a Violone player, owing to the very nature of his instrument, would have used any but the simplest melodic decorations. Nevertheless, the performer should acquaint himself thoroughly with those seventeenthcentury traditions that

SKU: CF.SAS9

ISBN 9781491162880. UPC: 680160921638. Key: D minor.

Despite an impressive body of work, little is known about German composer Emilie Mayer (1812-1883). Mayer studied composition with Carl Loewe after the death of her parents, writing a total of eight symphonies, eight violin sonatas, twelve cello sonatas, six piano trios, seven string quartets, seven orchestral overtures, and numerous works for piano and voice. Mayer's works were acclaimed in Germany and she toured frequently performing her music, an unheard of practice for a single woman at the time. Regrettably, however, most of her work remained unpublished at the time of her death. Written in her 30s, Mayer's stormy fourth and final movement from her second symphony reveals her bold Romantic style and growing confidence as a composer. Arranged for string orchestra and timpani, this movement was painstakingly drawn from the handwritten score, offering a profound opportunity for students to experience the music of this incredible composer for the first time.

SKU: IS.G6763EM

ISBN 9790365067633.

This sonata (WeissSW No. 25, Dresden) is one of a new series of eight sonatas by Silvius Leopold Weiss arranged for the first time for guitar and published by Metropolis Music. Sonata XXIX comes from a set of tablature manuscript volumes in the Sächsisches Landesbibliothek in Dresden (Ms. Mus. 2841-â?V-â?1). There are five volumes with a total of 34 sonatas of Weiss for solo lute. The sonatas are ordered by key and further sorted by size or complexity. Sonata XXIX comes from Weissâ??s middle â??productiveâ?? period, around 1720. The Sonata has seven movements: Prelude, Allemande (andante), Passepied, Bourée, Sarabande, Menuet, and it ends with a Gigue. There is another copy of this Sonata, known as Suite XIX, in a London Manuscript (British Library Ms. Add. 30387). The London version does not include a Prelude, and the Sarabande is completely different. The other movements are similar to those in the Dresden Manuscript. The Sonata in this Edition is based on the Dresden Manuscript. The purpose of beginning a lute sonata with a Prelude is to introduce the specific key and the harmonic design of the sonata. However, not every sonata in the Dresden and London manuscripts has a Prelude. About one third of the 34 Dresden Sonatas opens with a Prelude, but only six of them may be considered truly integral to the sonata. The other preludes are composed in a rather â??rudimentaryâ?? style, as a model for the less experienced lute player to improvise on the central key and theme. The Prelude in this particular Sonata cannot be regarded as integral. It has been added later, either by the compiler of the volumes or perhaps by Weiss himself. Originally, the Sonata is written in G minor, a key not often used by Weiss, but considered appropriate for playing the lute. With the guitar, however, the key is rather awkward. For ease and effectiveness of playing, I have transposed the Sonata a minor third lower to E minor. To create more concordance with the baroque tuning of the lute, the G string is lowered by a semitone to F sharp. I suggest using a capodastro to achieve the original pitch. Based on the present standard of A at 440 Hertz, the capo should be placed at the 3rd fret. However, during Weissâ??s lifetime, it was more common in many parts of Germany to use a standard of A at 415 Hertz -â? a semitone lower. So, to hear the pitch heard by Weiss and his contemporaries, the capo should then be positioned at the 2nd fret.