This first volume in the Classical Piano Solos series features 20 original pieces from the masters, suitable for pianists at a Grade 1 standard.This series was compiled to correlate loosely with the Modern Course method and can be used to supplement any teaching method or situation. This volume features a mix of well-known pieces, including several from Bartok's method (co-authored in 1913 with Reschofsky) and Burgmüller's 'Arabesque,? as well as lesser-known gems by composers like Melanie Bonis, Vincent d'Indy and Daniel Turk. Also includes two bonus pieces - by Gurlitt and Schmitt respectively - that have been adapted so that the beginning student can immediately start playing the classical repertoire. / Piano

Par BARTOK BELA. Bartók composed his first pedagogical collection For Children between 1908 and 1911. The first edition was issued between 1909 and 1911 in four volumes, comprising two of Hungarian and two of Slovak folk song arrangements. After moving to America, Bartók considered it important to produce new editions of his earlier works. Thus in autumn 1943, together with his new publisher Boosey & Hawkes, he planned a new edition of For Children, and to this end completely revised the collection. Although Bartók had already completed his revision by the end of 1943, the revised edition was only issued in 1946. The pieces were published without titles in the first edition, but the folksong lyrics were included. These lyrics, deemed unnecessary for the non-Hungarian audiences, were not taken over to the American revised edition however, a significant number of pieces were provided with a title conveying their mood and their background in folk music and folk life. The American edition omitted the folk songs lyrics that seemed unnecessary to the audience there, but the titles of the first edition were replaced with English titles (some with the same meaning and some with modified interpretations) conveying each song's mood and background in folk music and folk life.The present edition - which contains the same scores as those in Volume 37 of the Béla Bartók Complete Critical Edition (Z. 15037) - is based on the revised version that the composer made in 1943 for the new edition, to which he also referred to as ''corrected''. We have added Hungarian translations to the English titles but we have also restored the original collection of folk song texts with parallel English translations. The pieces discarded from the revised version, as well as early versions that are significantly different from the revised version, are included in the Appendix. This publication contains a preface and editorial comments in both Hungarian and English./ Recueil / Piano

Par BARTOK BELA. With the “ Concerto for Orchestra , ” Henle inaugurates a series of affordable study scores based on the text of the Bartók Complete Edition. When Bartók received the commission to compose this piece from Serge Koussevitsky in May 1943, it meant not only financial support, but also an important creative impetus for the gravely ill composer. By October, the five-movement concerto, which Koussevitsky enthusiastically dubbed “the best orchestral work of the last 25 years, ” was already complete. The first performances in the winter of 1944–45 were also very successful. Nevertheless, Bartók was moved to set down an alternate ending, which thecomposer, who passed away in September 1945, would never be destined to hear. Bartók specialist Klára Móricz includes both versions in her edition and summarises the history and transmission of the “Concerto for Orchestra” in a fascinating foreword. A brief commentary section provides information about the principles underlying the edition. / Móricz, Klára / Répertoire / Orchestre

Par BARTOK BELA. Bartók?s Second String Quartet was composed ? with several long interruptions ? between 1915 and 1918, after he had spent several years almost solely devoted to collecting folk music. The melody and rhythms of the riotous middle movement ?Allegro, molto capriccioso? provide impressive testimony of how his research trips had taken him as far as North Africa. The first edition of this quartet, published in Vienna in 1920, contains a conspicuous number of errors that were only partially corrected in a later revision undertaken by Bartók. As late as the 1940s he noted changes in his personal copy of the score that have never previously appeared in print. These late changes by Bartók are taken into account in this definitive edition of the string quartets supervised by Bartók scholar László Somfai, with problematic passages in the sources carefully documented. It is the first-ever Urtext edition of this work. Sensible page turns and cue notes in the parts mean that this edition is ideal for exploring Bartók?s sound world in performance. / Date parution : 2023-05-06/ Répertoire / Quatuor à Cordes

Par BARTOK BELA. Like so many famous virtuosic works, Bartók’s Sonata for Solo Violin was said, by its commissioner, Yehudi Menuhin, at first sight, to be unplayable! Of course, Menuhin soon changed his opinion, later describing the work as the most important composition for solo violin since Bach. The original work used the full array of violin techniques such as stopped harmonics, left-hand pizzicato and quarter tones. These demands gave arranger, Christophe Dejour, much pause for thought when preparing this arrangement, not least in how to produce quarter tones on the guitar! Fortunately, both Bartók and Menuhin came to his rescue here. Menuhin had had problems playing these at speed and Bartók agreed that they were only for “colour” and accepted an alternative version Menuhin presented to him. The Sonata also contains several compositional techniques that are highly appropriate for the guitar such as chord progressions, contrapuntal motion and rhythmic sharpness, allowing Dejour to produce an arrangement that requires great skill to play, just as the original violin version demanded of Yehudi Menuhin./ Répertoire / Guitare

Par BARTOK BELA. The ?Romanian Folk Dances? are undoubtedly among the most popular works of Bartók. The earliest version is for piano (1915) and was published by Universal Edition in 1918; arrangements for many other instruments followed. Now the internationally successful violist Kim Kashkashian presents her arrangement for viola and piano. Proof that Bartók?s dances are also perfectly accentuated by the warm sound of the viola. (After the transcription for violin and piano by Zoltán Székely, UE 8474)/ Répertoire / Alto et Piano

Op. 20. Par BARTOK BELA. After his 15 Hungarian peasant songs (HN 1404), these Improvisations on Hungarian peasant songs are the second of Bartók' s works to feature the words ' Hungarian peasant songs” in their title. The manner in which he confronts folk melodies with subtle, avant-garde sounds here was later described by Bartók himself as venturing to ' the outermost limits”. He also breaks up the song structures so radically into their constituent motives that the title ' improvisations” best conveys his approach to this folk music. The musical text of this Urtext edition, edited by Bartók expert László Somfai, is taken from the relevant volume of the Bartók Complete Edition. Comments at the close of this edition offer important hints on performance practice./ Répertoire / Piano

Aus Den 44 Duos Für Zwei Violinen. Par BARTOK BELA. 44 Duos' by Béla Bartók - the complete collection available for the first time in one edition for two celli. The '44 Duos' by Béla Bartók were written in 1931 and were originally included in a tutor for the violin, written by the teacher Erich Doflein (1900-1977). Since then they have become an indispensable key to the understanding of twentieth century music. Until now a version for two celli was limited to 18 selected duos. The present edition for two celli is the first to include them all. The arrangements are based either on the possibility of a downwards transposition by an octave, or, where the original makes use of the violin's open E string, downwards by a twelfth. • Introduction to Béla Bartók‘s musical world and to the most important elements of the folk music of Hungary and the neigbouring regions • All of the Duos are available for the first time in one edition arranged for two celli by Hans Erik Deckert • Provides aspiring cellists the chance to experience the musical partnership required by chamber music/ Répertoire / 2 Violoncelles

This second volume in the Classical Piano Solos series features 22 original pieces from the masters, suitable for pianists at a Grade 2 standard.This series was compiled to correlate loosely with the Modern Course method and can be used to supplement any teaching method or situation. This volume features a mix of well-known pieces such as Petzold's 'Minuet in G Major? from the Anna Magdelena Notebook, Schumann's 'Soldier's March,? and Beethoven's 'Ecossaise in G Major? as well as lesser-known gems like d'Indy's modern 'Three-Finger Partita? and Rebikov's ominous 'Limping Witch Lurking in the Woods.? / Piano

Béla Bartók's series of piano pieces For Children, based on folk melodies, was written around the end of the first decade of the 20th century. The pieces were published shortly afterwards by the Hungarian publisher Károly Rozsnyai. That first publication was in four volumes, the first two containing a total of 42 pieces based on Hungarian folk tunes, the third and fourth containing 43 pieces based on Slovakian folk tunes.In 1943, whilst in the United States, Bartók prepared a revised version of the collection for the publishers Boosey and Hawkes. The revisions were minimal: two Hungarian and four Slovakian songs were eliminated, there were a few minor alterations incorporating new ideas, some of the pieces previously written with accidentals had key signatures added, a few pieces were rewritten with changed meters - some fingerings were added or changed.The composer prepared the revised 1943 edition by using copies of the first edition on which he marked minor changes - where the changes were more extensive, fresh manuscript was written and a new version engraved. However, much of the engraving of the first edition was preserved in the 1943 edition. Publication took place in 1946, after the composer's death - it is not known if he saw final proofs prior to printing.The revised edition was published in two volumes, which now have been published together as one volume for the first time. / Piano