Symphony No. 2 in C-minor

SKU: BA.BA10303-01

ISBN 9790006559503. 33 x 26 cm inches. Key: C minor. Preface: Michael Stegemann.

The third symphony by Camille Saint-Saens, known as the Organ Symphony, is the first publication in a complete historical-critical edition of the French composer's instrumental works.

I gave everything I was able to give in this work. [...] What I have done here I will never be able to do again.Camille Saint-Saens was rightly proud of his third Symphony in C minor Op.78, dedicated to the memory of Franz Liszt. Called theOrgan Symphonybecause of its novel scoring, the work was a commission from the Philharmonic Society in London, as was Beethoven's Ninth, and was premiered there on 19 May 1886. The first performance in Paris followed on 9 January 1887 and confirmed the composer's reputation asprobably the most significant, and certainly the most independent French symphonistof his time, as Ludwig Finscher wrote in MGG. In fact the work remains the only one in the history of that genre in France to the present day, composed a good half century after the Symphonie fantastique by Hector Berlioz and a good half century before Olivier Messiaen's Turangalila Symphonie.

You would think that such a famous, much-performed and much recorded opus could not hold any more secrets, but far from it: in the first historical-critical edition of the Symphony, numerous inconsistencies and mistakes in the Durand edition in general use until now, have been uncovered and corrected. An examination and evaluation of the sources ranged from two early sketches, now preserved in Paris and Washington (in which the Symphony was still in B minor!) via the autograph manuscript and a set of proofs corrected by Saint-Saens himself, to the first and subsequent editions of the full score and parts. The versions for piano duet (by Leon Roques) and for two pianos (by the composer himself) were also consulted. Further crucial information was finally found in his extensive correspondence, encompassing thousands of previously unpublished letters. The discoveries made in producing this edition include the fact that at its London premiere, the Symphony probably looked quite different from its present appearance ...

No less exciting than the work itself is the history of its composition and reception, which are described in an extensive foreword. With his Symphony, Saint-Saens entered right into the dispute which divided French musical life into pro and contra Wagner in the 1880s and 1890s. At the same time, the work succeeded in preserving the balance between tradition and modernism in masterly fashion, as a contemporary critic stated:The C minor Symphony by Saint-Saens creates a bridge from the past into the future, from immortal richness to progress, from ideas to their implementation.

On 19 March 1886 Saint-Saens wrote to the London Philharmonic Society, which commissioned the work:

Work on the symphony is in full swing. But I warn you, it will be terrible. Here is the precise instrumentation: 3 flutes / 2 oboes / 1 cor anglais / 2 clarinets / 1 bass clarinet / 2 bassoons / 1 contrabassoon / 2 natural horns / [3 trumpets / Saint-Saens had forgotten these in his listing.] 2 chromatic horns / 3 trombones / 1 tuba / 3 timpani / organ / 1 piano duet and the strings, of course. Fortunately, there are no harps. Unfortunately it will be difficult. I am doing what I can to mitigate the difficulties.

As in my 4th Concerto [for piano] and my [1st] Violin Sonata [in D minor Op.75] at first glance there appear to be just two parts: the first Allegro and the Adagio, the Scherzo and the Finale, each attacca. This fiendish symphony has crept up by a semitone; it did not want to stay in B minor, and is now in C minor.

It would be a pleasure for me to conduct this symphony. Whether it would be a pleasure for others to hear it? That is the question. It is you who wanted it, I wash my hands of it. I will bring the orchestral parts carefully corrected with me, and if anyone wants to give me a nice rehearsal for the symphony after the full rehearsal, everything will be fine.

When Saint-Saens hit upon the idea of adding an organ and a piano to the usual orchestral scoring is not known. The idea of adding an organ part to a secular orchestral work intended for the concert hall was thoroughly novel - and not without controversy. On the other hand, Franz Liszt, whose music Saint-Saens' Symphony is so close to, had already demonstrated that the organ could easily be an orchestral instrument in his symphonic poem Hunnenschlacht (1856/57). There was also a model for the piano duet part which Saint-Saens knew and may possibly have used quite consciously as an exemplar: theFantaisie sur la Tempetefrom the lyrical monodrama Lelio, ou le retour a la Vie op. 14bis (1831) by Berlioz. The name of the organist at the premiere ist unknown, as, incidentally, was also the case with many of the later performances; the organ part is indeed not soloistic, but should be understood as part of the orchestral texture.

In fact the subsequent success of the symphony seems to have represented a kind of breakthrough for the composer, who was then over 50 years of age.My dear composer of a famous symphony, wrote Saint-Saens' friend and pupil Gabriel Faure:You will never be able to imagine what a pleasure I had last Sunday [at the second performance on 16 January 1887]! And I had the score and did not miss a single note of this Symphony, which will endure much longer than we two, even if we were to join together our two lifespans!

About Barenreiter Urtext

What can I expect from a Barenreiter Urtext edition?< /p>

MUSICOLOGICA LLY SOUND
- A reliable musical text based on all available sources
- A description of the sources
- Information on the genesis and history of the work
- Valuable notes on performance practice
- Includes an introduction with critical commentary explaining source discrepancies and editorial decisions

... AND PRACTICAL
- Page-turns, fold-out pages, and cues where you need them
- A well-presented layout and a user-friendly format
- Excellent print quality
- Superior paper and binding

SKU: HL.51489063

UPC: 840126932867. 6.75x9.5x0.204 inches.

The twelve “London Symphonies” comprise the sublime final statement of Haydn's symphonic ouvre. They were written for the London impresario Johann Peter Salomon, and Haydn himself conducted their premieres during his lengthy stays in the English metropolis in 1791/92 and 1794/95. Probably composed in the winter of 1791/92, the Symphony in D major no. 93 was, with its easily accessible (butby no means simple!) musical structure, perfectly tailored to London tastes, which demanded melodic clarity and expressive pathos. The Baroque echoes of Handel in the slow introduction to the first movement and in the festive mood of the finale with its timpani and trumpets would have been well received - no wonder the symphony had to be repeated multiple times in the same season after its performance in 1792! This study edition adopts the musical text of the Haydn Complete Edition, thereby guaranteeing the highest scholarly quality. An informative preface and a brief Critical Report make the handy score an ideal companion for all current and soon-to-be Haydn fans.

About Henle Urtext

What I can expect from Henle Urtext editions:

• error-free, reliable musical texts based on meticulous musicological research - fingerings and bowings by famous artists and pedagogues
• preface in 3 languages with information on the genesis and history of the work 
• Critical Commentary in 1 – 3 languages with a description and evaluation of the sources and explaining all source discrepancies and editorial decisions 
• most beautiful music engraving 
• page-turns, fold-out pages, and cues where you need them 
• excellent print quality and binding 
• largest Urtext catalogue world-wide 
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SKU: CL.026-4305-01

One of Beethoven’s best known themes arranged by Scott Stanton for very small bands, and those with severe instrumentation problems. Will sound great as long has you have the four parts covered and optional guitar, percussion and keyboard parts can add to the overall effect. All students should be exposed to the great masters and this publication helps makes that possible! A real winner!

About Build-A-Band Series

The Build-A-Band Series provides educational and enjoyable music for bands with incomplete or unbalanced instrumentation. Written using just four or five parts (plus percussion), these effective arrangements will work with any combination of brass, woodwind, string and percussion instruments as long as you distribute the parts so that each of the five parts is covered. All of the publications in the Build-A-Band Series have been arranged to be playable with any instrumentation as long as each part is used: 1st Part, 2nd Part, 3rd Part, 4th Part, and Bass Part. (Please note: In some of these arrangements the 4th Part, and the Bass Part are the same, making it possible to play those arrangements with only 4 parts.)

SKU: PR.816600040

UPC: 680160600045. 5.5x5 inches.

This disk contains study scores of all 41 of Mozart's Symphonies, as well as Concertos for Winds and Strings (Piano Concertos are on a companion CD-ROM), Serenades, Opera Overtures, Divertimentos, and other works.

About CD Sheet Music (Version 1)

CD Sheet Music (Version 1) was the initial CD Sheet Music series distributed by Theodore Presser. The CDs include thousands of pages of music that are viewable and printable on Mac or PC. Version 1 titles are a great value at 40% off, as we make room in our warehouse for the newly enhanced CD Sheet Music (Version 2.0) series.

SKU: BA.BA10990

ISBN 9790006575619. 31 x 24.3 cm inches. Key: C minor. Preface: Andreas Friesenhagen.

Only eleven of the over one hundred symphonies by Joseph Haydn are composed in a minor key. Written in the early 1770s, the Symphony Hob. I:52 in C minor bears some similarities to the slightly earlier Symphony in E minor Hob. I:44 (“Mourning”, BA 10988), not only because they both are composed in a minor key but also because they both feature a pair of horns tuned at different pitches. Haydn seems to have experimented with differently tuned horns inspired by an article in Johann Adam Hiller’s journal “Musikalische Nachrichten und Anmerkungen” of July 1770, which suggested to tune the horns a minor third apart in order to expand the total horn range. While Haydn followed this recommendation just like that in the E-minor symphony, he chose to have the horns tuned a major sixth apart (high C and E-flat) in the outer movements of the C-minor symphony Hob. I:52, resulting in an unusual horn sound within the orchestral texture.

In continuation of the collaboration between Bärenreiter and G. Henle Verlag, this edition is based on the Urtext of the Complete Edition “Joseph Haydn Works” published by G. Henle Verlag.

About Barenreiter Urtext

What can I expect from a Barenreiter Urtext edition?< /p>

MUSICOLOGICA LLY SOUND
- A reliable musical text based on all available sources
- A description of the sources
- Information on the genesis and history of the work
- Valuable notes on performance practice
- Includes an introduction with critical commentary explaining source discrepancies and editorial decisions

... AND PRACTICAL
- Page-turns, fold-out pages, and cues where you need them
- A well-presented layout and a user-friendly format
- Excellent print quality
- Superior paper and binding

SKU: BR.OB-5235-27

The conductor's score contains only a shortened version of the extensive Critical Report that was published separately in book form: Br own: A New Appraisal of the Sources of Beethoven's Fifth SymphonyISBN 9790004332344. 10 x 12.5 inches.

The present Urtext edition is based on the known surviving primary sources, and also incorporates two further, previously ignored sources, including a copy of the score made presumably in Vienna around 1820.The score contains a summarizing Critical Report in which the annotations and divergences from familiar editions that seem to be particularly important are brought out through bold print. In the separately published study Die Neubewertung der Quellen von Beethovens Funfter Symphonie (Wiesbaden: Breitkopf & Hartel, 1996), there is an extensive discussion of the source dependencies as well as facts on the origin and transmission of the work.Words are not enough to praise this exemplary edition, resulting from many years of systematic editorial work on the sources. Breitkopfs source-critical, practice-oriented edition by Clive Brown and Peter Hauschild will provide valuable new impulses in the interpretation of Beethovens music. (Kurt Masur)

The conductor's score contains only a shortened version of the extensive Critical Report that was published separately in book form: Brown: A New Appraisal of the Sources of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony.

SKU: BR.OB-5235-30

The conductor's score contains only a shortened version of the extensive Critical Report that was published separately in book form: Br own: A New Appraisal of the Sources of Beethoven's Fifth SymphonyISBN 9790004332351. 10 x 12.5 inches.

The present Urtext edition is based on the known surviving primary sources, and also incorporates two further, previously ignored sources, including a copy of the score made presumably in Vienna around 1820.The score contains a summarizing Critical Report in which the annotations and divergences from familiar editions that seem to be particularly important are brought out through bold print. In the separately published study Die Neubewertung der Quellen von Beethovens Funfter Symphonie (Wiesbaden: Breitkopf & Hartel, 1996), there is an extensive discussion of the source dependencies as well as facts on the origin and transmission of the work.Words are not enough to praise this exemplary edition, resulting from many years of systematic editorial work on the sources. Breitkopfs source-critical, practice-oriented edition by Clive Brown and Peter Hauschild will provide valuable new impulses in the interpretation of Beethovens music. (Kurt Masur)

The conductor's score contains only a shortened version of the extensive Critical Report that was published separately in book form: Brown: A New Appraisal of the Sources of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony.