Johannes Brahms' Sonata Op.108 D Minor.
SKU: BR.OB-3210-15
ISBN 9790004300695. 10 x 12.5 inches.
Johannes Brahms' first Piano Concerto was the fruit of a complex, protracted, and extremely trying creative process. Its origin goes back to a sonata in D minor for two pianos conceived in spring 1854. The impulse for the creation of the main subject was however a shocking event: According to Joseqph Joachim, the theme originated after hearing about Schumanns suicide attempt. A few months earlier, Schumann had revealed Brahms to the musical world in his essay New Paths. In this article, Brahms is extolled as the musician who is called to give expression to the feeling of his times in an ideal fashion. The unusually rapid genesis of the D-minor sonata and its prevailingly dark, monumental mood can be interpreted as an impassioned compositional response to Schumann's suicide attempt. However, the year-long struggle to arrive at the final form of the work should perhaps also be seen in the context of the resounding praise of Schumann's prophetic article. Brahms undoubtly felt a growing inner pressure to live up to the expectations aroused therein.Together with Clara Schumann, Brahms played the three so far existing movements of the sonata, but he was very self-critical. He felt that he had not been able to realize the monumentality he had envisioned, and which Clara Schumann felt, by merely doubling the piano sound. He soon decided to transform the sonata into a symphony (his first orchestral project). However, this idea did not seem to fit his vision either. Only in spring 1855 did he strike upon the definitive solution: a piano concerto. With Brahms as soloist, this concerto premiered in 1859, though he initially had little success. He wrote to Joachim about one of the first performances that the concerto was a brilliant and unmistakable - failure. This hardly surprised Brahms, for he was undoubtedly aware of the newness of the work, which surpassed the expectations of the audience. The work's complex structure and symphonic dimensions, the solo part's rejection of showy, elegant brilliance, and the uniquely Brahmsian orchestral density it maintains throughout; all of these qualities inevitably exasperated audiences at first - until they raised this work to the ranks of the most celebrated concertos of all time.
SKU: BR.EB-32083
With supplementary violoncello part marked by Maria Kliegel
ISBN 9790004186299. 9 x 12 inches.
There are many composers about whom it is believed, today, that they composed conservatively, or against the taste of their time. The question is also raised, today, which extract of this large amount of effective and high-quality music, unknown for the most part, should receive our attention; which of it is worth rediscovering or re-editing. Camillo Schumann is one of the most important representatives of these composers, but his works are still largely unknown today. He was born on 10 March 1872 in Konigstein, Saxony. His musical language combines the sound world of Brahms with the grand, late-romantic Liszt School. He wrote piano parts of incredible power and virtuosity, approaching the sounds of Rachmaninoff. His wonderfully individual melodic language makes these works a valuable testimony to a composer who never had his due recognition. The cello sonatas Opp. 59 (EB 32082) and 99 (EB 32083) are the first of three works for this combination. Op. 59 was composed around 1905/06, Op. 99 followed in 1932. Nothing is known so far of the circumstances of the composition of this work, including for whom it was composed. However, it is quite evident that Schumann wrote it, like most of his works, primarily for his own concerts and befriended musicians. The extensive entries in the piano part bear witness to a considerably practical approach. Crossed-out bars, notes added or crossed out in chords as well as a number of revisions of other kinds are more the rule than the exception. The composer's own fingerings written in the piano part also underline this assumption. The present edition contains two solo-parts each. One clean Urtext-part free of any additions from the editor and a second one with bowing marks and fingerings by Maria Kliegel who recorded both sonatas for the first time with the label Naxos. Both sonatas show evident resemblance to the works of this combination by Johannes Brahms and are therefore a must have for ambitious cellists.With supplementary violoncello part marked by Maria Kliegel.
SKU: PE.EP3900
ISBN 9790014019365. UPC: 9790014019365. English.
Edited by Carl Flesch and Artur Schnabel
