German.

An important addition to our newly produced orchestral materials is the first publication of vocal scores of Wagner's ten great operas, in every important version, based on the Complete Edition.

The score corresponds to the performance materials from the Complete Edition.
For practical use in rehearsal cues and bar numbers throughout.
The publisher has secured the services of renewed musicologists associated with the Richard Wagner Complete Edition who convey detailed information in critical forewords.
The forewords are given in three languages(German, English, French).
Uniform and attractive front cover designs with reproductions of paintings from the Wagner era underline the series design of the edition.

DIE WALKURE

In the tetralogy Der Ring des Nibelungen [The Ring of the Nibelung] which was subtitled by Wagner as A stage festival play for three days and a preliminary evening, Die Walkure [The Valkyrie] forms the first day following Das Rheingold as the preliminary evening. The beginning of the history of the origins of the tetralogy is frequently placed in 1848 when Wagner compiled a prose sketch entitled Die Nibelungensage (Erstschrift) [The Nibelung Saga (first draft)] or Die Sage von den Nibelungen (Reinschrift) [The Saga of the Niblelungs (fair copy)] which would suggest that this was already the text for the Ring des Nibelungen, but the actual concept for the tetralogy did not actually evolve until the autumn of 1851. When Wagner first compiled the libretto for the heroic opera Siegfried's Tod [Siegfried's Death] in November 1848 - during his period of employment as Hofkapellmeister[court music director] in Dresden - he was in fact only planning a single opera and continued to adhere to this concept even after his involvement in the failed Dresden uprising in 1849 and subsequent escape to Switzerland. He began with the composition of Siegfried's Tod in the summer of 1850 in Zurich, but soon laid it aside. He returned to the project almost a year later in May 1851 with the idea of a two-part drama: to lend the plot greater conclusiveness, Siegfried's Tod would be preceded by a second opera entitled Der junge Siegfried [The Young Siegfried], subsequently shortened to Siegfried, but this extension was still insufficient to satisfy Wagner's dramatic-dramaturgic aspirations. In November 1851, he began the first text drafts for Das Rheingold and Die Walkure which were followed by the libretti in 1852: Die Walkure was completed in June 1852.

The premiere of Die Walkure was held in Munich on 26 June 1870, but without Wagner's specific permission as he did not wish the operas to be performed separately. He held the opinion that Die Walkure was only logical and comprehendible within the context of the complete tetralogy. Wagner had however not only made a present of the autograph score to King Ludwig II of Bavaria who had been his generous benefactor since 1864, but had also sold him the rights to the tetralogy. The king was eager to experience performances of the already finished parts and Wagner was therefore powerless to prevent him from commanding performances of the individual operas. The premiere of Die Walkure within the context of the tetralogy took place in 1876 at the first Bayreuth Festival.

(Egon Voss, quoted from the foreword of the new Die Walkure vocal score. translated by Lindsay Chalmers-Gerbracht)

Peteris Vasks occupies a special position in the circle of Baltic composers. He is not only the most significant and popular composer ever to come out of Latvia. he always speaks to his listeners with a fervent intensity that seems to point to something higher. This higher aspect is without a doubt something that stands above the world of humanity but is also present within each person: divine nature.

"I am deeply rooted in nature, in the nature of the North. It influences all of my music. The nature we know is also quite various. we have four very distinct seasons. The winter is very long, the summer very short and therefore all the more beautiful and longed for. The seasons in between are quite dramatic."

The first of Peteris Vasks's Seasons pieces was not written with the intention of forming a complete cycle. For his friend, Talivaldis Deksnis, he composed in 1980 Balta ainava - White Landscape (Winter), in 1981 Rudens muzika - Autumn Music, and in 1995 the Pavasara muzika - Spring Music. In 2008, Zala ainava - Green Landscape (Summer) came into being, the piece which completed the cycle.

In 2009, as a kind of "encore", Vasks wrote Vasaras vakara muzika - Music for a Summer Evening based on old sketches. this, of all the pieces, is the one most anchored in tradition. Only the two newest pieces - both of which have to do with summer - have a fixed metrical structure. The three earlier works are metrically free, notated without bar lines, which gives them an improvisatory character.

Vasks says of the individual pieces in the cycle: "In Balta ainava everything is white. A new year begins. It is a quiet meditation, a new beginning, with only two themes.

Pavasara muzika. Quasi una Sonata - the most demanding piece in this cycle - is intense, an impressive development. Spring comes slowly, with much drama. It is like a battle, until it is simply there. This multi-faceted piece, with its bird songs, lives from conflicts and dramatic intensification and ends in ecstatic rapture. Zala ainava is based on two themes. Our summer is very brief and offers a respite after the battles. And it is so beautiful! The music reflects joy and contentment. The first theme brings a kind of pure energy. the second is more devoted to tone painting. At the end, a five-note quotation from a well-known Latvian folksong about a drunkard is heard.

Rudens muzika begins pianissimo on a quiet September day, in a peaceful, sunny atmosphere. Now the autumn storms sweep over the land. a gentle sadness settles on the people and on nature, which surrenders its splendor. After a last great storm, the snow comes again as a symbol of purified conclusion and a new beginning. Vasaras vakara muzika takes place at the quiet end of a summer day. The sun sets. Slowness. Memories of previous experiences surface. With the memories' appearance comes an increase in intensity. Towards the end, a kind of folksong is heard: 'We have survived the time of tyranny and retained our identity'. The ending is quiet, everything is asleep."

Christoph Schluren

Translation: John Patrick Thomas and W. Richard Rieves