The only work still known today by Noack 'Heinzelmännchens Wachtparade' [Parade of the Brownies] Op. 5 was called a 'character piece' by the composer himself and this 'marche en miniature' conveys wit and good humour from the beginning; you can immediately imagine a picture of the brownies tripping along! The second part of the trio offers an ironical and very effectie ending with its enticing harmonies and surprising effects.

Born in Nottingham England in 1862 Edmund Severn moved to the United States at the age of four along with his family who settled in Hartford Connecticut. Severn began to study the Violin with guidance from his father who taught the instrument professionally. He later studied with Franz Milcke and Bernard Listemann concertmaster of the Boston Symphony Orchestra before moving to Berlin to study bowing technique under Emanuel Wirth the first assistant of Joseph Joachim at the Berlin Hochschule. As a composer Edmund Severn wrote mainly orchestral music as well as many pieces for the Violin including a concerto; he also wrote three stringquartets.To this day the Polish Dance for Violin and Piano has remained Severnâ??s most famous work. The piece is arranged here by Alan Arnold for Viola and Piano.

for Viola and Piano-Brahms had already announced his 'retirement' from composition when in the spring of 1894 he played chamber music with the cellist Robert Hausmann and the clarinettist Richard Mühlfeld. This encounter apparently renewed his enthusiasm for Mühlfeld?s much admired playing and inspired him to write two Clarinet sonatas in the summer of the same year. It remains unclear when exactly Brahms drafted Viola parts to his two sonatas. In any case the Viola and Clarinet versions of the works were first published by Simrock at the same time in 1895. Today there is no doubt about Brahms? authorship of the Viola parts. They include important differences fromthe Clarinet original in order to do justice to this string instrument.An important part of this edition is the extensive preface. Firstly it informs about the sonatas? origins their compositional process pre-publication performances their publication history as well as early reception. Truly remarkable is the unique Performance Practice Commentary. Here the editors start from the premise that already a few decades after Brahms' death a widening gulf developed between the composer's expectations and the performance practices of the early 20th century. On the basis of manifold sources which include memoirs by pupils and chamber music partners treatises and essays early instructive editions and historical recordings the editors deal with key issues in understanding Brahms' notation. By a section-by-section analysis of rhythm and timing dynamics and accentuation dots and strokes slurring and non legato Piano pedalling and overholding Piano arpeggiation and dislocation string instrument fingering string instrument harmonics and vibrato the editors provide an indispensable assistance for a historically informed interpretation of the works.At the same time the edition offers an exciting and often surprising insight into musical interpretation of the German Romantic Era in general.A pioneering Urtext editionWith an unmarked Urtext partWith a second part including fingering and bowing based on the practices of contemporaries of BrahmsWith an extensive Performance Practice