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: BA.BA04026-40

ISBN 9790006443253. 24 x 17 cm inches.

SKU: KU.GM-1962

ISBN 9790206208423. 230x303 inches. Key: F major.

The Paris horn player Louis Francois Dauprat was professor at the Conservatoire de Paris, thus having a great influence on the French school of horn playing. He wrote his compositions mostly for didactic purposes for his students. Simon Scheiwiller has revised the sonata for horn and harp op. 3 for the present edition.

SKU: UT.APS-6

ISBN 9788881094790. 6.5 x 9.5 inches.

Essays by Gregory Barnett, Barra Boydell, Enrico Careri, Cheryll Duncan, Christopher Hogwood, Peter Holman, Clare Hornsby, Mark Kroll, Sandra Mangsen, Andrew Pink, Rudolf Rasch, Robin Stowell, Michael Talbot, Wiebke Thormahlen, Peter Walls, Neal Zaslaw

Sixteen essays by international scholars celebrate the 250th anniversary of Francesco Geminiani (1687-1762), star pupil of Corelli and composer, performer and teacher in Paris, London and Dublin, who for many years was ranked as the equal of Handel.
His compositions moved far beyond Corelli's model (to include theatre music, sonatas for cello and keyboard works) and later in his life he supported his aesthetic style with treatises on violin and guitar playing, good taste, accompaniment and composition. He published all his output in the most elegant style via engravers and music sellers in Paris, Amsterdam and London, and constantly revised and rewrote earlier works in new and often expanded formats. This legacy is analysed and placed in context within the various national styles current in Europe, and the enormous influence of his treatise The Art of Playing on the Violin is positioned in a continuum which extends to Ivan Galamian.
Outside music these studies examine the effect of Freemasonry on Geminiani's career, and his frequent recourse to law to defend his rights. On his own admission, Geminiani preferred dealing in fine art to playing the violin -- a claim always derided by earlier writers, but in fact easily defended by newly available evidence of his highly successful sales.
The reception of Geminiani's music is also re-assessed and his apparent decline in public favour is explained; many new sources contradict the accepted and dismissive opinions of Charles Burney and John Hawkins, and the supportive enthusiasm of his main British advocate, Charles Avison, is given its rightful position. Questions of present-day performance values are also contrasted with Geminiani's philosophy, and many leads presented for the future investigation of this enigmatic but individual genius.

SKU: BR.OB-5329-16

ISBN 9790004333549. 10 x 12.5 inches.

According to the date inscribed in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's autograph score, the present mass was composed in March 1780. The instrumental setting (oboes, trumpets and timpani add color and festive splendor to the work) rightly suggests that the work was in all likelihood performed with the Church Sonata K. 336 at the Easter high mass in the Salzburg cathedral. Since Archbishop Hieronymus Count Colloredo wanted the mass text to be treated as succinctly as possible, Mozart offered him a richly orchestrated Missa solemnis in the terse form of a Missa brevis.The brilliant, festive character of the Mass K. 337 is abruptly interrupted by a powerful Benedictus in a harsh A minor, the most striking and revolutionary movement in all of Mozart's Masses, in the strictest contrapuntal style ... (Alfred Einstein). What could have inspired Mozart to such unexpected rigor? But there is another surprise yet: while the dark drama of the Holy Week seems to radiate from this Benedictus, the following Agnus Dei in the distant key of E flat major sounds, with its soprano solo and concertante oboe, bassoon and organ, like a song of thanksgiving filled with the warmth and light of Easter.Other features worth noting are the three unisons between the alto and bass heard at the Deus pater omnipotens in the Gloria (bars 22-32), the a cappella illumination of the words Jesu Christe found a little later (bar 62) and the descending chromaticism evocative of death at the Crucifixus in the Credo. (Incidentally, Mozart had initially planned a different movement for the Credo of this mass, superscribed Tempo di Chiaconna; he wrote out 136 bars but, for some unknown reason, never completed it.)While the Coronation Mass K. 317 of 1779 is one of Mozart's most well-known mass settings, its later composed frllow piece K. 337 - Mozart's last completed mass before the great C minor fragment K. 427 (417a) - has been paid less attention, even though it is an outstanding example of the Mozartian mass type and contains parallels to the Coronation Mass in its disposition and in the structure of its various movements. The score and piano reduction of this new edition were prepared on the basis of the autograph (Osterreichische Nationalbibliothek/Vienna, dass. no. Mus. Hs. 18 97512) and the Salzburg performance material (Staats- und Stadtbibliothek/Augsburg, dass. no. Hl. Kreuz 9). We wish to thank both libraries for putting the source material at our disposal.Franz Beyer, Munich, Spring 1998.

SKU: BR.EB-32090

ISBN 9790004186688. 7.5 x 10.5 inches.

The cantata Daran erkennen wir, dass wir in Ihm bleiben is intended for the first Whitsun holiday. It is based on a text by Johann Christoph Wentzel (1659-1723), the yearly volume in which it appears dates to August 4, 1703 and is dedicated to, among others, Hn. Joh. Kuhnau / | Chori Musici bey der | Stadt Leipzig Directori [Herr Joh. Kuhnau / Director of Choral Music at the City of Leipzig]. It can be assumed that Kuhnau's composition originated near the time of the text, thus within his first years in office as the Leipzig St. Thomas cantor. Kuhnau follows the structure of Wentzel's poem in a Dictum and four verses with introductory sonata, although some details are varied. In comparison to other works by Kuhnau, the scoring is fairly large with five vocal parts, trumpets, timpani, oboes, and bassoon as well as two violins and violas each. The short performing time, on the other hand, makes the cantata suitable for liturgical use, too.Audio samples: Opella Musica, camerata lipsiensis, cond. Gregor Meyer (cpo, 2013).

SKU: BR.OB-32090-20

ISBN 9790004350430. 10 x 12.5 inches.

The cantata Daran erkennen wir, dass wir in Ihm bleiben is intended for the first Whitsun holiday. It is based on a text by Johann Christoph Wentzel (1659-1723), the yearly volume in which it appears dates to August 4, 1703 and is dedicated to, among others, Hn. Joh. Kuhnau / | Chori Musici bey der | Stadt Leipzig Directori [Herr Joh. Kuhnau / Director of Choral Music at the City of Leipzig]. It can be assumed that Kuhnau's composition originated near the time of the text, thus within his first years in office as the Leipzig St. Thomas cantor. Kuhnau follows the structure of Wentzel's poem in a Dictum and four verses with introductory sonata, although some details are varied. In comparison to other works by Kuhnau, the scoring is fairly large with five vocal parts, trumpets, timpani, oboes, and bassoon as well as two violins and violas each. The short performing time, on the other hand, makes the cantata suitable for liturgical use, too.Audio samples: Opella Musica, camerata lipsiensis, cond. Gregor Meyer (cpo, 2013).

SKU: BR.OB-32090-11

ISBN 9790004350393. 10 x 12.5 inches.

The cantata Daran erkennen wir, dass wir in Ihm bleiben is intended for the first Whitsun holiday. It is based on a text by Johann Christoph Wentzel (1659-1723), the yearly volume in which it appears dates to August 4, 1703 and is dedicated to, among others, Hn. Joh. Kuhnau / | Chori Musici bey der | Stadt Leipzig Directori [Herr Joh. Kuhnau / Director of Choral Music at the City of Leipzig]. It can be assumed that Kuhnau's composition originated near the time of the text, thus within his first years in office as the Leipzig St. Thomas cantor. Kuhnau follows the structure of Wentzel's poem in a Dictum and four verses with introductory sonata, although some details are varied. In comparison to other works by Kuhnau, the scoring is fairly large with five vocal parts, trumpets, timpani, oboes, and bassoon as well as two violins and violas each. The short performing time, on the other hand, makes the cantata suitable for liturgical use, too.Audio samples: Opella Musica, camerata lipsiensis, cond. Gregor Meyer (cpo, 2013).

SKU: BR.OB-32090-19

ISBN 9790004350423. 10 x 12.5 inches.

The cantata Daran erkennen wir, dass wir in Ihm bleiben is intended for the first Whitsun holiday. It is based on a text by Johann Christoph Wentzel (1659-1723), the yearly volume in which it appears dates to August 4, 1703 and is dedicated to, among others, Hn. Joh. Kuhnau / | Chori Musici bey der | Stadt Leipzig Directori [Herr Joh. Kuhnau / Director of Choral Music at the City of Leipzig]. It can be assumed that Kuhnau's composition originated near the time of the text, thus within his first years in office as the Leipzig St. Thomas cantor. Kuhnau follows the structure of Wentzel's poem in a Dictum and four verses with introductory sonata, although some details are varied. In comparison to other works by Kuhnau, the scoring is fairly large with five vocal parts, trumpets, timpani, oboes, and bassoon as well as two violins and violas each. The short performing time, on the other hand, makes the cantata suitable for liturgical use, too.Audio samples: Opella Musica, camerata lipsiensis, cond. Gregor Meyer (cpo, 2013).