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 from the 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 edition- With an unmarked Urtext part- With a second part including fingering and bowing based on the practices of contemporaries of Brahms- With an extensive Performance Practice Commentary- For further information on Romantic performance practice we recommend the text booklet: 'Performance Practices in Johannes Brahms' Chamber Music?, BA 9600 / Alto Et Piano

Viola and Piano was commissioned for the Hindermith Viola Festival and Kim Kashkashian and written during the summer of 1995, Viola and Piano is the third in an erratic series of virtuoso works for solo instrument and piano. The first performance was given by Kim Kashkashian and Peter Nagy, London 1995. Duration 10 minutes. Score and separate viola part included. / Alto Et Piano

Par MAINTZ PHILIPP. Philipp Maintz was born in Aachen, Germany, in 1977. He received his first composition lessons from Michael Reudenbach. He studied composition with Robert HP Platz in Maastricht from 1997-2003, graduating with distinction, followed by a further degree in composition and electronic music with Karlheinz Essl at the Bruckner Conservatory in Linz. He has received scholarships and invitations from institutions including the Electronic Studio at the University of Liège, the International Summer Courses for New Music in Darmstadt, IRCAM Paris and the North Rhine-Westphalia Ministry of Culture, an Artist’s Scholarship from Lower Saxony for the Künstlerhof Schreyahn and otherhonours: the Supportive Prize from the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation in 2005, a scholarship from the Wilfried Steinbrenner Foundation in 2006 and a German Government Scholarship to study at the Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris in 2007, Scholarship awarded by the German Minister of Culture for a one-year stay at the German Academy Rome, Villa Massimo (2010). His compositions have been performed at festivals including the International Gaudeamus Music Week Amsterdam, agora-festival, Paris, ars nova (SWR), International Summer Courses for New Music in Darmstadt, Wittener Tage für Neue Kammermusik, musica (Strasbourg), Wien Modern, Hear&Now London and the Salzburg Festival./ Répertoire / Alto et Piano

Arrangement: Mortimer J.G.. Par MORTIMER JOHN G.. / Niveau : Assez Facile / Répertoire / Alto et Piano