Edition Peters – Page 3

Notebook for W.F. Bach

Pianodao Music Library
Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales

Reviewing Christoph Wolff’s critical edition of the famous Anna Magdalena Bach Notebooks of 1722 and 1725 for Edition Peters a few months ago, I described the publication as a “landmark” treasure and noted:

“It hardly needs saying that every piano student and player with any interest in classical music needs to have a copy of the Anna Magdalena Notebook on their music stand at some point, nor that this edition is now the one to buy.”

The publication is now joined by a companion volume: a new edition of the less celebrated Wilhelm Friedemann Bach notebook of 1720.

While the Anna Magdalena Bach Notebooks appeared both in linen-bound Premium Scholarly Edition and more economical Practical Student Edition, this new publication appears (to my knowledge) in Premium Scholarly Edition only.

A similarly lavish linen-bound score, this volume is the perfect partner to its recent predecessor, and surely belongs beside it on every music shelf.

Let’s explore this latest wonder…

Rediscovering Anna Magdalena Bach’s Notebooks

Pianodao Music Library
Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales

It is more than 60 years since the last complete critical edition was produced of the famous music notebooks that J.S.Bach compiled for his second wife, Anna Magdalena.

Keenly aware of the need to revisit both collections of 1722 and 1725, and in mind of the tremendous leaps made in Bach scholarship in recent years, leading expert Christoph Wolff’s new critical urtext has recently been published by Edition Peters.

This landmark treasure appears in two separate forms: the Premium Scholarly Edition is a hardback clothbound complete version, while the less expensive Practical Student Edition delivers the shorter pieces from the collections as a more conventional score suitable for learners.

For more information, read on for my full review of both versions…

Frédéric Chopin: Trois Nouvelles Études

Pianodao Music Library
Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales

In my recent post Discovering Chopin I included two editions of the complete works, both brought to us by PWM Edition: firstly the celebrated Paderewski Edition beloved by performers, and secondly the more recent scholarly Chopin National Edition, edited by Jan Ekier.

The latter has established itself as a benchmark urtext edition by which other versions are presently judged, although sources of Chopin’s music are so many and surprisingly varied that, often, definitive readings are elusive.

Further underlining this point, were it in any doubt, comes the Complete Chopin New Critical Edition from Edition Peters, prepared under the watchful eyes of editor-in-chief John Rink.

Joining the first six volumes in this work-in-progress series, the latest addition is the Trois Nouvelles Études of 1840, edited by Roy Howat.

I will start with a full review of this new publication, EP 73229, and then gracefully segue into a more detailed consideration of Edition Peters’ Complete Chopin New Critical Edition, and take a quick look at the solo piano issues in the series so far.

The Complete Pianist

The Pianodao Bookshelf
Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales

Penelope Roskell’s The Complete Pianist is the most monumental publication I have yet to receive for review. With 560 large and densely formatted pages, 250 newly-devised exercises and more than 300 supporting online videos, I can well believe that it’s also the most comprehensive book ever written on piano playing, as well as being among the most superbly presented.

Striking among the claims made for the book, we are told that Roskell’s approach is based not only on a lifetime’s experience of teaching and performing, but also on “ground-breaking research into healthy piano playing” …

The Complete Pianist thus offers the reader an…

“… innovative approach to piano technique based on the use of natural, ergonomic movement which achieves a rich range of sounds, allows greater artistic freedom, and helps to prevent injury.”

Intrigued? I bet! So let’s take a closer look…