String instruments > Violin and Piano
Alban Berg
Violin Concerto
Editor: Michael Kube
Piano reduction: Jan Philip Schulze
Fing. vn: Frank Peter Zimmermann
27.00 €
Urtext Edition, Piano reduction, paperbound
with marked and unmarked string parts, orchestral material available from Breitkopf & Härtel
Pages: 111 (XII, 59, 20, 20), Size 23,5 x 31,0 cm
Order no. HN 821 · ISMN M-2018-0821-5
Level of difficulty (Violin): difficult (Level 9)
ABRSM: FRSM
The genesis of Berg’s Violin Concerto in 1935 is shrouded in tragedy. He had only just finished making the first sketches when Manon Gropius – the daughter of Walter Gropius and Alma Mahler, with whom Berg was friends – died of polio. He dedicated the concerto “To the memory of an angel” in her memory. Then Alban Berg died in 1935, so he no longer lived to see it printed or performed. Our edition – violin part and piano reduction – follow the score edited by Michael Kube, which is being published simultaneously by Breitkopf & Härtel together with the orchestral parts and pocket score. The illustrious violinist Frank Peter Zimmermann has provided fingerings and bowings for the violin part. This edition is worldwide available.
Audio example: Itzhak Perlman
Deutsche Grammophon 028944744521GOR
Reviews
Questo capolavoro del Novecento è ora disponibile in una nuova edizione Urtext, co-produzione fra due importanti case tedesche. Sono state considerate e confrontate tutte le fonti autografe disponibili: (…) La complessa e affascinante genesi dell´opera è ben discussa nella prefazione (tedesco e inglese).
[Suonare, 2011]
Somit ist bei Henle die neueste Forschung mit einer praktischen Ausgabe glücklich vereint.
[ESTA, 2011]
Eine radikale Neuerung des Notentextes ist angesichts der guten Quellenlage nicht zu erwarten gewesen, dafür überzeugt das Henle-Material durch hervorragende Les- und Spielbarkeit. Und dass sich mit Frank Peter Zimmermann ein quellenkritisch erfahrener Virtuose von internationalem Rang gefunden hat, um den Solopart mit Fingersätzen auszustatten, dürfte vor allem unsere jungen Geigenstudenten interessieren.
[Das Ensemble, 2010]
... die Neuausgabe von Alban Bergs Violinkonzert durch Michael Kube ... ist bei der Komplexität des viel gespielten Werkes eine sehr anspruchsvolle Aufgabe: Wo hat Berg bewusst gegen die Reihe verstoßen, wo handelt es sich um ein Versehen? Immerhin, Kube hat doch einiges an falschen Noten korrigiert und entreißt damit die editorische Hoheit dem Originalverlag Universal Edition. ... Hier wurde eine neue Grundlage geschafffen.
[NMZ, 2011]
The levels of difficulty of the
music for violin published by G. Henle Publishers
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| easy | medium | difficult | ||||||
The levels of difficulty of the violin music published by G. Henle Publishers
| Level | Degree | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | easy | Beethoven, 6 German Dances WoO 42 |
| 2 | Beethoven, Rondo G major WoO 41 |
|
| 3 | Mozart, Violin Sonata F major KV 547 |
|
| 4 | medium | Haydn, Violin Concerto A major Hob. VIIa:3 |
| 5 | Bach, Violin Concerto a minor BWV 1041 |
|
| 6 | Brahms, Violin Sonata G major op. 78 |
|
| 7 | difficult | Paganini, No. 9 from Capricci op. 1 |
| 8 | Beethoven, Violin Concerto D major op. 61 |
|
| 9 | Berg, Violin Concerto |
I have assigned all of the violin music in G. Henle Publishers' catalogue a level of difficulty, ranging from "very easy" to "very difficult". The model for this was the evaluation system with nine levels developed for Henle's piano catalogue by Rolf Koenen. Unlike the works for solo piano, I have decided against evaluations that lie between two levels (e.g. 4/5 or 7/8).
This kind of attempt will always be "relative" to some degree. While the work remains the work, what is relative is the technical and musical ability of the player. Let us take a look at Mozart, for example, from the perspective of an Arthur Grumiaux and from that of a very young pupil. It is clear to whom my levels of difficulty are addressed: to the pupils or their teacher. I have, of course, always endeavoured to objectively assess the purely technical level of difficulty. But everything "between the lines" is, of course, left up to the judgement of each individual musician. Depending on our abilities, we perceive the "difficulty" of a work for violin differently, yet with the same conviction.
At the start, categorizing violin literature into levels of difficulty from 1 to 9 seemed to carry a certain risk as well as being unknown territory, yet I have now gained a deep insight into all of the works for violin in G. Henle Publishers' catalogue.
Ernst Schliephake © 2013