The exceptionally lighthearted D-major Trio of the Menuetto in Mozart’s otherwise so darkly dramatic d-minor String Quartet K. 421 has always been one of my favourite pieces. The first violin, with its “pizzicato” accompaniment by the lower strings, cleverly plays there with reminiscences of folk music: on the one hand, it is quite obviously striking up a yodel, recognisable by the simple triadic melodicism flipping repeatedly from “chest” to “head” voice, just like a real alpine yodler; on the other, the entire movement is almost prototypically pervaded by the so-called “lombardic” rhythm, unmistakeable signs, for instance, of Scottish, Hungarian or Slavic folk music (recognisable in the inverse-dotted, syncopated rhythm): Continue reading
Even the visual design is a little revolution for Henle: after being in publishing for nearly 70 years we are for the first time bringing out a series of Urtext piano editions without just the classic blue cover, but with a sort of bright yellow horizontal “branding” mark added – and with good reason, since our new series “At the Piano” is forging a new path in many respects. 
It was nearly three years ago, on 17 February 2014, that my 
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