Bärenreiter-Verlag
Hot off the press
Chopin’s Préludes in a new light!
This is the first Bärenreiter Urtext edition dedicated to Frédéric Chopin.
There can hardly be a piano cycle which is more irresistible than Chopin’s Préludes op. 28. They were composed in the winter of 1838/39 when Chopin escaped with George Sand and her children from Paris to enjoy the mild and sunny weather of Mallorca. It promised to be a carefree stay, but Chopin soon became overwhelmed by deep melancholic feelings. T...he genesis of the pieces which according to Schumann were “sketches, the beginning of studies, or, if you will, ruins, stray eagles’ pinions, all strangely intermingled“ and their poetic meaning gave birth to countless romantic stories right from the outset when the first edition was published.
Our new Urtext edition contains numerous facsimiles from the autograph score and first editions, among them a hitherto neglected early version of Prélude no. 3. In addition, for the first time the Italian first edition of op. 28 is evaluated. Chopin’s original fingering and those of his pupils are completed by fingering based on period pianoforte playing by the experienced German pianist and fortepiano specialist Hardy Rittner. In-depth notes on period performance practice (German/English) discuss important issues such as the use of the pedal, rubato playing, finger pedalling and also the highly interesting question of hidden cantilena. The elegant new engraving offers new solutions for practical page turns and a musically optimum layout.
Enjoy the magic of Chopin’s Préludes with our scholarly-critical performing edition at the cutting edge of scholarship!
https://www.baerenreiter.com/en/shop/product/details/BA9610/
