Frédéric Chopin
Preludes
Fréderic Chopin’s stay with George Sand on Mallorca in the winter 1838/1839 was ill-fated. Yet Chopin still managed to finish his “Préludes” there which he had begun to compose in Paris. Today’s interpreter not only has to deal with numerous variant readings but also with corrupt performance traditions. The “Préludes” are the first edition to be completed in our comprehensive Chopin revisions; the editor has taken the latest scholarly findings into account and in the musical text brings to light “established” variants as well as others which are to be found in the sources. And there is another first here, too: the printed volume contains a shorter critical report – the extensive version with all the details can be downloaded.
Content/Details
About the Composer
Frédéric Chopin
Pianist and composer. His work is concentrated around piano music that enjoys extraordinary popularity and has become an integral part of the concert repertoire. His music influenced subsequent generations in France (Franck, Saint-Saëns, Fauré, Debussy) as well as Smetana, Dvořák, Balakirev, Grieg, Albéniz.
1810 | Born in Żelazowa Wola near Warsaw on March 1. First compositions at age seven, his first public performance at eight. |
1822 | Private instruction in composition. |
1825 | Rondo in C minor, Op. 1, his first published work. |
1826–29 | Studies at the Institute of Music in Warsaw. |
1829 | “Fantaisie sur des airs nationaux polonaise” in A major, Op. 13; Piano Trio in G minor, Op. 8. Travels to Vienna, where he gives two concerts of his compositions and improvisations. |
1829–33 and 1835–37 | Etudes, Opp. 10 and 25 -- a new type of virtuosic etude that also makes aesthetic demands. |
1830 | Premieres in Warsaw of his two piano concerti, Op. 21 in F minor and Op. 11 in E minor. |
1831 | Unable to return to Warsaw due to the Polish uprising, he goes to Paris, where he will remain until the end of his life. |
1832 | Debut concert in Paris to great acclaim. |
1835/38 | “Trois valses brillantes,” Op. 34. |
1836/39 | “24 Preludes,” Op. 28, in a cyclic succession: compactly-designed short pieces. |
1835/39 | Piano Sonata in B-flat minor, Op. 35, with the funeral march. |
1842/43 | Ballade No. 4 in F minor, Op. 52; “Grande Polonaise brillante” in A-flat major, Op. 53; Scherzo No. 4 in E major, Op. 54. |
1844 | Piano Sonata in B minor, Op. 58 |
1849 | Completion of the mazurkas in G minor and F minor. Death in Paris on October 17. |
About the Authors
Norbert Müllemann (Editor)
Dr. Norbert Müllemann, born in 1976 in Cologne, studied musicology, German philology and philosophy at the University of Cologne whilst at the same time studying the piano at the Music Conservatory in Cologne.
In 2004 he began working at G. Henle Publishers as an intern. In 2005 he became a junior editor, whilst at the same time starting his doctorate at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich. He completed it in 2008 with a thesis entitled “Handschriften Frédéric Chopins bis 1830. Studien zur Authentizität, Datierung und Werkgenese”. Since 2008 Müllemann has been an editor at the publishing house, becoming editor-in-chief in 2017. He has edited numerous Urtext editions for the publisher with a particular focus on the works of Frédéric Chopin.
… the preface directs us to a website for detailed critical commentary, which is surely a good way forward, for those who would simply wish to enjoy the music as it is without copious explanation.
Piano Professional, 2008All in all, these editions rank among the finest Henle has yet produced.
Piano Journal, 2007Norbert Müllemann, il curatore, oltre che all’autografo, alle copie del Fontana e di Ludwika (amico e sorella di Frédéric) e alle varie edizioni, fa riferimento anche a tre copie appartenute ad allieve di Chopin, con interventi scritti del Maestro. Il risultato, talvolta, è sconvolgente.
Suonare, 2007… is dit du seen bijzonder hoopvolle start voor Henle’s nieuwe Chopin-editie.
Pianowereld, 2007recommendations
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Further editions of this title
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