The circumstances in which these poetic 'Soirée Pieces' (thus their original title) came into being are quite surprising. In 1849 Dresden was seized by violent political turmoil that ultimately forced...
When Mendelssohn learned from his publisher Nikolaus Simrock that he was to receive an additional honorarium for a part of his 'Lieder ohne Worte', he effusively thanked him for this gift. However, th...
Combining these two Schumann bestsellers seemed very natural: both of the titles not only reflect their inner association but the technical demands on the pianist are for once not so great (see the le...
With humor, 'slow and tender, 'extremely brisk': the very expression marks of the op. 12 'Fantasy Pieces' illuminate their musical universe, a kaleidoscope of ideas and moods. Our revised new edition...
In 1849 Schumann turned to a new genre: works for piano and an accompanying instrument. The first work he composed were the Fantasy Pieces for Piano and Clarinet op. 73, immediately followed by the Ad...
'As far as the Scenes from Childhood are concerned, I owe them one of the liveliest pleasures of my life.' These words were uttered by none other than Franz Liszt. In the evenings he often enjoyed pla...
When Günter Henle founded his Urtext publishing house in 1948, the first work in the catalogue was the two volume edition of all of Mozart's piano sonatas. Even today they still bear our numbers HN 1...
Who doesn't know Mozart's 'Sonata facile' of 1788? Yet those who practice this extremely popular piano sonata in C major will realize that it is by no means so 'easy' to play. Its nickname does not co...
This dark and tragic sonata in A minor, composed in Paris in 1778, tends to be linked with the death of Mozart's mother on 3 July 1778. While this of course cannot be ruled out, not a single concrete...
