Time and again, Chopin succeeded in giving different piano music genres their own individual characters, whether etudes, preludes, waltzes, scherzi or nocturnes. The Irishman John Field had already co...
Chopin revolutionized the etude - but he ennobled the waltz. He spent much time on this genre throughout his life and created a wide spectrum of forms, from virtuosic showpieces - the Grandes Valses B...
Chopin succeeded in doing something truly remarkable with his two cycles of Etudes op. 10 and op. 25, published in 1833 and 1837 respectively. Probably no one before him had composed technical practic...
This most famous funeral march in music history is part of a piano sonata, the third movement of Chopin's op. 35 Sonata in b-flat minor, in which - according to Robert Schumann -- Chopin 'brought toge...
It is hardly a coincidence that Chopin dedicated each of his Three Waltzes op. 64, written in 1847, to a baroness or countess: aristocratic ladies offered the ideal public for this music, both as perf...
Roman Polanski's successful film 'The Pianist' has focused attention on the Nocturne in c sharp minor by Chopin. Our edition presents the work in two versions. One derives from the handwritten copy wh...
Weber composed an incredible array of compositions in his rather short but at the same time tireless life. Many of them have still to be discovered. The Six Violin Sonatas op. 10 (b), composed in Darm...
The 'Polonaise-Fantaisie' is among Chopin's last great piano works, and is a testament to his mastery and maturity. The out-of-the-ordinary title betrays the fact that Chopin was uncertain about which...
This rousing Polonaise, which is preceded by a nocturne-like Andante, was originally a work for piano and orchestra. It was written at the same time as Chopin's two piano concertos in e minor and f mi...
Chopin's Polonaise in A major op. 40 no. 1 is better known as the 'Military Polonaise'. Indeed, the brisk rhythm, the 'drum roll' in the middle section and the heroic demeanour of the work in general...
Though 18 piano sonatas is a respectable amount for any composer, Mozart also left almost as many - namely 15 - variation cycles. Variations on popular themes, but also on original tunes, were a kind...
With Frédéric Chopin's Fantaisie-Impromptu in c-sharp minor, G. Henle Verlag presents a further Urtext separate issue from among the most popular works of this central composer of romantic piano music...
It is said that in a recital given on 23 March 1783 with the celebrated composer Christoph Willibald Gluck most likely in attendance, Mozart improvised variations on the song 'Unser dummer Pöbel meint...
The polonaise made its first appearances in stylized dance music in the late 16th century. With his own polonaises, Chopin also declared his allegiance to his native Poland. In a way, the genre had fa...
Hardly unexpectedly for a genre created by Franz Schubert, Chopin's four Impromptus have a strongly improvisatory character, while still overflowing with fleet-footed lightness, as well as with dignit...
Next to the polonaises and the waltzes, the mazurkas are the third dance form which Chopin cultivated in his music. They constitute the largest of these three groups, boasting nearly 60 pieces. Chopin...
The early piano trio, the two piano concertos, the three piano sonatas and the late cello sonata op. 65 comprise Chopin's few contributions to sonata form, the principal form of the Classical era. Esp...
Chopin's Nocturne in E flat major op. 9 no. 2 belongs without a doubt among the most beloved works of this genre, and perhaps even of Chopin's entire oeuvre. Echoing the operatic style, the sensual be...
It is well known that Chopin almost exclusively wrote works for solo piano. Only for the cello did he make some exceptions: two works - a Polonaise brillante and the Duo Concertant (HN 788) were writt...
The Nocturne in e minor was written as early as 1827, and is among the Chopin juvenilia that were published only after his death. Julian Fontana, Chopin's long-time confidant and assistant in all area...
Chopin's waltzes were - contrary to, say, those by Schubert - no longer conceived for dancing or for the ballroom. These pieces assumed the form and function of idealized concert waltzes, which Chopin...
The fact that Chopin's waltzes are no longer dance music, but refined concert pieces for performance in salon or concert hall, emerges nowhere as sharply as in the 'Grande Valse' op. 42. The main them...
This virtuoso etude has been given the nickname 'Black Key Study' by pianists, since, apart from one single f in M. 66, the right hand does not touch a single white key. This gives the harmony a penta...
Only very few piano works have become as popular as this theme with twelve variations. It already caught on soon after Mozart's death, as witnessed by the numerous handwritten copies and prints. Altho...
This Henle Urtext edition is very special, for behind the 'Selected Piano Works' concept is a compilation of Chopin's most popular pieces. Moreover, the editor and publisher have placed great weight o...
Chopin's Piano Concertos first saw the light of day around 1829/1830 and thus represent the culmination and termination of his student years in Warsaw. Both concertos are early masterpieces with which...
Chopin composed his piano concertos around 1829/30, which means that to a certain extent they are the climax and conclusion of his student years in Warsaw. Both works are early masterpieces with which...
Not every listener will immediately realize that this piece, which begins in the style of a dream-like nocturne with one of Chopin's most enchanting melodic ideas, originated as a piano etude. But upo...
Chopin's furioso c-minor etude has become famous as the 'Revolutionary Etude'. According to unsubstantiated legend, the composer wrote it in September 1831 when news of the crushing of the Polish upri...
The popular nickname 'Minute Waltz' should not mislead the pianist into playing this 'string of pearls' too hastily. Another nickname is more effective, that of 'Petit Chien' Puppy that is frequently...
With a versatility and naturalness as appropriate to the salon as to the concert hall, Chopin's Nocturnes rank among the works that brought the composer not only fame, but also enormous renown. The de...
Though the autograph has disappeared, this posthumously published waltz is a jewel of Chopin's art, effectively combining dramatic passages with outpourings of lyricism. Despite its virtuoso brillianc...
The Nocturne op. 37 no. 2, composed in 1839, is a perfect example of the rich, pearling cascades of thirds and sixths that keep Chopin's piano works at the top of the popularity list and as beloved to...
Chopin applied himself the waltz genre throughout his life, and created a broad spectrum of musical possibilities from profoundly melancholic and atmospheric mood-pieces to showpieces of extraordinary...
Between 1859 and 1885 Johannes Brahms, with his four symphonies, two piano concertos, violin concerto, dances, variations and overtures, became the representative of large-scale orchestral music. In 1...
