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A key figure in French music
Bärenreiter embarks on the Complete Works of Gabriel Fauré

Bärenreiter-Verlag is embarking on the publication of a new Complete Edition. The complete output of the French composer Gabriel Fauré (1845–1924) will be published in 26 music volumes, a catalogue of works and a volume of illustrations. Fauré occupied a central position in the transitional period between the Romantic and modern periods in French music because he maintained a great independence from trends and schools. In particular, the Requiem Op. 48 and his chamber music have retained their place in the concert repertoire.

For the first time, the Complete Edition brings together all works which were published during the composer’s lifetime. In this process, the editors have consulted all the original sources – manuscripts, corrected proofs, first editions with corrections made by the composer, etc.

The Fauré Complete Edition will also reveal little-known or unpublished works or parts of works, particularly from his juvenilia. This will give a more complete picture of the composer’s aesthetic development, with its early influences derived from the musical classics. Fauré quickly found his own personal harmonic language, which developed to the boldness of the opera “Pénélope” and the late chamber music and piano works.  The edition will include abandoned works such as the Allegro from the Violin Concerto Op. 14 and the Symphony or Orchestral Suite in F Op. 20. Unpublished versions of well-known pieces await rediscovery, as well as the few songs which the composer himself orchestrated.

The first volume includes the Piano Trio Op. 120 and the String Quartet Op. 121.

Gabriel Fauré: Œuvres complètes. Direction scientifique: Jean-Michel Nectoux. Bärenreiter-Verlag

The first volume:
Vol. V/3: Trio pour piano, violon et violoncelle op. 120; Quatuor à cordes op. 121. Edited by James William Sobaskie. BA 9464. € 234,–.

Leading violin teacher
Egon Saßmannshaus dies

The violinist, violist and violin teacher Egon Saßmannshaus, author of the violin method “Früher Anfang auf der Geige”, died on 7 August 2010 in Munich, following a long illness.

Saßmannshaus, who was born on 19 March 1928 in Wuppertal, began early in his career to develop his own teaching material. This material, his keen interest in the psychology of learning and his knowledge of violin playing and music led to invitations to national conferences. After presenting his programme at a congress of the Association of German Music Schools, Gustav Bosse and Bärenreiter invited him to publish his materials as a violin method for children. In 1976, the first volume of “Früher Anfang auf der Geige” was published by Bärenreiter, followed by volumes 2, 3 and 4, and then the corresponding viola and cello methods. This string method, the best-selling method in German speaking countries, introduced almost half a million children to music. The method was published in Italian and Chinese and since 2008, has also been available in English as “Early Start on the Violin”.

Generations of musicians have taken their first steps with the Saßmannshaus method, and many of his pupils continue his work as artists in leading orchestras, music conservatoires and music schools. He is mourned by his wife, five children and Bärenreiter-Verlag. (12.8.2010)

Dieter Ammann in Lucerne
Composer-in-residence at the Lucerne Festival 2010

Orchestral works, ensemble pieces, string quartets and madrigals are presented in a composer portrait. Pierre Boulez and the Lucerne Festival Academy Orchestra play Ammann’s new orchestral work “Turn”, which forms a triptych with “Core” and “Boost”. The first performance takes place on 25 August. Other key works by Ammann will be performed at the festival. On 15 August the Ensemble Intercontemporain, conducted by Susanna Mälkki, performs “Violation” for cello and ensemble (1999) and “pRESTO sOSTINATO” for large ensemble (2006), composed for the centenary of Paul Sacher’s birth. In a concert with the Casal Quartet on 29 August both string quartets, No. 1 “Geborstener Satz” (2003) and No. 2 “Distanzenquartett” (2009), will be performed for the first time together. The other side of composer Dieter Ammann, that of the improvising jazz musician, will be presented in two concerts. 

Appointments for Matthias Pintscher and Ľubica Čekovská

Matthias Pintscher has been appointed as the orchestra’s first Artist-in-Association by the Glasgow-based BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra in its 75th anniversary year. The agreement with composer and conductor Pintscher covers the period 2010-12 and includes the first performance of a new orchestral work, performances of other works by him and his conducting six concert programmes with the highly-regarded Scottish orchestra. Pintscher will conduct a concert on 15 May 2010, with his two works “celestial object for solo trumpet and ensemble” and “Transir for flute and chamber orchestra” at the centre of the programme.

The Slovakian composer Ľubica Čekovská has been appointed Composer in Residence by the Philharmonic Orchestra of Altenburg-Gera for the 2010/2011 season. On 15 September her first violin concerto will be premiered by the Thuringian orchestra conducted by its new music director Howard Arman, and on 20 April 2011, Ľubica Čekovská’s orchestral work “Adorations” will receive its first German performance in Altenburg.
Born in Slovakia in 1975, Ľubica Čekovská studied at the Academy of Music and Drama in Bratislava and the Royal Academy of Music in London. Her music captivates through a refined simplicity, fine sense of colour, but particularly through its deeply personal message, which always remains enigmatic. (27.4.2010)