Franz Adolf Berwald (1796–1868)

Editorial Board: Berwald Kommittén

This complete edition forms part of the series Monumenta Musicae Svecicae issued under the aegis of the Kungliga Musikaliska Akademien Stockholm. Apart from the Berwald Edition, the series is published by Edition Reimers, Stockholm.

After his death, Berwald’s compositions fell into oblivion. The authoritative editions in the Complete Edition, combined with studies on Berwald, a man with wide-ranging interests beyond music, have brought the composer and his works back to wider public recognition once more. Today it is Berwald’s highly individual orchestral and chamber music which is most often performed. This rediscovery is also thanks to Bärenreiter’s long-established approach of a close interlinking between musicology and practice.  The editor of the highly original „Sinfonie singulière“, for example, was the future Gewandhaus music director and conductor Herbert Blomstedt.  As well as orchestral and chamber music, Berwald’s stage and piano works offer a wealth of interesting music worthy of rediscovery.

This first edition of the complete works of the composer offers a musical text which satisfies the needs of scholars and performers alike. Almost 50 years of editorial history lie between the publication of the first volume, String Quartets (1966), and the last volume, „Modehandlerskan“ (2013), a venture which provides a worthy tribute to the most important Swedish composer of the 19th century.

In addition to the musical text, each volume has a preface (German and English) discussing among other things the works, their sources, their genesis and their first performance. A critical report and a number of facsimile reproductions from the most important sources are also included.

Within each volume the works are, as far as possible, arranged in the order in which they were composed. The musical text presents each work in its definitive version; earlier or alternative versions are given in an appendix.

The edition comprises 26 volumes:

Orchestral Works (9 volumes)
Chamber Music (6 volumes)
Vocal Works (8 volumes)
Fragmentary Works (2 volumes)
Supplement (1 volume)

The edition is complete. The following purchasing options are available for this edition:

• Purchase of individual volumes at retail sales prices
• Special set subscription price (a price advantage of approx. 30%)

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