Music for Piano

Practical performing editions

Bärenreiter Urtext piano editions are not aimed at specialists alone: they also provide students, teachers and amateurs with a maximum of information which functions as a reliable guide for lessons and self-instruction. The engraving is pleasing to the eye while meeting the most discerning editorial standards. Where practical page turns are impossible, fold-out pages are included in the editions, as for example in Schumann's “The Prophet Bird” (Forest Scenes, op. 82, BA 9640) or Satie's “Gnossienne” No. 5 (BA 10807).

Deluxe features

The new Bärenreiter Urtext Editions are equipped with detailed prefaces which provide an introduction to the works. Information on historical performing instructions, ornamentation, pedalling and articulation can be found in chapters on performance practice written by acknowledged experts in their field. Among them are keyboard player Mario Aschauer, Assistant Professor of Musicology at the Sam Houston State University School of Music (Huntsville, TX); pianist Hardy Rittner (Freiburg University of Music), noted for his exemplary recordings of Brahms's piano music and the Chopin “Études” on period instruments, the French pianist Alexandre Tharaud and Steffen Schleiermacher, a specialist in Satie and contemporary music. Renowned pianists and teachers impart their rich knowledge of historical and modern performance practice to ensure that our editions are of the highest practical performance level.

International experts

The editors of our Urtext editions are internationally acclaimed specialists; Jonathan Del Mar, one of the most accomplished Beethoven experts, is editing all of Beethoven's piano sonatas. Christoph Flamm, an outstanding scholar particularly of Russian music, is the editor of the complete Skrjabin sonatas and Denis Herlin, Director of Research at the Centre National de Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) in Paris, a knowledgeable expert on 17th- and 18th-century French music (especially the works of Rameau and Couperin), presented the first volume of a pioneering edition of the Pièces de clavecin in 2016. This volume was awarded the “Best Edition” prize at the Frankfurt International Music Fair 2017 by the German Music Publishers Association.

Bärenreiter's extensive and diverse piano catalogue is constantly expanding. The catalogue ranges from masterpieces of the baroque to the early modern era, with the focus traditionally on composers from the baroque and Viennese Classical periods.

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