Although many of these pieces are not less of a challenge for pianists than some of Chopin’s Etudes, there are a few which are often played by less experienced players:
The Preludes op 28 as well as two other preludes, Opus 45 in C-sharp minor and Opus posth. (in A-flat Major) are now available as urtext scores to download and print from Piano Street’s online sheet music library.
Similar to the collections of Nocturnes and Ballades, published earlier this year this new edition by Piano Street attempts to present the most valid version of these pieces following consensus among today’s prominent scholars and pianists. The edition has Chopin’s own fingering only and for anyone needing further advice on fingering we refer to the edition by Herrmann Scholtz, also available for downloading.
The Moments Musicaux were published only a few months before Schubert’s death in 1828. Most of them were composed during 1827 or 1828, with the exception of Nos. 3 and 6, dating from 1823 and 1824 respectively.
Recordings of the Six Moments Musicaux performed by David Wärn have now been published by Piano Street.
As a free time limited offer (until August 31) we are happy to share with you the recording of piece no 5 and 6 from the set:
Two of Johannes Brahms’ most popular late piano pieces are now available as Urtext scores from Piano Street’s sheet music library. Recordings, of the two pieces performed by Henrik Sandback, have also been added.
The three Intermezzi Op. 117 are probably the most well-known and best-loved of Brahms’s late piano pieces.
The composer described these pieces, all three of which are marked Andante, “lullabies to my sorrows”. They were inspired by a Scottish poem from Herder´s Volkslieder, Lady Anne Bothwell’s Lament, and bear this inscription:
Schlaf sanft mein Kind, schlaf sanft und Schön!/Mich dauert´s sehr, dich weinen sehn. (Sleep softly my child, sleep softly and well!/It hurts my heart to see you weeping.)
The second piece of Op. 118 is one of Brahms’s most beloved creations, a deeply lyrical and moving nocturne. The opus, consisting of six pieces, were sent as a gift to Clara Schumann immediately upon their completion. Brahms’ biographer Jan Swafford has surmised: “he may have composed the pieces to try and keep Clara Schumann going in body and soul. Since she could only play a few minutes at a time now, and because she loved these miniatures so deeply, maybe they did keep her alive.”
The Ballade or Ballad was originally a sung poem, recounting a myth or an historical event. The form, with its connotations of simple folkloric authenticity, became popular in literature with the rise of Romanticism; Chopin is usually credited with originating the genre for the piano.
The first three Ballades are said to have been inspired by poems by Adam Mickiewicz, a Polish poet living in exile in Paris like Chopin himself, although Chopin never confirmed the precise sources or programs for these works.
According to these speculations the first Ballade, for example, is inspired by Mickiewicz’s poem “Konrad Wallenrod”.
The plot described by Wikipedia:
In a preface, Mickiewicz briefly outlines the history of the region to date, describing the interactions among the Lithuanians, Prussians, Pole, and Russians. The following six cantos tell the story of Wallenrod, a fictional Lithuanian pagan captured and reared as a Christian by his people’s long-standing enemies, the Order of Teutonic Knights. He rises to the position of Grand Master, but is awakened to his heritage by a mysterious minstrel singing at an entertainment. He then seeks vengeance by deliberately leading the Knights into a major military defeat. It transpires that Wallenrod has a wife, Aldona, who has been living in seclusion. The Knights discover his treason and sentence him to death; Aldona refuses to flee with him. He then commits suicide.
A new instalment of two Preludes and Fugues from Bach’s WTC I, performed by Martin Sturfält, has been published today; the joyous and energetic C-sharp major set (which must surely be one of the most difficult to read on account of the extreme choice of key – seven sharps – taking you through keys such as B-sharp and E-sharp major!) and the simply remarkable work in B minor.
The prelude has received a wide range of interpretations in terms of tempo and articulation and also asks for an imaginative approach to the sensitive subject of ornamentation. The Fugue stands out as one of the most monumental among the 48, not least due to its length but also with its theme using all twelve pitch classes, thereby foreshadowing Arnold Schoenberg by some 180 years!
In less than two weeks the page has attracted over 4,000 fans and we are of course very encouraged by seeing that there is such an interest in classical piano music!
To celebrate the launch we offer free downloads of the three most popular Nocturnes by Chopin, all in or new Urtext edition. Visit the new page to find out how to get the free scores and to become a fan of Piano Street on Facebook!
“Chopin, in his poetic Nocturnes, sang not only the harmonies which are the source of our most ineffable delights, but likewise the restless, agitating bewilderment to which they often give rise”. Franz Liszt
The Nocturnes span the whole of Chopin’s career, and among them are some of the composer’s most beloved works.
Mention is often made of the influence on Chopin of the Irishman John Field, generally credited as the father of the nocturne. While there is no doubt that links exist between the two, it’s also certain that Chopin’s temperament was quite different from that of his predecessor, as was the range of his modes of expression.
During his Weimar period, Johann Sebastian Bach composed a wealth of works. Among them are the 22 solo keyboard transcriptions of concertos by his Italian and German contemporaries: six for organ (BWV 592–596) and 16 for single-manual keyboard (BWV 972–987). The latter includes many famous baroque concertos by for example Vivaldi, Marcello and Telemann.
This collection of 16 works is now available for download from Piano Street’s online sheet music library in editions by Ernst Naumann for Bach-Gesellschaft edition: Bach – Transcriptions of Baroque Concertos
Glenn Gould performs the transcription of Marcellos Oboe Concerto in D minor:
What Scarlatti is most prominently remembered for are the 555 short keyboard sonatas originally labelled Essercizi (Exercises). When he died in Madrid, Scarlatti left this treasury of manuscripts, which were largely unplayed beyond Spain and Portugal until pianist Carl Czerny published a selection of the sonatas in 1839.
34 of the most popular sonatas have been added to Piano Street’s sheet music library which now contains 192 of the sonatas by Scarlatti.
Here is one of the most well-known, Sonata K 380 in E Major, performed by Vladimir Horowitz in Moscow 1986:
Each of the two volumes of Bach’s Well-tempered Clavier contains one prelude and one fugue in every major and minor key. Often called “the 48”, or the “Old Testament” of piano music (the new being Beethoven’s sonatas) it is perhaps the most important keyboard work of all time.
The preludes are very varied in style and often deal with a specific technical feature, while the fugues are remarkable for their wide range of contrapuntal techniques and modes of expression.
Interpreting these masterpieces is a great challenge and inspiration for every pianist and the sets of complete recordings available are numerous, displaying a wide range of interpretational approaches. Even more numerous are the unrecorded performances throughout history; it is indeed slightly annoying that, no matter how fast and far modern technology evolves, we will probably never be able to listen to performances by our 18th and 19th century masters. But we have at least some very detailed 19th century editions left, for example one by Beethoven’s student Carl Czerny (of which WTC book 1 is available from Piano Street’s online sheet music library) which is considered to give hints on how Beethoven played these pieces.
Returning to February 2010, pianist Martin Sturfält is starting an ambitious project in which he plans to record all 48 Preludes and Fugues for Piano Street. “In recording DWK I seek to fuse the prevailing neo-classical approach to playing Bach on the modern piano with the vitality of the period instrument movement. This enables me to make stylistically informed choices while keeping an undogmatic view on these masterpieces of the keyboard repertoire”, says Sturfält.
His new recording of seven of the Preludes & Fugues from Book 1 as well as two from Book 2 is now available from Piano Street for listening and downloading.
Listen and follow the project on this page: “Recording the 48″ – Preludes and Fugues by Bach
As a free sample we are happy to share with you the recording and Urtext score of the Prelude and Fugue no 7 in E-flat major from Book 2:
(click play button twice to start)
Please join us in welcoming pianist Martin Sturfält as the newest member of the Piano Street Team and enjoy these 18 new tracks!
Interpreting these masterpieces is a great challenge and inspiration for every pianist and the sets of complete recordings available are numerous, displaying a wide range of interpretational approaches. Even more numerous are the unrecorded performances throughout history; it is indeed slightly annoying that, no matter how fast and far modern technology evolves, we will probably never be able to listen to performances by our 18th and 19th century masters. But we have at least some very detailed 19th century editions left, for example one by Beethoven’s student Carl Czerny (of which 
Returning to February 2010, pianist Martin Sturfält is starting an ambitious project in which he plans to record all 48 Preludes and Fugues for Piano Street.
