Best Beethoven Sonatas Edition

[invictious]

I know this thread has been done before, I did some extensive searching, but opinions vary too widely.

Some time has passed before something like this has popped up before. I plan to get the whole collection, so I want the pennies to be well spent.

which edition do you think is the best? Best as in accuracy, hard to define, but hope you get the idea?

I am not interested in what you have, but rather, what you think is the best.

[prongated]

...Barenreiter?

[el nino]

henle? schott?

[counterpoint]

Any modern (Urtext) edition will do. The differences of all the Urtext editions are neglectable.

[gruffalo]

Urtext are very good.

[nicco]

Henle, naturally

[phil13]

AHAHAHA who voted for Schirmer?!? XD

I have the Dover edition- Schenker is a good editor, and I think it's the best bang for your buck- Henle in general is better (thus I voted for it), but much more expensive. (of course, that could have changed since the last time I was looking for a Beethoven sonata edition, which was about 4 years ago.    )

Phil

[richard black]

Henle is always well printed on nice paper and they usually try to put the page turns somewhere sensible too, which does help! But I think one can easily justify having more than one edition of the 32: I've got Tovey, which has a lot going for it though it's an 'educational' edition, and Liszt, the latter in some cheap 1900-ish reprint with all 32 in one volume arranged, believe it or not, in order of difficulty. OK, few of us would argue about the first and last in that order, but the other 30....!

[phil13]

Henle is always well printed on nice paper and they usually try to put the page turns somewhere sensible too, which does help! But I think one can easily justify having more than one edition of the 32: I've got Tovey, which has a lot going for it though it's an 'educational' edition, and Liszt, the latter in some cheap 1900-ish reprint with all 32 in one volume arranged, believe it or not, in order of difficulty. OK, few of us would argue about the first and last in that order, but the other 30....!

You'd be surprised...go search for all the difficulty threads on Beethoven sonatas and you'll find that there are actually a lot of people who don't think the Hammerklavier is the hardest, nor Op.49 No.2 the easiest.

About having 2 editions- if you can find them at a good price, go for it. But I also think they should be interpretively different editions- i.e. one that relies on Beethoven's marks only, like the Urtexts, and one that is more...'radical'.  I have the Dover, as I said before, but I also bought a performance edition edited by Artur Schnabel. I use the Schenker to learn out of and the Schnabel for interpretational counseling, of sorts. 

Phil

[imbetter]

dover

[pita bread]

Tovey
Schnabel

Those are the two I use.

[sharon_f]

1. Henle
2. Tovey
Schnabel (Only as an additional reference, not as a primary source.)

I use all three.
(I know, I know I am a definitely a sheet music addict.)

[invictious]

Well come on man, it's 32 pieces, and it's a whole bloody collection.
It's worth it to pay more, since they are important to a pianist's development, and all good pianists will have learned them, the majority of them at least.

The henle is the big blue book? Oooh goodie.

[arensky]

I've used the Dover for years but also have the Henle, which is easier for me to read but I use the Dover/Schenker out of habit. Schenker's fingerings are ludicrous and awful, that's the only downside there.

AHAHAHA who voted for Schirmer?!? XD

I have the Dover edition- Schenker is a good editor, and I think it's the best bang for your buck-

Uh, the best bargain in terms of $$$ HAS to be Op.111 Productions.... 

[pita bread]

suck up...

I can't stand reading from the Dover, it's too cluttered. The Tovey is just really pleasing to the eyes and contains excellent notes. The Schnabel is useful for looking up unconventional fingerings that work really well. I also use it for tempo marking reference; the Tovey tempo markings are a bit on the conservative side...

[phil13]

Uh, the best bargain in terms of $$$ HAS to be Op.111 Productions.... 

Well, I personally would rather spend $40 on a couple hard-bound books than $40 on ink trying to print off 600 pages...

Phil

[jlh]

I use Dover/Schenker, but usually mark it up by referencing my Henle and Schnabel.  I scrap many of Schenker's fingerings though.

[invictious]

Bought both volumes of Beethoven Sonata today, HENLE.
Made a hole in my pocket, but it was worth it.

[iumonito]

Both Henle editions are horribly overrated.  I use Dover, which is in fact very clean, although one day, when Barenreiter gets one out, I shall get it (no Barenreiter at this moment, i think.  let me know otherwise!)

Tecla is also very interesting, but overpriced.  We should make a project to collect a bunch of early editions and post them in the site.  That would be reason to get Golden merbership (which at the moment I consider on par with Henle's editions  )

I consult Peter's Arrau edition often, and the Bulow Schirmer edition, greatly maligned by the urtext generation, has great ideas that came from probably the most scholarly student of the best read and greatest student of the only important and most trusted student of Beethoven.

There is no Czerny edition (but consult his treatise on how to play Beethoven), and no Liszt edition, so the Bulow edition is a very important document that people often don't understand and underappreciate.

[iumonito]

Henle is always well printed on nice paper and they usually try to put the page turns somewhere sensible too, which does help! But I think one can easily justify having more than one edition of the 32: I've got Tovey, which has a lot going for it though it's an 'educational' edition, and Liszt, the latter in some cheap 1900-ish reprint with all 32 in one volume arranged, believe it or not, in order of difficulty. OK, few of us would argue about the first and last in that order, but the other 30....!

Willis, what are you talking about?

Liszt?

Would you scan and post?

[richard black]

Liszt?

Would you scan and post?

No, sorry, it's 556 pages and I've got a life to live!

[frederic chopin]

Both Henle editions are horribly overrated. I use Dover, which is in fact very clean, although one day, when Barenreiter gets one out, I shall get it (no Barenreiter at this moment, i think. let me know otherwise!)

I would be interested to see the new complete Henle edition with Perahia's fingerings - the ones already out have interesting insights into the fingerings he uses.