piano music publishers recommendations

[josipa12]

Hi, everyone,

I am returning to studying the piano. I followed the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto program and reached grade 9, but have probably dropped back to grade 7. I have a question about sheet music publishers. I must purchase several books of Bach, Mozart and Schubert and was in a shop looking at books by Peters, Verlag, and others and noticed that the phrasing is minimal compared to the books I have from the Conservatory. Can anyone recommend a publisher that has nice, full phrasing to keep a learner on track? I was really amazed at the difference between my books and what was available. Any help appreciated. I live in Europe.

Thanks in advance,
J

[quantum]

I tend to stay away from RCM graded publications in the higher levels.  Especially with pieces that can be found in better editions with a lot of research behind them.  These higher grades also start to get into the standard piano rep - stuff you will be playing a long time after you finished up with RCM grades - so it is worth getting a quality edition for this music.  

Urtext editions of Peters, Henle, Barenreiter, et al., try to give minimal editorial input in the score so you may see as close as practically possible what the composer wrote in the manuscript.  This is actually preferable in most cases.  Additional phrasing and details are formed out of the knowledge of stylistic awareness and what is characteristic of the composer, place and time.  

What is problematic with editions including editorial dynamics, phrasing, articulation, etc. is the distinction between what the composer wrote, and what the editor added or changed.  The former is part of the composition, the latter an opinion of another person and how they think the music should be played.

If you want an example of overkill editing examine the Schirmer edition of the Beethoven Sonatas (I said examine, but please don't waste your money on it).  Put it beside any recent urtext edition and see the difference.  To be fair, editing and publishing practices were very different at that time.

The RCM comes out with a new syllabus and set of graded publications every 7 years.  The ones you have may be quite different from what is currently being published.

Alfred makes some good student editions where editorial marks are light gray.  A good example is the volume of Bach Inventions and Sinfonias.  

The Neue Mozart-Ausgabe AKA Barenreiter's publications on Mozart can be freely downloaded here.  This is an excellent edition.
https://dme.mozarteum.at/DME/main/index.php?l=2

It is much better to have a good knowledgeable teacher to keep you on track in regards to phrasing, articulation and style, along with a reliable edition.  In this manner you will be able to distinguish between a composers instructions, and decisions affecting the interpretation and realization of those instructions.  

[1plus]

I don't know why i just hate RCM and ABRSM editions...These editions are ok in editorial marking but i really dislike all the comments they add in the end and how they waste the papers...
Agree with quantum, try to get an urtext edition.
Henle has been my favorite for some years.
Alfred and Dover are s ok for a amateur, but since i found sometimes some wrong note\missing note or strange dynamique marking, I became really prudent to purchase these editions.

[omar_roy]

I always try to stick to Barenreiter, Boosey & Hawkes, and Henle for pretty much everything.  Having, essentially, what the composer wrote will help you to form an interpretation based on your own analysis of the score, rather than what some editor thinks you should do.

Dover isn't bad either, if you're in a pinch.