Which publisher i should choose?

[be4stelectrjc]

I wanted to buy some piano works, the sheets i need are available from Peters, Barenreiter and Breiktopf. But i don't know which to choose. Help.

[symphonicdance]

Which composer(s)?  Generally, your mentioned publishers are fairly reliable for baroque, classical and romantic works.

[outin]

It also depends on how much performance guidance you want on your score (fingerings and such). Peters usually has more of those than the other two which are often urtext, depending on the composer.
Barenreiter is generally good quality, but sometimes the print is a bit hard to read, at least for me. Peters also is often a bit messy.
These days it's often possible to preview scores in the internet shops which can be very helpful.

[ewalker1]

I mainly stick to the same editions... you end up knowing what you like.

For most "standard" repertoire...Henle Verlag...covers most of my scores

Wiener urtext- also fine...I have the score of the Haydn sonatas by them

Bärenreiter- also fine...A very scholarly edition and often contains no editorial remarks e.g. fingering, sensible division of notes between the hands. Print quality is excellent and is printed on large size cream paper.

Boosey and Hawkes- also fine...good for 20th century Russian repertoire, I have the Prokofiev sonatas and a few works of Rachmaninov published by them. Print quality can be a little suspect sometimes

Dover- risky but is normally fine...avoid anything reprinted from some ancient edition (anything Beethoven, Bach, Schubert etc), but will be fine for Debussy, Ravel, Skryabin and anything 1850+. The print quality is certainly not as good as Henle or similar, but scores normally sell at £10 for say, the complete sonatas or complete preludes and etudes of any given composer. Compared to £20 for volume 1 of sonatas published by Henle

Schott- Good for contemporary music and also hard to find baroque pieces

Peters- largely good...they advertise some scores as Urtext, but beware of editorial alterations in some scores. Sometimes its the only option, as Peters publish pretty much everything.

Editio Musica Budapest- Great for Liszt...expensive, £35 for one volume (200 pages), along the similar lines of Bärenreiter, little editorial input in regards to fingering

ABRSM- Newer editions are fine...beware of old ABRSM editions, they can be hideously covered in editorial details. The new edition of the Beethoven sonatas is great.

Durand- Fine (French music only)...expensive, Messiaen scores mostly go for £30+

[williwaw87]

You can usually find Peters and Breitkopf on IMSLP if you want to look at which edition works best for you. I think Barenreiter is the nicest edition though for hard copies.

[be4stelectrjc]

I mean:

Organ Works of Franck. I would choose Durand because is french. Barenreiter and Dover alternatives.
Organ Works of Liszt. I would choose Peters because i love Straube. Universal And Editio Musica Budapest alternatives.
Organ Works of Lubeck, Bruhns. I would choose Breiktopf instead of Peters.
For the modern french authors i will choose Leduc or Durand.

Is it a good idea?

[outin]

I mean:

Organ Works of Franck. I would choose Durand because is french. Barenreiter and Dover alternatives.
Organ Works of Liszt. I would choose Peters because i love Straube. Universal And Editio Musica Budapest alternatives.
Organ Works of Lubeck, Bruhns. I would choose Breiktopf instead of Peters.
For the modern french authors i will choose Leduc or Durand.

Is it a good idea?

I know little about organ scores, but I have bought quite a few transcriptions and piano works of Franck by Durand. Some are nice, but some are more like low quality photo copies. Printing from IMSLP would have been a better option on those.

[be4stelectrjc]

I know little about organ scores, but I have bought quite a few transcriptions and piano works of Franck by Durand. Some are nice, but some are more like low quality photo copies. Printing from IMSLP would have been a better option on those.

Dover has a price too low. Collections of this publisher costs about 50 euro, while single copies of durand for example cost 30. I talk about 300 euro vs 50.

[outin]

Dover has a price too low.

? You've got too much money?

[be4stelectrjc]

? You've got too much money?

I'm asking why a collection of complete works of Dover has the same cost as one work of Henle. For me there's a difference in quality, paper, fingerings, notes between the hands etc.
It sounds too easy.

[outin]

I'm asking why a collection of complete works of Dover has the same cost as one work of Henle. For me there's a difference in quality, paper, fingerings, notes between the hands etc.
It sounds too easy.

Dover has a completely different publishing strategy. I assume they just bought editions and then keep reprinting them which doesn't cost much. Henle pays for both reserach and engraving to experts, which is not cheap.

Still, many Dover books are excellent overviews of the composers works and most are at least resonable print and paper quality as well. I have one Dover book of Franck's music and I think it was well worth the money.

As for the fingerings, Henle's often don't even work for me. I tend to prefer Wiener Urtext over Henle and they are usually a bit cheaper. More expensive is not always better.

[richard black]

I wouldn't be at all surprised if the Dover edition of Franck's organ music turned out to be the Durand edition, reprinted in facsimile. In fact I just looked at Dover's website and this proves to be the case. Durand are ruinously expensive even when what they are selling is decades out of copyright. I wouldn't touch their stuff with a bargepole if there's any reasonable alternative.