Quality, but cheap
Study scores of important works by Tchaikovsky. - And some thoughts on the value of a sheet music edition.
If you take a closer look, you will recognize at first glance the differences between the quick (and often legal) download of scores from the Internet and the new editions purchased from music dealers: On the one hand, there are the old public domain editions, some of which date back to the 19th century, with all their graphical inadequacies and uncorrected errors; on the other hand, there are the editions that have been newly edited on the basis of the sources and proofread in the best possible way, which then also clear up the errors that have been blithely perpetuated over the decades. And if the editions printed on good paper (with an all-round informative preface) are also available at a fair price compared to our own fluttering and ephemeral "printouts" - like the study scores presented here - then the decision based on quality should be an easy one.
With its Urtext study scores, the Breitkopf publishing house is not only building on a proven tradition, but is evidently also looking to the future with confidence. In addition to Beethoven, Brahms, Schumann and others, Tchaikovsky is now also represented in the catalog - with two of his most important and most frequently performed works, the Capriccio italiana and the Violin concerto. And it is precisely the familiar, light-footed Capriccio shows in detail what such an edition is capable of. In contrast to the densely packed first edition of November 1880 (which can still be found reproduced in the yellow Eulenburg edition), the new engraving, identical in pagination, is graphically much more spacious and relaxed, and missing signs have been added and wrong notes corrected (e.g. bar 590, fl. III). The Violin concerto becomes much more legible in the engraving pattern so characteristic of Breitkopf and gains in stringency from a purely visual point of view. I hope that this series, which is intended both for those on a tight budget and for curious self-study, will be continued soon!
Peter Tchaikovsky, Capriccio italien op. 45, edited by Polina Vajdman, study score, PB 5515, € 10.50, Breitkopf & Härtel, Wiesbaden 2006
id., Concerto for Violin and Orchestra op. 35, edited by Ernst Herrtrich, study score, PB 15116, € 11.50, 2011
