Polyvalent edition
This version of Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto is distinguished by the indication of the editorial differences and by numerous performance variants.
The 40-year-old violinist and teacher at the Zurich Conservatory of Music, Philip A. Draganov, has broken new ground in the solo part of this highly recommended edition of Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto. Not only the fingerings and bowings he uses in his performances are given, but also many alternatives. Furthermore, the differences in the autograph and in the various first editions are notated in the musical text - sometimes on different staves. This gives students the opportunity to make decisions depending on the size of their hand, the sound of their instrument and their musical inclinations, which would otherwise only be possible by consulting different editions. There are many striking glissandi in the style of the 19th century, but also some modern under- and overstretching, which are emphasized with circled finger numbers. The prudence of all the suggestions in the footnotes is demonstrated by the comment on one version: it should be avoided in competitions! The recommendation to prefer the lower octave version by Leopold Auer for one passage is piquant. He had judged the concerto to be unplayable; he would have wanted to revise it before a premiere.
The afterword on the sources describes the eventful history of the composition up to the premiere by the dedicatee Adolf Brodsky and the later corrections by Tchaikovsky. Reference is also made to the possibility of viewing the autograph score, which is in the Glinka Museum in Moscow, online.
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D major op. 35, violin part with bowings and fingerings by Philip A. Draganov. Piano reduction by Edward Rushton, Fr. 38.00, Gilgenreiner Verlag, Winterthur 2017, ISMN 979-0-700268-27-5
