Wańhal (Vaňhal) - Violonello Solo in A (Urtext Edition)

Johann Baptist Wańhal (Jan Křtitel Vaňhal) wrote several works with a solo cello, including four concertos, a Solo for violoncello with a bass, and a set of variations. Three concertos, all in C major and the Solo, are found in the archives of the Czech National Museum. These works come from the Radenín Castle collection and are all annotated in the same hand as the one that annotated Joseph Haydn's Cello Concerto in C major. As with Haydn, two concertos contain cadenzas with the same penmanship. This handwriting is found in the Solo in the final movement, adding variations 11–13.

These manuscripts, complete with annotations, likely date no later than 1790. The annotator of the works used the soprano clef in Haydn's Concerto. The soprano clef was waning out of use on the cello in the 1780s, with preference given to the two-clef system, bass and treble clef read an octave lower. Jean-Baptiste Bréval had already composed his Op. 12 Sonata and all the concertos in the two-clef system, dating from 1783 and later. Haydn's autograph for the D-major Cello Concerto also uses two clefs. Bréval composed his Six Duos, Op. 25, with the older five-clef system (bass, tenor, alto, soprano, and treble read at pitch), but this was composed as a method to learn the five clefs and not something that he and his contemporaries used moving forward.

Wańhal 's choice of clefs for the cello was unusual and can be seen as a transition from the five-clef to the two-clef system. He used the bass, tenor, and alto clefs at the pitch, but the treble he composed to be read down an octave, essentially making the tenor and treble clefs redundant.

Violoncello Solo in A is a three-movement sonata with a second cello (basso) accompaniment. This work has not been cataloged either by Bryan or Weinmann. The first and second movements are in binary form with a recognizable sonata-form structure. In general, the cello writing is similar to Wańhal's contemporary Jean-Louis Duport. The second, slow movement is in A minor. The finale is a theme with ten variations, and three additional variations are supplied by the early hand at the Radenín Castle. The latter three variations are the most technically demanding in the set. The basso part is noted only once and is expected to be repeated for the variations.

Original clefs are used in the score, and modern clefs are in a separate part. The basso part is notated under the theme and all variations, thus appearing fourteen times instead of once. The latter three variations are placed in the appendix of this edition.

Thank you to the Czech National Museum for putting the source, shelfmark XLIX.C:373, at our disposal.

If you've ever listened to Pablo Casals's short-piece collections, surely you have heard a piece called Tonadilla by Blas de Laserna. It's a cute and simple little piece.

Laserna's name might seem obscure to us. Laserna was a Spanish Classical-era opera composer who wrote many Tonadillas. Tonadillas are staged songs that sometimes last the length of an opera scene. The Tonadilla in question, however, is not by Laserna but by André Grétry, the famous French opera composer.

The confusion started with Cassadó's publication that attributed a piece called Tonadilla to Laserna in his transcription for cello and piano. This piece comes from Grétry's opera Zémire et Azor, which premiered in 1771. The dance is called Passepied, from Act III of the opera.
 

Ironically, the tonadilla genre is not danced, only sung, but the piece Cassadó attributed to Laserna is a dance. It's hard to say where Cassadó got the information for this piece. The manuscript collection at Tamagawa University has this work arranged for various ensembles, including piano solo and cello with harp and a double string quartet, but always under the Tonadilla title. Perhaps Cassadó was working from memory and couldn't remember where he had heard the piece. In his earlier days, Cassadó attributed his own compositions to Frescobaldi, Couperin, Boccherini, and others. While the popularity of this arrangement has waned, I hope that this Passepied will be attributed to the correct composer.

Joseph Servais - Six Romances and Prelude (First Edition)

Joseph Servais (1850—85) was the youngest son of Belgian cellist-composer François Servais and Sophie Feygin. Joseph followed in his father's footsteps to become a virtuoso cellist and his successor at the Brussels Conservatory. Joseph had an illustrious career as a cellist during his relatively short life. He left behind a few compositions, including a cello concerto, a string quartet, a half dozen Romances for cello and piano (one orchestrated), a couple of preludes, and around a dozen other incomplete works. The string quartet was published with his brother Franz's supervision in 1900. Most notably, Joseph Servais was the dedicatee of the Second Cello Concerto by Henry Vieuxtemps, a set of melodies by Désiré Artôt, and Aubade mauresque, Op. 49 by Edouard de Hartog.

The present edition includes six Romances and Prelude, published for the first time. All sources come from a private collection.

Romance in A minor is of striking beauty and nostalgia of his father's generation. It is the longest of the six romances. There are several sources for this work. In its early, short version, this work was the fourth of the numbered Romances. We chose the source that was the same as the orchestrated version. This source is also the most complete. Slurring was done in pencil, and there were sometimes several slurring options. We chose to print the slurring consistent with the rest of the piece. Crossed-out notes were not printed in this edition. The fingerings are original to the source.

Romance in B-flat major does not have a title in the source. However, it is in the same style as the shorter Romances. It exists in a single source. Romance in C major is placid, accompanied by repeated triplets. It exists in two sources, one of which lacks a tempo marking. The three numbered Romances each exist in two sources. Each copy looks like a working copy. The most complete copy was chosen for publication. Crossed-out notes were not printed.

Prelude in A minor exists in several sketches, as well as a working copy and a fair copy. The fair copy was used for our edition. The working copy is dated 14 February 1882 and is dedicated to the amateur cellist Paolo Rotondo (ca. 1827—96). Rotondo is also the dedicatee of Guido Papini's short piece Mes adieux à Naples and Giuseppe Martucci's Cello Sonata, Op. 52. Based on the difficulty of the pieces dedicated to Rotondo, he must have been a very able cellist. He was also a fine-instrument collector. Servais's Prelude is a perpetual motion in ternary form. The first section is in A minor and E-flat major. The middle section is in G major and C minor. The first section repeats almost verbatim and ends in A major. The source does not contain fingerings. Fingerings in our edition were provided by the editor. The cello part lacks dynamics. Dynamics from the piano part may be used in the cello part for more contrast, especially in mm. 157–178. "Ritenuto" was spelled "Retenuto" in the source; this was corrected.

Thank you to Peter François for his expertise and help in obtaining the sources for this edition.​

Gretsch - 6 Cello Sonatas (Urtext Edition)

Johann Konrad Gretsch was likely born in 1710 and died in 1778. He served as a respected cellist in the chapel of the Prince of Thurn and Taxis in Regensburg and was also a popular composer. Ernst Ludwig Gerber described Gretsch as a man who demonstrated extensive knowledge in harmony, excellent taste, and exceptional skill on his instrument through his compositions. His works can be found in various sources, such as the Breitkopf catalogs, and include symphonies, wind partitas, an oboe concerto, four cello concertos (including three in the Breitkopf Catalogue and one at the Czech National Museum), fifteen cello sonatas (ten in the Breitkopf Catalogue and five more in the present edition), a sonata for violin and cello, and a trio for viola da gamba, violin, and continuo. An audio mock-up of his C-major Cello Concerto may be heard on YouTube.

The six cello sonatas in our current edition come from the Czech National Museum, whom we thank for putting these sources at our disposal. The catalog numbers follow the ones of the Museum. The original clefs (bass, tenor, alto, soprano) were retained in the score but changed to modern clefs in the separate cello part.

The basso part is unfigured and, as was typical of the period, intended to be played by a second cello. There are some double stops in the basso part. Generally, the basso part plays a subordinate role, but in the finales of the A-major Sonatino and the D-major Sonata, it plays an equal role to the cello part.

All deviations from the original text have been noted in footnotes or with editorial marks.

Sonatino in C major 
(XLI.B.95)
Andantino
Largo (C minor)
Presto

Four of Gretsch's fifteen sonatas for cello and basso are in C major. Two of the sonatas in this set are called “Sonatino.” However, these works are not small, simple, or easy.

This sonata begins with an Andantino but is not a slow movement. Like all of the first movements in this set of six sonatas, this one is in sonata form with a binary structure. The main melody of the Largo is reminiscent of Pergolesi's "Mentre l'erbetta" from Il Flaminio (used by Stravinsky in Pulcinella). The finale is virtuosic for both instruments.

Sonata in A major 
(XLI.B.96)
Allegro
Adagio (E major)
Tempo giusto

This sonata has the same incipit as a cello concerto in the Breitkopf Catalogue (Supplement VIII: 1773). It is not uncommon to see Classical-era composers repurposing their sonatas in concertos and vice versa. We see this with a few of Boccherini's sonatas. The outer movements are both minuet-like. The Adagio is expansive. In this set of six sonatas, all finales bearing the tempo marking “Tempo giusto” are minuets. 

Three of the sonatas in this set are in A major. Gretsch must have enjoyed playing in A major, as another sonata and three concertos are in this key.

Sonatino in A major 
(XLI.B.97)
Allegro
Largo (A minor)
Tempo giusto

This sonata is the easiest one in the set with regard to technique, although the slow movement has a very challenging yet short-lived passage. The opening movement has a march-like style. The Largo, marked “dolce,” is a Siciliana, one of two slow movements in the minor key. The finale is a minuet. The finale basso part is perhaps more virtuosic than the cello part.

Sonata in D major 
(XLI.B.98)
Andante
Allegro
Tempo giusto

The incipit of this sonata is included as the first of six sonatas in the Breitkopf Catalogue (Supplement V: 1770). None of the other sonatas in the current set are included in the Breitkopf Catalogue. The first movement is a well-paced Andante. The Allegro is bourrée-like, with a bit of a Handel flair. The finale is a minuet with interplay between the cello and basso.

Sonata in F major 
(XLI.B.99)
Cantabile
Allegro
Allegretto

This sonata begins with a gentle Cantabile. The dynamics give an impression of solo vs. tutti. The Allegro is similar in style to the above D-major Sonata. The Allegretto is a minuet in 3/8 time.

Sonata in A major 
(XLI.B.100)
Allegro
Adagio (D major)
Allegro

The final sonata in this set is technically less challenging. It begins with a minuet, followed by a placid Adagio and an Allegro similar to the Allegros that serve as middle movements above.

Breval-Alexanian - Cello Sonata in G major, Op. 12, No. 5 (Arranged for Cello and Piano)

The late 1800s saw curiosity in Baroque and Classical composers. Between Friedrich ​Grützmacher (1832– 1903) and Alfredo ​Piatti (1822–1901), much of the ancient cello and viola da gamba music had been excavated and repurposed for contemporary audiences. Piatti’s approach is conservative and more “authentic.” Grützmacher’s approach is innovative, sometimes containing too much spice and creativity. As this curiosity continued into the 1900s, string players and pianists repurposed more repertoire with new piano parts for accompanied solo sonatas. Thanks to these efforts, Jean Baptiste ​Bréval (1753–1823) was one of the composers who came into the standard cello repertoire.

Carl ​Schröder (1848–1935) wrote a piano part for Bréval’s Op. 40 sonatas, replacing the original “cello 2” part. This arrangement was first published in 1879 by Johann André, the original publisher of Op. 40.

The next sonata by Bréval to be furnished with a piano part was the G-major Sonata, Op. 12 No. 5, created by Alfred ​Moffat (1863–1950), and published by Simrock in 1904. This version has stood the test of time, still being performed and recorded regularly. Of all the piano versions created in the early 1900s, Moffat’s was the most conservative with the harmonies and the cello part.

In our current edition, we would like to present the piano version of the G-major Sonata by Diran ​Alexanian (1881–1954), first published by ​Ricordi in 1918. This version takes many ideas, such as the cello cadenzas, harmonies, and piano figurations from Moffat but aims to make the piano part an equal partner to the cello. The most notable alteration to the cello part is the removal of the cello transition to the last rondo statement in the finale. Alexanian did not include fingerings in the cello part. There are some bowings. While this version of the Sonata did not have the lasting success as the Moffat version, it found champions in Maurice ​Eisenberg (1900–72) and Raya ​Garbousova (1909–97).

Our edition of Alexanian’s version is a new engraving with corrections of obvious errors and inconsistencies between the cello part and the piano score. Any deviations from the original have been marked in brackets or described in the ​Critical Notes at the end of this volume.

Alexanian’s was not the last version published with a piano part. Only 3 years after Alexanian, in 1921,​Ricordi published a version by Joseph ​Salmon (1864–1943). Salmon’s cello part added fingerings and restored the 5 bars of the finale while cutting 2 bars in the first movement development. The piano part is radically different, more harpsichord-like. The Alexanian and Salmon versions were printed concurrently for some time.​ Ernst ​Cahnbley (1875–1936), published by ​Schott in 1921, re-composed the cello part almost like Grützmacher’s style, with a piano part to match. Gaspar ​Cassadó (1897–1966), published by the ​International Music Company in 1956, flipped the voicing of the cello and piano occasionally, but for the most part, used ideas from Moffat and Alexanian, with an interesting interpolation of Eisenberg’s natural harmonic idea near the end of the finale. More authentic, transparent piano parts were created by Edwin ​Koch (1928–2009) and Bernhard ​Weigart, published by ​Schott in 1966, and by Fedor ​Amosov, released by the Centaur label in 2012.

We thank the ​Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections for providing a copy of the Alexanian source.

Brandukov - Collection of 10 Pieces for Cello and Piano

Anatoly Brandukov (1859-1930) was a Russian virtuoso cellist and composer. Today, he is remembered as the dedicated of Peter Tchaikovsky's Pezzo Capriccioso and Sergei Rachmaninov's Two Pieces, Op. 2, and Cello Sonata, Op. 19.  

During his lifetime, Brandukov published around a dozen of his compositions, mainly short pieces for cello and piano. His output also includes four or five cello concertos and piano works that were never published. In volume 3 of his History of the Art of the Cello (История Виолончельного Искусства), Lev Ginzburg discusses the E-minor Cello Concerto at length. The manuscripts of the concertos are housed at the Tchaikovsky State House-Museum in Klin. Other works, letters, and photographs are housed at the Russian National Museum of Music in Moscow.

In this edition, we present ten of Brandukov's pieces that were published during his lifetime. In 1885, Jurgenson published Six Pieces. The centerpiece of the set is the Nocturne (No. 2). The other pieces draw inspiration from Russian composers like Anton Rubinstein and Karl Davydov. Five of the six pieces carry dedications. The first piece, Nuit de Printemps, is dedicated to Brandukov's cello teacher Guillaume Fitzenhagen. The serene Nocturne is dedicated to Alfred Fallot, the grandfather of the cellist Guy Fallot and business partner of the car manufacturer Armand Peugeot. Romance sans Paroles is dedicated to Vera Khludova, the wife of Mikhail Khludov, a Russian businessman and manufacturer. Romance has no dedication. The Mazurka is dedicated to Edgar Jacot des Combes. The Gavotte is dedicated to the French lawyer and music historian Jules Gallay.

In 1887, Durand published Brandukov's Elegie in E minor. This work existed in E-flat minor as well, as can be seen in an autographed photo by Carl Reutlinger (1816-88). The Elegie was dedicated to Countess Olga Chertkova. During the same year, Durand also published Pesnia (Song), which is not included in our volume.

In 1901, A. Noël of Paris published six works by Brandukov, Opp. 8-13. These works are the only ones by Brandukov with opus numbers. Our volume includes Opp. 8-10. These works are markedly more mature than the works published in the 1880s. The Nocturne and Sur l'Eau deserve special attention. Sur l'Eau is reminiscent of Anatoly Lyadov's Le Lac enchanté. Ironically, Brandukov's piece predates Lyadov's by eight years. Sur l'Eau is dedicated to Countess Emanuela Potocka. Brandukov must have been aware of the wordplay between the common Slavic word "potok" (stream) and the title of the piece. Feuillet d'Album, is also similar to Lyadov in style.

We hope that these short pieces will enrich cellists' recital repertoire.

Danzi - Cello Concerto in A major, P. 241 (Urtext Edition, Solo Part)
​Danzi - Cello Concerto in A major, P. 241 (Urtext Edition, Orchestra Score)
Danzi - Cello Concerto in A major, P. 241 (Urtext Edition, Orchestra Parts)

Franz Danzi (1763–1826) was a German cellist, composer, and conductor, the son of the Italian cellist Innocenz Danzi and brother of the noted singer Francesca Lebrun. Danzi is mainly remembered as a composer of woodwind music. However, he contributed to the cello repertoire with at least five concertos (2 considered lost), a concertino, several sonatas, and chamber works. Danzi's mentee, Carl Maria von Weber included a rondo based on Danzi's opera Der Quasimann (1789), Therese's Rondo “The Guardian Spirit, the Lover,” in his Grand Potpourri, Op. 20 (1808).

The present Cello Concerto in A major was published in 1803 in Zurick by Hans Georg Nägeli (Jean George Naigueli), with a low plate number 7. This concerto famously contains variations on Mozart's "La ci dream la mano" from Don Giovanni as the finale. The first movement of the Concerto is in sonata form without the return of the primary theme in the recapitulation. The slow movement is in ternary form in F major with a 17-bar transition to the finale. The finale contains four variations, the third being more lyrical in the minor mode. The 84-bar coda is based on " Andiam, andiam, mio bene."

Our edition is based on the first edition parts graciously provided by the Loeb Music Library at Harvard University. All deviations from the text have been detailed in the footnotes and marked with editorial markings in the orchestra score.

Mysliveček - Cello Concerto in C major (Urtext, Orchestra Score)
Mysliveček - Cello Concerto in C major (Urtext, Orchestra Parts)
Mysliveček - Cello Concerto in C major (Urtext, Solo Part and Piano Score)

During his relatively short life, Josef Mysliveček (1737–1781) produced a large volume of compositions, including over 50 symphonies, 26 operas, concertos, and chamber music for strings and winds.​ Born in Prague, he moved to Italy, where he became known as "Il Boemo" (the Bohemian), in 1763. While much of Mysliveček's output is in the style of the day, some of his chamber works still employ a basso continuo and figured bass, such as in the sonatas for two cellos and the six Orchestra trios for two violins and cello.

Mysliveček composed ten violin concertos, a couple of keyboard concertos, and a flute concerto. He transcribed one of the violin concertos (EvaM 9b:C1) for cello. The version of this concerto for violin had already existed in 1770 as it appears in The Breitkopf Thematic Catalogue from that year. A manuscript set of parts of the violin version dated 1775 is housed at the Hauptstaatsarchiv Weimar. The concerto was originally orchestrated for solo violin, two oboes, two horns, and strings. Interestingly, the Weimar set contains extra parts for two trumpets and timpani written out by another hand and not considered original. Another copy of the violin version is housed at Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Sachsen-Anhalt.

In his biography Josef Mysliveček: Život a dílo, the American musicologist Daniel Freeman postulates that the cello version of this concerto was made for Antonio Vandini (1691–1778) during his stay in Padua between 1768 and 1774. Besides the change in register, the violin and cello parts are virtually the same.

The cello concerto exists in three different copies: Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde (Vienna), Národní Muzeum (Prague), and Národní knihovna České republiky (Prague). The Národní Muzeum set is of particular interest. This set contains an orchestral score dated 8 December 1909, a piano reduction dated 5 January 1910, a set of parts with a solo viola part (no solo cello) dated 4 July 1910, and a "violin in F!" part (viola solo part transposed up a fifth) dated 5 July 1910. Since this set is far removed, we did not consider it for our edition. However, we can see that 140​ years after the concerto composition, the piece continued to be copied and transcribed. The set housed in the Národní knihovna České republiky is also from 1910.

Our edition is based, with kind permission, on the set housed at the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde. While undated, it is safe to place the copy before 1820. The solo cello part is notated in four clefs: bass, tenor, alto, and soprano. This is congruent with the practice of the time, as we also see these clefs in Haydn's Cello Concerto in C major, Boccherini's works, some of Bréval's works, and others. The use of clefs has been updated for current practice in our edition. Our edition also includes a newly composed piano reduction. All deviations from the source are marked in the footnotes of the orchestra score.

Victoria Yagling's Suite for Cello and String Orchestra (1967) is one of her first successes as a composer. According to her recording of the work, she composed it in 1968. Around the same time, she composed two pieces in the olden style Larghetto and Siciliana. Yagling recorded the Suite in 1980, conducted by Georgiy Vetvitskiy, released by the Melodiya (Мелодия) Label, catalog number С10 19803 002 on the collection called "Young Composers of Moscow: Chamber Music" (Молодые Композиторы Москвы: Камерная музыка). Yagling also recorded the Elegy by Andrey Golovin and the Sonata-Ballade by Armenak Shakhbagyan on the same album.
 
The movement layout of the Suite is fast-slow-fast-slow, a layout also used by Dmitri Shostakovich in his Fifteenth Symphony. On the back of the abovementioned album, Natalia Shantyr writes, "The Suite for Cello and String Orchestra (1968) reveals a bright and unique world of images – impulsive, colorful, full of youthful enthusiasm and charming lyricism." The first movement, Toccata, is a perpetual motion with a brisk tempo of 100 per dotted half. The viola part is almost as busy as the cello solo. The sparsely orchestrated Aria is reminiscent of Rachmaninov's Vocalisemelody and Prokofiev's tonal language. This movement is the centerpiece of the Suite. The Humoresque is closely connected in style and motives to the March and Aria movements from Boris Tchaikovsky's Suite for Cello Solo, which Yagling recorded. The Finale was originally called "Chorale." This mostly homophonic movement plays with bitonality and contains several circle-of-fifth sequences.
 
Purchase:
Orchestra score and solo part
Solo part and piano reduction (printed)
Solo part and piano reduction (PDF)
 

Souvenir de Czernowitz, Op. 21 (Urtext Edition)

In the second half of the 1800s, composers turned to the eastern part of the Austro-Hungarian for inspiration for their works. The most common themes came from popular music by Hungarian composers and Roma street musicians. However, some composers went to modern-day Romania and Ukraine for inspiration. The latter was the direction Servais chose for his last published opus.

Czernowitz (Чернівці) exchanged hands several times during its history. At the time of the composition of Souvenir de Czernowitz, this city belonged to the Duchy of Bukovina. Servais visited Czernowitz in 1857 and 1859.

The Souvenir is dedicated to his student and composer Ernest Jonas. According to Servais specialist Peter François and the schroeder170.org project by cellist and researcher Geoffrey Dean, "Ernst [Ernest] Jonas (ca. 1845-1889) was a member of the BSO cello section from 1882 to 1886. He is said to have been a 'favorite student' of A. F. Servais, living at his celebrated teacher's house at the end of his studies in Brussels. In the spring of 1864 Jonas and Servais toured France together."

The Souvenir is in 3 parts, using music typically played at weddings by Jewish klezmer bands and other similar ensembles. All of the themes are borrowed from Carl Mikuli's four-volume collection Airs nationaux roumains (12 selections in each volume) published ca. 1855 by Kallenbach in Lwów (Lviv). Kallenbach had an affiliated firm Edward Winlarz in Czernowitz. The first part, "Chant du Berger," is a doina, an improvisatory piece largely accompanied by a static bass. This melody comes from vol. 1 of the Mikuli collection called "Doina" (No. 2). The second part is a lullaby "Berceuse. Chant des Nourrices." This lullaby begins with a lilting melody followed by a more virtuosic variation. This melody comes from vol. 3 of the Mikuli collection called "Puiculița Mea" (No. 4). The finale is a Romanian Serba (Sârba) called "La Poste."  This melody comes from vol. 2 of the Mikuli collection called "Corăbiáscă" (No. 8).  It was also included in International Hebrew Wedding Music (ed. Wolff Kostakowski, published in 1916) under the title "Rumanian Horra and Serba" as the Serba portion on page 12. The first part of this selection is commonly known as "Bessarabian Zhok" or "Bessarabian Hora."