Rachmaninov's Cello Sonata has been a mainstay in the repertoire for over a century. For the first time, an edition is available that is based on the composer's autograph as well as the first edition published by Gutheil in 1902. While the current urtext edition only includes the cello part, it aims to bring focus on the composer's intentions.
The composer's autograph copy is now housed at the Russian National Museum of Music (formerly the Glinka Museum). We would like to thank the Russian National Museum of Music for providing a copy of the autograph for our use. The first-edition cello part was likely engraved from Anatoly Brandukov's copy. Whether this copy contained approved changes is in question; however, that copy is not extant. The first-edition cello part favors louder dynamics.
Below, we would like to offer a list of cello-part alternate readings between the autograph, first-edition piano score and cello part sources.
N.B. When two sets of slurs are printed in the urtext edition, the slur above the staff is according to the manuscript and below the staff is according to the first edition.
Movement I
m.33: first edition cello part has a f on note 5, piano score has an mf
mm. 77 and 110: first edition has gliss. between notes 1 and 2
m. 158: autograph cello part has a tenuto mark
m. 183: note 4 missing a slur; note 5 missing tenuto in the autograph
m. 208-210: lower octave G missing in the autograph
m. 212: first edition cello part has a double bar; piano score does not
m. 276: first edition cello part missing the tenuto mark on note 3
m. 279: first edition cello part has an accent on beat 1
Movement II
mm. 5, 11, 61, 63: the last note of the bar does not have a slur in the autograph (likewise in the parallel places on the return)
m. 14: note 5 missing > in first edition
m. 16: first edition cello part has a ff; piano score has a f
m. 18: note 2 missing a slur in first edition piano score
m. 19: beat 2 missing a p by analogy
m. 101: first edition cello part has a ff; piano score has a f
m. 161: beat 2 missing a p by analogy
m. 231: note 8 does not have a "sul G" marking in the autograph
m. 232: note 5 does not have a harmonic mark in the autograph
Movement III
mm. 9 and 11: first edition cello part has 2 staccatos on notes 2-3; the piano score has tenutos (congruous to mm. 49 and 51)
m. 11: autograph and first edition cello part have notes 4-7 slurred; piano score has notes 4-6 slurred
m. 16: first edition cello part has a f; piano score has a ff
m. 16: note 3 does not have a harmonic mark in the autograph
m. 40: notes 9 and 10 are slurred in the first edition
m. 49: note 1 has a down-bow in the first edition
m. 62: first edition piano score missing down-bow
m. 63: first edition cello part has notes 1-3 and 4-7 under 2 slurs; piano score has notes 2-3, 4-5, 6-7 under 3 slurs
m. 67: first edition cello part missing rit.
Movement IV
mm. 35 and 43: autograph and first edition cello part has a ff; piano score has a mf
mm. 76 and 258: time signature is 6/4 in the autograph, which makes more sense with meter relationship
m. 126: first edition cello part says "sul G," which is impossible; it must be "sul C."
mm. 244-249: nota bene: this passage is marked to be done on the D string in all three sources
mm. 298: first edition cello part has a f; piano score has a ff