Herbert - Cello Concerto No. 1, Op. 8 (Urtext Edition)

Today, Victor Herbert is best remembered for his operettas, but he was also an accomplished cellist, a student of the formidable Bernhard Cossmann, and the composer of several beautiful works for cello.

Herbert’s Cello Concerto No. 1 was composed in 1884, while he was living in Stuttgart. Remarkably, the concerto has remained unpublished until now. It has circulated in manuscript form through paid reprint companies such as Kalmus and Luck’s Music Library, but it has never before been properly engraved and published.

We are happy to present this first edition, dedicated to the memory of Lynn Harrell, who was the first cellist to record the concerto. We would like to thank the Victor Herbert Foundation, Alyce Mott, and the Library of Congress for granting permission to use these invaluable sources.

Our edition is based on three manuscript copies of the solo cello part in Herbert’s hand, as well as the holograph orchestra score, all housed at the Library of Congress. The sources are sometimes sparse with regard to slurring, dynamics, and articulation. As a cellist, Herbert likely adjusted bowings and slurring from performance to performance, as string players often do.

The 49-bar cadenza was left incomplete. Herbert wrote a partial cadenza in one of the solo-part manuscripts and in the orchestra score. The editor has completed the cadenza in Herbert’s style, using and developing thematic material from the movement. A new piano reduction has also been created by the editor.

We hope this edition will help raise awareness of this remarkable concerto and restore it to a more prominent place in the cello repertoire.

ASTA level: 6