Popper - Concert-Etudes, Op. 55 and 3 Pieces, Op. 64 (Urtext Edition)

For the first time since their original publication, David Popper’s Concert-Etudes, Op. 55 and Three Pieces, Op. 64 have been brought together in a single convenient volume. These five character pieces show Popper at his best: lyrical, brilliant, idiomatic, and deeply attuned to the expressive and technical possibilities of the cello.

The two Concert-Etudes, Spinnlied and Jagdstück, are both dedicated to the cellist and composer Julius Klengel. Spinnlied is a compact perpetual-motion showpiece that makes an ideal encore. Its long-slurred sixteenth-note patterns create a dazzling effect without the exhausting bow demands of Popper’s Elfentanz, while the left hand remains largely within manageable positions. Jagdstück is more challenging, especially in its fingered thirds, which imitate the sound of two French horns. Like Spinnlied, it is concise, brilliant, and highly effective in performance.

The Three Pieces, Op. 64 range from tenderness to virtuosity. Wie einst in schöner’n Tagen, dedicated “To the Memory of my Unforgettable Parents,” is one of Popper’s most beloved lyrical miniatures and shows affinities with Jewish klezmer idioms. The following Tarantella, dedicated to Jean Gérardy, is Popper’s third work of that title and remains unjustly overlooked beside the more famous Tarantella, Op. 33. The set concludes with Wiegenlied, a gentle lullaby dedicated to Popper’s second wife, Olga, who later died in Terezín in November 1942.

This edition is based on the first edition issued by D. Rahter. All editorial changes and deviations from the original text are clearly indicated in the score.

Useful for recitals, encores, lessons, and advanced studio work, this collection offers a wide technical and expressive range, from accessible lyrical playing to brilliant passagework, fingered thirds, dance character, and refined Romantic phrasing.

ASTA level: 2.5–5