Beethoven only arranged one of his piano sonatas for a different instrumentation: an authentic arrangement of the Sonata op. 14 no. 1 for string quartet still exists (it is published in an appendix to our edition of the String Quartets op. 18, HN 139/9139). He undertook this arrangement to protect himself from those made by others. For this reason he went about it in a meticulous manner; adding, for instance, extremely detailed information regarding dynamics and articulation. The acclaimed pianist Murray Perahia, the co-editor for this new edition of Beethoven’s Sonatas, also takes this source into account for the revision and in addition provides his own fingerings.
G. Henle Publishers stands for Urtext sheet music of the highest quality. The Urtext editions not only provide the undistorted and authoritative musical text but are also aesthetically pleasing, optimised for practical use and extremely durable. And then there is the strong, distinctive blue profile: (almost) all of the Urtext editions are bound in the characteristic blue cardboard.
Musicians trust Henle's blue Urtext editions because they:
- provide an undistorted, reliable and authoritative musical text
- offer superb, aesthetically appealing music engraving
- are optimised for practical use (page turns, fingerings)
- are of high quality and durable (cover, paper, binding)
- contain a short preface that introduces the work (particularly useful for AMEB exams) in German, English and French, as well as explanatory footnotes for particularly interesting passages in the score
- contain a description of the sources, an evaluation of the sources, readings and a documentation of the corrections made (= "Critical Report") in German and English, and often also in French