Just like many other violin virtuosos of the 19th century, Pablo de Sarasate also composed a series of pieces for violin and piano (or orchestra) for his own concert use. Highly virtuosic salon pieces with echoes of national folk music traditions from all over Europe are at the centre. Sarasate published his eight Spanish dances in four books between 1878 and 1882. They alternate between fiery passion and a yearning expressiveness, and are undoubtedly among his most successful compositions. In masterly fashion, Sarasate here mixes up Spanish folk tunes with arrangements of popular compositions of the time. As in the case of the Henle Urtext edition of Sarasate’s Zigeunerweisen (HN 573), a violin wizard of our own time is responsible for the fingerings and bowings: Ingolf Turban.
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
