Schubert’s three grand duos for violin and piano occupy pride of place among his foremost works. In the A major Sonata D 574 of summer 1817 he continued to elaborate what was still a simple interplay of the violin and piano in the violin sonatinas (see HN 6) and reached his greatest mastery here. He increased the intensity of his writing into genuine virtuosity in the b minor Rondo D 895 composed in late 1826. The critics of Schubert’s day were already praising “the bold master of harmony” and “the fiery fantasy” of the piece. In the Fantasie in C major D 934, written one year later, Schubert brackets an Andantino with Variations on the song “Sei mir gegrüsst” D 741 with sections that are tastefully interwoven with the theme of the lied.
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
