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Re: So what is generally considered the best all-around Beethoven piano sonatas edition?

Posted: 12 Feb 2018, 17:16
by John Ruggero
Great point, ruaraidh. It's free on IMSLP. Sometimes the best things in life ARE free. I forgot to mention the excellent page turns and engraving.

Thanks, John. It's my favorite piano music. What never fails to amaze me is how different each is from the other (although there are interesting relationships between some of them). It's almost like 32 different composers wrote them.

Re: So what is generally considered the best all-around Beethoven piano sonatas edition?

Posted: 27 Feb 2018, 03:54
by jrethorst
I remember an enlightening conversation I had with my theory professor. I asked him about a detail in one of the sonatas; he replied that he'd look at it, since he didn't know that sonata well, since he didn't play it -- because his wife did. As academics and practicing musicians they had split the 32 sonatas to avoid arguments. Fine secret to a successful marriage, I thought.

Re: So what is generally considered the best all-around Beethoven piano sonatas edition?

Posted: 02 Mar 2018, 18:48
by John Ruggero
Must be a old story. Had a student who was married to a university pianist and would only play pieces that her husband didn't. Thankfully, I married a non-musician and got all 32 Beethoven Sonatas.

Re: So what is generally considered the best all-around Beethoven piano sonatas edition?

Posted: 02 Apr 2018, 15:45
by Schonbergian
John, is the Ratz revision of Schenker's edition superior or inferior to the original?

Re: So what is generally considered the best all-around Beethoven piano sonatas edition?

Posted: 06 Apr 2018, 02:15
by John Ruggero
The Ratz might be considered superior in that some misprints were corrected, and the measure numbers are out of the way of the text. However, I use the original because there has been criticism of some of Ratz's changes. It has been a long time since I compared the two, however.

Actually, having Ratz edit Schenker was a strange choice since Ratz was firmly in the Mahler-Schoenberg camp, which had little use for Schenker, who in turn returned the compliment many times over. It is a sad thing, actually, because at first Schoenberg and Schenker were quite friendly, and Schoenberg actually orchestrated one of Schenker's early compositions. But their paths soon diverged after Schenker criticised Schoenberg's Harmony theory text book in print. Much later, when Schoenberg was living in California and Schenker was long dead, one of Schenker's best students, a wonderful pianist with the equally wonderful name of Moriz Violin, visited Schoenberg. His mission was to right what he considered a great wrong. According to Schoenberg himself, Violin's piano playing had a profound effect on him, as did Violin's explanations of how Schenker's work influenced musical interpretation, leaving one with the impression that Schoenberg felt that he might have missed something significant by not becoming more familiar with Schenker's work.

Re: So what is generally considered the best all-around Beethoven piano sonatas edition?

Posted: 25 Sep 2019, 01:20
by Felipe Copaja
Has anyone seen the newest Bärenreiter edition by Del Mar?

Re: So what is generally considered the best all-around Beethoven piano sonatas edition?

Posted: 25 Sep 2019, 02:39
by Schonbergian
Only seen it in stores. The notation isn't as exact as Schenker's, to say nothing of John's new edition which should be even better.

The engraving itself is downright nauseating and some of the worst I've seen in piano editions - but par for the course for new Baerenreiter.

Re: So what is generally considered the best all-around Beethoven piano sonatas edition?

Posted: 26 Sep 2019, 15:24
by John Ruggero
Thanks for the vote of confidence, Schonbergian. I really appreciate it.

Re: So what is generally considered the best all-around Beethoven piano sonatas edition?

Posted: 02 Oct 2019, 12:00
by Felipe Copaja
Oh! didn't know John was preparing a new edition!

Re: So what is generally considered the best all-around Beethoven piano sonatas edition?

Posted: 03 Oct 2019, 14:40
by John Ruggero
Well, John is trying. Thanks for your interest, Felipe.