SPA042_Vorschau2-2019_englisch_web_hoch

Strings
A Violin Sonata
“come d’un concerto”
Ludwig van Beethoven:
Sonata in A major
for Pianoforte and Violin
op. 47 “Kreutzer Sonata”
BÄRENREITER URTEXT
An autograph fragment of the Violin Sonata op. 47 is titled, in
Beethoven’s hand, “Sonata mulattica composta per il mulatto
Brischdauer, gran pazzo e compositore mulattico” – meaning
“Mulatto Sonata composed for the mulatto Brischdauer, great
madman and mulatto composer”. The genesis of the sonata, which
was to become famous under the name “Kreutzer Sonata”,
is closely connected to a visit to Vienna by George Augustus Polgreen
Bridgetower (1778–1860), a violinist with an Afro-Caribbean father
and a European mother. In the language of that time, his descent
made him a mulatto.
Beethoven was apparently deeply impressed by Bridgetower’s
musicality and virtuosic abilities. However, when the sonata was
published in 1805, he dedicated it to Rodolphe Kreutzer under the
title “Sonata per il Pianoforte ed uno violino obligato in uno stile
molto concertante come d’un concerto”. The work “in the style of a
concerto” is probably Beethoven’s most demanding violin sonata
and since the 19 th century has formed part of the core repertoire of
the great violin virtuosos.
Edited by Clive Brown
Includes an Urtext violin part and a
second violin part with historically
accurate fingering and bowing
prepared by Clive Brown
Score with parts
☞ BA 10938 · approx. € 17.95
To appear in November 2019
New Issue Title
21 New Publications II/2019 · The Programme