Professional Documents
Culture Documents
By Michael Rector
he treasure trove of information—analytical, The key to making use of historical editions is context.
historical, performance-practical—contained in Modern Urtext editions seek to depict the composer's
historical editions is more accessible than ever. notational intentions at their most definitive. The editors
As they enter the public domain, many 19th- whose work I will be discussing seek to translate or
and early 20th-century editions can be legally (blasphemy!) interpret those intentions for the benefit
perused and downloaded on websites like the of their public. The individual genius of the editors and
Petrucci Music Library (www.imslp.org). Many more are the cultural context of the publications are both intensely
worth a trip to the library. With proper perspective and a interesting. Using the C-Major Prelude from Book One of
few caveats, these works create exciting opportunities for Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier (BWV 846) as a case study,
both teachers and performers. I will show the pedagogical benefits of some marvelously
inauthentic editions.'
Michael Rector is a pianist currenti Among the more famous corruptions in piano literature
serving as instructor of music at is the so-called Schwencke measure, a bogus addition
Oklahoma Panhandle State University. that appears between measures 22 and 23 of the Urtext.
He holds a DMA degree from the Its first appearance is in a manuscript copy of the Well-
Manhattan School of Music and a BA Tempered Clavier belonging to Christian Friedrich Gottlieb
degree in comparative literature from Schwencke (1767-1822), a Hamburg-based pianist,
composer and Bachophile. Whether Schwencke added the
measure himself or copied it from another (now lost) source
FEBRUARY/MARCH 2014
fascinating Corruption
is unknown. He must have liked the extra bar, because I like to have my students get used to the Schwencke version
his 1802 edition for the publisher Simrock contains the before giving them the Urtext, allowing them to feel, and not
interpolation. Example 1 shows the offending measure, as just rationalize, the diiïerence between the two.
cribbed by Carl Czerny for his 1837 publication. What For concert audiences around the turn of the 20th
is interesting here is not the existence of a mistake, but century, the name Ferruccio Busoni was practically
its vitality. Gounod's Ave Maria of 1853 relies on it and synonymous with Bach. He performed transcriptions so
postdates the founding of the Bach Gesellschafi, whose goal frequently that while touring America, his wife was at
was an authentic edition. The Schwencke measure satisfied least once introduced at a party as Mrs. Bach-Busoni.^
a musical need in the first part of the 19th century. As In the introduction to his edition of the Well-Tempered
performers and teachers of Beethoven, Chopin and Liszt, it Clavier, Busoni calls Bach's cycle "the inception of modern
behooves us to understand why. pianoforte-playing."' The word "modern" may apply to
the instrument rather than the style. Busoni's directions
Schwenckel for pedaling and articulation suggest an orchestration or
;—
transcription of the C Major Prelude somewhat reminiscent
of his recomposition of Schoenberg's Piano Piece Op. 11
No. 2—a sonic palette that far exceeds the composer's
r f T intentions. Examples 2 and 3 show various effects. Pianists
Example 1: J. S. Bach, Prelude in C Major from The Well-Tempered Clavier, raised in reverence to the Urtext may feel uncomfortable
Book 1. Ed. Carl Czerny. Measures 22-24. with the presence in the score of such obtrusive pedal
marks. Those who would like to unashamedly play baroque
Voice leading and phrase rhythm both stand to benefit music on the modern piano, as opposed to leaving it to
from an extra bar. The F-sharp in the bass in measure 22 the authentic historical keyboards, ought to study Busoni's
supports a diminished seventh chord in root position. Its editions.
strong tendency to resolve to G is diverted, astonishingly, We should approach Busoni's markings in the spirit that
to an A-fiat in measure 23. Here is the teachable moment he offers them. Within the printed edition Busoni gives two
for the late-intermediate piano student: Bach's voice leading different dynamic plans for the ending and acknowledges
was so shocking that a spurious measure was needed to Tausig's edition as another worthy interpretation. Busoni's
cover it up, like a musical version of a Victorian fig leaf recording of the C Major Prelude diverges significantly
On the larger scale, the Schwencke measure fixes a problem from his printed edition; both are viable interpretations of
of phrase rhythm. A quick glance through Czerny's the musical text. As a teaching tool, I think of editions like
compositions reveals a strong bias toward 4-measure Busoni's as a model for the decision-making process of my
phrases, sometimes with an extra 2 tacked on to reinforce students. After study and practice, the blank score should
a cadence. The first phrase in Bach's C Major Prelude start to resemble Busoni's in its level of detail, though
contains an elision. Measure 4 functions as both the filled with the student's own interpretation. Using Busoni's
conclusion of the opening 4-bar phrase and the beginning recording as a model, the student's performance need
of an 8-bar phrase that ends at measure 11. For Czerny, not be a replica of the printed page if it is filled with the
this compression must have seemed very baroque—in sensitivity gained from experimentation.
its original sense of a "misshapen pearl"—and in need of
correction. The piece ends at bar 35, a measure short of Prelude I. Hrt 1.
36=9*4. The Schwencke measure restores the structure 4 1) .
tmun «»«»• s i * » ái
10 I
Example 4: J. S. Bach, Prelude in C Major from Tbe Well-Tempered Clavier,
Book 1. Ed. Bêla Bartok. Measures 9-12.5
16 FEBRUARY/MARCH 2014
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