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Corruption

Learning from Historical Editions

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

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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) .

to a pleasant multiple of 4-bar units. Looking at Czerny's ^ ^ ^ ^


edition as a document of the early 19th century's attitude
toward Bach sheds light on what musicians at that time
thought was important. Sensitivity to the desire for
evenly balanced phrasing is essential to the sympathetic Example 2: J. S. Bach, Prelude in C Major from The Well-Tempered Clavier,
performance of both Mendelssohn's classically oriented style Book 1. Ed. Ferruccio Busoni. Measures 1-2.

and Schumann's more peculiar rhythmic formulations.

AMERICAN MUSIC TEACHER 15


fascinating Corruption

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

Using Bach as the subject for this survey avoids some of


the knottier issues of historical editions. Sebastian's text
was seemingly empty of interpretive clues before the editors
came along. Bartók's edition of Mozart's piano sonatas may
Example 3: J. S. Bach, Prelude in C Major from The Well-Tempered Clavier, raise some hackles; rather than merely adding markings,
Book 1. Ed. Ferruccio Busoni. Measures 20-25. he changes them. Still, it is full of insight into early-20th-
century tastes and practical ideas about performing music
Points of contact in historical editions are often as written for the fortepiano on modern instruments. By
noteworthy as points of departure. Bartók's Well-Tempered understanding the context we can tease out the musical
Clavier, a didactic edition specifically intended for substance behind what are often considered arbitrary
Hungarian music schools, uses special notation like doubled editorial accretions. Furthermore, learning to read historical
vertical lines and apostrophes to indicate breaks in phrasing. editions in context is excellent training for reading the
The vertical lines mean "only an interruption (division Urtext—even the purest text serves a purpose and addresses
of sound) without additional rest," while the apostrophe an audience. Overlaps between the taste of the great
indicates "not only an interruption, but also an additional musicians of the past and our own 21st-century preferences
rest."'' Structure—the clear presentation of the divisions of may help to separate the faddish from the essential in
the music—is the primary motivator for Bartók's dynamic interpretive choices. Such is the seriousness of the task at
scheme. He consistently swells toward dominant-function stake when examining historical editions. °^
chords, calling extra attention to cadence points. Example
4 shows one such phrase ending. Bartok, Busoni and Notes
Czerny—the towering pillar of modernism, the visionary 1. Czerny's and Busoni's editions are in the public
philosopher raised in the Romantic tradition and the domain and available online. Bartók's is reprinted by
student of Beethoven—all agree on where the phrases Editio Música Budapest and available as a modestly priced
start and stop: measures 11, 19 and 35 (or 36!). Busoni download from Alfred Music Publishing.
indicates his with double bars, giving no comment as to the 2. Larry Sitsky, Busoni and the Piano (New York:
manner of their realization; Bartok uses the aforementioned Greenwood Press, 1986), 177.
symbols; Czerny seems a bit ashamed of the phrasing 3. Ferruccio Busoni, introduction to The Well-Tempered
breaks, but clearly marks them nonetheless. He pushes Clavichord by Johann Sebastian Bach (New York: C.
over the phrase divisions with little crescendi, unwilling Schirmer, 1926), iii.
to let the music stop without reaching the plenitude of 4. Laszlo Somfai, "Nineteenth-Century Ideas Developed
four-bar multiples. Many of the apparent divergences in in Bartók's Piano Notation in the Years 1907-1914"
historical editions are based on problems such as, different 19th-century Music 11, No. 1 (Summer, 1987), 75.
performers finding different ways of emphasizing the same Based on the introduction to Bartók's 1916 edition of the
musical facts. Examining multiple editions can eventually Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach.
complete the circle, returning to authenticity as the point 5. Johann Sebastian Bach, The Well-Tempered Clavier, ed.
of departure. Superficial differences reveal underlying Bêla Bartok, vol. 2 (Editio Música Budapest, 1967), 96.
similarities. Practicing from different editions helps us feel AMT
the musical structures, the foundation upon which any
credible interpretation must be built.

16 FEBRUARY/MARCH 2014
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