Oratorio in three acts. Par HAENDEL GEORG FRIEDRICH. Handel composed Samson directly after completing the 'Messiah'. After its premiere in 1743 in the Covent Garden Theatre in London, the work rapidly became one of the composer's most successful oratorios alongside 'Esther' and 'Judas Maccabaeus'. This probably had as much to do with the popular Old Testament story of the libretto as with Handel's…

12 Concertos For Violin, Strings And Basso Continuo. Par VIVALDI ANTONIO. Antonio Vivaldi's twelve concertos op. 4 known by the name of 'La Stravaganza” were first mentioned as a collection of 'Concerti a 4” in the 1711 Foreword of 'L'Estro Armonico” op. 3. Their publication had to wait until 1716, when Estienne Roger issued them in two volumes of six concertos each. However, unlike the original a…

Par PURCELL HENRY. Purcell Dido and Aeneas (Full Score, paperback) The opera ?Dido and Aeneas?, a recount of the well-known story from Book IV of Virgil's Aeneid, has established itself as a favourite with the public. This is due to the skill of composer Henry Purcell and his librettist Nahum Tate, who combined an overriding tragic theme with masterfully inserted comic episodes. Long believed to …

Small Sacred Concertos II. Par SCHUTZ HEINRICH. The 'Kleine geistliche Konzerte' (Small Sacred Concertos), published in two parts in 1636 and1639, are among the best-known and well-loved compositions of Heinrich Schütz. Both parts constitute a collection of vocal pieces in a broad range of styles written for only a few voices with basso continuo. Most of the texts are in German, but some are also …

The Books of 1726-7 and 1741. Par RAMEAU JEAN-PHILIPPE. This is the first complete edition of the keyboard works of Jean-Philippe Rameau to incorporate all the printed collections of harpsichord music published under his supervision as well as his clavier arrangement of Les Indes Galantes. It also includes many new insights into performance practice (e. g. the handling of repeat signs in the origi…

Beethoven's four-movement Sonata in A-flat major op. 26 belongs to his most popular works. It is dedicated to Prince Lichnowsky, one of his most generous patrons and the dedicatee of, for example, the Grande Sonate pathétique op. 13 and Symphony No. 2 op. 35. The work's initial drafts date from 1800-01 - it was first published in March 1802. This demanding sonata is highly varied in its form: it b…

Opera In Three Acts. Par SAINT-SAENS CAMILLE. Today, 'Samson et Dalila? is undoubtedly one of the best-known of Camille Saint-Saëns's thirteen operas, being more present in the repertoire of international stages than most other French 19th century compositions. During Saint-Saëns's lifetime, the opera was already regarded as the pinnacle of his dramatic stage works. The fact that the work's genes…

Par BRAHMS JOHANNES. This edition of Brahms' greatest, most ambitious vocal work is reprinted from the definitive edition of the composer's works, prepared by Breitkopf & Härtel of Leipzig. Inexpensive but sturdily constructed to provide years of pleasurable use, this full score combines all the musical parts in a clear, readable format, with wide margins, large noteheads, and many other helpful f…

Par DR. HAYES-JONES SARAH. Unknown until their discovery was announced in 1971 by Péter Várnai in an article in Die Musikforschung, this set of six suites for solo violin, published in 1696, is in all likelihood a second edition of, or second collection to his First Dozen Allemandes, Courantes, Sarabands, and Gigues for Solo Violin without Basso Continuo published in 1682 which are considered lost…