Slow waltzes enjoyed a special vogue in Parisian salons of the early twentieth century, leading Debussy – with a twinkle in his eye – to produce his piano waltz “La plus que lente” (“The Slower-than-Slow”). Parisian publisher Durand brought Debussy’s piano waltz, issued in July 1910, to a wider public by publishing it that same year as a supplement to Le Figaro, as well as in arrangements (by others) for violin and piano and for piano, 4-hands. Debussy himself produced a version for orchestra, and in 1913 he even – at a rather faster tempo – recorded it on a piano roll for the Welte-Mignon company. This work, headed “molto rubato con morbidezza” (with suppleness), is now available as a separate Henle Urtext. A preface, extended from those in the anthology volumes HN 1194 and HN 404, will stimulate curiosity about this charming miniature waltz.
G. Henle Publishers stands for Urtext sheet music of the highest quality. The Urtext editions not only provide the undistorted and authoritative musical text but are also aesthetically pleasing, optimised for practical use and extremely durable. And then there is the strong, distinctive blue profile: (almost) all of the Urtext editions are bound in the characteristic blue cardboard.
Musicians trust Henle's blue Urtext editions because they:
- provide an undistorted, reliable and authoritative musical text
- offer superb, aesthetically appealing music engraving
- are optimised for practical use (page turns, fingerings)
- are of high quality and durable (cover, paper, binding)
- contain a short preface that introduces the work (particularly useful for AMEB exams) in German, English and French, as well as explanatory footnotes for particularly interesting passages in the score
- contain a description of the sources, an evaluation of the sources, readings and a documentation of the corrections made (= "Critical Report") in German and English, and often also in French
