Amongst the pieces in Rachmaninoff’s 24 Préludes there are three that are particularly popular. These are now all available as single editions: Having already published two “warhorses”, the Préludes in c sharp minor (HN 1211) and g minor (HN 1212), the one we are now issuing, the Prélude in g sharp minor, strikes a quieter and more melancholy note. For our new editions of the Préludes we were able to consult the autograph sources in the Glinka Archive in Moscow, enabling us to present these single editions in superb quality. The fingerings are by Marc-André Hamelin, one of the most outstanding pianists of our time and also an expert on late romantic Russian piano music.
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
