Given Saint-Saëns’ talents both as pianist and composer, it stood to reason that he would engage with the piano concerto genre early on. But he gave a clear renunciation of the “concerto brilliant” that was dominant in France at that time, declaring instead that “the solo part of a concerto must be set out, and treated, like a dramatic role”

When he switched from the harpsichord to the fortepiano in the 1780s, Joseph Haydn found he had a rich palette of sound colours and dynamic variations at his disposal, and he employed them enthusiastically in his C-major Fantasy

When Günter Henle founded his Urtext publishing company in 1948 he began his catalogue with a two-volume edition (HN 1 and HN 2) of Mozart’s 18 piano sonatas. These sonatas remain part of the core repertory of every pianist

The title of Ravel’s Miroirs (1904/05) can be interpreted as “reflections” of the human world of experiences. Among the nature pictures in this cycle, “Une barque sur l’océan” is particularly popular, forming a pianistic complement to Debussy’s orchestral work “La mer”, which was written at about the same time

With his 66 Lyric Pieces Edvard Grieg created a multifaceted treasury of piano miniatures and character pieces. Many have become piano classics, none more so than The Wedding at Troldhaugen, which we offer here in a separate edition

solo piano - Hungarian Rhapsodies Nos.9–19

Editor: Emil von Sauer