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Béla Bartók Complete Critical Edition
Editio Musica Budapest Zeneműkiadó, as the legal successor to the publishers before the Second World War, is proud to have been able to edit and distribute the works of Béla Bartók, both in Hungary and worldwide, for 74 years. In much of Europe, the copyright for most of Bartók’s works expired in 2016. As a result, editions by several publishers are expected to appear, and the concern is that some might be based on obsolete scores of dubious reliability. Thus, it is particularly timely that Bartók’s works finally be made available as part of a complete, scholarly, authentic edition. Publishing a composer’s oeuvre also provides an opportunity to make available previously unpublished youthful works, unknown versions of works, and as yet unpublished movements, all eagerly awaited by performing musicians. A complete edition of a composer’s work entails the editing of the entire oeuvre based on standardized principles, and musical texts based on all the sources and authoritative editions, with a historical introduction and detailed critical notes.
Preparations for the planned 48 volumes of the Bartók Complete Critical Edition began under the direction of László Somfai, and now continues in the Bartók Archive, part of the Institute for Musicology in Budapest, directed by László Vikárius. The Archive was founded in 1961 to hold the Bartók estate in Hungary, and is the only special collection and place of research dedicated to Bartók’s life and works. Editio Musica Budapest Zeneműkiadó publishes the series jointly with G. Henle Verlag of Munich, which has garnered an outstanding international reputation for its critical editions. This partnership ensures ideal conditions for the publishing and international distribution of a complete edition of the highest quality. Due to the high production cost of the volumes and the intensive scholarly, editorial, and typographical work required, we anticipate the publication of two volumes each year.
Following the publication of the volumes of the complete critical edition, which can be used as reference works, works already published will be made available in the more economical, practical sheet-music format known as Urtext editions. In this way, we hope the Bartók Complete Critical Edition will become the main edition for the composer’s oeuvre throughout the world.
Bartók Complete Edition: volume of string quartets now available
In 2016, Editio Musica Budapest, together with Henle Verlag of Munich, launched the Bartók Complete Edition. In May 2022 a new volume was published, the seventh in the series, containing Bartók’s string quartets – considered by most discerning audiences to be classics of the twentieth century.
This critical edition contains all six string quartets, based on a comparison of all contemporary printed and manuscript sources. The composer’s analyses of the Fourth and Fifth Quartets appear at the end of the volume.
The introductory studies, more detailed than ever, not only discuss the genesis and reception of the works, but also answer practical questions regarding notation and performance. A critical commentary for the six string quartets will be published in a separate volume in autumn 2022.
Mikrokosmos
One of the most influential series of piano pieces of the 20th century, Mikrokosmos appeared in one volume in the Complete Critical Edition. The introductory studies in English, Hungarian and German not only explore the history of the series and its reception in more detail than ever before, but also provide guidance on the notation and performance of the work. The publication also includes the exercises and notes written by Bartók for Mikrokosmos.
The Critical Commentary volume that accompanies the critical edition of Mikrokosmos not only documents the compositional and folk music sources of the work (from sketches through printed editions and even Bartók's own recordings of some of the pieces) as well as all editorial decisions but, based on this source material, it also presents the compositional process in the greatest detail possible. Many have regarded, and still do, Bartók's monumental series of 153 piano pieces as a key to understanding his compositional methods.
Choral Works Has Arrived
We are excited to announce the availability of the fourth volume of the Béla Bartók Complete Critical Edition: Choral Works.
This volume contains every completed work Bartók composed for unaccompanied chorus or chorus with piano accompaniment, except for the exercises from his student years.
In the main part of the volume, the last authentic versions of the works published in the composer’s lifetime are present as well as those that remained unpublished but were intended for the public. In addition to the original words of the compositions, the edition includes all the translations approved by Bartók.
For more information on this publication, please click here.
Piano Works 1914–1920 has been published!
Volume 3 of the BBCCE contains Bartók's works for piano solo composed between 1914 and 1920. These works span a broadly varied spectrum; in addition to simple arrangements of folk music (15 Hungarian Peasant Songs, Sonatina) and original pieces for the concert podium (Suite, op. 14), we find Bartók's audaciously innovative Etudes (op. 18) inspired by Liszt, as well as Improvisations (op. 20), perhaps his most abstract and original folk music adaptations.
Please click here for more information on this most recent volume.
