Jean-François Monnard’s Urtext edition is the first edition of La Valse that compares all relevant sources. The first edition of the score, published in 1921, was used as the source. Errors and inconsistencies arising from the comparison with the previous edition were corrected on the basis of the autograph score. Moreover, the handwritten and printed piano versions also provide valuable insights into the work’s origin. To this day, the soft opening measures of La Valse still represent a challenge to the interpretation. This problem preoccupied the sound aesthete Ravel up to the end of his life. This is the reason for which Manuel Rosenthal, a conductor and friend of Ravel’s, decided to retouch the opening measures. This is presented for the first time in the Critical Commentary to the new edition. Rosenthal’s suggestion allows a more differentiated sound of the double basses at the beginning.
- ISMN: 9790004212127 (M004212127)
