Doppelkonzert a-Moll, opus 102 (review)

Abstract

Karl Geiringer once observed that "Brahms used the old manuscripts and printed sources [in his library] for the revision and improvement of his personal scores. Almost all newer editions in his possession bear witness to this indefatigable striving after the reclamation of the original text. Indeed, Brahms went still farther. Aside from his own materials, he drew on autographs and first editions in public libraries, in order, with the most meticulous conscientiousness, to correct every discrepant note, every phrase marking, and even every staccato dot in his personal copies." (Karl Geiringer, "Brahms als Musikhistoriker," Die Musik 25 [1933]: 573; my trans.) It is now widely understood, yet nevertheless worth repeating here, that Brahms's own works did not receive such careful treatment when they were gathered into the twenty-six volumes of the old Breitkopf & Härtel Sämtliche Werke between 1926 and 1927. Working hurriedly, editors Hans Gál and Eusebius Mandyczewski were often unable to examine manuscript sources and apparently made no attempt to consult either Stichvorlagen (i.e., the manuscript copies from which the engraver prepared the plates) or publishers' proofs. Their brief editorial comments show that they generally regarded first-edition readings as definitive unless corrections or variants could be found in Brahms's personally annotated copies of the first editions (Handexemplare). Nevertheless, numerous inaccuracies—mostly involving dynamics, dynamic nuances, and articulations, but also occasionally wrong notes and other errors —crept into Brahms's first editions through hand-copying and engraving. These errors he either did not notice or was willing to tolerate in order to expedite publication. As a result, the Gál-Mandyczewski complete edition meticulously perpetuates a wide assortment of inexact readings. Since the old Gesamtausgabe also fails to include many of Brahms's arrangements of his own and others' works, his extant sketches and drafts, and his compositions that have come to light since its publication, the Sämtliche Werke is hopelessly obsolete as a basis for scholarship (familiar and beloved though it is)—nor is it completely reliable as a basis for performance.