New BMCE volume released: Cello Concerto No. 1

As part of the Bohuslav Martinů Complete Edition project, a new volume has been published by Bärenreiter, this time devoted to Martinů’s concertante works. Edited by Giselher Schubert, the publication presents the Concerto for Violoncello and Orchestra No. 1, H 196 I – III in all three of the composer’s versions, which differ significantly from one another primarily in instrumentation and orchestration, and only to a lesser extent in modifications of the solo part. The formal structure and thematic material, however, remain largely identical.

The volume includes the first-ever publication of the concerto’s second version, a detailed critical report and an editor’s preface in both Czech and English, as well as nine pages of facsimiles of important source materials.

This volume offers information that is largely new and in part previously unpublished. The first version, composed in Paris, is presented here for the first time in its original 1930 form. The second version, written in Vieux-Moulin in 1939, was never published during Martinů’s lifetime, and this edition makes it accessible for the first time. By contrast, the score of the third version was published immediately after its completion in Nice, most likely already in 1955. According to the composer’s wishes, the cellist Pierre Fournier carefully revised the solo cello part for this version.

The preface traces the complex genesis of all three versions of the concerto, their publication history, and their reception. Selected facsimiles of the autograph score document the composer’s cuts and the edition’s problematic passages; they also include the original solo part of the first version with the composer’s revisions for the third version. All collected musical sources relevant to the edition, along with their evaluation, are recorded in the Critical Report.

The new volume can be purchased here:
https://nasenoty.cz/koncert-pro-violoncello-a-orchestr-c.-1-h-196-iiii

More information: https://www.martinu.cz/en/martinu/work/published-volumes/cello-concerto-no-1/