IMSLP Forums

Its at variations, but I can't get to the script

Hi Perlnerd DCLXVI,

your statement is rather gnomic, would you care to elaborate?

La Prise de Troie:

http://www.dlib.indiana.edu/variations/ ... index.html

This 1899 vocal score is already available: http://imslp.org/wiki/Special:ImagefromIndex/27406

This VS is pretty close to modern performances and appears fairly reliable (occasionally one hears of the scene of the Greek spy from Acte I being reinstated, but it relies on the re-orchestration by Hugh Macdonald, since the pages from the full score that Berlioz removed are lost).

Les Troyens à Carthage:

http://www.dlib.indiana.edu/variations/ ... index.html

This is a later edition from 1892 than the version currently on IMSLP (the 1863 printing is http://imslp.org/wiki/Special:ImagefromIndex/20310 ), and has several unconscionable modifications: firstly, the prologue and Marche troyenne that Berlioz had specified for the "short" 1863 performance, are here omitted. The Chasse royale et Orage has for some mysterious reason been moved an entire act later...

On the other hand, this version includes at least one of the cut items missing from the 1863 score, namely the recit. and duet of Anna and Narbal that opens Acte IV, Deuxième Tableau in Berlioz's original scheme (in this VS, pages 122 – 135).
EDIT: also the duet of two Trojan soldiers from Act V, Premiére Tableau (Par Bacchus! pages 252 – 257 in the score at Variations) and the final confrontation between Didon and Énée in the same tableau (pages 287 – 301).

In summary, it would in part be a useful supplement to the 1863 version, but it would be inferior to the original private 1862 printing that Berlioz arranged through the printer Therry. Daphnis attempted to grab this score for IMSLP, however its very rare and the nearby copy wasn't available for loan.

Regards, Philip

Believe it or not, there used to be an Eulenburg miniscore reduction of the New Berlioz Edition Troyens at far less than the several hundred dollars the latter now costs. I've been looking for the former for YEARS! (Unfortunately, it probably wouldn't be PD even if I could put my hands on one, since it is a recent critical edition that at places is substantially different from previous publications.)

Eulenburg unaccountably lets some of its most valuable items go out of print, like the miniscore of Wagner's Rienzi (please somebody post this!), and is now trying to foist on the unsuspecting a series of combination miniscore/CDs. Most of these scores are no better than what can be obtained on IMSLP and many of the CDs are of uninspired or otherwise inferior performances. Furthermore these scores lack any critical-edition material that may have been in the original Eulenburg print.

Sixtus

I believe that Eulenberg score completely sold out, and is hard to come by second-hand as many copies were purchased by institutions rather than individuals. The score being printed in Germany would fall under the Urtext provisions, thus be public domain there and permissible to upload to IMSLP, but the US status would be that it is protected until sometime in the 2060s. It would also be subject to the file blocking currently imposed as a result, which is the main reason it is unlikely to appear here in the near future.

Regards, Philip

I actually found a hardcover copy of the Eulenburg Troyens study score yesterday at a used bookstore in NYC. Of course it bought it -- for $25. It's now one of the prizes of my score collection.

Aside from the copyright problems, and though it is very clearly printed, the Eulenburg is already a reduction from the huge pages of the New Berlioz edition and wouldn't scan well on my alll-in-one printer/copier/scanner/fax. The same illegible-scan issue applies to my Kalmus mini-scores of the old Weingartner edition of the two-part Les Troyens which I believe WOULD be legal for uploading. Some of the pages of this are almost illegible in the original, unfortunately. Suggestions for a high-quality (1200 dpi?), LOW COST scanner that will scan a typical folio-size page (9.5 x 12.5 inches) without tedious page realignments would be appreciated. I could then upload not only the Kalmus Les Troyens but my Kalmus full score of Benvenuto Cellini as well, despite its editorial imperfections.

Sixtus

These days it seems most scanners have very high dpi ranges, so it's more the size of the scanner that is the issue to ensure you can scan folio-sized scores. Hopefully someone can provide some advice or offer a cheap alternative if you are in the NY state area. Full scores of Les Troyens, and Benvenuto Cellini in particular, would be extremely welcome additions, despite the editorial limitations of the original Durand and B&H issues reprinted by Kalmus.

PML

I just rechecked the stacks in my library. We have v. 1-25 of the Berlioz works in the Kalmus reprint.

Can't promise anything right away, though. Trying to take a break from big scanning projects.

(We have the Lamm Musorgsky edition, too...)

If your Berlioz edition is in full-size form, you're very likely to get better scans than I could with my mini scores of Troyens. I'm sure I'm not the only one who'd appreciate their appearance here. I'd make them the highest priority of the Berlioz edition volumes, followed by Cellini if you get to it before I get a new scanner.

I'm sure others are also salivating over the Lamm Boris full score. I have the main volume of the Oxford critical edition of Boris (still under copyright) but it omits substantial material I believe could be found in the Lamm edition.

And while we're at it if your library has the complete Dvorak edition (Artia/Supraphon), some of the biggest holes in IMSLP's Dvorak collection are the Erben tone poems (The Water Goblin, Op.107, The Noonday Witch Op.108, The Golden Spinning Wheel, Op.109, The Wild Dove, Op.110). There are other IMSLP lacunae that I've already posted on, but these tone poems are highest on my wish list.

--Sixtus