Alfred Kreutz – författare

In the autograph of his ''Inventions'', J.S. Bach set out the aim of these pieces, formulating a dual purpose: the keyboard player should, on the one hand, practise polyphonic playing with two obligatory parts and develop a ''cantabile'' style; at the same time he should also be given an introduction to the study of composition, and learn how a piece can be developed from an invented theme (Inventio) by means of imitative techniques. Our new edition in the well-known ''Piano Classics'' series is intended for teaching purposes and provides a reliable text, an introduction to the work as well as a table for the realization of J. S. Bach''s ornaments and trills.

The term ''Prelude'' denotes a single-movement, freely worked composition, generally written for a keyboard instrument or lute. After an initial flowering in the early Baroque period, the prelude reached its fullest artistic development in the work of J. S. Bach. This collection of Little Preludes in the well-known ''Piano Classics'' series is intended for teaching purposes and provides a reliable text, an introduction as well as a table for the realization of J. S. Bach''s ornaments and trills.

In 1874 Mussorgsky wrote his famous piano cycle inspired by an exhibition of pictures by his friend Viktor Hartmann. The resources of musical realism are used to describe the ten pictures in great detail; the interposed "Promenades" then reflect the subjective impressions and feelings of the visitor looking at the pictures. This edition is based on Mussorgsky''s original score, with the addition of a few markings apparently overlooked by the composer, inserted in brackets. Fingerings have been added, together with the original comments on individual pieces from the first edition. These comments by the art critic Vladimir Stassov, the organiser of the exhibition, outline the "programmatic" nature of the musical composition. A major work in the piano repertoire!