Piano Solo Music Books

[YDOD]

I like to play the music of J S Bach on the piano. My present main music
book "Bach his greatest piano solos" by Copa publishing Co is falling apart
from overuse and needs to be replaced. I like music books which show the
actual notes that need to be played rather than the ones which just show the
ornament symbol. I don't mind if they show the actual notes as a miniature
superscript and then just use the ornament symbol in the other locations,
but I like them to show the actual notes some way or another. I find some
music difficult to read when they show for example a chord in the treble
stave which is impossible to play with the right hand, often the bottom note
of that chord must be played with the left hand. I understand that sometimes
it is done for phrasing, but sometimes there does not appear to be any
reason for it. Also, I prefer music which is printed rather large and spread
out, rather than trying to get as much as possible on each page. Are there
any Bach pianists who have been really happy with the quality of their music
books who would be kind enough to make some recommendations for me?

[Ben Crick]

Post by YDOD
Are there
any Bach pianists who have been really happy with the quality of their music
books who would be kind enough to make some recommendations for me?

My teacher got me onto the Orlando Morgan edition of the 48. It is a
scholarly edition, with musical footnotes to explain awkward passages.
The parts are well laid out between the hands, with right hand notes
on the upper staff and left hand notes on the lower staff. The print
is clear and not too crowded. Some of the page turns are awkward,
but mostly the music is spaced out so that page turns are at sensible
places.

Comparing the old Czerny edition (Augener's), the text is more
authentic with Orlando Morgan. There are later "Urtext" editions,
but these are irksome, especially when the Alto Clef is used just
because "Bach used it". The Orlando Morgan edition is published by
Edwin Ashdown Ltd, London.

For the French Suites, I use the Franklin Taylor edition published
by Augener's. This is easy to read and to play from.

As I am primarily an organist, I don't have very much of the keyboard
works for harpsichord/piano. I grew up on the Novello edition of
the Organ works, but I also have some Peter's and some Bärenreiter's
editions. These are easy on the eye and sensibly laid out too.

Enjoy!

Ben