Koželuch… Complete Sonatas for Keyboard IV: Sonatas 38-50…

Edited by Christopher Hogwood.
Bärenreiter (BA 9514), 2015. xxxix + 219pp, £31.00.
[The complete 4 volumes £103.50.]

[dropcap]K[/dropcap]oželuch was born in 1747 near Prague and died in Vienna in 1818. This final volume begins with Nos 38-40: Hogwood chose a Viennese publisher in 1810, though earier prints appeared in 1807 and other issues before the favoured edition. 41-43 were published in London in 1809. The rest were unpublished. “Keyboard” is the best heading for the four volumes, though by the 1800 the casual title of “piano” is appropriate. Dynamics are mostly f, p & sf, with an occasional dolce, cresc. & dim. Ped  is often used, with * presumably intended to indicate that the pedal be raised just before the next chord.

Christopher Hogwood produced a magnificent edition. This volume appeared after his death, but I assume that it was all finished before then. Any editions by him have always been prepared with great care. The Introduction is substantial in English, Czech and German, though the thorough critical commentaries are only in English. It ends with a list of the 50 sonatas, including the incipit of the openings. Whether the music stands with Haydn and Mozart is another matter.

Clifford Bartlett