Johannes Brahms Complete Songs for Solo Voice and Piano (Dover Song Collections)

"These songs are a source of endless delight, and when, as often happens, this beautifully polished musicianship is set alight with the glow of personal emotion, the results are of the highest and most lasting value." — Grove's Dictionary
Brahms's melodic gifts and genuine emotional response to poetry produced some of the finest German songs, equaling and occasionally surpassing Schubert in lyricism. Frequent performances and recordings of these songs continue to prove Brahms's lasting contributions to this domain, and create a need for authentic, accessible printed music. The finest complete musical transcript of Brahms, published by Breitkopf & Härtel (for whom Brahms worked as editor), is reproduced here — the authoritative texts with new translations of the lyrics.
This volume (Series IV of the complete Dover Brahms songs, published in four volumes) contains Stanley Appelbaum's new literal prose translations of 120 songs that complete the Brahms song oeuvre. Nineteen of the songs conclude Brahms's chronological production between 1889 and 1896, including the gems "Wie Melodien zieht es," "Immer leiser wird mein Schlummer," and Four Serious Songs (Vier ernste Gesänge). Then, there are two separate songs without opus numbers; solo versions of eight of the 10 choral Gypsy songs of Op. 103; and sensitive arrangements of folk and traditional songs that show Brahms's touch even though they are not original works: the 49 Deutsche Volkslieder, the 14 Volks-Kinderlieder (including "Sandmännchen"), and 28 posthumous folksongs.
In addition to the song texts, a translation of the original editor's commentary has been included, plus new listings of titles, opening lines, and poets. With this edition one may appreciate, play and sing Brahms's lieder from legible notation, printed with wide margins on opaque paper, bound for durability on the music stand. Nowhere else are the great songs of Brahms available to musicians, students, and classical music lovers, at the lowest price and highest quality of design and reproduction.