Description

With its Bohemian echoes and thematic diversity, Symphony No. 8 enjoys a special status among lovers of Antonín Dvorák’s music.

For a long time, the performance material for this work has been notorious for its myriad mistakes. For his edition of Dvorák’s 8th Symphony, editor Jonathan Del Mar was therefore faced with the task of making comprehensive corrections. He has taken into account the engraver’s copy, which was actually discovered in a trash bin at Novello’s in 1964. Its title page bears the words “Copied from my original manuscript” in Dvorák’s hand. This source proves that many of the readings contained in the first edition and faithfully adopted in all subsequent editions, were simply slips of the copyist’s pen.

This study score edition is complemented by the full score and orchestral parts (BA10418).

Description

The performance material available up till now for Dvorák’s sun-filled cheerful Symphony no. 8 has been notorious for its myriad mistakes. The challenge of correcting it has now been taken over by the editor Jonathan Del Mar. He has taken into account the engraver’s copy, which was actually discovered in a trash bin at Novello’s in 1964. Its title page bears the words “Copied from my original manuscript” in Dvorák’s hand. This source proves that many of the readings contained in the first edition and faithfully adopted in all subsequent editions, were simply slips of the copyist’s pen.

This new edition is accompanied by a detailed Critical Commentary on the sources and alternative readings. It also contains important facsimile pages to clarify problematical readings.