About this edition
Composed in 1807 for Heinrich Joseph von Collin's tragedy of the same name, Beethoven's Coriolan Overture is one of the most concentrated dramatic statements in the orchestral literature. In barely eight minutes, Beethoven distills the inner conflict of the Roman general Coriolanus into a confrontation between two opposing themes — the hammered, defiant C-minor outbursts representing the warrior's rage, and the lyrical E-flat major theme embodying the pleas of his mother and wife. The work's astonishing pianissimo ending, in which the principal theme disintegrates into silence, remains one of the boldest psychological strokes in early Romantic music.
This printing reproduces the full orchestral score issued in London by E. Donajowski around 1890 (plate number 4072). Ernst Donajowski was a respected late-Victorian London publisher who specialized in carefully engraved study and performing scores of the standard repertoire, drawing on the German editorial tradition of his day. His Beethoven editions were widely circulated among British conductors and conservatory students at the turn of the twentieth century, and they preserve the clear, generously spaced engraving conventions that make late nineteenth-century European orchestral scores so readable at the desk and on the podium.
About this edition:
- Format: Full orchestral score (conductor's score, all parts in transposed notation as engraved)
- Page size: 8.5 x 11 inches
- Source: Reproduced from a public domain historical edition (London: E. Donajowski, ca. 1890, plate 4072)
- Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827)
- Work: Coriolan Overture, Op. 62
- Publisher: Purple 4R Publishing
We're delighted to bring this historical edition back into print so that conductors, orchestral musicians, students, and scholars can study and perform Beethoven's masterpiece from a faithful reproduction of a public domain score. It's our pleasure to help keep these classic editions on music stands and library shelves where they belong.
