Various composers. The World's Best Music: Famous Compositions for Piano, Volume 1

New York: The University Society, Inc., 1904. — 288 p.Editors: Victor Herbert, Louis C. Elson, Henry H. Huss, Reginald de Koven, Fanny Morris Smith, Gerrit Smith, Louis R. Dressler, Joseph M. Priaulx, Louis C. Elson, Helen Kendrick Johnson a.o.
Note: The cover is not the original cover.From the Introduction (to all volumes): The music in these volumes is classic. It has, however, been no aim of the editors to collate merely classical music. While the finest composers of piano music are here represented, those who are masters simply of technique have been excluded. It has been too often thought by those who should know better, that good music is that which is learned with difficulty and thrown aside with pleasure. The editors hold that music displaying perfection of form and structure is not necessarily difficult to play; that, on the contrary, many of the most priceless compositions in the musical world are played with ease and facility by comparatively inexperienced pianists. While, therefore, the selections on these pages exhibit the widest range of style and subject, the narrow gate through which each has passed has been the test of proved popular appreciation.
There will be found here waltzes and mazurkas for the home, operatic themes and popular melodies adapted to those who are especially fond of melody, many easy pieces for young pianists, and a full representation of the best salon music. A large collection of classics of a more serious and weighty nature, which have formed the basis of musical culture in every age, has been carefully prepared from the best editions.
Music teachers wiil discover in these volumes material of much value. More than one desirable novelty has been introduced. Many of the pages will, it is hoped, suggest precisely the pieces needed to solve a difficult problem of instruction. The young folks, and those whose musical training has not been sufficient to give them a sustained euthusiasm for the art, will have their flagging interest revived, and will return to serious study with more ardor than before, after playing such old favorites as the “Turkish Patrol” and “ Chinese Serenade.”
Grieg, Tschaikowsky, and the Romantic School; quaint classics like the “ Harmonious Blacksmith ” and Martini’s “Gavotte,” and such popular music as the “Chant du Bivouac” and Gottschalk’s “Last Hope,” have equally their place in this series. Much of the music introduced here has never been sold before except in sheet form. Many pieces by Gottschalk, Richard Hoffman, Wallenhaupt and Wallace appear for the first time in a collection of this sort. Each volume contains also a number of copyrighted novelties, as well as several original pieces written by our best American Composers, and not to be obtained in anjr form whatsoever outside of these pages.
Grieg, Tschaikowsky, and the Romantic School; quaint classics like the “ Harmonious Blacksmith ” and Martini’s “Gavotte,” and such popular music as the “Chant du Bivouac” and Gottschalk’s “Last Hope,” have equally their place in this series. Much of the music introduced here has never been sold before except in sheet form. Many pieces by Gottschalk, Richard Hoffman, Wallenhaupt and Wallace appear for the first time in a collection of this sort. Each volume contains also a number of copyrighted novelties, as well as several original pieces written by our best American Composers, and not to be obtained in any form whatsoever outside of these pages.
For the music-loving world this work has been devised, designed and executed.Beethoven, L. van - Andante from the Kreutzer Sonata
Jungmann, A. - Will-o'-the-Wisp, Op. 217, No 3
Grieg, Edvard - Erotik Poème Érotique
Liszt Ferenc - At the Lake of Wallenstadt, from the Années de Pèlerinage
Warren, George William. - The Song of the Robin
Hofman, Richard - Souvenir de Trovatore
Warlamof, A.J. - Romanze, paraphrase by Th. Kullak
Moszkowski, M. - Bolero, Spanish Dance, Op. 12, No. 5
Mendelssohn, Felix - Variations for the Pianoforte, Op. 82
Offenbach, J. - Galop from "Orpheus"
Krug, D. - Prayer from the Opera "Der Freischütz"
Leybach, I. - La Fille de Madame Angot, Op. 169 (Fantaisie Brillante)
Smith, Sydney - Barcarolle, Op. 88
Schubert, F. - Mardi Gras, Shrove Tuesday Quadrilles
Peters, W.C. - Old Rosin the Bow, with Variations
Bachmann, G. - Les Sylphes, Impromptu Valse
Schnecker, P.A. - Un Petit Ballet
Schulz-Weida, Jos - May-Song (Maienliebe)
Schubert, F. - Praise of Tears (Éloge des Larmes), transcription by Stephen Heller
Gottschalk, L.M. - Ricordati, Nocturne
Chaminade, C. - The Flatterer (La Lisonjera)
Hiller, F. - Reveries
Gabriel-Marie - La Cinquantaine, Air in Ancient Style
Mozart, W.A. - Romance from the Second Concerto
Mendelssohn, Felix - Death Song
Mendelssohn, Felix - Death Song
Rubinstein, A. - The Asra., transcription, by F. Liszt
Brassin, Louis - Nocturne
Braga, G. - The Angels' Serenade, arrangement by Sydney Smith
Fliege, H. - Chinese Serenade
Leschetizky, Th. - Two Larks
Ascher, Joseph - Mazurka des Traineaux
Meyer-Helmund, Erik - Mazurka
Schubert, F. - Impromptu
Schubert, F. - Menuetto
Grétry, A.E.M. - Serenade of the Jealous Lover, transcription, by S Thalberg
Delibes, Leo - Intermezzo from "Na'ila"
Handel, G. F. - Harmonious Blacksmith, Air Varié
Lysberg - La Fontaine
Ganne, Louis - La Czarine, Mazurka Russe
Phelps, E.S - Sylvan Dreams
Reinecke, K. - Prayer
Liszt, F. - Rakoczy, March
Meyerbeer, G. - Page's Song from "The Huguenots"
Cadmus, Howard - Ours, Danse Capriccioso, Op. um
Czibulka, Alphons - Love's Dream After the Ball (Intermezzo)
Schubert, F. - The Miller and the Torrent
Paganini, N. - The Witches' Dance, transcription, by W. V Wallace
Field, John - Nocturne
Kullak, Th. - Mein Innigster, from Song by Warlamoff
Wieniawski, Henri - Polish National Dance, "Kuyawiak"
Langey, Otto - Mandolina, Mexican Serenade
Chopin, F. - Nocturne, Op. 37, No 2
Sarasate, Pablo de - Zigeunerweisen, Gipsy Dances, Op. 20
Thalberg, S. - Duet from Mozart's Opera "The Magic Flute"
Chaminade, C. - Pierrette, Air de Ballet
Gounod, C.F. - Funeral March of a Marionette
Ketterer, Eugene - Chant du Bivouac, transcription Militaire