Musicology - Musical Editing

Our expertise on musical editing extends from the Middle Ages to the early 20th century, making it one of the leading institutions in the UK in this area. For example, a strong specialty emerges in the edition of 19th-century Germany composers, with Pascall as one of the directors of the Johannes Brahms Gesamtausgabe and Schmidt-Beste closely associated with the Complete Edition of the works of Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy.

Thomas Schmidt-Beste

brings to Bangor two areas of expertise related to musical sources. His work on 15th- and 16th-century manuscripts of polyphonic music has resulted, among other things, in a catalogue of manuscripts of the Cappella Sistina held at the Vatican Library. In the 19th century, his editing is focussed on the works of Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy and the new Complete Edition of his works (Leipziger Gesamtausgabe der Werke Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdys, Breitkopf & Härtel). His edition of the 'Scottish' Symphony appeared in 2005; the 'Italian' Symphony (in both versions) will follow in 2008/09, and the incidental music to Antigone (op. 55) in 2010.

Robert Pascall

Prof Robert Pascall is co-founder of the Johannes Brahms Gesamtausgabe and vice-president of its editorial board. His edition of the four Brahms symphonies (in full score and in the piano reduction prepared by the composer himself) is nearing completion:

Symphony No. 1 in C minor, op.68 (Munich, Henle, 1996; piano reduction to appear in 2007)
Symphony No. 2 in D major, op.73 (with Michael Struck; Munich, Henle, 2001; piano reduction to appear in 2007)
Symphony No. 3 in F major, op.90 (Munich, Henle, 2005)
Symphony No. 4 in E minor, op.98 (Munich, Henle, in preparation)

Bruce Wood

Prof Bruce Wood is Chairman of the Purcell Society (www.henrypurcell.org.uk) and editor of a number of volumes in its critical collected edition of Purcell’s music:

1          Three Occasional Odes  (forthcoming:  Stainer & Bell, 2008)
10        Three Odes on St Cecilia’s Day  (Novello, 1990)
11        Birthday Odes for Queen Mary, 1689-1691 (Novello, 1994)
12        The Fairy Queen (co-edited with Andrew Pinnock)  (forthcoming:  Stainer &   Bell, 2008/2009)
15        Royal Welcome Songs, 1680-1683  (Novello, 2000)
18        Royal Welcome Songs, 1684-1688  (Novello, 2004)
23        Services (co-edited with Margaret Laurie)  (in preparation) 
24        Birthday Odes for Queen Mary, 1692-1694  (Novello, 1997)
27        Symphony Songs  (forthcoming:  Stainer & Bell, 2007)
32        Polyphonic Anthems, Motets and Canons  (in preparation)

Prof. Wood is the also the editor of A Purcell Anthology: Twelve Anthems (Oxford University Press, 1995), andof three volumes in the scholarly series Musica Britannica :

50        John Blow, Anthems II:  Anthems with Orchestra (Stainer & Bell, 1984)
64        John Blow, Anthems III:  Anthems with Strings (Stainer & Bell, 1993)
79        John Blow, Anthems IV:  Anthems with Instruments (Stainer & Bell, 2002)

He is currently preparing a new edition to replace Volume 7:  John Blow, Coronation Anthems and Anthems with Strings, originally published in 1953.

Christian Leitmeir

Dr Christian Leitmeir is currently preparing the complete edition of the works of Jacobus de Kerle (c.1531-1591) for the series Denkmäler der Musik in Baden-Württemberg (6 volumes). This edition, which forms the companion piece to Christian’s monograph, will be instrumental in establishing a composer on the map of Renaissance music, who throughout his life was on the forefront of musical developments in sacred polyphony.
Leitmeir’s research on music theory in the Middle Ages will soon bear fruit in several editions, ranging from the hitherto unknown 12th-century De anima mundi et concordia planetarum (edited jointly with Dr Hanna Vorholt, in progress) to mensural treatises (Franco of Cologne, Petrus dictus Palma ociosa).

In commission of the Institut für Tiroler Musikforschung he reconstructed the missing partbooks of the Apparatus musicus (Innsbruck, 1654) by Hans Stadlmayr. An edition of selected sacred works by Franz Bühler (1760-1824), one of the most prolific and widely disseminated church composers in Southern Germany, is underway.

Christian’s codicological and palaeographical interests extend to literary sources (such as archival documents). An expert on early German palaeography, he taught seminars in German Palaeography (1500-1900) at The Warburg Institute and the London Summer School of Palaeography. He is preparing a study of the Penitential Psalm codices from Munich, which blend music (Lasso), image (Muelich) and textual commentary (Quicchelberg) into a Gesamtkunstwerk.