Does anybody knows anything about Mr. Bottesini autograph scores, especially of the
concertos? Does he writes his pieces in concert or solo tuning?Which are the
most relable editions in present days?
Any help will make me glad.
Thanks,
Alexandre.:confused:

like many bass pieces of the day, they were in solo tuning, up one wholestep. Sankey, Ninny and a few others have edited his works and they are all availible thru lemur music (I can't remember their number right now). I ordered them online last time, so I'd check there. They do mostly bass music.

Most concertos are done in standard tuning and some editions can be ordered in standard pitch (for the piano, since the bass has to be in the original key).

pete

I have been looking for Bottesini autograph scores for quite some time now with no success. Perhaps their absence is the reason for the many inconsistencies in the editions of his work; some of the International editions appear to be heavily edited. If anyone knows where these autographs are, please post!

That's precisely my problem. I don't trust the editions I have seen. If you start to distrust you will see a lot of problems. I am surprised that in the forums I never read anything about the subject. It means people trust blindly in the scores that they see and never wonder if things could possibly be a little diferent. I am not a purist or a perfectionist. I just want to know what Bottesini really writes and start to perform from that point!!
By the way, I am searching information about his two concerts and a teatcher advise me to see what I can find at:
http://www.rism.harvard.edu/rism/Welcome.html

I find nothing about the concertos, but they have information about other works.

Let me know anything you find.
Thanks,
Alexandre

Amen, Alexandre. Perhaps this might be of interest to you: http://www.discordia-music.com/about1.htm

Thanks for the link to the Harvard database... I will search through it, see what's available and post my discoveries.

Dave.

I heard something about originals being kept in Parma

I'm no Thomas Martin but from what I know (remember) a lot of the inconsistencies that appear from one edition to another are due to the fact that a number of autograph scores exist for many of Bottesini's works. Bottesini had scores for every diffrent tuning he used as well as for both piano and orchestra, he also may have made new copies as revisions to earlier works.

I'm no Thomas Martin but from what I know (remember) a lot of the inconsistencies that appear from one edition to another are due to the fact that a number of autograph scores exist for many of Bottesini's works. Bottesini had scores for every diffrent tuning he used as well as for both piano and orchestra, he also may have made new copies as revisions to earlier works.
Yea, he probably performed alot of them and slowly found one version he liked and stuck with that.

Most of the autograph scores are in Parma. Bottesini was the head of the Conservatory there. You should email Tom Martin as he is an expert on Bottesini. You can find his email address at his web site. BTW, he is currently working on another Bottesini recording featuring the bass duest with Tim Cobb as his partner.

There is an Italian edition of the B minor concerto done by Petracchi that is taken from the autograph.

Cheers,
Jack Hill
http://www.jdhillmusic.com/

I actually want to contact Parma this summer to see if there is anyway I can view some of them.

So far I am under the impression that he had different scores for different tunings, and just different revisions that he liked at the time.

I have always wondered. In the latter years of Bottesini's life, was their primitive recording equipment? And, if so is it possible for him to have something on a (sorry for my improper terminology and knowledge in this department) megaphone some where in the world? Maybe not even discovered or whatever.

If that were true than we can here the true Bottesini style.

I have a manuscript of the Bottesini grand duo- which I obtained from the British library manuscript room. it is quite different from published versions- superior to them.