Between 1996 and 2000 Bärenreiter published scholarly-critical editions of Beethoven's Nine Symphonies edited by the first class musicologist Jonathan Del Mar. The editorial process was a huge undertaking because of the complex source situation regarding Beethoven's Symphonies culminating in the Choral Symphony which came down to us in nearly 20 different sources. So it was not surprising that Bärenreiter's new Urtext edition caused a considerable stir in the music world. Since publication, Del Mar's edition enjoys the unabashed praise of conductors, performers and critics alike and has become the most widely used publication of the Beethoven Symphonies which can be heard not only every day in concert halls, but also on CD recordings by John Eliot Gardiner, David Zinman , Jos van Immerseel and Claudio Abbado .


- A new reference set of Beethoven’s Symphonies for students, conductors and libraries

Published by Baerenreiter.

'It is high time that there was a reliable scholarly edition of this, the most celebrated of symphony cycles ... I think anyone who is at all serious about interpreting Beethoven’s symphonies will find they have totally new insights into the workings of that extraordinary mind.'

~ John Eliot Gardiner

'The number of corrected errors and scholarly opinions now makes it possible to perform these works and meet the most exacting standards.'

~ Podium Notes

'... a very impressive collection, more detailed than other editions ...'

'Any conductor who has studied the variants and comments here is likely to approach the works more freshly, even if many will take Del Mar’s labours on trust.'

~ Early Music Review

'So the main achievement of this edition is the removal of hundreds of errors that crept into the first edition and have been perpetuated, or have multiplied, in subsequent editions. And no one comparing Del Mar with any other edition of the Ninth can fail to be struck by the number of errors that have been identified and expunged.'

~ Musical Times