Alberto Ginastera's Complete Solo Piano Works Now Available in Print
The complete solo piano works of Alberto Ginastera are brought together for the first time in a new publication from Boosey & Hawkes.
Boosey & Hawkes has published a complete collection of Alberto Ginastera's works for solo piano, bringing together the composer’s entire solo piano output in a single volume of 14 works.
Presented chronologically, the collection traces Ginastera's development from his earliest piano music through the three sonatas of his mature years. Early works include Danzas argentinas para los niños; Piezas infantiles; and Danzas argentinas, op. 2. Later works include Tres Piezas, op. 6; Malambo, op. 7; Doce Preludios Americanos, op. 12; Suite de danzas criollas, op. 15; and Rondó sobre temas infantiles argentinos, op. 19. The collection culminates in his three piano sonatas, opp. 22, 53, and 54.
Also included throughout the volume are Ginastera's own solo piano arrangements of “Milonga” from Dos Canciones, op. 3, and Dances from Estancia, op. 8; as well as his 1970 Toccata, a transcription of an organ work by the Baroque composer Domenico Zipoli.
The collection opens with Danzas argentinas para los niños (1934), a previously unpublished work comprising two short movements dedicated to Ginastera's children, Alex and Georgina. Only sketches of the work survive in the composer’s archive. Boosey & Hawkes Senior Director of Editorial Maggie Heskin, who prepared the new collection, discovered the work through Argentine pianist Fernando Viani’s 2007 world-premiere recording. With permission from the Ginastera estate and the Paul Sacher Foundation, which houses the composer’s archives, the work is now available in print for the first time.
Heskin recalls: “When I first heard these two beautiful little gems, I found them unpretentious, simple, and yet, profoundly moving. I assumed they were already published by another publisher, but was shocked and very excited to find out that they were unpublished”.
> Listen to Fernando Viani's recording
Renowned pianist and longtime Ginastera champion Barbara Nissman contributed the volume's foreword and assisted in proofreading and editing the edition. Nissman’s connection to Ginastera and his piano music stretches back decades: the composer described her as “a magnificent interpreter of my music—one of the best pianists in the world,” and wrote his final work, Piano Sonata No. 3, op. 54, for her.
> Listen to Nissman's recording of all Ginastera's solo and chamber piano works
Nissman recalled Ginastera's particular enthusiasm for his transcription of Zipoli's Toccata: "I remember every time I met with Ginastera, he always gave me a copy of that piece because he wanted it played. And it's a terrific, really virtuosic transcription. He really makes use of the range of the piano and the sonorities of the instrument."