Beethoven’s four-movement Sonata in A-flat major op. 26 belongs to his most popular works. It is dedicated to Prince Lichnowsky, one of his most generous patrons and the dedicatee of, for example, the Grande Sonate pathétique op. 13 and Symphony No. 2 op. 35. The work’s initial drafts date from 1800–01; it was first published in March 1802. This demanding sonata is highly varied in its form: it begins with a set of variations and contains the famous Marcia funebre sulla morte d’un Eroe as its third movement, earning it the nickname “Sonata with the Funeral March”. The identity of the title’s eroe (hero) remains unknown to the present day. The march was performed at Beethoven’s funeral on 29 March 1827 in an arrangement for orchestra.
For this Bärenreiter edition Jonathan Del Mar, possibly as one of the first editors of a modern edition, consulted the composer’s autograph in the original. This enabled him to decipher details of Beethoven’s handwriting in particular with regard to the exact notation of doubtful slurs. The result is a most reliable and thoroughly-researched musical text. Differing readings and editorial decisions are documented in the Critical Commentary. The edition has been finely engraved and includes practical page turns. Information on central issues of historical performance practice (pedalling, ornaments, tempo, dynamics, articulation) is provided in a detailed chapter.
Scholarly-critical Urtext edition based on most recent Beethoven research
Evaluation of Beethoven’s autograph in the original
Elegant engraving with practical page turns
Informative Introduction (Eng / Ger)
Discussion of central performance practice issues (Eng / Ger)
Detailed Critical Commentary (Eng)
Item prices quoted on our website do not include delivery. All delivery charges are calculated by order value.
Deliveries to the United Kingdom
All deliveries within the UK are sent by Royal Mail First Class Post or 24-Hour Parcelforce dependent on weight. Please see our notes on Delivery Times below for more information.
Deliveries to Europe & The Rest of the World
If you would like to place an order but you live outside the United Kingdom, please email us at sales@scorestore.co.uk with your requirements and we'll do our best to help you.
Delivery Times
We aim to dispatch every order within 24 hours excluding weekends.
However, we have learned from experience not to make promises regarding delivery. We aim simply to provide you with a reliable service at a reasonable cost. To keep our prices competitive we do not keep huge stocks of any particular item. No matter how good our stock control, there will occasionally be times when a particular item is not immediately available.
Sometimes this will be due to overwhelming demand, and sometimes it will be due to circumstances beyond our control, such as the item having gone to reprint or out of print. You should be aware that your payment is taken automatically online at the time you place your order. In the circumstances outlined above, we will do our best to contact you and inform you of any anticipated delays. You may cancel your order at any time if you are not happy to wait.
Although we make every effort to ship your order according to these guidelines, we will not be held responsible for any loss or damage caused by delayed delivery.
Stock information:
Regularly updated stock information is now available to view online at ScoreStore. This information can, on occasion, be incorrect due to delays of up to 12 hours in updating. Our system will also allow you to order more items than we have in stock at any one time. If you require urgent delivery of a large order, please contact us to confirm current stock levels. Our Freephone number is 0800 072 0354 and we are in the office 9-5, Monday to Friday.
If you wish to cancel your order prior to dispatch, please email us at sales@scorestore.co.uk. We will terminate the transaction and refund any payments already made relating to your order. Once an order has been dispatched, we will accept returns where they meet the following conditions:
In the event that your item is faulty you may return it to us within thirty days and we will refund the cost of the item and reimburse the cost of returning the item to us.
If our error has led to an item has been mistakenly supplied to you and it is unopened and in as-new condition, you may return it to us within thirty days and we will refund the cost of the item and reimburse the cost of returning the item to us.
If you have decided that you do not wish to keep an item that has been correctly supplied, you may return it to us unopened in as-new condition within thirty days. In this case we will refund the cost of the item and you will be responsible for the cost of returning the item to us. You may not return items that we have ordered specially for you unless they are faulty or supplied in error.
If you wish to return an item to us, please email sales@scorestore.co.uk for instructions. We will not accept unsolicited returns arriving at our warehouse.