Milde - 50 Concert Studies, Op. 26

I decided to create new edition of these Studies for use in my teaching because students kept coming in with older editions which have numerous misprints, confusing markings, and outdated notation. While I encourage students to purchase other modern editions for their excellent presentation and valuable commentary, financial considerations make this prohibitive for some. So, I decided that being 130+ years old - yet fully retaining their instructional and educational value - these Studies deserve a free, modern edition.

I offer this in a few versions:

1) A first version of the oldest available edition with only minimal edits

The first version uses the earliest available edition (c. 1891) by Merseburger, to which I have added only minimal clarifying edits. I think it is important for bassoonists to consult the relatively sparse markings in this edition to differentiate which additional slurs, dynamics, tempo alterations, etc. added by later editors are not in the original. This allows us to consider these later edits separately when deciding how we ultimately interpret and perform these Studies. One major discrepancy is whether slurs accompanying tuplets are meant as articulation markings, to clarify the duration of the tuplet, or both. In these cases I have used dotted slurs to indicate that bassoonists should make their own decisions in each instance. I recommend this version to bassoonists already familiar with the Concert Studies seeking to make more of their own interpretive choices.

First Version (with minimal edits) Vol. I, 52 pages

First Version (with minimal edits) Vol. II, 60 pages

2) A second version with additional clarifications

The second version addresses only the most confusing markings and omissions of the first version. My primary goal was to create a version that was more performable as printed. I didn't address inconsistencies that appear to be deliberate, but did include suggestions where they appear to be mistakes. I also addressed the aforementioned tuplet articulation discrepancy by considering analogous passages and stylistic material. I recommend this version for bassoonists advanced enough to perform these studies ably and start making their own interpretive decisions.

Second Version (with additional edits) Vol. I, 52 pages

Second Version (with additional edits) Vol. II, ?? pages

If you choose to print either, both versions are formatted for booklet style printing. They are formatted for 9 x 12 size pages (12 x 18 size paper for booklets), so if you print on 8.5 x 11 (11 x 17 for booklets) make sure to select the "Fit" or "Shrink oversized pages" option or else the music may be cut off at the page margins. (Note that this will reduce the printed size of the music.)

If you would like a print copy but printing is prohibitively difficult or expensive for any reason, please contact me to request one and if possible I will print and ship it to you. These are living documents and I welcome corrections and feedback!