Female composers have made their way in the face of prejudice and opposition. For a long time the prejudice prevailed that women lack the requisite creative talent to compose great music. It is indeed true that women have been less active in the field of musical composition than their male contemporaries, but reasons for this are found in the social circumstances of the recent past:
In the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the ages of the Enlightenment and the flowering of great achievement in music, women were denied the education and encouragement which would have made individual accomplishment possible beyond the limits of domestic music-making. In spite of these hindrances there were highly gifted women who overcame the hurdles and were able to prove their talent for composition. Of course these belonged to the wealthy middle and upper classes, or were women from musical families who were able to receive a thorough training.
This selection, comprising 19 female composers from eight countries, cannot claim to be completely representative, both because it is limited to the period from the eighteenth century to the present, and because there is, as yet, no systematic catalogue of the autographs and printed editions in archives and libraries. But our editors are happy that this publication is worthwhile and justified, and that each of the pieces can speak for itself.
Women will in future pursue musical composition amid a manifest change in society’s view of women and its attitude towards them.
Vorwort
Zu den Komponistinnen
Elisabeth Jacquet de Laguerre (ca. 1664-1729): Rondeau
Marianne Matinez (1744-1812): Sonate No. 3
Maria Szymanowska (1789-1831): Nocturne
Fanny Hensel (1805-1847): Mélodies, op. 4/2 und op. 5/4
Clara Schumann (1819-1896): Andante con sentimento
Louise Farrenc (1804-1875): Impromptu
Cécile Chaminade (1857-1944): Pierrette, op. 41
Ilse Fromm-Michaels (1888-1986): Langsamer Walzer
Else Schmitz-Gohr (1901-1987): Elegie für die linke Hand allein
Lotte Backes (1901-1987): Slow
L.ili Boulanger (1893-1918): D’ un vieux jardin
Priaulx Rainier (1903-1986): Barbaric Dance
Elizabeth Lutyens (1906-1983): Two Bagatelles
Peggy Glanville-Hicks (1912-1990): Prelude for a Pensive Pupil
Verdina Shlonsky (1913-1990): Introduction
Ivana Loudova: 2 Stücke (Dornröschen
Wiegenlied)
Barbara Heller (*1936): Piano Muziek
Böhmisches Lied
Susanne Erding (*1955): Chillan
Johanna Senfter (1879-1961): Erster Schmerz
Vogelweise

With the new Urtext Primo series, Wiener Urtext Edition intends to bridge the gap between studying a piano method and taking additional lessons. Beginning with a performance level which is outlined by pieces such as Bach’s Minuet in G (BWV Anh. 116), Mozart’s Minuet in F (KV 5) or Schumann’s Wilder Reiter (Op. 68/8), works by three different composers are selected for each volume in the series, with the aim of offering piano pupils (or even adults who want to resume piano playing) a wide range of repertoire pieces on the basis of which they can enhance their technical and musical skills.
The pieces’ range of levels of difficulty is relatively narrow so that the volume can be used continuously over a period of about two years. This is what distinguishes the Urtext Primo approach from almost all common anthologies. The selected repertoire takes into account not only pieces of the classic canon of lessons, but also lesser known works which are in no way of less importance for piano lessons.
The Urtext Primo volumes are published in the internationally recognised standard of the Wiener Urtext editions. The explanations included in each volume shall help to deepen the knowledge of musical styles, music history and piano playing. A repertoire chart at the end of each volume gives a rough overview of the levels of difficulty of the selected pieces.
This volume presents easy pieces for piano by great virtuosos. It unites the two greatest, and perhaps best-known, pianists of the 19th century, Frédéric Chopin and Franz Liszt. The technical requirements of these works are very moderate without muting the stylistic characteristics of these two composers. The ability to play an original composition by Liszt in the first years of lessons can be very motivating for the piano student. Also featured in this collection are works by the virtuoso Ferdinand Hiller, to whom Robert Schumann dedicated his Piano Concerto. As in many of the works by Liszt and Chopin, Hiller’s works are frequently reminiscent of folk music. His Irländisches Lied and Fandango, included in the collection, are fine examples of 19th-century ‘world music’.
Chopin Frédéric: Bourée I in G (KK VIIb/1)
Chopin Frédéric: Bourée II in A (KK VIIb/2)
Chopin Frédéric: Cantabile in B (KK IVb/6)
Chopin Frédéric: Walzer / Waltz / Valse in a (KK IVb/11)
Chopin Frédéric: Sostenuto in Es (KK IVb/10)
Chopin Frédéric: Prélude in e (op. 28/4)
Chopin Frédéric: Prélude in h (op. 28/6)
Chopin Frédéric: Prélude in A (op. 28/7)
Chopin Frédéric: Prélude in c (op. 28/20)
Chopin Frédéric: Polonaise in B (KK IVa/1
Chopin Frédéric: Mazurka in g (op. 67/2)
Chopin Frédéric: Mazurka in F (op. 68/3)
Chopin Frédéric: Mazurka in As (op. 7/4a)
Liszt Franz: La cloche sonne
Liszt Franz: Ländler in As
Liszt Franz: Andantino in As
Liszt Franz: Ich liebe Dich
Liszt Franz: Andante in Des
Liszt Franz: Wiegenlied / Lullaby / Chant du berceau
Liszt Franz: Sancta Dorothea
Liszt Franz: Ave Maria
Liszt Franz: Weihnachtslied / Christmas carol / Chant de Noel
Liszt Franz: Die Hirten an der Krippe / The shepherds at the manger / Les Bergers à la crèche
Liszt Franz: Adagio religioso
Hiller Ferdinand von: Irländisches Lied / Irish Song / Chant irlandais (op. 117/2)
Hiller Ferdinand von: Schottisches Lied / Scottish Song / Chant écossais (op. 117/19)
Hiller Ferdinand von: Italienisches Lied / Italien Song / Chant italien (op. 117/31)
Hiller Ferdinand von: Polnisches Lied / Polish Song / Chant polonaise (op. 117/18)
Hiller Ferdinand von: Russisches Lied / Russian Song / Chant russe (op. 117/26)
Hiller Ferdinand von: Fandango (op. 117/28)
Hiller Ferdinand von: Ballade (op. 117/16)
Hiller Ferdinand von: Schlummerlied / Slumber Song / Berceuse (op. 66/I/2)
Hiller Ferdinand von: Lied / Song (op. 66/II/2)

J.-P. Rameau: Menuet en Rondeau
C. de Seixas: Minuete
H. Purcell: Prelude
H. Purcell: Minuet
H. Purcell: A New Irish Tune
J.C.F. Fischer: Praeludium harpeggiato
J. Blow: Gavot
Anonymous: Musette
G.F. Händel: Impertinence
J. Barrett: Minuet
G.F. Händel: Sarabande
N. Pasquali: Air from Judas Macchabeus
D. Buxtehude: Saraband
C. Balbastre: Joseph est bien marié
J.P. Kirnberger: Minuetto in Contrap, alla 8
Durocher: Prelude
Durocher: La Joyeuse
Durocher: Tamborin
A.H. Wenck: Andante
G.P. Telemann: Fantasie D Major TWV 33:14 (Gravement
Gayment
Allegrement)
D. Scarlatti: Sonata K. 322
F. Couperin: Le Petit-Rien