Preface to Volume 18, 2 B

This volume 18 B, 2 contains the critical commentary on the works presented in volume 18 A of the Complete Edition: Four Pieces for Mixed Chorus, Op. 27, Three Satires for Mixed Chorus, Op. 28, and Six Pieces for Men’s Chorus, Op. 35. Since this volume was initially planned and prepared as part of volume 18 B, 1, the editors have been able to take advantage of preliminary work done by the co-editor of volumes 18 B, 1 and 18 B, 3, Martina Sichardt, whom we here take the opportunity to thank.

This volume of choral works again represents a collaborative undertaking, with the work of the two editors falling roughly into the following categories: description of the sources, preparatory work on critical commentaries and transcription of sketches (Tadeusz Okuljar); documentation of the history of the works, evaluation of the sources, critical commentaries, commentary on the sketches and editorial direction (Dorothee Schubel). Special thanks are due to colleagues at the research office for the Complete Edition: Erika Bucholtz, who checked and completed the description of the sources, Nikos Kokkinis, who has assisted the project with his expert advice as well as Ullrich Scheideler whose final reading of the text helped to eleminate errors. We also wish to thank all those people and institutions who have been of assistance to our editorial work: R. Wayne Shoaf (Arnold Schoenberg Institute, Los Angeles), who has been extremely patient in helping to resolve numerous questions, and Wayne D. Shirley (Library of Congress, Washington), who has been able to shed light on many problems; and, finally Universal-Edition (Vienna), the music publishers Bote & Bock (Berlin), the Pierpont Morgan Library (New York), Shaw’s Corner (Welwyn, England), the Northwestern Library (Evanston, Illinois) and the Staatsbibliothek Preußischer Kulturbesitz (Berlin), for allowing us to examine the relevant source documents or providing us with details of them.

Berlin, April 1995
Tadeusz Okuljar, Dorothee Schubel