Having performed Marie Jaëll’s Waltzes for Four Hands extensively in concert and convinced of their value, we felt the need to prepare a new edition.
This edition is based not only on the three contemporary editions (Leuckart, Berlin; Gérard, Paris; Ricordi, Milan) published in 1877, all of which have been out of print for decades, but also on the non-autograph manuscript of the waltzes annotated by Franz Liszt, as well as the variant sheets he added to it.
Why is Liszt mentioned in this context?
In 1876, Alfred Jaëll sent Liszt, without his wife Marie’s knowledge, the manuscript of a cycle of waltzes for four hands that she had composed. . He asked the Maestro if these waltzes seemed worthy of attention, as he would like to “surprise (his) wife by having them published […] among other places in Germany, as each waltz is accompanied by a short poem by Marie”. Liszt replied to Jaëll in these terms: “In the form of Waltzes and Ländler, Madame Jaëll has composed a necklace of fine musical pearls. The epigraphs are also ingeniously matched. Please convey to Madame Jaëll my sincere praise […] for this charming jewel.”
From the subsequent correspondence between Liszt and the Jaëlls, it is clear that the Maestro took Alfred’s request very seriously, even assuming the role of teacher to his young colleague by submitting numerous corrections and variants.
In November 1876, Liszt specified in another letter: “In sending you the annotations of your charming work, I was afraid of failing to observe the well-known precept: ‘above all, not too much zeal.’ It goes without saying that these annotations had no other purpose than to express my sincere affection for you. If some of them seem suitable to you, so much the better; reject the others without hesitation, according to your own judgment, which will always be the best.”
Marie Jaëll did not retain all, but nevertheless a great many, of Liszt’s variants and suggestions. It is fascinating to see how the Master’s late style, with its open endings and impressionistic sonorities, blends admirably into the work of his young colleague. Let us therefore emphasize that these variants and suggestions are an integral part of the cycle as published in 1877, as it was premiered by the Jaëlls in the Salle Érard in Paris in March of the same year, and as it is republished in this volume.