The composer and pedagogue Adolph von Henselt (1814–1889) can truly be considered one of the founding fathers of the Russian School of piano playing. He counted among his pupils Nicolai Sergeyvich Zverev, the teacher of Rachmaninoff and Scriabin. Rachmaninoff considered Henselt’s Etudes the equal of those by Liszt and Chopin for their great beauty.
Henselt’s music was well-known in his time, and in the repertoire of the greatest virtuosos of the 19th century, including Clara Schumann (who premiered his F minor Concerto with Mendelssohn conducting), Franz Liszt, Hans von Bülow, Vladimir de Pachmann and Alexander Scriabin.
The two sets of Etudes Opp. 2 and 5 were composed just before Henselt moved permanently to Russia and each set was originally published as two books of six études. This new Edition Peters Urtext edition collects each set in its own volume, together with, in volume 1, a selection of Henselt’s Exercices préparatoires and, in volume 2, two additional etudes. It is edited by Daniel Grimwood, one of the composer’s most highly regarded interpreters, whose recording of the complete Etudes is available from Edition Peters Sounds. This is the only available modern Urtext edition of these important piano works.