Ponce's Preludes: Part 1 - The confusion of numbering

In concert programs and on recordings, people are referring to Ponce's preludes by number rather than key. This is understandable for a number of reasons, including the fact that several of the preludes exist published in different keys.  (Segovia, presumably, transposed three of the preludes into more 'idiomatic' keys for the Schott publication.) However, the existence of different numbering systems causes confusion.

While the 1981 Tecla edition of the "Twenty-Four Preludes for Guitar", edited by Miguel Alcázar, is now thirty years old, many people nonetheless persist with playing a selection of the twelve preludes that Segovia edited and which were published with Schott in the 1930s. This is evidenced by the prevalent use of the Segovia/Schott numbering when referring to the preludes. However, as players tackle preludes that are outside of the 12 in the Segovia/Schott edition, as well as playing the preludes in their originally composed keys, rather than Segovia's transpositions, there is a need for a new, consistent and logical numbering system.

There are at least three numbering systems, which derive from:

1. Segovia's Schott edition (12 preludes, 2 volumes) (AS)
2. Miguel Alcázar's 1981 Tecla edition of "The Twenty-Four Preludes for Guitar" (MA1981)
3. Miguel Alcázar's 2000 edition of Ponce's Complete Guitar Works (MA2000)


To spare those who don't want to get into too much detail, I'll give the numbering of the Segovia (AS) edition and the relevant correspondences. (Please click on the table to get a larger and less pixilated view.)

The order in MA2000, probably the least well-known source, is the most convincing, despite the many questionable aspects of that volume more generally.  In MA1981, Alcázar, the editor, was following the manuscripts, but changed the order for a number of the preludes to make it correspond to a  circle of fifths scheme. In the 2000 edition, Alcázar presented them, with one logical adjustment, in the order they appear in Ponce's manuscripts. (More commentary on Ponce's MSS in another post.) Here is a table giving those numberings and how they correlate to the 1981 Alcázar edition and the Segovia Schott Edition.

The keys given in the left hand column are original keys. For the three preludes that Segovia transposed, their transposition is given in the right-hand column.

Considering that the Segovia edition, together with the 1981 Tecla publication, are the best-known and most easily sources, and that existing recordings cite either one or the other for numbering, it appears unlikely that the more common-sense MA2000 order that reflects Ponce's manuscripts will gain currency any time soon. It will be interesting to hear Christiano Porqueddu's upcoming recording of the Preludes, which is advertised as being based on the original manuscripts, and see what choices he has made in ordering the set of 24.

In the next post, a discussion of Ponce's autograph manuscripts of the Preludes, and the problem of including Nos. 2 - 6  in the set of 24 Preludes.