Customer Reviews

Complete Song Cycles (Dover Song Collections) (English and German Edition)

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This is the Dover edition of Franz Schubert's two song cycles on the poetry of Wilhelm Mueller -- Die Schoene Muellerin and Die Winterreise -- plus the collection of songs known as Schwanengesang, which is not a true cycle but rather a group of songs written by Schubert near the end of his short life (d. 1828), packaged as cycle posthumously by his publisher. If you are interested in art song, this plus a few other volumes -- for instance Schubert's Goethe Lieder, also available from Dover -- are an essential aid to enjoyment and understanding. One down side is that this is the usual Dover repackaging of an older source, and as such lacks things such as measure numbers and Deutsch catalogue numbers that would be useful to have. For the money, however, this is an essential value. English translations of the poems are included in the back of the volume.

This volume includes the three major Schubert song cycles. It's not as usable or legible as the old Peters edition, but it is much more available and cheaper. The music of course is pure heaven, from the world-famous "Serenade" to the grim and lovely ``Winterreise'' cycle to the "Swan songs" that end with perhaps Schubert's loveliest song of all, the "Taubenpost;" that was also the last song he wrote. You can hum them, sing them, strum them on your guitar or piano and you'll be a better human being. For low voice, with adequate English translations in the back of the book.

The book was delivered sooner than I expected in securely packed envelope. Thanks for you reliable work.
Content of this book is sublime. Printing is easy to read. English translation in the back gives me more fun in appreciating Schubert's great work. Such a blessing.

I'm learning some short Schubert songs
for my Aural class in a conservatory.
They are short and enjoyable.
I would love if Dover puts translation on each song
instead of putting all translation together at the back.

If you are looking for an amazingly inexpensive way to augment your score library, Dover is the way to do it. The lack of measure numbers in many cases is not ideal, but to me, the savings more than makes up for it. When preparing for a rehearsal situation, it is relatively painless to take five minutes and number the measures myself. An inconvenience, to be sure, but spending $40 or more for an edition with measure numbers and rehearsal letters is the greater evil, as far as I'm concerned. I highly recommend this edition to vocal students, teachers, and anyone who simply wants to listen and read along to one of the greatest song-smiths ever to live.