Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg in Full Score (Dover Vocal Scores) [Paperback]

Richard Wagner (Author), Opera and Choral Scores (Author)

Book Description

Series: Dover Vocal Scores | Publication Date: October 16, 2009

This beloved operatic work combines profound emotion and great comedy with accessible music. The Dover edition is a reprint of an authoritative German score from the turn of the 20th century. It features English translations of the introduction and cast lists only; the rest of the text is in German.

Features lay-flat sewn binding. 

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

This is the complete orchestral and vocal score of Richard Wagner's magnificent work, an opera which combines profound emotion and great moments of comedy with wonderful, accessible music. A reproduction of a now out-of-copyright turn-of-the-century score from a German publisher, it has English translations of the introduction and cast list -- but English translations nowhere else. This is likely to be too bulky for singers, for whom standard piano-vocal scores will be more useful, but it's an invaluable tool for the student or enthusiast.

Product Details

• Paperback: 823 pages
• Publisher: Dover Publications; Reprint edition (October 16, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 048623276X
• ISBN-13: 978-0486232768
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.2 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #308,647 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #15 in Books > Arts & Photography > Music > Theory, Composition & Performance > Sheet Music & Scores > Composers > Wagner
  • #72 in Books > Arts & Photography > Music > Theory, Composition & Performance > Sheet Music & Scores > Historical Period > Late Romantic

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, August 3, 2005

By 

Thomas (Ireland) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg in Full Score (Dover Vocal Scores) (Paperback)

Along with Die Walkure, I ordered Die Meistersinger to give me a even greater look into German opera. I was extremely impressed with the outcome even though I had been told by many people that it was 'heavy' and I should avoid Wagner at all costs.

I won't get into the nitty-gritty stuff of comedy/tragedy but in comparison to Die Walkure, it's much lighter and quite funny especially when one character (Beckmesser) happens to steal a song written by someone else and on delivering, messes it all up and makes a fool of himself. The themes continue to come back at every oppurtunity and the whole thing links together as one.

Of course Wagner likes his big, fat scores - this one comes in just over 800 pages and the other Dover scores, it opens flat (or reasonably) and doesn't damage the spine, i.e. no creases.
Text is all in German apart from a translation of the contents, characters and orchestration so unless you've mastered the German language, get your hands on a german or music dictionary. See through is minimal. $30 is a very good bargain for such a big score.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of Wagner's best works, July 5, 2005

By 

J. L. Harper (Houston, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg in Full Score (Dover Vocal Scores) (Paperback)

I am a long-time devotee to Die Meistersinger (which is one of my favorite operas of all time), and have owned this score for over ten years. It is now well worn and the spine has a couple of weak places, but it still holds together quite well--as do all of Dover's well-bound books.

This edition has nice, readable engraving--though the rather small dimensions of the page make everything somewhat crowded. Also the sheer thickness of the score makes the book somewhat unwieldy, but considering the price of other editions, this is a steal at Dover's price!

As for the work itself, if you set aside all the nit-picking about new vs. old musical styles (which is implicit in the plot, don't get me wrong) and just listen to the music, I don't see how you can fail to enjoy this opera. It is very long, true--but that's Wagner. The plot is one of the merriest of Wagner's whole output, and the music is joyful in like measure. For sheer beauty, my favorite moment in the opera is the quintet in Act III, scene IV, but Walther's prize song ("Morgenlicht Leuchtend"), "Am stillen Herd" and the Prelude to Act I are all close runners up. In addition, being able to study Wagner's masterful orchestration--or look at the sheer number of individual vocal lines in the street fight at the end of Act II--is reason enough to buy this edition.

2 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For the sake of arguing, April 28, 2003

By 

Orvis M. Fuller "O. Milner Fuller" (Granville, OH United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg in Full Score (Dover Vocal Scores) (Paperback)

I feel like raising a point. The previous reviewer called this "Wagner's only comedy." I am going to have to disagree, and not because of his obscure second opera, but because of one of my favorite of his works, the mature Siegfried! What? Crazy! Well, maybe, but hear me out.

One cannot help but laugh at that first act with all that witty diologue between the young and ignorant Siegfriend and his evil foster-father Mime. That entire scene cracks me up. The fight with the dragon, in my opinion, is quite humorous when you consider the way irony in it (almost in a David vs. Goliath way). There is yet more comedy in the third act, my favorite line of the entire piece being when Siegfried pulls off Brunhilde's breastplate and declares "Das ist kien Mann!" or "That's no man!" Duh. Siegfried has never seen a woman in his life, and his reaction to Brunhilde's is so naive, and so funny. Then of course, like in all good comedies, they declare love and appear to live happily ever after (at least until Gotterdammerung).

Siegfried being a comedy also fits form well. Think about Beethoven's ninth symphony (I'm not saying it fits this symphony exactly, but work with me here) first and second movements are heavily dramatic, where as the third is a bit of a breather, a relief before the great conclusion of the fourth movement (though, of course a triumphant ending rather than tragic in the case of Gotterdammerung).

So next time you watch Siegfried, think comedy. Crazy it maybe, but i don't think it is that far-fetched.