Customer Reviews

Missa Solemnis in Full Score (Dover Vocal Scores)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Dover is a blessing for music students and music lovers alike! Their sturdy and inexpensive scores last and last and last. This one of the Beethoven 'Missa Solemnis' is no exception. I was happy to see such a great work available at such an inexpensive price. The majesty of Beethoven's masterpiece is now accessible to all at a very reasonable cost. Jump on it and get it!

As a student of conducting, I find this to be a very usefull score. Having the choir in original cleffs, as well as the orchestral transpositions and score ordering of the Romantic era are really good practices for full score reading, and instant transposition. I find that though there are no measure numbers or letter markings, getting that information does not take long. For the price, it is worth the extra effort to learn to read cleffs.

I looked forward to getting this. Then I opened it and discovered that Beethoven had just opened us inkwell and let the splashes be the notes. Thw writing is challengingly dense and the choral parts are written in Alto and Tenor clef. Now, who reads Tenor clef these days? I even tried looking it up one day and couldn't find a basic scale. It is nice to see the workmanship that went into it and following Treble or Bass clef leave the reader breathless. My best recommendation to pair with this is Eugene Ormandy's recording from the 1960s with the Philadelphia Orchestra and the singers that I forgot the names of (how embarassing). Not a bad investment.

The Dover Full Score editions are an unprecedented buy these days. Scores, especially full orchestral, much less works like the Missa (with addition of full chorus and soloists) are so often impossible to read, poor type/space, etc. This edition is well-bound, beautifully printed, ample space for notations (and I make MANY as I study); such a great bargain. The company also delivered swiftly and packaged the book well, it arrived it perfect condition. Excellence all around. I also have the Complete Beethoven Symphonies, Mozart Piano Concerti, etc. many Dover scores and they are above all others. Don't waste your money on anything else. Even the cover designs are handsomely done and make an aesthic accent on the desk top!

For those thinking of purchasing this edition, keep in mind that like many Dover scores, this one uses C-cleff notation. I'm not sure if I am supposed to be reviewing the work, or the edition. But I assume it's the edition, since nothing I say could possibly effect the way the music world's opinion of the great Missa Solemnis. Other than the cleff, it's a quality score.