Pelleas et Melisande in Full Score (Dover Vocal Scores) [Paperback]

Claude Debussy (Author), Opera and Choral Scores (Author)

Book Description

Series: Dover Vocal Scores | Publication Date: December 22, 2010

The tragic tale of brothers who are in love with the same mysterious woman, Debussy's only opera is a perfect marriage of music and verse. The five-act lyric drama premiered in 1902. This volume, reprinted from the E. Fromont 1904 edition, reproduces the full orchestral-vocal score in a clear, modern engraving.

Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Dover Publications (December 22, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0486248259
• ISBN-13: 978-0486248257
• Product Dimensions: 12 x 9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #865,247 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #38 in Books > Arts & Photography > Music > Theory, Composition & Performance > Sheet Music & Scores > Composers > Debussy

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Most certainly well worth getting in ALL events even if not quite up-to-date..., July 29, 2005

By 

Alexander Z. Damyanovich (Flesherton, Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pelleas et Melisande in Full Score (Dover Vocal Scores) (Paperback)

The reason for the above title is that Debussy made a few alterations (almost exclusively additions to the score in terms of orchestration - though there are one or two lines missing that also apply to the singers) after the publication of this version of the orchestral score (even up to not too long prior to his death). However, one will have to be prepared to shell out $190 US. to get the latest version (published by Edwin F. Kalmus) - which is a whole lot more (worse still will be when Éditions Durand issues its critical edition of the score as part of its publication of the complete works of Debussy - those critical editions always cost "an arm and a leg"!)! This kind of price-jump is hard to justify; and that difficulty is particularly tough to ignore when one notes that (thanks to Debussy's largely transparent writing) anybody with a keen ear can capture most or all of the orchestral changes by listening carefully to recordings - and jotting the changes down right into the score (or at the least onto copied pages therefrom with extra staves added as necessary). [The latter eventuality just might apply to one passage in Act II, scene II, where either a (muted?) French-Horn (likelier of these 2 possibilities!) OR possibly a Trombone is added to the texture following the bass line of the 'Celli and Double-Basses (page 126: 6 (2nd half of the bar) and 7 bars after rehearsal figure 33 {bars 363-4 of Act II}. That seems to be the only case of such a more substantial change potentially being necessary in so far as I've been able to determine (further data will be posted if and when it becomes available).] The reproduction of the engraving is of excellent quality, and it's quite easy to follow! Definitely a must for any interested party's library - it's an absolute steal!