21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The only book of Mussorgsky's piano music you'll ever need, July 13, 2000
This review is from: Piano Complete (Paperback)
It's all here -- all the instrumental piano music Mussorgsky ever wrote. From his first-ever composition written in 1852 (at 13 years old!), taking in "Pictures at an Exhibition" about halfway through, all the way through to his original piano versions of music from his final (and never-completed) opera, "Sorochintsy Fair" -- it's all here.
So what makes this collection better than its rivals? There are two primary attributes, in my mind, which make this collection superior.
The first is its completeness. Not only does this collection include all of Mussorgsky's surviving compositions, but some of them are even represented in two distinct versions. It can be really interesting to compare the two versions of a composition, and obtain partial insight into Mussorgsky's composition methods.
The second advantage this collection has is its accuracy. Unlike other Mussorgsky piano books on the market, this one is based on an "Urtext," which means that special effort has been made to examine the original manuscripts, verifying that each and every note is what the composer actually wrote. This is especially important for Mussorgsky, whose work has suffered from "corrections" made by his contemporaries -- "corrections" which are often unwittingly passed along even today. (For example, not many people know that Rimsky-Korsakov made a number of little "corrections" to "Pictures at an Exhibition," nor do they know that these "corrections" are still passed along by music publishers who don't even know they're there.) With THIS collection, you can be certain that everything is as accurate as possible -- so that the music comes the closest to representing what Mussorgsky actually wrote.
In conclusion, this edition of Mussorgsky's complete piano works is magnificent. The print is large enough to use for performance purposes, and the multiple versions and technical notes at the end make this a good choice for research purposes as well. Combine this with its outstanding completeness and accuracy, and you have a collection that simply can't be beat.
So even if you're only interested in the sheet music for "Pictures at an Exhibition," you should strongly consider purchasing this collection. You'll not only get the most accurate version of "Pictures" available, but you'll also get accurate versions of Mussorgsky's other piano compositions as well. For those who already know they love "Pictures," this is the ideal opportunity to discover more of Mussorgsky's music to love.
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