Customer Reviews

Piano Masterpieces of Maurice Ravel (Dover Music for Piano)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I give this book 5 stars because it is the cheapest way to own the best editions of Ravel's greatest masterpieces for piano. The last reviewer is correct in stating that these are reprints of the original french editions, but those editions remain the best since there currently exists no critical or scholarly editions of ravel's piano works. The Dover edition even corrects some errors that existed in the original editions. The last reiviewer likes Nancy Bricard's editions (and other editions published by Alfred edited by Maurice Hinson) but I think Nancy Bricard got a little too happy when she got access to Ravel's manuscript, and purposefully included obvious errors into the score, including a footnote explaining that it's an error, instead of just correcting it. Alfred can hardly be trusted for scholarly editing, so for now, this edition remains the best buy.

The edition is clearly an attractive one. Not only is it an affordable and well layed-out presentation of Ravel's greatest works for solo piano (indeed, one would hardly expect to find Miroirs, Gaspard de la nuit, and Jeux d'eau in one volume), it is also a compilation of the authoritative Durand and original French editions, editions which, when sold separately, are notoriously expensive. A must-have for any serious, ambitious musician, or devoted connoisseur!

Dover Publications does a fantastic job of providing high-quality scores at a minimum of cost. This collection of Maurice Ravel's compositions for solo piano is no exception. A few of the compositions in this collection are Sonatine, Gaspard de la nuit, Pavane pour une infante défunte, and 4 others... You will not find a better offer than this, unless it's published by Dover.

This is indeed a very good publication of some very important works by Ravel. Certainly the price alone justifies the purchase, considering Durand editions are still nearly 50% or higher in price. The edition does however, through no fault of Dover because it is a reprint, present some notational flaws that have not been corrected. Nancy Bricard has published a much more authoritative and instructive edition for Alfred Masterworks, for instance of Gaspard de la Nuit. Correcting many of the most obvious of errors. The Dover edition is still reliable, but one must warn that a proper performance dictates cross-reference with other editions.

The edition is clearly an attractive one. Not only is it an affordable and well layed-out presentation of Ravel's greatest works for solo piano (indeed, one would hardly expect to find Miroirs, Gaspard de la nuit, and Jeux d'eau in one volume), it is also a compilation of the authoritative Durand and original French editions, editions which, when sold separately, are notoriously expensive. A must-have for any serious, ambitious musician, or devoted connoisseur!

This has some great music in it for a really low price. I definitely recommend it.

For the serious pianist who wants a compilation of a wide range of Ravel's work, this is a sweet purchase. Not for the beginning pianist--some of the pieces are quite formidable, but certainly contains approachable pieces as well.

Beverly JuanPiano Masterpieces of Maurice Ravel

I purchased this book used several years ago, and it's still in great condition with only minimal wear. It contains over half of Ravel's piano solo pieces, including the infamous Miroirs and Gaspard de la nuit. If you are at all interested in Ravel, I would highly suggest purchasing this collection.

However, with that said, this is not the best source available if you are a serious Ravel performer. There are many errors, though not serious (one exception is in Ondine however, where a pattern is incorrect in the RH at the beginning) and the music can be cramped and difficult to read at times. If you really want to study this music well, I would suggest purchasing Nancy Bricard's editions from Alfred. Especially useful are her editions of Miroirs and Gaspard de la nuit. I must disagree with Mr. Meyer below and point out that it is helpful to see what errors were where in the score, so that way a performer is more likely to believe and understand the importance of the error. The music in Bricard's editions is typeset beautifully, and she gives a lot of insight in the pieces and many helpful performance suggestions - especially fingerings.