Customer Reviews

Symphonies Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4 in Full Score (Dover Music Scores)

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

 

 

While Dover's many scores represent an amazing value across the musical repertoire, their collection and reprint of the Litolff Edition of the Beethoven Symphonies was a mistake. For the casual buyer they are workable, but not for serious use in performance, as they are riddled with editorial mistakes and problems. Purchaser would be better advised to find a set of the miniature (octavo-sized) Bärenreiter critical scores. They are bound just as nicely and the paper is of excellent quality. I use the full-size Bärenreiter set when I conduct my orchestra.

This edition of the first four symphonies followed me through my conservatory training, including some extremely frightening conducting lessons in front of a bored orchestra. There are no errors in the score that I have ever found, and the music is clear and easy to read. The best edition of a necessary score for any orchestral musician.

I appreciate the Dover edition of these works because the large format makes for easier reading and provides room for making notes while you are studying. For example, you might want to make something special or unique to one recording so that when you listen to another you can compare the two.

And if you don't read music very well, these symphonies are a good place to start. You can listen to the music and what the shapes go by. And eventually you will get used to the link between the sound and what you see. These scores are not as dense as, say Mahler or Strauss or works with huge orchestras. So, the classics make a great way to get into the pool, so to speak. Honestly, even if you can't read the notes, you will notice things after a few listenings that you had not heard before because you see the `shape' in the score.

The Dover editions are also very durable and will last for many years of use. These editions are nice and clear and easy on the eyes because the contrast between the dark ink and light paper is very good, but not blinding.

Recommended. Expand your horizons!

These scores (as well as those of the other symphonies) are worth having. Serious students of music can take invaluable lessons from Beethoven's knowledge of counterpoint, orchestration, dynamics, melody, harmony, and form. Additionally these are great listening aids, pointing out "Nebenstimmen" ("secondary voices") that might not be noticed at first listen. This way one can learn to enjoy Beethoven (and other music) as many melodies intertwining into a larger fabric.

In my opinion L.V. Beethoven's symphonies are the greatest symphonies ever written. This is the first book of three books that contain all of Beethoven's 9 amazing symphonies in Full-Score. I have yet to find any errors and they are very usefull for score study or playing one or two parts on the piano.

I recomend all three volumes as Beethoven's symphonies become even more amazing as they evolve into the ninth symphony that in my opinion is unrivaled in the Late Classical Period.

These reproductions are an invaluable resource and are a great value for any musician. I have used these as conductor's scores myself. While using critical editions is preferable, they are also very expensive. For a struggling musician, spending a little time on research can turn these scores into just as good as a critical edition and for about 1/10th of the cost.

These Dover score editions are best known for their low prices. For the Beethoven symphonies, these are pretty much just reproductions of the 1865 Litolff edition, which contains numerous mistakes that were corrected in later, better editions. The 9x12 format is good for the full score format, making it easy to view all the orchestral parts at the same time. The note heads are big enough to be clearly legible.

Knowing the deficiency of the source edition, my major complaint is there are no measure numbers so it's a big inconvenience for anyone wishing to study specific points in the score.

BTW, all these are available for free download as PDF on [...]. But for me, having these in a book format beats having to print out page after page of PDF which gets messy.