Customer Reviews

Symphonies Nos. 5, 6 and 7 in Full Score (Dover Music Scores)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
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.

Generally free of errors. Large, readable print and lays flat for study, conducting, or simply for enjoyment. Good for students and professionals alike.

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.

I agree with a previous reviewer that these are not good for conducting work. These scores are reprints that lack the precision, clarity and readability of the Baerenreiter scores, which are based on recent scholarship. However, just for casual listening and studying purposes, they do fine and are much more affordable than Baerenreiter.

The print is large and very clear; easy to follow. Everything is laid out very well.

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, notation, 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.

How Dover publications do it for the price , let alone Amazon really amazes me
Three wonderful symphonies in one book . Well printed and easy to read . A must have for any musician , conductor or just to obtain a better understanding of the works .

I started learing how to read scores 3 years ago, this was my first one. It was great having my favorite symphonies in one volume, and that there were no errors. The music is very easy to follow with a recording, and I learned so much about tonal structures, techniques, different clefs, transpostion, and about orchestration. If you are really interested in studying scores, I highly reccomend this one as a starter.

Beethoven's Fifth, Sixth (Pastorale), and Seventh symphonies are among his most popular works. While I am sure you can hear the opening motive of the Fifth in your mind, it is typical to hear it as a triplet with a strong articulation of the first note. However, a quick look at the score will show you that it begins with an 8th rest and that the three notes are really three straight 8ths of G that flow into the strong downbeat on the E-flat. That is the kind of clarity you get from looking at the scores and making sure that you are hearing the music correctly. It makes a great deal of difference in how you make sense of the music. The same holds true for the Sixth and Seventh. You will love watching how the Horns are used in the Seventh and those groaning basses in the last movement. Just wonderful stuff.

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!

Not at all, as another reviewer called it, a "must-have" for conductors or serious students of the work. It's fairly poorly printed (messy and cramped in places, and sort of fuzzy and blurred all the way through), although the size is nice. More importantly for a conductor, it's hard to read and lacks rehearsal markings of any sort. It's cheap, but you get what you pay for. Don't buy this if you need to conduct out of it - I kept a library copy of the Barenreiter under my stand the whole time while rehearsing the Fifth, and had to pull it out every time I stopped.