Customer Reviews

Symphony No. 9 (Dover Miniature Music Scores)

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

 

 

Dover scores have been invaluable to me as an adult. I believe the cheap, large versions of complete operas and symphonies, chamber music and solo instrumentals, began to show up around 1981. I say this only because I bought every one that came along, with rare exception, and loved the fact that at last I had something akin to what the conductor would look at, not a partitur that was 5 X 8. I would say that by 1985 I owned between 80 and 100 Dovers. All were large and take up a lot of shelf space. But they are clearly legible without glasses for me.

The "small size" has now been revisited upon us. It seems that with the Mahler Symphonies all have been reissued in a "single size" packaging. As far as I'm concerned, it's nice to have a cheap well made score, but the smaller size now makes the several I've bought almost impossible to read. The ninth requires high powered reading glasses as does the third. These are the two "new" ones that I have. The rest of the Mahler's are from the old, large Dover plates. While they may not be perfectly accurate in terms of up to the minute performance practices, their visual convenience trumps the small print of the newer more accurate (I hope!) editions. Worth having if you can't get anything larger, but better to go to a used book store and buy the larger scores if they're still available. If you can't do that, at least don't strain your eyes!

This was the first Dover Miniature score that I bought, but it was so good (especially for the price) that it induced me to buy more--now, I am the proud owner of six of these and have given one to a friend. The engraving is TINY, but it is also clear and readable. For the price, this is one of the best editions available.

The score came in a timely manner and was what I expected it to be.