Customer Reviews

Symphony No. 7 In Full Score (Dover Music Scores)

5 star:		(3)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

The issue here is the score, not the music. Since Dover specializes in reprints, it's forced to use what's in the public domain. The results are consequently uneven. If you're looking for Brahms' orchestral music, or Wagner's late operas (after Lohengrin), Dover's scores are bargains, because the scores printed are reliable. On the other hand, there are Dover scores that one should avoid like the plague, & the reprint of Mahler's Seventh Symphony is one of them. This score was originally printed with 300+ errors, & this is the edition that Dover publishes. In fact, all the errors weren't removed from the score until the critical edition ~ this is true even of the Eulenburg scores, which falsely claimed at every reprint, that the errors had been removed. So if you really want the orchestral score of the Seventh, the only version that's musically defensible is the critical edition.

If you love Mahler, this 7th Symphony score is a remarkable addition to your collection. I began some years ago collecting all the Mahler symphonies on CD performed by various orchestras around the world, and when I discovered that scores were available, I just had to have them, too. For those who may be new to Mahler, I recommend starting with either his Symphony #5 (the 1990 recording with Leonard Bernstein and the Vienna Philharmonic is my favorite) or his Symphony #1 (also 1990 and with Leonard Bernstein, but with the Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam) - both are marvelous. To heighten your enjoyment of Mahler, for each Symphony you get on CD, get the score as well. Sometimes I'll even play along on my clarinet. . . .

A reprint of the original Austrian score at a fraction of the price. This least-known of Mahler's works may indeed be his best. A most unorthodox use of symphonic form takes the listener from dark to light, from terror to joy; this work spans all the emotions. Unusual instrumentation, like the tenor horn, mandolin, and guitar add to the bizzare but delightful concoction. It's a tie with Sym. # 4 for my Mahler favorite.

I think this Symphony is Mahler's 3rd Best Symphony he ever did. This edition of the work, has everything that is played. I am a young to be conductor, and I analyized it already. I totally disagree with the viewer that says that this edition isnt the best. Well, it is the best.