this has got to be one of the greatest operas of all time. dover’s publication is neatly laid out and easy to follow. the paper and binding are good quality; i own many dover scores and they’ve all held up very well, even though i use them a lot.
‘full score’ means you get the music as it was written for every instrument (including vocals), just as the composer intended for it to be played, just as you would hear it performed live or on cd. a list of instruments is also included to give an idea of the massive orchestra that the work calls for. if you don’t know german, you may want an english translation of the libretto (it’s not translated here), and a good german to english dictionary, as wagner wrote his musical instructions (tempo, articulation)in german, rather than the usual italian.
for composers or music lovers, this is a great way to study orchestration and composition, right at the feet of one of the masters…
Rating: 5 / 5
Before I got the score, I had listened to the opera once through and after grasping the basic story with the libretto, I decided to go ahead and see what German opera was all about even though I had been told by many people that it was ‘heavy’ and I should avoid Wagner at all costs.
The result was something I hadn’t been expecting. The score is wonderfully presented and extremely clear. Of course, its a big score (just over 700 pages) but opens out flatly and doesn’t damage the spine – quite clever thing from Dover! Text is all in German apart from a translation of the contents, characters and orchestration so unless you’ve mastered the German language, get your hands on a german or music dictionary. See through is minimal.
The score had been intended to be the second package to arrive but ended up being the last. The reason: someone had mixed their ‘r’ and ‘c’ up and instead of posting to Ireland, they somehow managed to send it a few miles north to Iceland. It arrived though, explaining the long journey it had undertaken!!! A good bargain for such a complex and diverse score.
Rating: 5 / 5
Unlike Schott’s editions (which Dover uses for its reprints of the other 3 operas of the cycle “Der Ring des Nibelungen” {“The Nibelung’s Ring”}, the Peters version reprinted here DOES have the voice and instrumental staves mostly arranged in proper order, making things a great deal easier to follow. [Alas, there's one exception - having the voices (though not stage instruments - that part at least is already in proper order) between the violas and the 'celli {harking back to Baroque "basso-continuo" usage} - at least they're consistent with it which helps...] Also the fonts used by the Peters engraving are somewhat clearer than those of Schott in their first editions (their current edition of the complete works of Richard Wagner is SUPERLATIVE but no doubt fantastically expensive!!!).
This score of one of Wagner’s most accessible works is not only a steal at the price, it’s an excellent score, period (though I could visualise it using fewer pages if the engravings were done differently whereby the systems would have been somewhat smaller but done for a larger paper-size). GET IT!!!!
Rating: 5 / 5
Dover, as always, has given to Art, primarily music, a wonderful gift. It is good to know of a publishing house with value to the greatness of Art, rather than the greatness of profit. The edition itself is a reproduction of an edition approved by Wagner himself, and is quite a necessity for any who wishes to indulge in the delights and caprice of Wagnerian music-drama. The format is easily read, and even more easy to follow; it is a great production of an opera in full-score.
Rating: 5 / 5
this has got to be one of the greatest operas of all time. dover’s publication is neatly laid out and easy to follow. the paper and binding are good quality; i own many dover scores and they’ve all held up very well, even though i use them a lot.
‘full score’ means you get the music as it was written for every instrument (including vocals), just as the composer intended for it to be played, just as you would hear it performed live or on cd. a list of instruments is also included to give an idea of the massive orchestra that the work calls for. if you don’t know german, you may want an english translation of the libretto (it’s not translated here), and a good german to english dictionary, as wagner wrote his musical instructions (tempo, articulation)in german, rather than the usual italian.
for composers or music lovers, this is a great way to study orchestration and composition, right at the feet of one of the masters…
Rating: 5 / 5
Before I got the score, I had listened to the opera once through and after grasping the basic story with the libretto, I decided to go ahead and see what German opera was all about even though I had been told by many people that it was ‘heavy’ and I should avoid Wagner at all costs.
The result was something I hadn’t been expecting. The score is wonderfully presented and extremely clear. Of course, its a big score (just over 700 pages) but opens out flatly and doesn’t damage the spine – quite clever thing from Dover! Text is all in German apart from a translation of the contents, characters and orchestration so unless you’ve mastered the German language, get your hands on a german or music dictionary. See through is minimal.
The score had been intended to be the second package to arrive but ended up being the last. The reason: someone had mixed their ‘r’ and ‘c’ up and instead of posting to Ireland, they somehow managed to send it a few miles north to Iceland. It arrived though, explaining the long journey it had undertaken!!! A good bargain for such a complex and diverse score.
Rating: 5 / 5
Unlike Schott’s editions (which Dover uses for its reprints of the other 3 operas of the cycle “Der Ring des Nibelungen” {“The Nibelung’s Ring”}, the Peters version reprinted here DOES have the voice and instrumental staves mostly arranged in proper order, making things a great deal easier to follow. [Alas, there's one exception - having the voices (though not stage instruments - that part at least is already in proper order) between the violas and the 'celli {harking back to Baroque "basso-continuo" usage} - at least they're consistent with it which helps...] Also the fonts used by the Peters engraving are somewhat clearer than those of Schott in their first editions (their current edition of the complete works of Richard Wagner is SUPERLATIVE but no doubt fantastically expensive!!!).
This score of one of Wagner’s most accessible works is not only a steal at the price, it’s an excellent score, period (though I could visualise it using fewer pages if the engravings were done differently whereby the systems would have been somewhat smaller but done for a larger paper-size). GET IT!!!!
Rating: 5 / 5
Dover, as always, has given to Art, primarily music, a wonderful gift. It is good to know of a publishing house with value to the greatness of Art, rather than the greatness of profit. The edition itself is a reproduction of an edition approved by Wagner himself, and is quite a necessity for any who wishes to indulge in the delights and caprice of Wagnerian music-drama. The format is easily read, and even more easy to follow; it is a great production of an opera in full-score.
Rating: 5 / 5