Best of
Scores

1985

The Rite of Spring in Full Score


Igor Stravinsky - 1985
    These "Scenes of Pagan Russia" did indeed inspire primitive reactions among their opening night audience, who were so vociferous in their protests that the dancers could scarcely hear the music.Yet this powerful work, with its novel rhythms and hitherto unheard-of chordal combinations and orchestral effects would change forever the elements of musical language and exert an enormous influence on three generations of composers. Once a scandal, it is now perhaps the most famous orchestral work of the twentieth century. It is reprinted here from the full-score Russian edition published in 1965.Like Stravinsky's scores for The Firebird and Petrushka, The Rite of Spring was commissioned by Serge Diaghilev for the Ballets Russes. Choreographed by Nijinsky, it is still a favorite of ballet audiences, and the score is one of the most performed and recorded modern works in the orchestral repertoire. Now music lovers can enjoy every note of this brilliant and stirring landmark of twentieth-century music, faithfully reproduced in this inexpensive, high-quality edition — ideal for study and for following both live and recorded performances.

Requiem in Full Score


Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - 1985
    It was commissioned in the summer of 1791 to memorialize the deceased wife of Count Walsegg-Stuppach, an amateur musician who was in the habit of ordering works from composers and presenting them as his own compositions. But his dubious patronage arrived only weeks before the rapid decline in Mozart's health that would end in the composer's death by the year's end. At the invitation of Mozart's widow, one of the master's pupils worked from oral instructions and sketches to finish the nearly completed work.In the centuries since, Mozart's Requiem has come to be embraced as a masterpiece of vocal composition. One of the most recorded and performed standards of the repertoire, here reprinted in an authoritative edition, it combines the voices of orchestra, chorus, and soloists into a deeply moving, elegiac work of great intensity.

Symphonies Nos. 5, 6 and 7 in Full Score


Ludwig van Beethoven - 1985
    Perfect in their fusion of emotion and form, filled with drama and great beauty, they are among the best-known and best-loved works in all classical music. This volume contains complete scores for Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, Op. 67; Symphony No. 6 in F Major ("Pastoral"), Op. 68; Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92. Meticulously reproduced from the authoritative Litolff edition, each score features large, clear noteheads and wide margins for ease of use in studying and following the music. Far less expensive than comparable full-score editions, this volume belongs in the library of any music lover who wishes to study the masterly innovation and creativity Beethoven brought to the symphonic form.

The Nutcracker: Complete Ballet in Full Score


Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - 1985
    The work is a masterpiece of orchestration (including the historic first use of the celesta, in Dance of the Sugar-Plum Fairy) and is essential study for students of orchestral combinations and effects. Musicians will rejoice that previously difficult-to-find favorites like Waltz of the Snowflakes and Spanish Dance (Chocolate) are now available, along with the rest of this beloved score, in an affordable, single-volume edition.

Nocturnes and Polonaises


Frédéric Chopin - 1985
    Improvising his performances at will, he never played a piece the same way twice. As a result, there are numerous texts of any single Chopin work and the editions of these texts have more editorial "improvisation" than do the texts of most composers. One of the most respected editions was prepared by Carl Mikuli, Chopin's student and, later, his teaching assistant, who was in a particularly privileged and advantageous position to take into account all that the master brought to his playing and teaching. His editorial contributions to this volume reflect his understanding of the principles that underly this body of work, imparted to him in word and deed by the composer.The 20 nocturnes reproduced here include Opp. 9, 15, 27, 32, 37, 48, 55, 62, 72, and the posthumous Nocturne in C-sharp Minor. The 11 polonaises include Opp. 26, 40, 44, 53, 61,71, and the posthumous Polonaise in G-sharp Minor.Serious pianists will want to have these authoritative texts of 31 of Chopin’s most popular and enduring works.

Etudes: Piano Solo


Frédéric Chopin - 1985
    Chopin's original manuscripts, the French and German first editions, and surviving the contemporary handwritten copies have been consulted. Editorial editions in the music have been restricted only to those exceptional cases where they are obviously necessary. Chopin's fingerings have been preserved with no others added in the awareness that some of them, arising from his unusual piano technique, are on occasion very strange to the modern performer. The same applies to pedal markings, which only approximate Chopin's performance and must be interpreted by the performer for today's instruments. A section of notes details the discrepancies between sources.

Mass in B Minor in Full Score


Johann Sebastian Bach - 1985
    Composed over more than two decades, this unprecedented work pairs deliberately archaic polyphonic sections with far-sighted modern ones, creating a vast, symmetrical plan of almost theatrical proportions. Scored for five solo voices, chorus, orchestra, and continuo, this towering masterpiece is reprinted here from the authoritative Bach-Gesellschaft edition.The work appears in full score, with bar-numbered movements and ample margins at the bottom of each song page for notes and analysis. Ideal for study in the classroom, at home, or in the concert hall, this affordable, high-quality, conveniently sized volume will be the edition of choice for music students and music lovers alike.

Complete Lyric Pieces for Piano


Edvard Grieg - 1985
    Charming works of elegant simplicity and warmth, they have become cornerstones of the piano repertoire, favorites of both amateur and professional musicians and their audiences.This authoritative edition presents all 66 of these piano jewels in one finely made yet inexpensive volume. Although technically uncomplicated and reasonably easy to master, the Lyric Pieces evoke with startling freshness a wide emotional range, often bringing into play the varied moods and idioms of Norwegian folk music, an evergreen source of Grieg's inspiration. They vary in mood from the serene sadness of "Berceuse" and the nostalgic yearning of "To Spring" to the fanciful "Elves' Dance" and the joyful "Wedding Day at Troldhaugen."In many passages, the music exhibits harmonies that were novel for the time — harmonies recognizably late-romantic in style, but clearly anticipating the impressionism of Debussy, Ravel, and others. Pianists at every level of accomplishment will find this volume of delightful and moving works, reprinted here from the original editions published by C. F. Peters of Leipzig, a perfect companion for hours of musical pleasure.

Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini, Op. 43 (2 Pianos)


Sergei Rachmaninoff - 1985
    The score is very clear and readable, and is configured in 4-staff systems, Piano I and Piano II, so two separate books are required for performance.

Complete Suites for Unaccompanied Cello and Sonatas for Viola Da Gamba


Johann Sebastian Bach - 1985
    Reprinted here from the definitive Bach-Gesellschaft edition published by Breitkopf & Härtel of Leipzig, they include the six suites for unaccompanied cello (BWV 1007–1012) and three sonatas for viola da gamba and harpsichord (BWV 1027–1029), the latter most commonly played today on the cello. Alternative versions of the last two cello suites — providing notation at concert pitch for the scordatura Suite No. 5, and normal cello clefs in place of the original alto and soprano clefs of Suite No. 6 — appear in an appendix. The cello suites, long neglected until Pablo Casals began to perform them early in the twentieth century, richly demonstrate Bach's intuitive feel for the cello, and his technical grasp of this instrument's extraordinary capabilities for musical expression. The three sonatas, among the few duo sonatas Bach composed, exuberantly demonstrate how Bach freed the harpsichord from a mere accompanying role and made it an equal partner in the duo texture.This sturdily bound playing edition features wide margins and large noteheads clearly printed on fine-quality paper. It offers both amateur and professional musicians — along with music lovers who enjoy following a live or recorded performance, score in hand — a lifetime of pleasurable study and intimate enjoyment of a select group of Bach's most universally loved and admired works.

Symphony No. 1 in D Major: "Titan"


Gustav Mahler - 1985
    He chose to record that drama in nine magnificent symphonies (a tenth was left unfinished), all works of vivid orchestration, innovative symphonic structure, and rich emotional expression.Those qualities are evident in his strongly autobiographical Symphony No. 1, which opens with a movement built on a song from his own cycle Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen ("Songs of a Wayfarer"). The title "Titan" is Mahler's own.A staple of the orchestral repertoire, this superb work is presented here in full score with bar-numbered movements. Ideal for study in the classroom, at home, or in the concert hall, this affordable, high-quality, conveniently sized volume will be the edition of choice for music students and music lovers alike.

Symphony No. 2 In E Minor, Op. 27, in Full Score


Sergei Rachmaninoff - 1985
    Admired for its fully developed melodic style and and the lavish and imaginative use of the orchestra.