# Scores



## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

I suppose I might start a thread devoted to the discussion of scores. What editions do you like? What do you have in your collection? What do you think of IMSLP compared to scores in book form? Where do you get scores?

I have been interested in finding out which of the dover republications are the best (the large scores, no the painfully difficult to read without a microscope miniature scores) and also where I can find good Shostakovich symphonies for cheap and also which are the best editions of Mahler symphonies, any advice or recommendations?


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## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> where I can find good Shostakovich symphonies for cheap


Japanese publisher "Zen-On" has a number of (comparatively) inexpensive pocket reprints of these:
Fourth
Fifth
Seventh
Eighth
Tenth
Eleventh
Twelfth
Fourteenth

I don't own any, so I can't verify the quality, but I seem to remember the ones I browsed through in bookstores to be a bit higher quality than the Dover-type reprints.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Mahlerian said:


> Japanese publisher "Zen-On" has a number of (comparatively) inexpensive pocket reprints of these:
> Fourth
> Fifth
> Seventh
> ...


Thanks a lot for this! AU$15.72 (or 1512 Yen) is irresistible for Shostakovich 5 when I have only seen other editions at a much higher price! I never thought of looking around on amazon.co.jp


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## GGluek (Dec 11, 2011)

I have no idea whatsoever if they're any good, but I have the Dover scores to the Beethoven quartets, symphonies, Missa, Brahms Symphonies, and Mahler five and six--and they are sufficient for my admittedly limited purposes.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

GGluek said:


> I have no idea whatsoever if they're any good, but I have the Dover scores to the Beethoven quartets, symphonies, Missa, Brahms Symphonies, and Mahler five and six--and they are sufficient for my admittedly limited purposes.


I have borrowed the Beethoven quartets from my school's library, good edition, fine for studying from. I have used it as a way of helping me become familiar with Beethoven's quartets (something I have been putting off) and I have found that they are a brilliant way to examine the development of his style over time.


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## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

GGluek said:


> I have no idea whatsoever if they're any good, but I have the Dover scores to the Beethoven quartets, symphonies, Missa, Brahms Symphonies, and Mahler five and six--and they are sufficient for my admittedly limited purposes.


Dover's fine, so long as you remember that the editions they use are used because they're out of copyright, and not because they're the best or the most accurate. My Dover version of Mahler 6, for example, differs quite a bit from the final version of the score.

Mahler changed the orchestration of the ending of the first movement from this:







To this:








Note the removal of all of the percussion from the second one, aside from the timpani.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

^^^ Where can I get the final version?


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## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> ^^^ Where can I get the final version?


The one I have on my computer is the third one here. The first of the two is identical to the Dover score (and the first printing of the score, before Mahler's revisions).

Edition Eulenberg's Mahler 6 score is the first one I got to know, and I know for a fact it featured the revisions in the scoring.


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## satoru (May 29, 2014)

Mahlerian said:


> Japanese publisher "Zen-On" has a number of (comparatively) inexpensive pocket reprints of these:
> 
> I don't own any, so I can't verify the quality, but I seem to remember the ones I browsed through in bookstores to be a bit higher quality than the Dover-type reprints.


The printing of Zen-on scores are OK (depends on the score and how the master is made, few are blurry but those are rather rare in the collection). Many of them are actually better than average Dover scores, as Mahlarian mentioned. There is also a smaller publisher, Nippon Gakufu, but I couldn't find English version of their site.

For out-of-copyright scores, I heavily rely on IMSLP. The problem is that it's volunteer based, so the score you want may not be there (no one scanned and uploaded yet). For some composers, there are dedicated sites with complete scores provided online, but those are rather few.

These days, I obtain scores in PDF to avoid complains about the crammed bookshelf from my wife.


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## Dustin (Mar 30, 2012)

I only own piano scores since that's what I play but I'd enjoy getting some other scores one day. Maybe some quartets since they would be easier to read along and comprehend than a symphony I'd imagine.


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## aleazk (Sep 30, 2011)

I don't buy scores, since I don't have the money nor enough room for putting them. Today, I barely play the piano anymore, so most of the time I look for scores for analysis and to steal techniques from the composers. My sources are IMSLP, of course, where most of the times I found what I was looking for; and for non-public domain scores, the publishers, which often have complete scores for perusal (for example, Ligeti's publisher Schott has for perusal the full score of both the Hamburg Concerto and the Violin Concerto, you can even download the PDFs, although not print them of course!) Boosey & Hawkes also has scores for perusal/study.

Said that, I do have some score books (i.e., the physical score!). Most of them are piano scores which I used when I was learning to play the instrument. A lot of them are real antiques (I have an Edition Peters WTC I printed in 1906, in Germany!, the previous owner liked to mark the dates in which he/she was learning the pieces; for example, I just opened the book in Prelude VI and the mark says "27-IV-1943" with a color pencil). 

I bought many of these scores in an immense antiques street fair in Montevideo, Uruguay that only works during Sundays. If you ever travel to that country, you definitely must go. There are vinyls, books, scores, etc. It was quite an experience and was full of turists, lol.


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## Aramis (Mar 1, 2009)

aleazk said:


> I bought many of these scores in an immense antiques street fair in Montevideo, Uruguay that only works during Sundays. If you ever travel to that country, you definitely must go


I would love to, but I'm afraid to get bitten when I'm there.


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## stevens (Jun 23, 2014)

I have scores (books) from the floor to the ceiling. From second-hand bookshop. Some of them are 150+ years old. Mostly pianomusic and concertos


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Aramis said:


> I would love to, but I'm afraid to get bitten when I'm there.


Get bitten? What do you mean by that???


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## Piwikiwi (Apr 1, 2011)

I prefer physical scores over imslp because the whole page simply don't fit on the screen.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Piwikiwi said:


> I prefer physical scores over imslp because the whole page simply don't fit on the screen.


One reason why I prefer physical scores too, I don't like printing actually even though it is one way of fixing this problem!


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## Il_Penseroso (Nov 20, 2010)

Dover for me too, either symphonic or operatic works, but not for the piano scores!


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Il_Penseroso said:


> Dover for me too, either symphonic or operatic works, but not for the piano scores!


Which symphonies do you recommend?


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## Piwikiwi (Apr 1, 2011)

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> One reason why I prefer physical scores too, I don't like printing actually even though it is one way of fixing this problem!


You can also solve this by buying a screen that you can rotate, but they are quite expensive


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## Il_Penseroso (Nov 20, 2010)

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> Which symphonies do you recommend?


My favorites among all are:

Berlioz Symphonie fantastique and Harold in Italy

Liszt Piano Concerti

Dvorak Symphonies Nos. 8 and 9

Richard Strauss Tone Poems, Series I: Don Juan, Tod und Verklaerung and Don Quixote

Richard Strauss Tone Poems, Series II: Till Eulenspiegels, Also sprach Zarathustra and Ein Heldenleben

And Ravel Daphnis et Chloe

All large format full scores, not miniatures (I have the miniature score of Messiah and honestly have found it not as easy to read  )


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Haha. This is what it says in the Mahler score which just arrived today:



> This volume reprints the original published versions of both symphonies. A revised version of symphony no. 1 was published by Universal Edition in 1906 yada yada yada


Basically concludes to saying that symphony no. 1 in this version is closer to the final version than symphony no. 2. I had a read through the scherzo of 2 but that seemed very accurate to me which is good. I better check out the whole thing later.


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## millionrainbows (Jun 23, 2012)

I sort of 'fetish' scores as 'holy scriptures.' I just got a used collection of Baroque keyboard music, because it has "Les Misteriuse Barricades' by Couperin in it, which I'm going to learn.


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## Elen (Feb 24, 2015)

Hello!
I need to purchase scores for the master class. Could you please recommend reliable sites, where to purchase the scores from?
I mean the next pieces:

W.A. Mozart – Die Zauberfloete (Ouverture) 
C. M. von Weber, Ouverture d’Oberon 
L. Beethoven – Symphony No. 2 
P.Tchaikovsky – Symphony No. 5 
P.Tchaikovsky – Concerto for violin and orchestra 
S. Prokofiev – Romeo and Juliet (Suite No. 2)

Thank you in advance.


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## CBD (Nov 11, 2013)

Elen said:


> Hello!
> I need to purchase scores for the master class. Could you please recommend reliable sites, where to purchase the scores from?
> I mean the next pieces:
> 
> ...


Most of those should be available at imslp.org. The problem is that the quality of the scores there vary wildly, and I have yet to find an amazing edition there.

The best editions I have ever seen are from Henle (henle.com). They will probably have most of the pieces you are looking for as well. They might be overkill for what you want, and you can probably find what you are looking for cheaper.

For the Prokofiev, I know Sikorski (sikorski.de) has many Prokofiev scores. I have two Prokofiev scores from them that range from decent (Sonata no. 7), to horrible (Piano Concerto no. 4), so I can't guarantee that what you get from them will be good.

Otherwise, I would recommending searching around on the internet and seeing what looks good. If you only want piano reductions, make sure to get those, and not the full scores.

Good luck,
CBD


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## Elen (Feb 24, 2015)

Thank you very much!


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## John Kiunke (Mar 25, 2016)

I like Henle and Wiener-Urtext, but I only buy piano music. If there are any beginner pianists out there, DON'T GET SCHIRMER OR KALMUS! They are not durable, they never lay flat, they aren't often printed very well, and numerous other shortcomings.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

John Kiunke said:


> I like Henle and Wiener-Urtext, but I only buy piano music. If there are any beginner pianists out there, DON'T GET SCHIRMER OR KALMUS! They are not durable, they never lay flat, they aren't often printed very well, and numerous other shortcomings.


Good to know


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