Symphonies Nos. 3 and 4 in Full Score

Rating:
Summary: Great Symphonies
Review: Listening to Mahler's 3rd symphony is an inexorable experience. Reading the score while listening is ecstatic. It adds a lot to the enjoyment of the music if you have a copy of the score in hand. You can relate another sensory organ to the music, elevating the experience to greater heights.

Before I had the score, all I knew was there were several French horns playing the opening call in the 3rd (M3) but I know now that there are exactly 8 horns playing in unison. Like Aaron Copland said in his book 'What to Listen for in Music', "If there exists a more noble sound than eight horns singing a melody fortissimo in unison, I have never heard it". I think he's referring to M3's opening horn call. Magnificent! And now with the score in hand, I know exactly how the music was put on the score by Mahler, it's notation, expressive remarks, etc.

In some books that I read or even in the liner books that comes with the CDs, there is often reference to the measures in the music. Without the score, you will never know which measure that they are talking about. If you're really a Mahler fan, or for that matter, if you are really into a certain piece of music, buy the score. Believe me, it will add to your enjoyment.

However, some of you may think that it's a waste of time since you do not know how to read music. Yes, knowing how to read music will help a lot buy hey! reading music is not difficult to learn. All you need is to have the passion for music inside you and the passion to explore the music. If you have this, there's nothing that can be in your way.

The Dover series of scores are mostly reliable. Commercially, they are the best there is.

Rating:
Summary: Great Symphonies
Review: Listening to Mahler's 3rd symphony is an inexorable experience. Reading the score while listening is ecstatic. It adds a lot to the enjoyment of the music if you have a copy of the score in hand. You can relate another sensory organ to the music, elevating the experience to greater heights.

Before I had the score, all I knew was there were several French horns playing the opening call in the 3rd (M3) but I know now that there are exactly 8 horns playing in unison. Like Aaron Copland said in his book 'What to Listen for in Music', "If there exists a more noble sound than eight horns singing a melody fortissimo in unison, I have never heard it". I think he's referring to M3's opening horn call. Magnificent! And now with the score in hand, I know exactly how the music was put on the score by Mahler, it's notation, expressive remarks, etc.

In some books that I read or even in the liner books that comes with the CDs, there is often reference to the measures in the music. Without the score, you will never know which measure that they are talking about. If you're really a Mahler fan, or for that matter, if you are really into a certain piece of music, buy the score. Believe me, it will add to your enjoyment.

However, some of you may think that it's a waste of time since you do not know how to read music. Yes, knowing how to read music will help a lot buy hey! reading music is not difficult to learn. All you need is to have the passion for music inside you and the passion to explore the music. If you have this, there's nothing that can be in your way.

The Dover series of scores are mostly reliable. Commercially, they are the best there is.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent price and value... but wanted to clarify...
Review: Someone mentioned how invaluable it is to own the score because you can refer to it when you read an article, or review, or liner notes that make references to a measure number.

Well, this book is useful only if you number the measures yourself with a pencil (which would take a very long time), since the book actually does NOT supply measure numbers. It supplies a number of figures... (for instance, if i remember correctly, Symphony No. 3's 1st movement has 76 figures). But each figure can be any number of measures, so when you read an article that makes reference to measure 435, you simply won't be able to find it, without actually numbering the measures yourself.

Otherwise, it is a very good book. Dover has managed to bring complete scores of great works to the average budget-conscious consumer, and this is truly an excellent book that covers two amazing symphonies. You are bound to learn a lot about orchestration just from studying these. I am particularly fond of studying the brass sections in the first movement of the 3rd Symphony... Truly phenomenal composition!

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Mahler 3 and 4
Review: This is a must for those wishing to study and understand Mahler's Immense third symphony. The print is very large and readable. Though I wish there were more translations for the German text, there is enough in the parts themselves to take a guess. Mahler's 4th is a charming piece. I love it for it's sincerity and modesty. Being the shortest and "simplestic" orchestration, it makes a great introductory Mahler symphony.

The score is very durable and is large and easy to read. The price is wonderful -- for the starving music student, particularly!

I highly reccommend this score to professionals and those adventurous listers out there.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Mahler 3 and 4
Review: This is a must for those wishing to study and understand Mahler's Immense third symphony. The print is very large and readable. Though I wish there were more translations for the German text, there is enough in the parts themselves to take a guess. Mahler's 4th is a charming piece. I love it for it's sincerity and modesty. Being the shortest and "simplestic" orchestration, it makes a great introductory Mahler symphony.

The score is very durable and is large and easy to read. The price is wonderful -- for the starving music student, particularly!

I highly reccommend this score to professionals and those adventurous listers out there.