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Best Brahms

Complete Shorter Works for Solo Piano (Dover Music for Piano)
The entire corpus of Brahms's short piano pieces is contained in this volume: the delightful and familiar Waltzes; the effective Scherzo in E-flat Minor; the satisfying Eight Pieces; the two Rhapsodies; the Fantasies — among the most perfectly finished works Brahms ever wrote — the three Intermezzi; the Intermezzi, Ballade, and Romance comprising Six Pieces; and the superlative Intermezzi and Rhapsody that make up the final Four Pieces. German composer Johannes Brahms (1833–97) was a leading musician of the Romantic period and a virtuoso pianist who premiered many of his own works.
Reviews
"This is by far my favorite edition."
"I bought this when I needed multiple editions of Brahms' Op 118 for teaching/ comparison purposes."
"This book has just the pieces in it that I wanted."
"A great collection of shorter works."
"I have quite a few Dover edition books and never encountered this problem - on a quite a few pages, the bottom of two pages were connected together so one would have to manually cut the pages apart."
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Easy Classical Masterworks for Melodica: Music of Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Handel, Haydn, Mozart, Schubert, Tchaikovsky, Vivaldi and Wagner
This collection features a selection of classical masterworks by the most renowned composers: Johann Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven, Johannes Brahms, George Frideric Handel, Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Franz Schubert, Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Antonio Vivaldi and Richard Wagner. All the pieces are presented in simplified version for the beginner. Bach. Bourrée, BWV 996. Gavotte II, BWV 808. Menuett, BWV Anh 114. Handel. Sarabande, HWV 437. Hallelujah, HWV 56. Water Music, HWV 349. Mozart. "Ah vous dirais-je, Maman", K. 265. Rondo Alla Turca, K. 331. 40.
Reviews
"Good collection of familiar classical melodies arranged for bass instruments."
"A book of easy to play pieces for the young and developing cellist with works containing first position and extensions."
"No Accompanying CD. (just wanted to clear up a review earlier that said it did, when in fact it does not). These Cello pieces are ok. Easy to read. You can strum these chords on a guitar or piano for intonation."
"This is a good choice for someone who is just getting started with the melodica."
"Great set of solos with accompanying CD that has play along cello or just the piano accompanying you as you play."
"Great book has complete instructions and everything also step by step!"
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Johannes Brahms Complete Symphonies in Full Score (Vienna Gesellschaft Der Musikfreunde Edition)
This volume reproduces, complete and unabridged, the scores of all four symphonies of Johannes Brahms, from the Vienna Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde Edition edited by Hans Gál. In addition to its obvious uses for study, this score is also an indispensable associate for anyone listening to record sets or broadcasts. German-born composer Johannes Brahms (1833–97), an important figure of the Romantic era, spent most of his career at the forefront of the Viennese musical scene.
Reviews
"Legible."
"Great masterpieces, would like to play them on piano."
"There's no eccentric clef use, and the instruments are in the right positions compared to each other.The only irregularity I've been able to find is that the piccolo flute is printed below the regular flute in the fourth symphony, and I think we all can live with that. For passages where a few instruments are left out, a reduced score with two (or some very few times three) staff systems put on each page, leaving the page already cramped, with little space for analytical notes."
"Great music, well presented and edited."
"The scores are easy to read and unlike other Brahms scores found online, the scores here contain rehearsal markings."
"Very clear score."
"Making notes on the score would have to be used with a light pencil or ball point pen."
"Just get it if you need Brahms symphonies."
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Best Bach

Beginner Classical Piano Music: Teach Yourself How to Play Famous Piano Pieces by Bach, Mozart, Beethoven & the Great Composers (Book, Streaming Videos & MP3 Audio)
This book and streaming video course is all that you will ever need for getting started playing the most famous and cherished piano classics by the great composers, like Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven! Are you struggling to follow online piano lessons that seem to jump all over the place without any sense of direction or consistency? Would you like to expand your musical understanding and learn how to play the piano through an affordable, step-by-step book and video course? Bach's Prelude in C Major Mozart's Turkish Rondo Pachelbel's Canon Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Liszt's Hungarian Dance Brahms' Lullaby Mendelssohn's Wedding March Strauss's The Blue Danube Waltz Grieg's Hall of the Mountain King Handel's Hallelujah Dvorák's New World Symphony Chopin's Prelude Bizet's The Toreador Song Verdi's La donna è mobile Schumann's The Wild Horseman Paganini's Caprice Number 24 Beethoven's Ode to Joy Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake Mozart's Eine kleine Nachtmusik Mascagni's Intermezzo from Cavalleria Rusticana Offenbach's Tales of Hoffmann Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice Dvorák's New World Symphony Erik Satie's Gymnopedie. Greensleeves Rossini's William Tell Overture (Theme from the Lone Ranger ). and many more classics! I took piano lessons many years ago, and Iwanted tostart playing again, but it seemed like I couldn't remembereven the most basic things. by DanniPal:This has to be one of the best learning tools I have ever read forlearning the piano. 5.0 out of 5 stars A Very Valuable Piano Resource by Hannah Curtis: I play piano and have a big upright piano occupying my living room.Myfriends frequently express interest in learning to play the pianobut...
Reviews
"Who wouldn’t want to play pieces including Pachelbel’s Canon, Beethoven's Fur Elise, or Tchaikovsky’s Dance of the Mirlitons from the Nutcracker? The videos are the biggest bonus as I am a fan of visual learning, and I feel if a student gets stuck or doesn’t fully understand how to interpret a passage at first, they can look to the video for advice and direction."
"Step by step this book and video instructions teaches you the basics of playing music. As we all know, keeping students engaged in the classroom isn't always easy and for some students, a music program is the only reason they come to school every day."
"Very happy with Ferrante's method of teaching!"
"I haven't had my daughter start it yet, so it's sort of an untried review, but I can see her being able to work through it on her own with occasional help from me, which is what I was looking for."
"It’s an exceptional way to start learning piano with no experience, and this book can be used by many ages. I really enjoyed the MP3 recording of all the songs in the book, because it was good to verify what I was doing on the piano."
"This book does a fantastic job at teaching the basics."
"It provides links throughout the material for a good representation of the subject matter; for this, I highly recommend the Kindle version for its quick easy links to the source material."
"I played piano years and years ago and forgot so much."
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Best Bloch

The Castrato: Reflections on Natures and Kinds (Ernest Bloch Lectures)
In Italy, castration for singing was understood through the lens of Catholic blood sacrifice as expressed in idioms of offering and renunciation and, paradoxically, in satire, verbal abuse, and even the symbolism of the castrato’s comic cousin Pulcinella. "Working in from the broadest anthropological reflections to the most minute points of physiology and endocrinology—by way of musical and social history, the theory and practice of singing, the insights of three centuries’ worth of philosophers and psychologists, all illustrated with the rarest pictures and recordings— The Castrato is a scholarly and literary feast."
Reviews
"An extraordinary and thoroughly engrossing study of the castrato in his heyday from the late 16th to the early 19th centuries, challenging but worth the effort for those -- not just fellow scholars -- interested in music history, theater history, gender and sexuality studies and general European social history, including religion."
"this is Professor Martha Feldman's third BIG book and the most readable for audiences who are not scholars."
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Best Bruckner

Symphonies Nos. 4 and 7 in Full Score (Dover Music Scores)
Monumental and inspiring, the nine symphonies of Anton Bruckner (1824–1896) stand as late landmarks in the Austro-Germanic symphonic tradition.
Reviews
"There is an explanation, including a picture of small part of facsimile of the addition to the 'original' score. Here there is lots of space to write and I like the number of bars per page, easy to follow phrasing/melodic line."
"The second movement of symphony No."
"To be clear, I am very glad that these scores are available, but I am not a fan of Bruckner's 4th (1 star at best)."
"Everything is printed very clearly and spaced out appropriately, so it is easy to read everything without much effort (and there's quite a lot to see- big orchestration and tons of accidentals)."
"Even the Kalmus parts we had, supposed to be Haas, had some differences, most notably for example in the 1st movement bars 125-130, where Dover has many brass doublings and Kalmus only 2 horns and tuba only in bars 127-130."
"the fiery rhythms and transcending beauty really come out when you read the score, even more so than when you listen to it without reading."
"I found this score very useful for a listening companion."
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Best Berlioz

Treatise on Instrumentation (Dover Books on Music)
With 150 illustrative full-score musical examples from works by Berlioz, Mozart, Beethoven, Gluck, Weber, Wagner, and others, and numerous smaller musical examples. Text: English (translation). Original Language: French.
Reviews
"The Berlioz and Rimsky-Korsakov books should both be on your bookshelf..."
"Got my book in couple days time."
"The revision by R. Strauss added a lot of technical in-depth, that today remains current."
"Not realizing how widely the invention would be disseminated, Berlioz devotes less than half a page to the subject. He offers comparable space to a couple of Adolph Sax's other inventions--the saxtrombas and the saxtubas--which most of us have never even heard of. There was also an instrument called the octobass, which was like a contrabass, but with three strings tuned to G, D, and A. Oh well, it's always nice to learn a little music history. If you ever heard the piece, you will surely agree that only a roar results, no matter how accurately the drums are tuned."
"This is perfect for someone who wants to see, know, and understand how the various instruments of an orchestra work: their ranges, characteristics, abilities...it gives many many examples from various compositions from various composers: Wagner, Berlioz, Beethoven, Gluck, Weber, Mozart... Every part of the book except for a couple pages in the beginning talk about the specific instruments...the "meat" of the book IS the book...no "fluff.""
"This is definitely NOT the book with which a contemporary beginner student of orchestration should start."
"Hector Berlioz sets out each section of the orchestra in a logical fashion, reference book style and describes each instrument in a clear, readable and enjoyable manner. This is a first class book on instrumentation/orchestration and would recommend it to composers of all levels of experience."
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Best Grieg

Complete Lyric Pieces for Piano (Dover Music for Piano)
Between 1867 and 1901, Edvard Grieg (1843–1907) wrote ten sets of little mood pictures for piano that display his great musical gifts at their lyrical best.
Reviews
"As noted on the back cover, Grieg's harmonies here are interesting and late-Romantic, sometimes anticipating the music of Debussy and Ravel, et al. Note: coming back to my review, I kind of feel bad about using the term "salon music" in the original title! I feel that Grieg put a lot of genuine emotion into these utterly delightful mood pieces, and the more I play them the more I get out of them."
"Great value, and the fonts are very clear."
"LOVE this and so inexpensive!"
"I had it cut & fixed with rings to make it easier to use."
"I ordered it again because I missed playing them; the great variety of style and flavor is wonderful, as well as the variety of difficulties."
"Nice to find all the Lyric Pieces in one volumn, at a nice affordable price!"
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Best Ravel

Daphnis and Chloe in Full Score (Dover Music Scores)
Often described as Ravel's orchestral masterpiece, Daphnis and Chloe is a 20th-century classic, a rich musical setting of the Greek novel by Langus.
Reviews
"This work of Ravel's is one of the greatest gems of 20th Century music of the world."
"The pages could be a little bit whiter for a clearer reading."
"I just kinda sits there and lets you look at it."
"It serves my needs as a study score."
"Great score and easy to read."
"This is a great score of this piece, it is easy to read, and obviously is a print for the original copy."
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Best Haydn

The Classical Style: Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven (Expanded Edition)
A greatly expanded edition of the National Book Award-winning masterpiece by a world-class pianist and writer on music.
Reviews
"The classical period is principally characterized by sonata form and tonality. An understanding of the classical period is not only relatively easy to acquire, but of central importance to understanding nearly all subsequent composition."
"I read much of as an adjunct to Jonathan Biss's MOOC from the Curtis Institute on Exploring Beethoven's Sonatas."
"One real plus is how the author consistently includes contrasting opinions and often recognizes that, ultimately, he has learned from their insights."
"I needed a concise book giving me information on the classical style by the top three composers at the time."
"I bought this as a gift for my husband."
"Gave it as a gift to a professional cellist."
"A bit technical at times."
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Best Beethoven

Beginner Classical Piano Music: Teach Yourself How to Play Famous Piano Pieces by Bach, Mozart, Beethoven & the Great Composers (Book, Streaming Videos & MP3 Audio)
This book and streaming video course is all that you will ever need for getting started playing the most famous and cherished piano classics by the great composers, like Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven! Are you struggling to follow online piano lessons that seem to jump all over the place without any sense of direction or consistency? Would you like to expand your musical understanding and learn how to play the piano through an affordable, step-by-step book and video course? Bach's Prelude in C Major Mozart's Turkish Rondo Pachelbel's Canon Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Liszt's Hungarian Dance Brahms' Lullaby Mendelssohn's Wedding March Strauss's The Blue Danube Waltz Grieg's Hall of the Mountain King Handel's Hallelujah Dvorák's New World Symphony Chopin's Prelude Bizet's The Toreador Song Verdi's La donna è mobile Schumann's The Wild Horseman Paganini's Caprice Number 24 Beethoven's Ode to Joy Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake Mozart's Eine kleine Nachtmusik Mascagni's Intermezzo from Cavalleria Rusticana Offenbach's Tales of Hoffmann Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice Dvorák's New World Symphony Erik Satie's Gymnopedie. Greensleeves Rossini's William Tell Overture (Theme from the Lone Ranger ). and many more classics! I took piano lessons many years ago, and Iwanted tostart playing again, but it seemed like I couldn't remembereven the most basic things. by DanniPal:This has to be one of the best learning tools I have ever read forlearning the piano. 5.0 out of 5 stars A Very Valuable Piano Resource by Hannah Curtis: I play piano and have a big upright piano occupying my living room.Myfriends frequently express interest in learning to play the pianobut...
Reviews
"Perfect for my return to the piano."
"Who wouldn’t want to play pieces including Pachelbel’s Canon, Beethoven's Fur Elise, or Tchaikovsky’s Dance of the Mirlitons from the Nutcracker? The videos are the biggest bonus as I am a fan of visual learning, and I feel if a student gets stuck or doesn’t fully understand how to interpret a passage at first, they can look to the video for advice and direction."
"Step by step this book and video instructions teaches you the basics of playing music. As we all know, keeping students engaged in the classroom isn't always easy and for some students, a music program is the only reason they come to school every day."
"Very happy with Ferrante's method of teaching!"
"I've always wanted to learn how to play the piano but either I never have the time or energy to do so, or the YouTube tutorials of random people are just not effective in it's attempt to teach. I got curious about the author and looked up other videos and I love seeing his passion for music."
"Beginner Classical Piano Music: Teach Yourself How to Play Famous Piano Pieces by Bach, Mozart, Beethoven & the Great Composers (Book, Streaming Videos & MP3 Audio)."
"Ferrante is positive and encouraging without coming off fake, as some music instruction books do, which helps you have realistic expectations for your own progress."
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Best Dvorak

Antonin Dvorak Symphonies Nos. 8 and 9, New World, in Full Score
9, "From the New World" (composed during Dvořák's three-year stay in America), echoes the folk spirit of his native Czechoslovakia as well as American influences, and is filled with the spontaneous melodic invention, rhythmic variety, and intensity of harmony that characterize his orchestral works. The Dover edition presents both symphonic masterpieces — among the most popular works in the orchestral repertoire — reprinted from authoritative editions in one inexpensive, practical volume.
Reviews
"Good and inexpensive version of two major works by Dvorak."
"This is great score book that is strong & nice.They will last for a long time.They will not tear easy also.Also they are easy to read."
"I wish it was spiral bound so that it would lay flat, however it is otherwise and excellent purchase."
"These scores are great to conduct from and for score study."
"Not bad for the price, but be prepared to hand write the instrumentation on every single page of this score."
"This was a gift for my son."
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Best Bellini

Norma: Vocal Score
(Vocal Score).
Reviews
"The opera director loves this edition."
"If you do not mind having the grey/yellow cover with an image of Norma on it, this score is just fine, and at a great price as well!"
"This score was exactly what I expected and is well printed."
"On page 86, we hear a melody first in isolation, then simultaneously with another melody."
"I ordered the score of Norma here on this page, which says on the front cover that it is the "full score" (see the cover shown above), but instead, I received a piano reduced score of Norma."
"This will do if you are interested in practicing the opera where there is no orchestra present, which I guess will be for most people, the usual situation. The classical purity of the music, the close relation between the text and the music, and the opera's relation to Greek tragedy has already been noted by Wagner."
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Best Elgar

Enigma Variations and Pomp and Circumstance Marches in Full Score (Dover Music Scores)
Authoritative British editions of the 14 Variations, rich with melody and vibrant rhythms, each revealing a facet of a central theme never fully expressed and each depicting an unnamed friend of the composer.
Reviews
"...except that they don't include the 5th P&C march for some reason."
"This edition of Elgar's Enigma Variations is a very high quality print with a reasonable price."
"The only problem I have with this compilation of Elgar's works has to do with the omission of Pomp And Circumstance March No."
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Best Liszt

Reflections on Liszt
In a series of lively essays that tell us much not only about the phenomenon that was Franz Liszt but also about the musical and cultural life of nineteenth-century Europe, Alan Walker muses on aspects of Liszt's life and work that he was unable to explore in his acclaimed three-volume biography of the great composer and pianist. Alan Walker is Professor of Music at McMaster University.
Reviews
"If the three volumes on the life of Franz Liszt by Mr. Alan Walker left you begging for more, then this book is for you."
"I've read the three Liszt biographical volumes a few times each already, and yet I find things I haven't caught previously.This is another of that type of book, where one can read it many times and still find it enjoyable.Mr."
"I have read pretty much everything Alan Walker has written about Liszt, including his Von Bulow biography."
"As I expressed to Dr. Walker in writing, there are those gifted pianists who have the experience and ability to interpret the music of Franz Liszt while Dr. Walker has the equal ability [and credentials therein] to interpret Franz Liszt the man. There are many tomes and recitations, indeed even dedicated websites, about Franz Liszt but Dr. Walker's writings offer an almost You-Are-There quality of his narrative and thus you at least figuratively yet perceptively 'see' and 'hear' Liszt more so than you simply read of the man whether Liszt remarks to one of his students about certain "uninvited guests" [sic -- Liszt's buzz-word for 'wrong notes' or "clinkers"] or Liszt becoming yancy when pressured or indeed even very politely cajoled to play [which happened virtually everywhere he went] versus his own initiative and hence 'desire' to play, as Dr. Walker puts it, "because it is then within his gift to do so.""
"A NICE ADDENDUM TO WALKER'S MAGNUM OPUS ON LISZT."
"hope my nephew likes this."
"for lisztomaniacs only."
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Best Rodgers

The Sound of Music: Vocal Selections - Revised Edition (Rodgers and Hammerstein Vocal Selections)
(Vocal Selections).
Reviews
"Got the male lead in school play!"
"These are comprehensive vocal and piano arrangements for singers and pianists."
"Love this music from my childhood."
"Also I guess I am that guy, you know, the one buys books for musicals to make his kids sing..."
"Great piano book with good arrangements."
"This is great."
"I love the Revised version of this songbook."
"This music collection is very easy to read and easy to play."
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Best Schumann

Schumann: Album for the Young, Op. 68: Piano Solo (Schirmer's Library of Musical Classics)
(Piano Collection).
Reviews
"Another great edition from Schirmer."
"Good sightreading literature for more skilled pianists."
"This is a wonderful collection, not too hard or easy -- highly recommended."
"These editions are taking up more and more room on my shelf."
"I have been a great fan of Shumann's works for a long time."
"Good paper and printing quality!"
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Best Sondheim

Hat Box: The Collected Lyrics of Stephen Sondheim: A Box Set
In Hat Box , Stephen Sondheim presents his complete collected lyrics from the acclaimed Finishing the Hat and Look, I Made a Hat . Stephen Sondheim has written award-winning music and lyrics for theater, film and television.
Reviews
"The Maestro wrote this erudite book, making it literate, engaging and terribly informative."
"If you agree with Tom Lehrer that Stephen Sondheim is the best lyricist of the 20th Century (I do but I would remover the temporal limitation), then these two books are an absolute must."
"If you enjoy Sondheim's shows, you need this book."
"The ultimate master class in lyric-writing, from the best musical theatre writer of all time."
"A real treat for those who enjoy Sondheim's lyrics."
"Very happy with product and seller!"
"I encourage all writers of music to read these two books."
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