371 Harmonized Chorales and 69 Chorale Melodies with Figured Bass Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This is a nice edition to have. Playing two Bach chorales every morning is kind of like doing some jumping jacks and eating a spoonful of codliver oil...which is to say, good for you. After playing the first 120 you can expect some chorale fatigue to set in, but all the while you'll be absorbing good voice-leading and voice-doubling technique as though by osmosis. What's more, Bach will still surprise you- there are chords so jarring and dissonant that their sudden, logical resolution is like watching a rabbit being pulled out of a hat.
On the downside, the notes are small (this edition really packs 'em in) and it can be easy to get lost on the page. No texts are provided, either, aside from the opening words, so you have to accept on faith that some of the more contorted harmonizations are justified by the text. It's still nice to have, though, and looks nice and musicological sitting on the piano.

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Product Description:
The great Baroque master composer Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) wrote music for every combination of instruments and voices. His simplest and purest work are four-part chorale compositions and settings, so perfectly constructed that they evoke meditative spirituality. "Figured bass" was a Baroque system of notating harmony. In addition 371 chorales, this collection includes 69 melodies with figured bass. This classic Schirmer edition, edited by Albert Riemenschneider, has sold over 1,000,000 copies since its release in the early 20th century. Primarily for keyboard, the chorales can also be played by other instruments.

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J.S.Bach - Inventions and Sinfonias: Two- and Three-Part Inventions (Alfred Masterwork Edition) Review

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(More customer reviews)While a lot of people say that the Alfred edition of sheet music is the optimal tool for learning the classics, this edition disappointed me. Now, the things that I had problems with are things that others might actually like.

First, I find the alternate fingerings distracting. As a player, I look at the treble and bass cleft and then the fingerings, so that's three things I'm looking at. When I look to the fingering and see an extra set of fingerings in parenthesis above the first set, it confuses my hands too much. I can see how others would appreciate that there are alternate fingerings, so that they would be able to see what feels most comfortable, though, it's just too distracting for me.

Also, I thought that the additions of exactly how to trill and such were a little too much and I found them to be, again, distracting. However, I could definitely see how someone who needs that explanation benefiting from having it spelled out for them.

Over all, I think this is an excellent book and it certainly delivers a very comprehensive way to teach yourself how to play Bach's Inventions (I haven't even glanced over the Sinfonias as I was only interested in the Inventions). I just would prefer my music to look as clean and simple as possible. There's already enough going on in my head as it is when I sit down to play a piece of music. All the notes and such just serve to clutter it, in my experience.

I am very aware that I am NOT the majority of people on this belief, though. Many of my friends have this exact book and they love it and the things I have a problem with are the things that they love about it. So, find what works for you. If a lot of extra stuff on the page won't distract you and will actually help you, then by all means, this is definitely a great buy.

It's also a very good price for what you get.

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Product Description:
Students, teachers and professional pianists will find this volume invaluable. This historically accurate edition contains a wealth of background information on ornamentation, dotted rhythms in the Baroque style, and the recommended tempos and guidelines for performing the works on the piano. Bach's writing is carefully separated from the editorial suggestions in light gray print. A wealth of footnotes compare the various sources consulted. 116 pages.

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Sonatas (A Kalmus Classic Edition) Review

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(More customer reviews)The scores are generally accurate and I love that it's Urtext and without much editorial suggestions, in fact, there isn't any single writing through out the book, which comes to the reason why it is only three stars: no fingering at all. Other bothersome defects are its bindings (mine's already fallen apart and I've only had it for less than a year.) Also, it doesn't contain the complete sonatas. Lastly, though the scores are generally easy to read, but I did find some faded prints and measures (in fact, a lot of them) that should be spread longer for easy reading are instead squashed together.

I'd buy a more expensive book for better quality instead of this one.

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Product Description:
A collection of advanced Piano solos by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Nos. 1-10

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Soprano Arias from Church Cantatas (Sacred) (Kalmus Edition) Review

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(More customer reviews)I really ordered this book for one particular piece and the opportunity to perhaps learn others. I didn't realize the instrumental parts came with it, so that was a nice plus.

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Product Description:
Soprano Arias from Church Cantatas, Volume I (Sacred) Book Brand: Alfred Publishing Model Number: 00-K06072

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The Well-Tempered Clavier, Vol. 2 (Alfred Masterwork Edition) Review

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(More customer reviews)Bought this as a Xmas present for a friend - really nice book for the money and quickly delivered.Will buy from Amazon again!

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Product Description:
Edited by baroque scholar Judith Schneider, with expert fingering suggestions by Stuttgart Professor Maria Sofianska, the long-awaited Volume 2 of Bach's essential masterpiece contains 30 pages of extensive research and insight into baroque music.
Painstakingly compared with the most important autograph and manuscript sources, this comprehensive edition includes thorough analysis of written and improvised ornamentation, a discussion of period keyboard instruments, insight into pedaling, touch, tempo and rhythm issues, as well as a discussion of preludes and fugues.
Volume 1 has been updated to match its counterpart with new footnotes and a new "look." Both editions are beautifully engraved and adorned with photographs and paintings.

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The Well-Tempered Clavier, Complete: Schirmer Library of Musical Classics, Volume 2057 (Schirmer's Library of Musical Classics) Review

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(More customer reviews)This is a travesty.

In his opening introduction, Czerny writes that "We have indicated the time and style
(1) from a consideration of the unmistakable character of each movement
(2) from a vivid recollection of the manner in which we have heard many of the fugues played by the great Beethoven; and
(3) lastly, by profiting from the ideas that we have gained during more than 30 years' patient study of this incomparable work.

All three of these topics would be excellently contained in a book, where Czerny could justify what he saw as the "unmistakable" character of the work (not so unmistakable to this pianist...), could describe the way Beethoven played these fugues, and could expound upon the ideas gained during his 30+ years of study. One might not agree with every statement contained therein, but one could at least profit from the explanations.

But instead of offering us such a book, Czerny elects to dictatorially place in tempo, phrasing, and dynamic markings with not even a single footnote by way of explanation. With the dynamics, one at least can be certain that these are Czerny's own additions, and can ignore them to a large degree; not so with the tempo and phrasing. Bach did occasionally put in his own tempo and phrasing markings, and we have no way in this edition to discern between whether such markings are Bach's own or Czerny's (though a modifier in tempo markings -- eg, maestoso -- is a fair clue that Czerny is the culprit).

As for the dynamics -- I love Bach played on the piano, and I am not opposed to the use of dynamics in Bach per se. However, these are choices best left to the imagination of the performer, not to the dictation of Czerny, or even Beethoven via Czerny. Even if one attempts to ignore Czerny's dynamic markings, they almost inevitably seep into one's playing; moreover, after one has been assiduously ignoring dynamic markings, it is hard to get back into the habit of not ignoring them when one plays pieces where the composer has notated dynamics.

With all Czerny's excess markings, this should really be sold as Czerny's pianistic transcription of the WTC, not as an edition.

In addition to the aforementioned problems, there are numerous notational inaccuracies. To be fair, this is not really Czerny's fault-- since this is such an old addition and did not benefit from the discovery of subsequent manuscripts, such errors are to be expected -- but it is still another blemish on this already awful manuscript.

I cannot even in good conscience list its cheapness as a positive attribute, because on closer inspection this becomes yet another negative aspect of the work; it leads unsuspecting students (like myself) to buy this awful addition for pecuniary reasons. Chances are when the student realizes how wretched it is, he will (like me) be compelled to go out and buy a new one anyway, and will have ended up spending more than he would have if he had bought a good edition in the first place.

I cannot recommend NOT buying this edition enough. An excellent edition, different from the Czerny in all the best ways, is the Bärenreiter Urtext, which is clear and comprehensive and allows this musician to see Bach's own progress on these fugues by presenting various changes in different manuscripts (changes which generally tended towards greater rhythmic and harmonic complexity). Really, though, any other WTC edition has to be better than this one.

A minor side note -- I notice that Schirmer has changed the title of this edition to its correct title ("Well Tempered Clavier"). Perplexingly, as recently as 10 years ago it was sold under the inaccurate title "Well Tempered Clavichord."

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Product Description:
This new volume in Schirmer's Library of Musical Classics brings together Books I and II of Bach's classic repertoire at an affordable price.

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Playing Bach on the Keyboard: A Practical Guide (Amadeus) Review

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(More customer reviews)This book summarizes many artistic elements of performing Bach, but in a very objective, matter-of-fact way. I found much useful content, but the delivery is very academic, and, in many cases, boring. A sense of humor or story-telling would ease reading, and this book has very little of either.

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Product Description:
In this concise and accessible volume, a noted keyboard artist and Bach specialist takes a fresh look at the performance of J. S. Bach's keyboard music. Addressing the nonspecialist player, Richard Troeger presents a wide range of historical information and discusses its musical applications. The author shares accounts of the musical styles Bach employed and the instruments he knew. In direct and pragmatic terms, he clarifies the importance of notational and style details as guides to the composer's intentions, particularly emphasizing changes in notational norms between Bach's time and the present. Troeger offers core information on dynamics, articulation, tempo, rhythm, ornamentation and accompaniment. He considers controversial issues as well, establishing the importance of the clavichord in Bach's milieu and examining the link between baroque music and rhetoric - a dramatic relationship that can bring great vitality to performance.

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Bach Short Preludes & Fugues (Kalmus Edition) Review

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(More customer reviews)The layout of this book is exactly the same as older Kalmus editions, but the format is smaller. Not only scores are now too small, the print quality itself is low: staff lines and text elements have gaps, multiple beams touch etc. This makes everything very hard to read, especially for beginners. It simply looks like a cheap copy. I returned it and was lucky to find an old Peters edition elsewhere - a little discolored due to age, but much more enjoyable.

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Works for Violin: The Complete Sonatas and Partitas for Unaccompanied Violin and the Six Sonatas for Violin and Clavier Review

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(More customer reviews)This is a wonderful edition for all musicians.The printing is large, clear, and very readable.The scores are not fingered.

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Product Description:
Complete Sonatas and Partitas for Unaccompanied Violin; Six Sonatas for Violin and Clavier. Bach-Gesellschaft edition.

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The Well-Tempered Clavier: 48 Preludes and Fugues, Vol. 2 Review

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(More customer reviews)I appreciate what the Kalmus press has done to give helpful footnotes for the ornamentation and the score layout is very clean and spaced well. A good "easy" read, that is relatively easy...if you know the pieces in this book you'll know what I'm talking about!

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Product Description:
A newly engraved edition of the 48 preludes and fugues, Volume II for piano was edited by the noted Bach expert Dr. Hans Bischoff. It includes a table of embellishments and a preface from Dr. Bischoff. KALMUS EDITIONS are primarily reprints of Urtext Editions, reasonably priced and readily available. They are a 'must' for students, teachers, and performers.

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A Ravel Reader: Correspondence, Articles, Interviews Review

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(More customer reviews)This is a wonderful book - very informative, interesting and enjoyable.As musicians my husband and I are fascinated with this composer, and knowing more about his life enables us to perform his works better.Highly recommended.

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Maurice Ravel played a decisive role in the history of modern French music.Thisreadercaptures the essence of this enigmatic man through his own words, both written and spoken. This compilation of articles by Ravel (who was a brilliant critic) features reviews, interviews, and some 350 letters from Cocteau, Colette, de Falla, Richard Strauss, Stravinsky, and others.

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Christmas Oratorio in Full Score Review

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(More customer reviews)Dover Publications full scores are a boon for music student and others on a budget: Being reprints of old editions free of copyright, they represent the very best value-for-money on the market, even though the newest Urtext scholarship may not be present in them. Most of them are very readable, and indeed holds a high enough quality for anyone.

This publication, however, has a few problems. First of all, the print quality of Dover scores seems to be variable, and this is one of the worse ones. While the note heads themselves are very large and visible, the stems are often halfway removed (in general, the paper quality isn't as good as in most of my other Dover scores, a major point for those of us who like to make notes in our scores). In this music, you can probably predict a note value with reasonable accuracy, but it's still a bit annoying. This edition is a copy of a print from 1856 (just a couple of decades after Mendelssohns famed "rediscovery" of Bach), which not only is very old even for a Dover score, but it also means that quite a few old fashioned idioms are present. First of all, C clefs are used by soprano, alto and tenor, which may pose a problem for some. Another thing entirely is the fact that the edition was printed a century before the period style movement gained any hold, which means that the instrumentation as given in this edition is what would be used in a 19th century performance of the oratorio. Although they have been faithfull when it comes to using archaic oboes (oboe d'amore and oboe d'caccia). The trumpets are, however, assigned to then modern instruments.

The worst part about this score, however, is the fact that while instrumentation varies for each movement, the names of each instrument playing is only mentioned at the beginning of each movement; you'll have to remember for yourself after that. To make matters worse, no bar numbers are added. These kinds of things annoy me quite a bit, as it would have been a very small job for Dover to fix these points, and it would make these scores a lot more practical.

Still, it is a score of an amazing piece of music, it's cheap, and I've yet to find any errors in the music itself. So I would definitely recommend it, but there is at the same time room for improvement.

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First produced in Leipzig in 1734-35, Bach's Christmas Oratorio unfolds in a set of six cantatas unified by a Biblical narrative relating the story of the birth of Christ. This masterpiece of sacred music, for centuries a favorite of concert audiences and church congregations throughout the Christmas season, has been reproduced directly from the authoritative Bach-Gesellschaft edition published by Breitkopf & Härtel of Leipzig.

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Burgmuller, Czerny & Hanon: 32 Piano Studies for Technique and Musicality Review

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(More customer reviews)The pieces in this book are organized according to technical purpose and level of difficulty, which make it easier for teacher to assign students.The pieces chosen are very effective in addressing particular technique and musicality.I use this book after my students complete Faber level 2B or after they learn scales, chords, and arpeggios. I don't usually use method books after students reach intermediate level, so this book makes a perfect switch.

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Product Description:
An outstanding compilation of piano etudes and exercises from the ever-popular Burgmuller's 25 Progressive Pieces, Opus 100, Czerny's Practical Method for Beginners on the Piano, Opus 599, and Hanon's The Virtuoso Pianist. Etudes are organized into four units according to difficulty and emphasize different aspects of technique and musicianship. Hanon exercises are included within each unit to reinforce the need for finger strength, independence and agility. Information about each composer's life, music and books is also provided.

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Johann Sebastian Bach: Six Partitas and Overture in French Style (Kalmus Edition) Review

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(More customer reviews)The book was a good condition and delivery time was
reasonably quick.
I'd order more if delivery charge wasn't so high.
If I purchase several books at a time, will I be able to save on delivery fee?

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Newly engraved edition of the Six Partitas and French Overture for piano.

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Lute Suites for Guitar (Classical Guitar Series) Review

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(More customer reviews)I recently attended a 40 hour session of master classes that focused on interpretation of Baroque music on the modern guitar.Most of the attendees were students at conservatories - the general consensus was that this edition is superb.There may be others as good, but this one is certainly up to standard.During the class, we often referred to this edition to correct errors in the other student's scores.
Of course, any transcription for the guitar makes changes, drops some notes, looses some voices, etc.The maestro's opinion (a specialist in music of the period) was that the compromises in this edition are quite fine.
Of course, one should always have as close to the original texts as possible for reference.

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The complete works for lute solo by Johann Sebastian Bach. Newly transcribed and annotated, including historical and performance notes.

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The Art of the Fugue & A Musical Offering Review

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(More customer reviews)This is a jewel; a paperback (with Dover's usual great binding quality) that contains both the Art of Fugue and the Musical Offering.
The Art of Fugue was originally written in open score, to emphasize that theperformance instrument was not specified.This edition gives the openscore with a two-stave (piano-type) reduction below.
Of course, with asolid binding like that, it's not going to stay open on your piano.
Ifyou want to play / doodle the great Contrapunctus 1 from TAOF (like I did),and if you've got the hairclips to keep the pages down (like I wish I did),this book is for you!Gofer it. Arch

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Product Description:
Nineteen canons and fugues that progressively illustrate the rich variety and complexity of Bach's fugal writing (complete with a piano reduction). Also included is a set of canonical variations on a theme by Frederick the Great, complete with solutions and a realization of the keyboard part. Breitkopf & Härtel editions.

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Complete Bach Transcriptions for Solo Piano Review

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(More customer reviews)Great music - and a good value.A must for any Bach lovers out there.

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Done with great taste, in a perfectly simple and straightforward manner, Liszt's piano transcriptions of Bach's organ music became the classic models for all future works in this genre.Includes 6Organ Preludes and Fugues (BWV 543-548) and the world-famous Fantasia and Fugue in G minor (BWV 542). New Dover compilation.

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