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Orchestral Masterpieces under the Microscope

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WINNER: International Association of Music Libraries, UK & Ireland (IAML UK & Irl) C.B. Oldman AwardFor an outstanding work of music bibliography, music reference or music librarianshipA mu...
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  • 07 March 2023
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WINNER: International Association of Music Libraries, UK & Ireland (IAML UK & Irl) C.B. Oldman Award
For an outstanding work of music bibliography, music reference or music librarianship

A must-have for any conductor, conducting student and orchestral librarian.

How does a conductor know whether the score they use is what the composer wrote? How do orchestral players know that their parts are reliable and reflect the latest scholarship? As Jonathan Del Mar reminds us in this ground-breaking book, editions of the orchestral repertoire are beset by textual problems: simple misprints, mistakes in the score or player's part, or hopelessly outdated scores at odds with current scholarship.

Driven by a fundamental respect for what the composer actually wrote, Jonathan Del Mar addresses these problems through textual reports on over 100 orchestral masterpieces of classical music. Each report is introduced with essential guidance and succinct commentary on the first performance and publication of the work. Critical editions are compared with commonly used editions, and in those cases where no Urtext Edition exists, this much-needed reference work functions as a replacement for an Urtext Edition.

Orchestral Masterpieces under the Microscope will be an indispensable reference tool for all who care about performances honouring the correct text that composers have left us. It serves as an essential survival guide for conductors and musicians to make informed choices, and it offers much-needed clarity on the latest scholarship for musicologists and music librarians alike.
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Price: $95.00
Pages: 736
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer Inc.
Imprint: Boydell Press
Publication Date: 07 March 2023
Trim Size: 9.45 X 6.69 in
ISBN: 9781783277322
Format: Hardcover
BISACs: MUSIC / Genres & Styles / Classical, Art music, orchestral and formal music, MUSIC / Reference, Music, Reference works
REVIEWS Icon
At last our orchestral prayers will be answered!
— Sir Mark Elder

Jonathan Del Mar is the outstanding music editor of our time. His book will be invaluable to all conductors as well as of great interest to other musicians and scholars.
— David Matthews

Decision making is at the heart of conducting,and in almost every major piece we work on there are a wealth of problems and conundrums to solve. Short of telephoning the composer ourselves,an option rarely available,we all need assistance. What did the composer REALLY write, and what exactly does it mean? Jonathan Del Mar has characteristically cut to the chase by compiling this treasure trove of answers to so many of those thorny questions. This book is beyond valuable: it will doubtless be on every conductor's bookshelf and countless scholars as well. Bravo!!
— Sir Simon Rattle

His book is an indispensable reference for all musicians.
— Mary Nemet

This book is probably unique in its detail and coverage of the most important composers in Western classical music and will help veteran and student musicians alike.

Belongs in any library that is in an institution supporting a symphony orchestra.

It's an essential resource for conductors and performers who want to engage with repertoire not just interpretively, but textually. It is not just for those editing scores or leading orchestras-it's for any musician who wants to read more deeply into what the composer might have intended, and what may have gotten lost along the way.
JONATHAN DEL MAR is a conductor and musicologist. His Beethoven editions are published by Baerenreiter and performed by orchestras and ensembles around the world.
Preface
Editorial Conventions


Bartok
Piano Concerto No.1
Violin Concerto No.2
Dance Suite
Beethoven
Symphonies: some supplementary remarks
Overture Leonore No.2
Overture Leonore No.3
Overture King Stephen
Berlioz
Symphonie fantastique
Harold in Italy
Overtures
Bloch
Schelomo: Hebraic rhapsody for cello and orchestra
Brahms
Four Symphonies
Piano Concerto No.1 in D minor
Violin Concerto in D
Hungarian Dances: a brief guide
Bruch
Violin Concerto No.1 in G minor
Busoni
Piano Concerto
Debussy
Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune
Dvořák
Scherzo capriccioso
Symphonic Variations
Romance for violin and orchestra
Serenade for strings
Elgar
Variations on an Original Theme ('Enigma')
Concert-Overture: Froissart
Concert-Overture: Cockaigne
Concert-Overture: In the South (Alassio)
Sea Pictures
Serenade for Strings in E minor
Fauré, orch. Aubert
Fantaisie for Flute
Franck
Symphony in D minor
Haydn
Symphonies with High Horns
Symphony No.100 in G ('Military')
Symphony No.104 in D ('London')
Liszt
Piano Concerto No.1 in E flat
Piano Concerto No.2 in A
Mahler
Symphony No.2 in C minor
Martinů
Rhapsody-Concerto for viola and orchestra
Mendelssohn
Symphony No.3 in A minor ('Scottish')
Symphony No.4 in A ('Italian')
Violin Concerto in E minor
Overture The Hebrides
Mozart
Piano Concertos
Mussorgsky, orch. Ravel
Pictures from an Exhibition
Nielsen
Sinfonia espansiva (Symphony No.3)
Prokofiev
Classical Symphony (Symphony No.1)
Peter and the Wolf
Rachmaninov
Symphony No.2 in E minor
Piano Concerto No.2 in C minor
Ravel
Piano Concerto
La Valse
Le Tombeau de Couperin
Pavane pour une infante défunte
Respighi
Fontane di Roma
Rimsky-Korsakov
Symphonic Suite: Scheherazade
Capriccio Espagnol
Rossini
Overture William Tell
Saint-Saëns
Symphony No.3 in C minor
Cello Concerto No.1 in A minor
Schubert
Overture Die Zauberharfe ('Rosamunde')
Schumann
Symphony No.4 in D minor
Overture, Scherzo and Finale
Cello Concerto in A minor
Overture Genoveva
Shostakovich
Cello Concerto No.1 in E flat
Sibelius
Symphony No.2 in D
Symphony No.3 in C
Symphony No.4 in A minor
Symphony No.5 in E flat
Symphony No.6 in D minor
Symphony No.7 in C
Violin Concerto in D minor
Tapiola
Smetana
Má Vlast: 2. Vltava
Má Vlast: 3. Šárka
Strauss
Ein Heldenleben
Horn Concerto No.1 in E flat
Oboe Concerto
Metamorphosen: Study for 23 Solo Strings
Tchaikovsky
Symphony No.2 in C minor
Symphony No.3 in D
Symphony No.4 in F minor
Symphony No.5 in E minor
Symphony No.6 in B minor, 'Pathétique'
Piano Concerto No.1 in B flat minor
Violin Concerto in D
Fantasy-Overture after Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet
Tippett
Symphony No.2 in C
Vaughan Williams
A London Symphony (Symphony No. 2)
Pastoral Symphony (Symphony No. 3)
Tuba Concerto
Wagner
Prelude Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
Walton
Cello Concerto
Weber
Overture Der Beherrscher der Geister
Overture Der Freischütz
Overture Oberon


Bibliography