Die Walkure in Full Score

I always have loved Dover’s Wagner scores. I have the entire ring cycle and this is of course a masterpiece especially considering the fame this work has achieved. This is definitely a long haul score, but sedulously worth it. I’d say start with Das Rhinegold if you want to work your way up to this 700 pg, 4 hour behemoth. But all that said, the format is great and the score has plenty of room in the margins.

Before I got the score, I had listened to the opera once through and after grasping the basic story with the libretto, I decided to go ahead and see what German opera was all about even though I had been told by many people that it was 'heavy' and I should avoid Wagner at all costs.The result was something I hadn't been expecting. The score is wonderfully presented and extremely clear. Of course, its a big score (just over 700 pages) but opens out flatly and doesn't damage the spine - quite clever thing from Dover! Text is all in German apart from a translation of the contents, characters and orchestration so unless you've mastered the German language, get your hands on a german or music dictionary. See through is minimal.The score had been intended to be the second package to arrive but ended up being the last. The reason: someone had mixed their 'r' and 'c' up and instead of posting to Ireland, they somehow managed to send it a few miles north to Iceland. It arrived though, explaining the long journey it had undertaken!!! A good bargain for such a complex and diverse score.

This Dover Edition has everything what I was hoping for: clear and elegant print of complete score with concise preface notes (also in English translation). I recommend this edition to all music students, Wagner lovers, and connoiseurs.

Great print, worth the money

I've always loved Wagner's RING operas, and Dover does the world a great favor, imo, in making the full scores available in attractive, fairly low-cost editions.

Really great and easy to follow score. Been wonderful way to get deeper into the music of Wagner.A must for any Wagner fan!

Great

Unlike Schott's editions (which Dover uses for its reprints of the other 3 operas of the cycle "Der Ring des Nibelungen" {"The Nibelung's Ring"}, the Peters version reprinted here DOES have the voice and instrumental staves mostly arranged in proper order, making things a great deal easier to follow. [Alas, there's one exception - having the voices (though not stage instruments - that part at least is already in proper order) between the violas and the 'celli {harking back to Baroque "basso-continuo" usage} - at least they're consistent with it which helps...] Also the fonts used by the Peters engraving are somewhat clearer than those of Schott in their first editions (their current edition of the complete works of Richard Wagner is SUPERLATIVE but no doubt fantastically expensive!!!).This score of one of Wagner's most accessible works is not only a steal at the price, it's an excellent score, period (though I could visualise it using fewer pages if the engravings were done differently whereby the systems would have been somewhat smaller but done for a larger paper-size). GET IT!!!!

Fabulous value for money, brings the music to life. As an old pianist, I had to learn the alto clef, but the learning added to the enrichment of Wagners music. Very happy.

Great indulgence. I love full scores. Could never sit at a piano now and reduce this to 10 fingers, as we used to have to do at Uni. So love the detail you get to find when listening with the full score.

Excellent!