This piece is unusual in concentrating all the elements of a symphony into a single movement; in being written for 15 solo instruments; in using chords built up of fourths; and in creating dissonances without immediate resolution. To its first audiences, the symphony seemed shocking. But today it is one of Schoenberg's most pleasing and accessible works. Scored for a chamber ensemble of flute, oboe, English horn, two clarinets, bass clarinet, bassoon, contrabassoon, two horns, two violins, viola, cello, and bass. Instrumentation. Glossary.

Few composers have achieved the widespread and lasting popularity of Antonin Dvo ak. He was a master of instrumentation and symphonic form, composing a total of nine symphonies. His most celebrated work, Symphony No. 9, "From the New World" (composed during Dvo ak'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 popular acclaim accorded the symphony "From the New World" tends to overshadow Dvo ak's other symphonies, but "Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians" notes the "interesting form folk-spirit virile serenity" of Symphony No. 8. The delightful freshness and uninhibited emotionalism of the composition have contributed to its lasting success. 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. This full-size, easy-to-read score has been printed with generous margins to allow insertion of notes, analyses, etc. The sturdy binding, high quality of reproduction, and affordable price make this volume ideal for musicians, music students, and music lovers in general."

The dramatic overture had its beginnings in Renaissance court entertainments, which often began with a flourish of trumpets. It reached a high point of inspiration in the overtures that George Frideric Handel (1685 1759) composed for his operas and oratorios. This volume presents 60 Handel overtures and sinfonias, originally scored for orchestra, superbly arranged for solo keyboard. They have been reprinted from an extremely rare edition originally printed, probably in the 1750s, by Handel's London publisher, John Walsh. Happily, these brilliant works have lost nothing in translation of their Handelian vitality and interest. Many of them, such as the overtures to "Messiah, Acis and Galatea, Alexander s Feast, Julius Caesar, "the second overture in "Solomon" (known as the "Arrival of the Queen of Sheba"), and the so-called Water Musick, are very familiar to music lovers. Some will be fresh discoveries for keyboard players. Together they demonstrate Handel s exciting theatrical sense, his technical virtuosity in composition, and his dazzling mastery of musical forms, which he often combined into his own unique creations. This edition preserves the original keyboard notation, amazingly precise in its elegant execution and, of course, entirely legible to present-day performers."

As the twentieth century draws to a close, Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951) is being acknowledged as one of its most significant and multifaceted composers. Schoenberg and His World explores the richness of his genius through commentary and documents. Marilyn McCoy opens the volume with a concise chronology, based on the latest scholarship, of Schoenberg's life and works. Essays by Joseph Auner, Leon Botstein, Reinhold Brinkmann, J. Peter Burkholder, Severine Neff, and Rudolf Stephan examine aspects of his creative output, theoretical writings, relation to earlier music, and the socio-cultural contexts in which he worked. The documentary portions of Schoenberg and His World capture Schoenberg at critical periods of his career: during the first decades of the century, primarily in his native Vienna; from 1926 to 1933, in Berlin; and from 1933 on, in the U.S. Included here is the first complete translation into English of the remarkable Festschrift prepared for the 38-year-old Schoenberg by his pupils in 1912; it presciently explored the diverse talents as a composer, teacher, painter, and theorist for which he was later to be recognized. The Berlin years, when he held one of the most prestigious teaching positions in Europe, are represented by interviews with him and articles about his public lectures. The final portion of the volume, devoted to the theme Schoenberg and America, focuses on how the composer viewed--and was viewed by--the country where he spent his final eighteen years. Sabine Feisst brings together and comments upon sources which, contrary to much received opinion, attest to both the considerable impact that Schoenberg had upon his newly adopted land and his own deep involvement in its musical life.