Symphony No. 5 (Dover Miniature Music Scores)

The task of finding sheet music and scores that are truly affordable is a perennial problem for music students, music lovers, and even professional performers. By reprinting other companies' music when the copyright runs out, Dover Publications has been a leader in this area for decades. Best known for its full-size scores, Dover offers a new line that should cheer the impoverished student and anyone else who appreciates a bargain. The company has now moved into the miniature-scores market. Mini scores are ideal study guides, sized right to fit into a pocket or handbag, and easy to pull out and follow along with at concerts. The new line from Dover (featuring a nice wide-bottom margin for note taking) carries a much lower retail price than the competition's.

The Dover score of Mahler's "Symphony No. 5 in C-sharp Minor" is a reprint of one originally published in 1904 by C.F. Peters of Leipzig. They've spruced it up with the addition of a helpful four-page glossary of German musical terms with their English equivalents. Unlike the three symphonies that immediately preceded it, "Symphony No. 5 in C-sharp Minor" is not programmatic in nature, nor does it make use of singers. Mahler composed it during his engagement and early years of marriage to Alma Schindler. The symphony's structure builds to the resounding climax of the final movement, pausing at the fourth movement for a meditation on his love for Alma. This is a magnificently complex score, and one that rewards repeat listeners. --Sarah Bryan Miller