Koncocoo

Best Modern Popular

Look, I Made a Hat: Collected Lyrics (1981-2011) with Attendant Comments, Amplifications, Dogmas, Harangues, Digressions, Anecdotes and Miscellany
After his acclaimed and best-selling Finishing the Hat (named one of the New York Times 10 Best Books of 2010), Stephen Sondheim returns with the second volume of his collected lyrics, Look, I Made a Hat , giving us another remarkable glimpse into the brilliant mind of this living legend, and his life’s work. The handsomely designed book, like the first volume, contains illuminating reproductions of pages from the author's beloved legal pads on which he works out rhyme schemes, as well as annotated scripts and pages of musical notations. A” —Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly “While the book technically covers Mr. Sondheim’s output from 1981 to the present, aficionados will delight in all the bits and bobs from early in his career that Mr. Sondheim didn’t make room for in the first volume .
Reviews
"The Maestro wrote this erudite book, making it literate, engaging and terribly informative."
"If you agree with Tom Lehrer that Stephen Sondheim is the best lyricist of the 20th Century (I do but I would remover the temporal limitation), then these two books are an absolute must."
"If you enjoy Sondheim's shows, you need this book."
"The ultimate master class in lyric-writing, from the best musical theatre writer of all time."
"A real treat for those who enjoy Sondheim's lyrics."
"Very happy with product and seller!"
"I encourage all writers of music to read these two books."
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Hat Box: The Collected Lyrics of Stephen Sondheim: A Box Set
In Hat Box , Stephen Sondheim presents his complete collected lyrics from the acclaimed Finishing the Hat and Look, I Made a Hat . Stephen Sondheim has written award-winning music and lyrics for theater, film and television.
Reviews
"The Maestro wrote this erudite book, making it literate, engaging and terribly informative."
"If you agree with Tom Lehrer that Stephen Sondheim is the best lyricist of the 20th Century (I do but I would remover the temporal limitation), then these two books are an absolute must."
"If you enjoy Sondheim's shows, you need this book."
"The ultimate master class in lyric-writing, from the best musical theatre writer of all time."
"A real treat for those who enjoy Sondheim's lyrics."
"Very happy with product and seller!"
"I encourage all writers of music to read these two books."
Find Best Price at Amazon
Phantom of the Opera - Souvenir Edition: Piano/Vocal Selections (Melody in the Piano Part)
This souvenir folio features full-color photos from the stunning production as well as piano/vocal arrangements of 9 songs, including: All I Ask of You * Angel of Music * Masquerade * The Music of the Night * The Phantom of the Opera * The Point of No Return * Prima Donna * Think of Me * Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again. This piano/vocal book includes nine favorite songs from Andrew Lloyd Webber's smash blockbuster musical The Phantom of the Opera .
Reviews
"Very good arrangement."
"Beautiful music, beautiful selections from the musical."
"My wife has wanted to play this music every since we saw the play."
"was not what I thought it was but it turned out great, it was sheet music and not a book."
"Always a great selection."
"Has all the songs I wanted and the pictures are fun :)."
"Great piano book!"
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Best Sondheim

Hat Box: The Collected Lyrics of Stephen Sondheim: A Box Set
In Hat Box , Stephen Sondheim presents his complete collected lyrics from the acclaimed Finishing the Hat and Look, I Made a Hat . Stephen Sondheim has written award-winning music and lyrics for theater, film and television.
Reviews
"The Maestro wrote this erudite book, making it literate, engaging and terribly informative."
"If you agree with Tom Lehrer that Stephen Sondheim is the best lyricist of the 20th Century (I do but I would remover the temporal limitation), then these two books are an absolute must."
"If you enjoy Sondheim's shows, you need this book."
"The ultimate master class in lyric-writing, from the best musical theatre writer of all time."
"A real treat for those who enjoy Sondheim's lyrics."
"Very happy with product and seller!"
"I encourage all writers of music to read these two books."
Find Best Price at Amazon

Best Rodgers

The Sound of Music: Vocal Selections - Revised Edition (Rodgers and Hammerstein Vocal Selections)
(Vocal Selections).
Reviews
"Got the male lead in school play!"
"These are comprehensive vocal and piano arrangements for singers and pianists."
"Love this music from my childhood."
"Also I guess I am that guy, you know, the one buys books for musicals to make his kids sing..."
"Great piano book with good arrangements."
"This is great."
"I love the Revised version of this songbook."
"This music collection is very easy to read and easy to play."
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Best Sullivan

Raisin' Cain: The Wild and Raucous Story of Johnny Winter (Book)
From toughing it out in Texas to his appearance at Woodstock, his affair with Janis Joplin, his stadium-filling tours, and washing out on drugs and the temptations of the road before finally fulfilling his dream of becoming a 100-percent pure bluesman, resurrecting the career of Muddy Waters, and winning a Grammy Award for his effort, this is a raucous roller coaster of story.
Reviews
"My only hope is that in future editions they include some sort of appendix to cover the years the book did not - from 2009 (I believe) when the book was originally finished until his death on the road in 2014 - roughly one week before I had tickets to see him."
"I'm blaming the editor more than the writer because Ms. Sullivan did a good job of putting together a relatively coherent story from a wide variety of interviews. I believe it's the job of an editor to toss the book back to the author with advice on how to tighten up the story, put it in chronological order, etc."
"Since the author and Johnny Winters collaborated on this book, it was pretty tame."
"The exciting story of this brilliant and often overlooked musician is marred by repetitive accounts of the same story."
"This was a very clear case in which the reporter got suddenly lost in the process of editing the interviews she had done, perhaps due to her own nice feelings toward the interviewee."
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Best Performing Arts History & Criticism

Look, I Made a Hat: Collected Lyrics (1981-2011) with Attendant Comments, Amplifications, Dogmas, Harangues, Digressions, Anecdotes and Miscellany
After his acclaimed and best-selling Finishing the Hat (named one of the New York Times 10 Best Books of 2010), Stephen Sondheim returns with the second volume of his collected lyrics, Look, I Made a Hat , giving us another remarkable glimpse into the brilliant mind of this living legend, and his life’s work. The handsomely designed book, like the first volume, contains illuminating reproductions of pages from the author's beloved legal pads on which he works out rhyme schemes, as well as annotated scripts and pages of musical notations. A” —Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly “While the book technically covers Mr. Sondheim’s output from 1981 to the present, aficionados will delight in all the bits and bobs from early in his career that Mr. Sondheim didn’t make room for in the first volume .
Reviews
"The Maestro wrote this erudite book, making it literate, engaging and terribly informative."
"If you agree with Tom Lehrer that Stephen Sondheim is the best lyricist of the 20th Century (I do but I would remover the temporal limitation), then these two books are an absolute must."
"If you enjoy Sondheim's shows, you need this book."
"The ultimate master class in lyric-writing, from the best musical theatre writer of all time."
"A real treat for those who enjoy Sondheim's lyrics."
"Very happy with product and seller!"
"I encourage all writers of music to read these two books."
Find Best Price at Amazon

Best Modern & 20th Century

Claude Debussy: Piano Music (1888-1905)
Beginning with Deux Arabesques (1888), it offers the Suite bergamasque (1890–1905), Réverie (1890), Danse (1890), Ballade (1890), Pour le piano (1896–1901), D'un cahier d'esquisses (1903), Extampes (1903), Mazurka (1891), Valse romantique (1890), Masques (1904), L'Isle joyeuse (1904), and the first series of Images (1905): Reflets dans l'eau, Hommage a Rameau, and Mouvement.
Reviews
"Since I don't know Debussy's works well, my student and I have found a great companion to this music book to be the following little book which gives information on each of Debussy's piano pieces and stylistic advice, written by someone who knew Debussy well: The Piano Works of Claude Debussy (Dover Books on Music)."
"Good price, good print, well bound, easy to turn pages, super selections including Clare de Lune and Arabesque in E Major, as well as a number of others of Debussy's best compositions for piano."
"Debussy is definitely one of the most genius composers ever."
"The print quality could be better but I'm still glad I bought it."
"This and the Beethoven sonatas."
"The same Dover editions we love, but easier to carry around!"
"This is a great collection of Debussy, and the productiion is top notch, and quality is great and also the print is easy to read and well spaced."
"Beautiful music now being played."
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Best Baroque

The Messiah: An Oratorio for Four-Part Chorus of Mixed Voices, Soprano, Alto, Tenor, and Bass Soli and Piano
Neither have the more recent editions of vocal scores based on the Mozart orchestra score, with its many contrapuntal charms, quite fulfilled expectations, as they materially increased the difficulty of the piano part. Listeners who truly love this work may be interested in the full orchestral score --also at a great price--from Dover, edited by Alfred Mann.
Reviews
"I had one from college, and bought this as a replacement since I lost my original score."
"Great for singing in a performance of the Messiah."
"When singing a part in this music, it is easy to get so focused on one's own part that one misses the fact that the notes themselves weave a tapestry on the page and to the ear that tell a story as rich as the verse."
"protected and delivered in very good time."
"Item exactly as described; delivery was fast and accurate."
"My first Book fell apart from using it for 30 years."
"This is a beautiful, pristine copy of the familiar Schirmer Bpiano-vocal score of The Messiah."
"Came quickly and a fair price and will use it for Christmas!"
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Best Late Romantic

The Oxford Book of Carols: Music edition
A firm favourite with choirs for many years, this is a classic collection of traditional carols. His searching and visionary imagination, combined with a flexibility in writing for all levels of music-making, has meant that his music is as popular today as it ever has been.
Reviews
"Composers, these texts have inspired countless Christmas pageants and have yet to exhaust their full potential."
"The book was a smaller sized edition than I expected, but serves well."
"Delighted to find this after being told by a friend it was a bit rare."
"A classic that makes the perfect gift!"
"quick delivery, good value, book in expected or better condition."
"Better than the shorter NOBC, more old stuff, much more affordable than the comprehensive OBC."
"This book was in existence when R V W was still alive!"
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Best Early Romantic

Complete Preludes, Nocturnes & Waltzes: 26 Preludes, 21 Nocturnes, 19 Waltzes for Piano (Schirmer's Library of Musical Classics)
This new volume in Schirmer's Library of Musical Classics presents 26 preludes, 21 nocturnes and 19 waltzes a large amount of music at a value price.
Reviews
"Printing is not clear as I expected."
"Love this book and playing from it."
"It's Schimer -- what else can I say -- one of the best editions ever on the market."
"Came just like it stated, brand new and in a very short amount of time after I ordered it!!"
"I love Chopin music, and nocturnes and waltzes are my preferred."
"Pages Printed upside down on both shipments."
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Best Classical

Ludwig Van Beethoven Complete Piano Sonatas Volume 1 (Nos. 1-15)
Combining scrupulous scholarship and profound artistic vision, Schenker achieved an edition which is universally admired by musicians and scholars. This edition will be welcomed by all pianists, both professional and amateur, for its accuracy and reliability; it is highly desirable for instruction, study, reference, and enjoyment. The triumphant genius of Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827) casts a long shadow over classical music — no other composer of the past two centuries has exercised an influence more profound than his.
Reviews
"Not that this book should be expected to address a longstanding problem with piano books, but even with the lay-flat binding, the front pages will keep shutting (this is just a peeve of mine, probably doesn't bother most people)."
"I could never really usee those because it was not easy to open and read, since this is a huge work (32 sonatas make a gross volume very impractical)."
"Easy to read, no mistakes that i can hear."
"Excellent urtext edition of this wonderful works."
"The famous musicologist Heinrich Schenker is known for his extreme attention to detail, including, for example, the directions of the stems (which other Urtext editions are not)."
"I love playing this and trying to sightread some of the movements."
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