Wednesday, September 2, 2009

If you know someone going to China...

...or are going yourself, one of the best bargains to be had is the Mandarin edition of the Bärenreiter Urtext Beethoven Symphonies, edited by Jonathan Del Mar.

Here's the cover of the 9th Symphony:


These are fully authentic publications, with all frontis matter and footnotes translated to Mandarin. Below, the instrumentation list and catalog of sources used to by the editor:


and the first page of the score:




The plates are identical to the European edition; the covers and bindings are of similar quality to the European counterpart. The paper is actually a bit heavier and smoother (to my fingers, at least).

You don't necessarily need to find a music specialty store to find these - I found them at one of the large bookstores in Shanghai.

Why would you want to make your luggage significantly heavier for the return trip?

The cost of the full score of the 9th Symphony via sheetmusicplus.com is $158.95.

The cost of the Chinese edition is.....



RMB 78, which equals $11.42 as of this writing.

You can bring home the entire set of 9 full scores for something less than $50! Leaves plenty of money to buy tea, fans and mooncakes for the person who fed your cat and watered your plants while you were traveling.

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