Suite Bergamasque (Alfred Masterwork Edition) Paperback – June 1, 1970

This is an extract from the complete edition of Debussy's piano music by pianist and Debussy scholar Roy Howat (author of Debussy in proportion and The Art of French piano music). I find the legibility to be very good, as it is nicely printed on clear white paper, is well spaced and uses an attractive typeface. In a big improvement over the older Durand(s), it has a laminated cover, so should be more durable than those. Editorial additions, like phrase marks, are clearly indicated.It also corrects a number of errors - for example, in the Menuet an extra -and awkward- double note in the third beat of meas. 82, which was present in the first edition and carried over in several others, is removed. Also the f-naturals in meas. 87. If memory serves Beveridge Webster's edition also made changes at this point, but used the opposite strategy - retaining the f-natural and revising the bass. Howat's changes are all explained clearly in the front matter.This is scholarly edition intended for serious performers, and is relatively expensive. In all truth the differences among the various editions amount to only an handful of notes at most, in performance casual listeners would likely not notice one way of the other, so some customers may find other editions -the Alfred or Dover for examples- more cost-effective.The music is obviously self-recommending.

Suite Bergamesque by Claude Debussy (the Alfred Masterwork edition) is an excellent edition of this beautiful piano suite. The music is moderately difficult to difficult, but students will find that the way most Debussy music is constructed is helpful to the pianist and this edition has nice, clear notation. Unlike a lot of French editions, where the paper is soft and easily tears, the paper of the Alfred Masterwork edition is sturdy and holds up well as the student learns the Suite. If a piano student is interested in chords and chord sounds, Debussy is ideal for trying 'new' sounds and the combinations of sound that typify the Impressionist school.

Arrived as expected. It was the same as the piano teacher's book my daughter had been using.

The packaging is great and the music spacing is great. Looking forward to music study on this.

Well worth the cost, reasonable priced edition, excellent for piano students or moderately advanced players.

I always like the Alfred Masterwork Editions - the print is clear and large enough to read for my old eyes. I only wish it was spiral bound, but that's just a personal preference

I own several dozen Masterworks editions of piano music and this is the first that has no fingering suggestions. One of the main reasons I have purchased Masterworks editions is the expert help with fingerings.

I wholeheartedly agree with one reviewer that mentioned what nobody prior did: There are no finger markings anywhere in this edition. One wonderful thing about classical music and piano music, in this case, is the rich tradition that gets passed down from generation to generation. Part of that tradition is how to best play certain pieces and passages. Finger markings help us to understand how the greats before us played this music, what's been tried and tested, so that we get and use the best and most practical method of playing these deceptively difficult little pieces. Sadly, this edition disregards all of that. The pages actually are very well laid out and easy to read, but it gets a failing grade as a study edition. I know that it's 'affordable' but it's not the best (or recommended) if you actually want to play this music. Skip this one and buy an edition with more notes and FINGER MARKINGS.***Lastly, let me emphasize that my review is for this edition ONLY and not all of the other Alfred Masterworks Editions, which are, in my opinion, some of the absolute best editions available anywhere for studying music from. They're usually extremely well laid out, and expertly edited (often by Maurice Hinson), with insightful notes on the music and its history, the composer, how to play the music well, how to practice certain passages to develop better technique, even how to generally approach the piece for the first time. Please give the other Alfred Editions a serious look when you look at other pieces to play.

Excellent production, clear printing and lovely paper quality. There is one glaring error which is extraordinary but very obvious and thus not a huge problem.

Ottima edizione Durand, come sempre. Bella la scelta dei colori della copertina. Qualità e colore della carta ottimi.

Great edition. Clear to read and edited nicely - as is generally the case with the alfreds masterwork editions.

È davvero una bella edizione, in tedesco (ma non importa) della suite berganasque. Arrivato prima del previsto.Consiglio l'acquisto a coloro i quali volessero imparare il brano.

È un testo chiaro, molto leggibile, elegante e preciso in tutte le indicazioni. Non figurano indicazioni di diteggiatura, scelta che io preferisco perché ritengo parte dello studio individuare quella più idonea. Non compaiono commenti