Having all of the these works in one place is a great resourse, however, the choral parts are written in mixed clefs (i.e. soprano, alto, tenor, etc.) making it completely impractical for rehearsal use.

Given that 5 or the 6 motets are unaccompanied, I would recommend buying individual choral scores instead.

As always, Dover is great. These scores are excellent tools for the student conductor, composer, and music historian, as they are taken from the reputable Bach Gesellschaft editions. The printing is neat, clear, and fairly easy to read. As far as the varied clefs go, they are an appropiate preservation of the original. If one is well versed in composition, and I dare say a flexible and conducter too, there should not be a problem. We deal with transposing instruments, right? How hard can tenor clef be with a little practice? Anyway, they do help to differentiate between the parts with only a quick glance- better than all treble and bass clefs in my opinion.

Following that dictum, I might point out that, especially in two areas of contemporary concern, Hamann's thought is highly relevant: Oswald Bayer has shown in Autoritaet und Kritik (1991) that Hamann's hermeneutics -- antedating by two centuries Derrida's reflections on intertextuality -- provides the basis for a devastating critique of deconstruction by subverting the French thinker's concept of the "center," and demonstrating where the true center ("Mitte") is to be located. Further, there is presently a lively discussion among scholars of Hamann's critique of Kant's famous essay: "What is Enlightenment"? Berlin's present study would have done more justice to Hamann's thought by discussing such developments as these and others, which were available during his lifetime.

My review is limited to the study of Johann Georg Hamann in the present volume, and the three star rating applies to it alone. Combining Isaiah Berlin's books on Vico, Hamann and Herder under one cover was a felicitous idea of Berlin's editor and literary executor Henry Hardy. The position which these thinkers share: their anti-Cartesianism, their emphasis on history, tradition, language and mythology may now be seen through the considerably different lenses they employ. I feel compelled, however, to register a caveat. When the present Hamann study appeared in book form in 1993, I expressed my reservations about it in a letter to the "New York Review of Books," to which Berlin replied. I lamented the fact that he had ignored modern Hamann scholarship, and had clung to the interpretation of Hamann as an irrationalist, especially that espoused by Rudolf Unger in his 1911 book,"Hamann und die Aufklaerung,"ignoring modern discussions of the "dialectic of the Enlightenment." Specialists in the field now consider Unger's interpretation outdated, and see Hamann as a champion of one side of the Enlightenment, albeit a severe critic of its other, extremely rationalistic, side.

The question of Hamann's relation to the Enlightenment turns on the conception of reason. I have maintained that Hamann employed a mode of reason distinct from that of the rationalistic Enlighteners as well as from that of his friendly adversary,Kant. In order to designate that mode, I adopted a term once used by Kant in referring to Hamann's thought,i.e., "intuitive reason," or, in the original German, "anschauende Vernunft." I accepted the term as an apt one for Hamann's mode of thought, however Kant felt about it. Further, I have demonstrated how it can be linguistically distinguished from the traditional logico-mathematical mode of thought in my book "The Quarrel of Reason with Itself"(1988),and elsewhere. It is one which Berlin rightly sees as akin to Dilthey's "verstehen," which Berlin also rejects. He lists a group of philosophers whose conception of reason matches his own: Jeremy Bentham, J.S. Mill, Franz von Brentano, William James, Bertrand Russell and the "Vienna Circle." Most of these thinkers are about as far removed from any kind of "verstehen" as possible. Who then, besides Hamann, may be said to have employed what I have called "intuitive reason"? The prime examples are the great epistemological heirs of Hamann: Goethe and Nietzsche. Goethe belongs here because of his refusal to analyze the "Urphaenomen." Hence, his anti-Newtonian stance. Nietzsche, especially in "Zarathustra," which I have analyzed closely from the standpoint of intuitive reason in "Nietzsche and the Judaeo-Christian Tradition"(1985).

Having stated my reservations concerning Berlin's interpretation of Hamann, I must say, however, that we can be grateful that he has helped mightily to rescue that German philosopher from the obscurity to which he has been unjustly relegated by those who remain under the spell of the strictly rationalistic wing of the Enlightenment. Berlin, in spite of his basic lack of empathy with Hamann, not only recognized his importance, but was always fascinated by him. He was an early and enthusiastic subscriber to "The Hamann News-Letter," which I edited and published in the early 195O's and 196O's. Further, his correspondence with me regarding Hamann over a period of three and a half decades shows an unflagging interest in the man who both attracted and repelled him. In a letter to me of June 25,1972, he wrote: "My passion for Hamann is undiminished." Not too surprisingly, there are certain passages in the present book in which Berlin seems, unwittingly, to move toward a certain degree of empathy,hence to a kind of "verstehen." But such passages are few, and many others are unjustly harsh. Nevertheless, for all its shortcomings, Berlin's study of Hamann is valuable for introducing the reader, especially the anglophone reader, to the historically important pre-Romantic figure, known as "The Magus of the North," without whom the development of German Romanticism would be unthinkable, and whose insights increasingly bear fruit today, especially in theology and philosophy. As Berlin has said: "Hamann repays study."

Nice Large Type, but Vocabulary seems a bit large in a few places.

This is a little tome. Clocks in at 11 pages. It is probably of more interest to poets than to historians. But Williams does uncover some little known facts and he applies a novel technique in order to cast light upon the failed Hitler assasain Johann Georg Elser. Works like Williams' are in the forefont of a poetry style known as investigative poetry. The I.P school was founded by Ed Sanders. A central tenet: To relieve poetry of its obsessive preoccupation with egoistic internal states and to focus content around things that really happened.

I really enjoyed the Comic and I think that is quite amusing. But I think a lot of great parts are missing and it isn't even nearly as fabulous as the originals. But I think you may read it in addition.

I read this book, and half way through, discovered that it was edited, with large segments missing from the original text.

The translation is excellent... although a smack too modern to be Goethe. But the editorial work done on the masterpiece is a shame. Significant parts were cut out from both parts I and II, for effect (this version was to be broadcasted over the radio).

However, for an introduction to Goethe's Faust, this is a great read. One could read this in one sitting. But for real scholarship, and those who would like an ampler fill... take a full unabridged translation.

An excellent early nineteenth narrative report of the major Bedouin tribes of the Arabian Peninsula including insightful commentary and reflection on prevailing folkways and mores by a European Arabist.

Primary focus is the early beginnings of modern Saudi Arabia, the unification of the Wahhabiyah movement and the Al Saud family, the spread of Wahhabiyah Islam, conflicts with the indigenous Bedouin tribes and Ottoman Turkish occupation.

A provocative first hand account, highly readable for anyone interested in Islam, Saudi Arabia, the Ottoman Empire and the Arab world. At once an anthropological and historical work.

Six amazing Trio Sonatas, the powerful "St. Anne", pages of heartfelt Chorale preludes, all in one volume!

What more could one ask for?...

Let's start with with a spiral binding, this book is so thick that it needed to have its spine broken in several places so sit flat. Every page turn still threatens to unbalance it and send it falling off the rack onto my hands.
Speaking of page turns, I think the folks at Dover take pride in their ability to put page turns in the most inconvenient possible spots.
I have no hesitations to buy a Dover score, because it's the best value for your money. However, I only use these scores to look for and try out new pieces. In the end, however, when I really want to work on a piece, I'm sure to get a copy of a good edition like Barenreiter of Henle to perform from.

This a reprint of Seiffert's 1901(?) ed. of both 'free' and hymntune-based works, with the free ones in a slightly more practical sequence than in the early publication. The scholarly apparatus is unfortunately omitted, and it both includes works now widely regarded as inauthentic, and excludes works now widely regarded as authentic. Small print, but that has its advantages: a whole work on one page or a double-page spread (no page-turn).

This is an interesting collection of assumptions that Mr. G has written. Some ideas are quite far-fetched. Nevertheless, it's a cool book to read if you like Bach.