One immediately recognizes the towering production quality of these volumes – a point that can be extended to all volumes thus far published in the set. The music is a joy to read; and the lucidity and thoroughness of the texts … are models of scholarly editions, and should be required reading for all bibliography and music-editing courses. … In sum, the JSW is a remarkable project: the scholarship is impeccable, the music scores and texts are simply a joy to study.
Edward Jurkowski, Notes December 2011: 442–443
Ohnehin bietet die Sibelius-Ausgabe alles, was man von einem solch ambitionierten Projekt erwartet: Allem voran fachliche und verlegerische Kompetenz, die sich in der hohen inhaltlichen Qualität des Notenbildes ebenso widerspiegelt wie in den ausführlichen Vorworten (deutsch/englisch), den erläuternden Faksimiles sowie dem Kritischen Bericht mit einer grundlegenden Beschreibung und Bewertung der Quellen und ihrer Überlieferung (englisch).
Michael Kube, Schweizer Musikzeitung 3/2011
At the back of this magnificent book are pages of critical commentary on a bar-by-bar analysis of an endless supply of musical notation requiring interpretation by the editor. … For the general, non-musically trained, purchaser of the edition there is the magisterial introduction to read, and fascinating reading it is.
Edward W. Clark, Sibelius Society Newsletter 2009
The Sibelius pieces, however, are a revelation. I opened this magnificently produced volume – complete with multilingual critical report and generous facsimiles of original manuscripts – expecting Grieg-style quasi-nationalistic character pieces, and was instead presented with an incredible array of styles, textures, harmonic languages and levels of difficulty.
Chris White, Piano Professional Summer 2009: 42
Die Genauigkeit der Einleitung, des Kommentars und der Notation entspricht dem Standard dieser Gesamtausgabe, die – sobald komplett (zumal gemeinsam mit der aktuellen Gesamtaufname) – eine neue Ära in der Sibelius-Forschung einläuten wird.
Tomi Mäkelä, Musikforschung 3/2007: 319
Die Sibelius-Ausgabe bietet alles, was man von einem solchen ambitionierten Projekt erwartet: allem voran fachliche und verlegerische Kompetenz, die sich in der hohen qualitativen wie ästhetischen Qualität des Notenbildes ebenso widerspiegelt wie in den ausführlichen Vorworten (deutsch/englisch), den erläuternden Faksimiles sowie dem Kritischen Bericht mit einer grundlegenden Beschreibung und Bewertung der Quellen und ihrer Überlieferung (englisch).
Michael Kube, Fono Forum 10/2007
This is not only a scholarly edition of one of the composer’s major works, it is also a model for the philological editing of music in general. … JSW has chosen to have the emendations reflected in two places, in certain cases even in three: as graphic indications in the music text, in prose form in the critical commentary, and sometimes also in the form of a warning footnote on the music page. There can be no doubt that such a procedure is very user-friendly, but it disturbs the appearance of the music and may mislead the user into thinking that there are two or more equally valid readings.
Niels Krabbe, Fontes Artis Musicae 54/2, 2007: 248
Editorial standards are high throughout, and maintain a careful balance between the competing demands of practical exigency and the need to provide as much scholarly evidence of variants as possible. The critical commentaries provide concise and effective descriptions of the sources and, where appropriate, information on compositional genesis and historical context. The introduction to each volume provide useful background information on historical reception, including much new material not previously brought to light in Tawaststjerna’s biography.
Daniel M. Grimley, Nineteenth-Century Music Review 2/2, 2005: 244