Britten

On this CD:

1. The Heart of the Matter, for tenor, narrator, horn & piano
Composed by Benjamin Britten
Performed by Neil Mackie, Barry Tuckwell, Roger Vignoles

2. Children and Sir Nameless, song, for soprano or tenor & piano
Composed by Benjamin Britten
Performed by Neil Mackie, Roger Vignoles

3. If it's ever spring again, song, for soprano or tenor & piano
Composed by Benjamin Britten
Performed by Neil Mackie, Roger Vignoles

4. Early Songs (3), for voice & piano
Composed by Benjamin Britten
Performed by Neil Mackie, Roger Vignoles

5. Not even summer yet, song for high voice & piano
Composed by Benjamin Britten
Performed by Neil Mackie, Roger Vignoles

6. To lie flat on the back, song for high voice & piano
Composed by Benjamin Britten
Performed by Neil Mackie, Roger Vignoles

7. Night covers up the rigid land, song for high voice & piano
Composed by Benjamin Britten
Performed by Neil Mackie, Roger Vignoles

8. The Oxen, carol for female chorus & piano
Composed by Benjamin Britten
Performed by Neil Mackie, Roger Vignoles

9. Who are these Children?, song cycle for tenor & piano, Op. 84
Composed by Benjamin Britten
Performed by Neil Mackie, Roger Vignoles

10. Who are these Children?, song cycle for tenor & piano, Op. 84
Composed by Benjamin Britten
Performed by Neil Mackie, Roger Vignoles

11. Who are these Children?, song cycle for tenor & piano, Op. 84
Composed by Benjamin Britten
Performed by Neil Mackie, Roger Vignoles

12. I'll sail upon the dog-star (from "A Fool's Preferment"), song, Z. 571/6
Composed by Henry Purcell
Performed by Neil Mackie, Roger Vignoles

13. Hears not my Phyllis (The Knotting Song), song, Z. 371
Composed by Henry Purcell
Performed by Neil Mackie, Roger Vignoles

14. Man is for the woman made (from "The Mock Marriage"), song, Z. 605/3
Composed by Henry Purcell
Performed by Neil Mackie, Roger Vignoles

15. Serenade, for tenor, horn, & strings, Op. 31
Composed by Benjamin Britten
Performed by Neil Mackie, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Barry Tuckwell
Conducted by John Tunnell

16. Now sleeps the crimson petal, song for tenor, horn & strings
Composed by Benjamin Britten
Performed by Neil Mackie, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Barry Tuckwell
Conducted by John Tunnell

17. Purcell Realizations: Suite of Songs (5), for soprano or tenor & orchestra
Composed by Benjamin Britten
Performed by Neil Mackie, Scottish Chamber Orchestra
Conducted by John Tunnell

18. Die Forelle ("In einem Bächlein helle"), song for voice & piano, D. 550 (Op. 32)
Composed by Franz Schubert
Performed by Neil Mackie, Scottish Chamber Orchestra
Conducted by John Tunnell

19. Frühlingsnacht ("Uberm Garten durch die Lüfte"), song for voice & piano (Liederkreis), Op. 39/12
Composed by Robert Schumann
Performed by Neil Mackie, Scottish Chamber Orchestra
Conducted by John Tunnell

20. Work(s)
Composed by Benjamin Britten
Performed by Steuart Bedford

21. Folksong Arrangements, Vol. I "British Isles", for voice & piano
Composed by Benjamin Britten
Performed by Neil Mackie, Scottish Chamber Orchestra
Conducted by John Tunnell

22. Folksong Arrangements, Vol. I "British Isles", for voice & piano
Composed by Benjamin Britten
Performed by Neil Mackie, Scottish Chamber Orchestra
Conducted by John Tunnell

Tracks:

Peter And The Wolf: Introduction
Peter And The Wolf: The Story Begins
Peter And The Wolf: The Bird
Peter And The Wolf: The Duck, Dialogue With The Bird, Attack Of The Cat
Peter And The Wolf: Grandfather
Peter And The Wolf: The Wolf
Peter And The Wolf: The Duck Is Caught
Peter And The Wolf: The Wolf Stalks The Bird And The Cat
Peter And The Wolf: Peter Prepares To Catch The Wolf
Peter And The Wolf: The Bird Diverts The Wolf
Peter And The Wolf: Peter Catches The Wolf
Peter And The Wolf: The Hunters Arrive
Peter And The Wolf: The Procession To the Zoo
Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra: Theme: Full Orchestra
Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra: Theme: Woodwinds
Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra: Theme: Brass
Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra: Theme: Strings
Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra: Theme: Percussion
Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra: Theme: Full Orchestra
Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra: Variation I: Flute, Piccolo (Presto)
Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra: Variation II: Oboes (Lento)
Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra: Variation III: Clarinets (Moderato)
Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra: Variation IV: Bassoons (Allegro alla marcia)
Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra: Variation V: Violins (Brilliante alla pollaca)
Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra: Variation VI: Violas (Meno mosso)
Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra: Variation VII: Cellos
Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra: Variation VIII: Double basses (Cominciando lento, ma poco accel.)
Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra: Variation IX: Harp (Maestoso)
Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra: Variation X: French Horns (L' istesso tempo)
Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra: Variation XI: Trumpets (Vivace)
Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra: Variation XII: Trombones & Tuba (Allegro pomposo)
Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra: Variation XIII: Percussion (Moderato)
Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra: Fugue: Full Orchestra
The Nutcracker Suite: Overture
The Nutcracker Suite: March
The Nutcracker Suite: Dance Of The Sugar-Plum Fairy
The Nutcracker Suite: Russian Dance
The Nutcracker Suite: Arabian Dance
The Nutcracker Suite: Chinese Dance
The Nutcracker Suite: Dance Of The Mirlitons
The Nutcracker Suite: Waltz Of The Flowers

Customer Reviews:

Great telling of a classic story as a classical music introduction.......2007-01-04

I remember being introduced to the idea of classical music telling a story with Peter and the Wolf many, many years ago. As each character in the story appears, its theme (and the instrument playing it) is introduced. Then the story takes over and builds to its climax and resolution with just the right amount of fright and humor for 2-4 year-olds.

Peter is clearly presented as a child who is disobedient and mildly punished for it, but then he is also brave and resourceful in fixing the situation he has caused. Finally is also merciful to the wolf (although he does put the wolf in a zoo, if that really bothers you). So the story has some subtle hints at morality without it being too oppressive.

In this CD version, the narration is clear and the pacing seems very adequate for even 2 year-old's attention. They often ask to hear it again, and they love the picture book I bought to go with it - see another review. They know all the instruments names, and can identify the characters just from hearing the music.

Excellent for kids and adults.......2006-11-04

A very good version of the original. Bowie's voice is just right and the orchestra is right on. Excellent to demonstrate to kids the different instruments in a orchestra and a good story as well. I listened to it when I was young and also now when I am old. It still is great to listen to the music and the story telling.

Dont have this CD but have the vinyl.......2004-05-26

I admit I do not have this CD, but I do have the vinyl version of this album. It contains just the first two pieces, Peter and Britten's Young Person's Guide... It was released by Columnbia on green translucent vinyl! Combine that with the Red Label that Columbia used and it is quite the colorful Album... I remember that I bought the album for the Britten, big Britten fan here, and partially the novelty of Bowie narrating Peter. The Britten is great, and Peter is very good with the beauty of the Philly strings, which has always been Philly's strong point. If I were looking to replace my vinyl copy, which I am not, I would not hesitate to get this disk.

My son's discovery of classical music.......2003-05-17

My son's growing obsession with this story has truly sprouted since the purchase of this album.
Oddly enough, I never really knew this story or I don't remember it from my childhood, but once my dear sweet boy discovered it's haunting and charging sound, it's become a staple in my vehicle.

A perfect way to introduce classical music to any child -- tell them a story and have all the parts of the story be different instruments from an orchestra. Beautiful, just beautiful..

David Bowie tells us a fearful story.......2002-08-09

Prokofiev here produces a rare and fresh musical story for children. A young boy decides one day to push the gate at the bottom of the garden and move into the big wild world and its dangers, a wolf and a cat. The boy is followed by his friend the duck and meets his other friend the bird who is saved by a split-hair chance from the teeth of the cat by Peter's cry of alarm. All dangers in the world are not from the deep forest. But a far worse danger comes from there : the wolf. If Peter is saved by his grandfather who takes him home, the duck is less lucky and ends up in the wolf's stomach. But Peter is looking after things with the help of the bird and they catch the wolf that is then taken to the zoo by the hunters. We are not always saved from dangers by big strong armed men, but mostly by our courage and inventive imagination. And the music tells us to be creative.

This tale is perfectly served by David Bowie's both deep and volatile voice that finds here a brand new field of artistic achievement and multiplies the music's real dramatic dimension, like a confidential story told to the listeners in their deepest ears as if he were an elfish fairy any kid would believe to be true and safe, in a word friendly.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU

Rent (1996 Original Broadway Cast)
Average customer rating:

Rent - a Celebration of Financial, Hygenic and Moral Degeneracy Masquerading as Moving Drama

I'm Hooked!

It gets even better

LOVE LOVE LOVE... ALL TIME FAVORITE

Amazing

Rent (1996 Original Broadway Cast)
Jonathan Larson , Jeff Potter , Anthony Jackson , Daniel A. Weiss , Ira Siegel , Kenny Brescia , Steve Skinner , Adam Pascal , Aiko Nakasone , Anthony Rapp , Byron Utley , Daphne Rubin-Vega , Fredi Walker , Gilles Chiasson , Gwen Stewart , Idina Menzel , Jesse L. Martin , Kristen Lee Kelly , Rodney Hicks , Stevie Wonder , Taye Diggs , Timothy Britten Parker , and Wilson Jermaine Heredia
Manufacturer: Dreamworks
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B000005ALT
Release Date: 1996-08-27

Tracks:

Tune Up #1
Voice Mail #1
Tune Up #2
Rent
You Okay Honey?
Tune Up #3
One Song Glory
Light My Candle
Voice Mail #2
Today 4 U
You'll See
Tango: Maureen
Life Support
Out Tonight
Another Day
Will I?
On The Street
Santa Fe
I'll Cover You
We're Okay
Christmas Bells
Over The Moon
La Vie Boheme
I Should Tell You
La Vie Boheme B

Tracks:

Seasons Of Love
Happy New Year
Voice Mail #3
Happy New Year B
Take Me Or Leave Me
Seasons Of Love B
Without You
Voice Mail #4
Contact
I'll Cover You-Reprise
Halloween
Goodbye Love
What You Own
Voice Mail #5
Finale
Your Eyes
Finale B
Seasons Of Love

Amazon.com

Into Broadway's creative vacuum of revivals, movie adaptations, and Hollywood star vehicles comes Rent, the story of squatters, junkies, performance artists, struggling musicians, drag queens, aspiring filmmakers, and HIV-positives (and you thought Miss Saigon's helicopter landing was cool). Undoubtedly among the defining pop cultural events of 1996, Rent has already won four Tony awards and a Pulitzer Prize for Drama. More importantly, it threatens to bring substance back to the Great White Way.

Transposing Puccini's 100-year-old opera La Bohème into modern day Bohemia (19th-century Paris's Left Bank becomes late-20th-century New York's East Village where the scourge of tuberculosis becomes the plague of AIDS) Rent celebrates life among the young, sick, and unconventional. While Broadway shows are hardly the place for authentic portrayals of the latest marginalized hipsters, composer Jonathan Larson (who died at age 36, days before his musical opened) managed to sculpt vivid characters and scenes that bring Avenue A as close as it will ever come to 42nd Street. And by telling a socially relevant story of living without the guarantee of a future (renting, that is), Larson does his own little bit to define an X'ed generation. At worst, Rent is the Hair of the '90s.

For the majority of us who won't be seeing Rent anytime soon, the Original Cast Recording is more than just an after-show souvenir. Well-packaged with a complete libretto, the two-CD set is a worthwhile album separate of live performance. Full of songs that are funny and catchy, inspiring and touching, smart and hip and not overly sentimental, Rent mixes showtune pop with elements of rock, R&B, dance, gospel, and tango to make one of the best albums of the year--certainly the best rock opera in decades. La vie bohème, indeed. --Roni Sarig

Customer Reviews:

Rent - a Celebration of Financial, Hygenic and Moral Degeneracy Masquerading as Moving Drama.......2007-05-28

When I first received my copy of Rent's soundtrack, one of my friends had the good manners to warn me that I would "hate the message." I am not surprised at this assessment, but what is more unfortunate is that the production as a whole does not make up for that objectionable message enough to make this a worthwhile purchase for anyone uninterested in a mindless affirmation of the self-destructive "bohemian" lifestyle. The lyrics alternate between vapid pseudo-philosophical platitudes ("Measure in love, seasons of love") and ugly overtones of Marxist class envy ("Yuppie scum"). The voices of the singers are disputable in quality - the most impressive being Idina Menzel's boisterous, full-bodied rock vocals and Jesse L. Martin's poignant soul-inspired voice and the worst being Daphne Rubin Vega's rasping excuse for a voice, whose every note invokes simultaneous feelings of pity and revulsion. As for the music, while certain tunes hold a certain decadent charm, the overall style soon becomes repetitive and tiresome, with guitars assailing the ears almost as frequently as paeans to drug use, socialism and "loooooove". How this mediocre blasphemy against Puccini could possibly have won a Tony is beyond my understanding, and how anyone could bring themselves to spend more than a dime upon such a second-rate soundtrack should be equally beyond your belief. Avoid this record.

I'm Hooked!.......2007-05-01

I am a Renthead/Junkie for many years now. The cast recording has been with me for years due to a recommendation from a college friend. I have been playing this CD and know the words by heart.

I was the first in line when the movie came out and had a heartfelt emotional experience. And now it has finally happened...

I just saw the show for the first time on April 28th, 2007 and may I say GO SEE IT! The songs have not lost any relevance in the last 11 years. The cast of the tour is great and I hope one day to see the original cast perform.

Thank you Jonathan Larson! God speed and I love you :-)

It gets even better.......2007-04-27

Although the movie soundtrack is fantastic, I found this soundtrack is even better. Having originated from the play, it may provide another perspective that enhances your "Rent" experience overall.

Jonathon Larson rocks!

LOVE LOVE LOVE... ALL TIME FAVORITE.......2007-01-17

I saw the musical twice, once in L.A. and other in Chicago and it was GREAT!!! I'm a huge fan and pretty much know all the words. I never get sick of listening to this cd and others find it catchy too. I'm hoping my husband will let me watch it one more time in NY. :)

Amazing.......2007-01-12

This two disk CD hardly ever leaves my CD player. I actually went out and bought a bigger CD player just so that I could leave it in.

I have always thought that the comparations between "Rent" and "Hair" are totally unfair. In "Rent" we have a full cast with real and meaningful people without the false truths and lies that were around in the late 1960. Jonathan Larson is the Balzac of Generation X.

Bernstein Favorites: Children's Classics

Average customer rating:

Brings back old memories
Could be better
Surprised at how wonderful this is -- a huge hit!
Leonard Bernstein and Peter and the Wolf
Peter and the Wolf, Prokovief read by L. Bernstein

Bernstein Favorites: Children's Classics

Manufacturer: Sony
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B0000027CN
Release Date: 1991-05-03

Tracks:

Peter and the Wolf
The Carnival Of The Animals: I - Introduction And Royal March Of The Lion
The Carnival Of The Animals: II - Hens And Cocks
The Carnival Of The Animals: III - Mules
The Carnival Of The Animals: IV - Tortoises
The Carnival Of The Animals: V - The Elephant
The Carnival Of The Animals: VI - Kangaroos
The Carnival Of The Animals: VII - Aquarium
The Carnival Of The Animals: VIII - Personages With Long Ears
The Carnival Of The Animals: IX - The Cuckoo In The Woods
The Carnival Of The Animals: X - Aviary
The Carnival Of The Animals: XI - Pianists
The Carnival Of The Animals: XII - Fossils
The Carnival Of The Animals: XIII - The Swan
The Carnival Of The Animals: XIV - Finale
The Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra (Variations And Fugue On A Theme By Purcell): Allegro maestoso e largamente (Full Orchestra)
The Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra (Variations And Fugue On A Theme By Purcell): Theme B (Woodwinds)
The Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra (Variations And Fugue On A Theme By Purcell): Theme C (Brass)
The Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra (Variations And Fugue On A Theme By Purcell): Theme D (Strings)
The Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra (Variations And Fugue On A Theme By Purcell): Theme E (Percussion)
The Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra (Variations And Fugue On A Theme By Purcell): Theme F (Full Orchestra)
The Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra (Variations And Fugue On A Theme By Purcell): Variation A (Piccolo & Flutes)
The Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra (Variations And Fugue On A Theme By Purcell): Variation B: Lento (Oboes)
The Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra (Variations And Fugue On A Theme By Purcell): Variation C: Moderato (Clarinets)
The Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra (Variations And Fugue On A Theme By Purcell): Variation D: Allegro alla marcia (Bassoons)
The Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra (Variations And Fugue On A Theme By Purcell): Variation E: Brillante - alla polacca (Violins)
The Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra (Variations And Fugue On A Theme By Purcell): Variation F: Meno mosso (Violas)
The Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra (Variations And Fugue On A Theme By Purcell): Variation G (Cellos)
The Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra (Variations And Fugue On A Theme By Purcell): Variation H: Communinciando lento ma poco a poco accel. al Allegro (Double basses)
The Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra (Variations And Fugue On A Theme By Purcell): Variation I: Maestoso (Harp)
The Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra (Variations And Fugue On A Theme By Purcell): Variation J: L'istesso tempo (French Horns)
The Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra (Variations And Fugue On A Theme By Purcell): Variation K: Vivace (Trumpets)
The Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra (Variations And Fugue On A Theme By Purcell): Variation L: Allegro pomposo (Trombones & Tuba)
The Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra (Variations And Fugue On A Theme By Purcell): Variation M: Moderato (Percussion)
The Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra (Variations And Fugue On A Theme By Purcell): Fugue: Allegro molto (Full Orchestra)

Customer Reviews:

Brings back old memories.......2007-05-13

Excellent, Excellent, Excellent!!!! I remember listening to Peter and the Wolf as a child and loving it. Now that I have three kids of my own, I thought this would be a great purchase. My 5, 3, and 1 year olds love it. Plus if you are a parent who wants your kids to appreciate music, Peter and the Wolf (Leonard Bernstein's narration is the best), The Carnival Of The Animals, and the introduction to the orchestra will give them a goods start. For $6.97 you cannot beat the price, and it would be an affordable and memorable gift to give friends as they begin to raise their own little ones.

Could be better.......2007-03-29

I am a little dissappointed with Bernstein's narration of Peter and the Wolf. I prefer the Disney rendition with Sterling Holloway. Bernstein didn't seem to put much drama into it, he sounded distracted and it just plain fell flat. The music was fine, and he did much better with The Carnival of Animals.

Surprised at how wonderful this is -- a huge hit!.......2007-03-18

I bought this for "music appreciation" education for my 6 yr. old. I thought it would be challenging to get him, as well as my 2 1/2 and 1 1/2 yr. olds, to let me play it in the car. I also thought it would bore and/or irritate my husband -- so I was nervous a bit. Well, I was completely wrong. We all "love" it.

It is high quality and pleasant to the ears. We play it whenever we are in the car. The narratives in "Peter and the Wolf" and "Carnival of the Animals" are very engaging and hold their attention. At home, my 6 yr. old sits at the dinner table and recites the entire narrative (along with the appropriate tune representing the characters) of Peter and the Wolf -- complete with Bernstein's accent! Great memory/recitation exercise and he does it voluntarily. My two year old asks for it EVERY TIME we're in the car and many times my 1 1/2 yr. old is fussy until we turn it on, then she's as content as can be.

All the kids have picked out characters to "be" in Peter and the Wolf and have assigned them to Mom and Dad. It's a lot of fun. My 2 yr. old always calls out when the cat comes along, "That's me!!" and my 1 1/2 yr. old always says, "Correct!" just before Bernstein does. The littlest to the oldest listen intently and engage with the narrator.

The last piece is my personal favorite, as it introduces each instrument in the orchestra and how it all fits together, and the music is beautiful (the kids like the music too, but prefer "Peter..."). My 6 yr. old has learned a lot from the last piece without realizing it; when I explain instruments of music we hear elsewhere, he calmly informs me, "I know that, Mom."

This fascination with the CD has lasted a long time; we did not just start listening to it last week. I think that reflects on how enjoyable it is for the whole family. My husband has told me repeatedly how glad he is we bought this. It is also a good buy here on Amazon -- I paid several dollars more for it.

Leonard Bernstein and Peter and the Wolf.......2006-11-10

I listened to this recording as a child and now will pass it on to my child!

Peter and the Wolf, Prokovief read by L. Bernstein.......2006-02-25

Great! my granddaughter (age 3) loves it. She listens to it several times aday! We have drawn the characters on a card for her to follow the story. I will keep the Saint Saens (Carnival of the Animals) for later.

Average customer rating:

music so good you'll cry
This is one for everybody
should be accepted by any rational person as strong evidence for God's existence.
Fill in your blank slate with some innovative music...
Modern classical music that is beautiful

Tabula Rasa
Dennis Russell Davies , Keith Jarrett , Gidon Kremer , Stuttgart State Orchestra , Tatiana Grindenko , Alfred Schnittke , and Twelve Cellists of the Berlin Philharmonic
Manufacturer: Ecm Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B0000262K7
Release Date: 1999-11-16

Tracks:

Fratres
Cantus In Memory Of Benjamin Britten
Fratres
Tabula Rasa

Amazon.com essential recording

This seminal disc now almost seems like the manifesto for a whole new strain of minimalism that has found an enormously receptive audience. It represented a breakthrough for Estonian composer Arvo Pärt, whose music--like that of his European colleagues John Tavener and Henryk Górecki--pursues an austerely beautiful simplicity that suggests spiritual illumination. Fratres, given here in two versions, one for piano and violin and the other for 12 cellos, repeatedly intones a sequence resembling chant to convey a sensibility that seems at once archaic and beyond time. Violinist Gidon Kremer, for whom Pärt wrote the exquisitely contemplative and hypnotic title work, grasps the music's koan-like idiom, allowing an inner fullness to resonate through the most fragile, ethereal wisps of tone against the mysterious clangings of prepared piano. The tolling of the tubular bells in Cantus in memory of Benjamin Britten is an emotionally charged lament, based on a simple minor descending scale, that introduces Pärt's fascination with what he calls "tintinnabulation": the literal and metaphorical sound of ringing bells. This recording is also famous for the acoustically warm presence produced by ECM's Manfred Eicher, which magnificently captures the mystical simplicity of Pärt's sound world. --Thomas May

Customer Reviews:

music so good you'll cry.......2007-04-21

I first heard one of the songs playing in a Starbucks and had to ask them what it was... I couldn't hear it very well, but I knew I needed to hear more. After I got home and listened to the previews on Amazon, I was hooked.

There is so much depth and sweetness to this music. It has literally brought me to tears. If you're looking for an album of chamber music that truely goes beyond the normal lulling sound and into the realm of true artistic expression, this is one to own. It is one of the prizes of my collection.

This is one for everybody.......2006-08-30

I'm not completely dug on classical and contemporanean music, ECM stuff included. Lygeti, Xenakis they make me sense, all along american minimalists like Reich or Cage. Electro-acustic is more ear-friendly for me (Ferrari, Parmegiani) but... All this speech just to say that thsi is one ECM record I own - the 1977's Tabula Rasa. The great Gidon Kramer (check out "Silence" from Nonesuch who has another version of tabula rasa) is here with all his magic, even the world-piano-star K. Jarrett plays piano, and everything makes sense. The music is so cold and complex, ethernal yet listenable for the common of mortals. Give a try, i did and i'm inloved with.

should be accepted by any rational person as strong evidence for God's existence........2006-06-20

arguably, it was THIS music by THIS composer that Manfred Eicher's label, ECM, was meant for. If an album was released on ECM, no doubt it sounds lovely, but when purpose is paired so perfectly with sound, even ECM attains something angelic and beyond. Arvo Part's non-modulating approach to harmony, great care and attention with so few notes, and the reverent spirit that carries through his efforts encompasses a catalogue of works so great and beautiful I'm not sure any 20th century composer can remotely compare.

This ECM disc is possibly the best of all. _Tabula Rasa_, first and foremost, is a masterpiece. A violin concerto of sorts, it flows through static haze and torrid whorls, with ghostly sounds of strings punctuated by the bell- and chime-like intonations on sounds of prepared piano. Divine and without momentum, this piece forever hovers between being and nothing. _Fratres_, performed in two versions here (for violin and piano, and for 12 cellos), features a chorale-like figure recurring over an ethereal drone. Radiant and simple, not a sound is out of place. the _Cantus_ is based on rich chords arranged in a variety of rhythmic patterns, so beautiful one kind of wishes it would last longer.

this is an excellent introduction to one of the best composers of the 20th century. i would really encourage you to hear this.

Fill in your blank slate with some innovative music..........2006-01-03

This CD started it all. In 1984 it introduced the then little known Arvo Pärt to a new western audience. Pärt had long before made his "tinntinnabulation" discovery (around 1976). Before this pivotal epiphany, the majority of Pärt's work fell into the serialist category. His early work shows all of the grinding atonal experimentation of the 1950s. It thus lies in stark contrast to his later work as presented on this CD (he shares this same evolutionary path with the Polish composer Górecki).

"Tabula Rasa" introduced a new music and a new style to the west. This music doesn't follow traditional harmonic or melodic forms. Listening to Pärt differs from listening to Sibelius or Stravinski. In Pärt, environment and setting are everything. The melodies and harmonies function to set a mood rather than to follow a path or a harmonic progression leading to an ultimate resolution. Subsequently, one experiences rather than listens to Pärt's work. The notes merely provide the structure. In this way Pärt's pieces represent frameworks for music (which probably explains, as related in the CD booklet, why the members of one orchestra asked "where is the music" upon seeing the score for "Tabula Rasa"). So Pärt not only presents beautiful and moving music but also helps listeners conceive of it in new ways.

The tracks on this CD provide the perfect showcase for Pärt's work. Beginners should start here. Two versions of the meditative "Fratres" appear, but each utilize such different arrangements that they sound like two separate works. "Cantus" remains one of Pärt's most moving compositions. It sounds like a slowly exploding wall of catharsis. The nearly half hour "Tabula Rasa" features incredible violin work and prepared piano (a la Cage). Overall, the mood of each piece on this CD veers strongly toward the meditative, mystical, and ethereal. As such it serves as a great introduction to the "late" Pärt and as a showcase of incredible musicianship.

Pärt remains more of a phenomenon on CD than in the concert hall. The lush rich sound of this CD, which will have your cochleas swimming, provides some evidence as to why. Not only that, the amount of quietude and silence utilized by Pärt must create difficulties for orchestra hall performance. Pärt's music, intimate and close, probably plays best in seclusion or in small venues. For the maximum experience, put on some headphones and listen to this CD. In this way listeners can experience all the subtle harmonics and nuances that make up the music of Arvo Pärt.

Modern classical music that is beautiful.......2005-10-23

Too many modern classical composers have sacrificed beauty for virtuosity and expermintality. Not so Part. This Baltic composer writes melodic music of outstanding lyricism and profound beauty. He has succesfully managed to write in the classical format while not sounding like a repetition of the great artists of yore. The music is melancolic, but not tragic, pensive but not unpenetratable. I had the great honour to listen to a live perfomance of works by Part by the Hilliard Ensamble at the Royal Festival Hall in London, UK. It was one of the few times I know of that the audience gave a standing ovation, and just did not want to stop. Mr Part was present and he almost started crying.
Part has contributed music to films as diverse as Les Amants du Pont-Neuf and Fahrenheit 9/11.

Schubert, Debussy / Rostropovich, Britten

Average customer rating:

magisterial recordings from 1968 and 1961
Great recording of lesser works.
Desert Island Disc stuff here!
Sublime
Rostropovich/Britten Recording is a Gem

Schubert, Debussy / Rostropovich, Britten

Manufacturer: Decca
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Similar Items:

Rostropovich, Master Cellist
Brahms: The Cello Sonatas
Great Recordings Of The Century - Beethoven: Triple Concerto; Brahms: Double Concerto / Oistrakh, Rostropovich, Richter
Dvorak & Saint-Saens: Cello Concertos
Beethoven: Complete Music for Cello & Piano

ASIN: B00000JXZ3
Release Date: 1999-08-10

Tracks:

Sonata For Arpeggione And Piano, D821: I. Allegro moderato
Sonata For Arpeggione And Piano, D821: II. Adagio
Sonata For Arpeggione And Piano, D821: III. Allegretto
Funf Stucke im Volkston, Op. 102: I. Mit Humor
Funf Stucke im Volkston, Op. 102: II. Langsam
Funf Stucke im Volkston, Op. 102: III. Nicht schnell
Funf Stucke im Volkston, Op. 102: IV. Nicht zu rasch
Funf Stucke im Volkston, Op. 102: V. Stark und markiert
Sonata For Cello And Piano: I. Prologue
Sonata For Cello And Piano: II. Serenade
Sonata For Cello And Piano: III. Finale

Customer Reviews:

magisterial recordings from 1968 and 1961.......2006-09-13

These are indeed magisterial readings, actually dating from 1961 (Schumann and Debussy) and 1968 (Schubert), in superb transfers. The front cover of this Decca Legends CD reissue is a little misleading about these dates, but the inside pages are clear and awesomely complete about this info and more on the technical processes, with the welcome bonus of reproductions of the two original LP covers from which these three pieces are culled.

They are ample, highly-charged romantic readings, leisurely in tempo, hightlighting the brooding wistfulness of Schubert's sonata rather than its youthful geniality, with warm, lyrical, indeed vocal tone and a wealth of nuances from the cellist, magnificent attention to dynamics and articulation from the pianist and superb listening of each other. How can anyone hearing this call the arpeggione sonata a "minor" work eludes me. The same values are applied to the Debussy sonata, resulting in a highly original and convincing interpretation, far removed from the relative dryness that characterized the French tradition of interpretation of that piece (witness Maréchal and Casadesus 1946 recording, reissued by Sony in their complete Casadesus collection). Ample, brooding, profound, harrowing, conjuring an enigmatic sound-world, with the second movement cello pizzicatos explosive like a menacing jazz double-bass: at their hands the sonata sounds like a meditation on approaching death (this was indeed one of Debussy's last compositions) - almost like a composition of Britten, one is tempted to say, and it is hard to imagine it played otherwise after that experience.

Decca's reissue poses a tricky problem of coupling and duplication, though. The Debussy and Schumann originally came on an LP with Britten's cello/piano sonata, and the Schubert was initially paired with Frank Bridge's cello/piano sonata. Now Decca has aptly reissued the Britten in an homogeneous coupling with the composer's two first solo cello suites, performed again by Rostropovich, an indispensable disc for any Britten and/or Rostropovich admirer - or just music lover (Cello Suites). But the Bridge they have reissued on CD again with the Schubert, as in the original LP - an understandable choice if not very generous in terms of timing (52'), but one that imposes on the record buyer an irksome duplication with the present disc (Schubert: Sonata for Arpeggione and Piano; Bridge: Sonata for Cello and Piano).

Bridge was Britten's teacher, so the latter's advocacy of his music is perhaps understandable, yet the cello sonata sounds to me like a broodingly romantic but ultiately impersonal and dull affair, and if forced to chose I would rather be with Schubert-Schumann-Debussy (more favorable in timing too, with 59') than with Schubert-Bridge. However, if like I do you consider that anything recorded by Britten and Rostropovich is of significance, Decca has reissued the Bridge sonata in one of their "British Music Collection" (470-189-2), paired - not very generously in terms of timing (57') - with 3 tone poems recorded in 1996 by the Academy of Saint-Martin in the Fields led by Neville Marriner (originally published in a collection called English Seasons, with tone poems by Bax, Delius, Foulds and Grainger), plus a short song by Kathleen Ferrier. It seems available only from Amazon.uk, though.

Anyway - yes, this Schubert-Schumann-Debussy is indeed of legendary stature.

Great recording of lesser works........2005-08-09

The highlight of this recording is the Schubert sonata for the Arpegione,the obsoleteness of which resulted in a free-for-all competition for transcriptions.The arrangement for cello and piano is perhaps the most famous.And in this recording,Rostropovich and Britten's excellent mastery of the work makes it sound as if Schubert had written this sonata for the cello.The beautiful cantabile inspirations are played with astounding expressiveness from both Rostropovich are Britten.the Arpegione Sonata is perhaps not a great masterpiece.But with stupendously beautiful playing from these 2 artists of the highest calibre at their highest achievements,the sonata really becomes a chef-d'oeuvre.The Schumann Cello Pieces and the Debussy Cello Sonata are pretty much the same case.They are lesser known works from both composers.But under Rostropovich and Britten's marvellous playing,one must wonder why these 2 works can ever be considered as a sign of the dwindling of the composing powers of Schumann and Debussy.

Desert Island Disc stuff here!.......2005-03-12

This is chamber music at its absolute finest. Britten was a pianist of extraordinarily understated warmth and sensitivity and the perfect accompanist to Rostropovich's soaringly beautiful cello playing. This is really is a music date beyond the every day, where something truly magical occurred between two legendary musicians. Apart from this, the quality and tone of recording are second to none. Other reviewers on this site have sniffed slightly at the choice of music, dismissing the Schumann in particular as unsophisticated. Don't listen to them. This is playing of such beauty and passion that, if you are a fan of even just one of the composers featured here - Schubert, Schummann or Debussy - you simply cannot afford to ignore this.

Sublime.......2004-08-10

This is just a joy from the first play.

Schubert is IMO the preeminent master of chamber music as he was of lieder. This performance of a rarely performed gem should put debate to rest on that. After all Schubert only had an outlet for his chamber-scale pieces...his symphonies remained undiscovered for decades. His death at 31 is one of the greatest tragedies to befall civilization and if you think I'm exaggerating buy this disc.

I seem to glaze off through the Schumann although it is probably just not as interesting a composition as the other two, and it suffers by comparison. His concerto certainly demonstrates he understood the instrument so I will have to listen more attentively.

The Debussy is interesting to me because I haven't heard Rostro play much modern stuff outside of Russians and he does a remarkably effective job of it. I'm not sure I've been impressed more by an instrumentalist than Rostro but that might be as stupidly obvious a statement as my comments on Schubert above.

Rostropovich/Britten Recording is a Gem.......2002-05-01

This remastered 1968 Decca recording of the collaboration of cellist Mstislav Rostropovich and pianist Benjamin Britten is nothing less than a model of inspired chamber music performance. The most lovely part of the album is the duo's performance of the Schubert "Arpeggione" sonata. The simple work, often difficult to make interesting in performance because of its simplicity, shines like a rare gem due to the highly sensitive playing of Benjamin Britten. Added to this is Rostropovich's wonderfully song-like presentation of the composer's melodies.

While I find the duo's performance of the Schumann "Fuenf Stuecke im Volkston" to be somewhat stodgy, I have enjoyed becoming acquainted with the work through this recording. Although a bit dull, the music is still played with clear purpose and direction.

I originally bought this CD because I wanted to have a fine recording of the Debussy cello sonata. I was delighted to hear this intricately interwoven performance. Rostropovich's performance is clear in its execution and intent, yet appropriately murky in its impressionistic delivery. I often replay the performance immediately because of the excitement the two musicians exude.

Tracks:

Peter and the Wolf, Op.67 - Leonard Bernstein/New York Phil
Carnival of the Animals: Introduction and Royal March of the Lion - Leonard Bernstein/New York Phil/Ruth&Naomi Segal
Carnival of the Animals: Hens and Cocks - Leonard Bernstein/New York Phil/Ruth&Naomi Segal
Carnival of the Animals: Wild Asses - Leonard Bernstein/New York Phil/Ruth&Naomi Segal
Carnival of the Animals: Tortoises - Leonard Bernstein/New York Phil/Ruth&Naomi Segal
Carnival of the Animals: The Elephant - Leonard Bernstein/New York Phil/Ruth&Naomi Segal
Carnival of the Animals: Kangaroos - Leonard Bernstein/New York Phil/Ruth&Naomi Segal
Carnival of the Animals: Aquarium - Leonard Bernstein/New York Phil/Ruth&Naomi Segal/David Hopper
Carnival of the Animals: Personages with Long Ears - Leonard Bernstein/New York Phil/Ruth&Naomi Segal
Carnival of the Animals: The Cuckoo in the Heart of the Woods - Leonard Bernstein/New York Phil/Ruth&Naomi Segal/Paul Green
Carnival of the Animals: Aviary - Leonard Bernstein/New York Phil/Ruth&Naomi Segal/Paula Robison
Carnival of the Animals: Paianists - Leonard Bernstein/New York Phil/Ruth&Naomi Segal
Carnival of the Animals: Fossils - Leonard Bernstein/New York Phil/Ruth&Naomi Segal/Paul Green/Tony Cirone
Carnival of the Animals: The Swan - Leonard Bernstein/New York Phil/Ruth&Naomi Segal/Gary Karr
Carnival of the Animals: Final - Leonard Bernstein/New York Phil/Ruth&Naomi Segal
Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell, Op.34: Theme A. Allegro maestoso e largamente (Full Orch
Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell, Op.34: Theme B. (Woodwinds)
Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell, Op.34: Theme C. (Brass)
Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell, Op.34: Theme D. (Strings)
Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell, Op.34: Theme E. (Percussion)
Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell, Op.34: Theme F. (Full Orch)
Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell, Op.34: Variation A. (Piccolo&Flutes)
Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell, Op.34: Variation B. Lento (Oboes)
Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell, Op.34: Variation C. Moderato (Clarinets)
Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell, Op.34: Variation D. Allegro alla marcia (Bassoons)
Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell, Op.34: Variation E. Brillante - alla polacca (Violins)
Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell, Op.34: Variation F. Meno mosso (Violas)
Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell, Op.34: Variation G. (Cellos)
Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell, Op.34: Variation H. Comminciando lento ma poco a poco...
Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell, Op.34: Variation I. Maestoso (Harp)
Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell, Op.34: Variation J. L'istesso tempo (French Horns)
Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell, Op.34: Variation K. Vivace (Trumpets)
Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell, Op.34: Variation L. Allegro pomposo (Trombones&Tuba)
Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell, Op.34: Variation M. Moderato (Percussion)
Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell, Op.34: Fugue. Allegro molto (Full Orch)

Amazon.com

As one would expect from the man who made Young People's Concerts famous, Leonard Bernstein's vintage 1960 treatment of this classic kids' piece is magically engaging. Lenny narrates it himself, and draws a radiant performance from the Philharmonic. --Ted Libbey

Customer Reviews:

Welcome to A Day in My Classroom.......2007-07-11

I'm starting each morning listening to Leonard Bernstein....teaching summer school with my Migrant 1st graders way out on a coast in CA almost on one of the the Channel Islands. Going over to Anacapa is right now going straight as an eagle from this perch, it lies just there, from where I sit right now. I'm longing to go walk there, to walk by myself in a gray unfocused morning. I love islands in many ways, all but in one way, isolation can be so very lonely. Can be reflective....opps off topic.... And this morning we are listening to pieces from this CD, it is so rich...so richly layered with fossils and bones of my days growing up in an childhood orchestra..in town with this provided by community for children. Here where I am in Oxnard in my hood it is a desert of none of this for my baby "poor" kids. No one is coming in to teach them the beauty of this music, so I resort to this CD (and other pieces) to try weave my tapestry threadbare it is. I absolutely love this as a way to calm, and bring music to children. Music so dear to me, so classic I find words evade me. I feel it.
He narrates the orchestra pieces introducing the stories, themes, giving away the inside jokes for those of us unable to know them, pointing at the musical possibilities and the invention used by the composers. I'll save playing the 1st Peter and the Wolf for now, I associate it with winter. But as a child I narrated this(Peter and the Wolf I mean) using this text so it also is a bit startling, four seasons I think for our community orchestra presentations-well had my parts to narrate(all school classes bussed in to see it) under Mrs. Portenoy whose husband was the University conductor. An excellent and exacting one. Enid Portenoy was also my dance teacher. (Something Dad said was free association dance, or running around like mustangs when he'd pick me up on time to see us finish with our gallop- to him an utter waste of time -which to this day I remember as time well spent). Four years old to 14 I so benefited from this family's role in developing community orchestra in Morgantown, WVa.In showing me pieces that are found on this CD.

I find Bernstein's voice here a delight, and his insights so warm. And a bit quirky too. In that very, very good way.I love his voice actually. It hesitates and has a kind of awkward touch. And of course it's a voice from my key of life. At one point he tells one bit about musical story in the Carnival as we await the Swan, so unexpected on double bass....yet it sings in beauty. Able to solo on something no one else can imagine possible.
No one could imagine.
In those Saint-Saens narrations one also finds the word...finds Jackasses,(teacher may need to know that) and in the Jackasses piece also finds the the Cookoo. I play both parts daily and love this for a perfect description of myself. Really it's worth the listen. Any parent or teacher should own this for children. Great riding in a car.. Please. Rather hard for the 2nd language students, perhaps....right now..... the Saint-Saens is cracking me up. They WILL get it, one day. I will help.

I'll use this every morning, over and over and over and over until as if by magic we gain insights, understandings. But the breath and beauty is just remarkable to me. Some do see with calculated eye. Within the music which plays through my being is the artistry that has me so soul enraptured. With my violin I will try a bit of this tomorrow for us. In person.

Orchestra Guide Music.......2006-11-04

Classical children's introduciton to orchestral music; this version is well-performed, and eminently suitable for portable CD players.

Good Music But Poor Story Telling!.......2005-08-09

Bernstein is usually good at communicating the essence of classical Music.Listen to his exposition of Beethoven's 3rd Symphony in the sony classical Release-"How A Great Symphony was Written".Here however he seems to be totally confused whether he is the conductor or Story Teller and struggles to make a Start!He starts tentatively with a Quiz!
For a superb story telling and terrific performance I strongly recommend Lorin Maazel with the French National Orchestra,A DG release(MUSIKFEST LABEL).The narration by Alec Clunes is absolutely delightful.Thank you very much Mr Alec Clunes!The voice modulation and characterisation is spontaneous and infectitious!Lorin maazel does a neat job with Britten's "Young Person's Guide to The Orchestra".Highly recommended for repeated Listening.

Great CD -- Take if from a music teacher!.......2004-02-11

I am an elementary music teacher, and I use all three of these works in my classroom. "Peter and the Wolf" is a great introduction to classical music for my kindergarten and first grade, and Britten's "Young Persons Guide" is a great way to introduce the instruments of the orchestra. "Carnival of the Animals" is a hit with all of my students.

I have individual recordings of each of these works at school, but I still prefer to bring in my Bernstein CD from home. There is something truly excellent about the Bernstein narration; his calm manner reminds me of another of my heroes, Fred Rogers.

I especially enjoy that Bernstein chose to include young people (ages 13 to 23) in "Carnival of the Animals." The kids are really excited to hear someone close to their age.

Maybe Bernstein isn't new or flashy, but he is a welcome break from the copious flash in my students' lives.

A Parent.......2001-08-21

It's a five star in my 4 year-old's eyes. She absolutely loves Peter and the Wolf. The best CD I've bought her yet.
Update: Now over a year later, my daughter still loves this CD. She has me play it for her EVERY DAY when I take her home from kindergarten. We've sampled other versions, but we both think that Bernstein's version is the BEST. In spite of the other reviewer's opinion, we believe he did a masterful job "telling" the story rather that sounding like he's reading it. The instrumental performance is superior and never loses her interest. Some of the other versions sound like they were recorded in a tin can. This one is superb.
She likes the Carnival of the Animals (esp. the LION), but she prefers Peter and the Wolf.

Tracks:

Peter And The Wolf: Introduction
Peter And The Wolf: The Story Begins
Peter And The Wolf: The Bird
Peter And The Wolf: The Duck, Dialogue with the bird, Attack of the Cat
Peter And The Wolf: Grandfather
Peter And The Wolf: The Wolf
Peter And The Wolf: The Duck Is Caught
Peter And The Wolf: The Wolf Stalks The Bird And The Cat
Peter And The Wolf: Peter Prepares To Catch The Wolf
Peter And The Wolf: The Bird Diverts The Wolf
Peter And The Wolf: Peter Catches The Wolf
Peter And The Wolf: The Hunters Arrive
Peter And The Wolf: The Procession To The Zoo
Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra: Theme: Full Orchestra
Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra: Theme: Woodwinds
Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra: Theme: Brass
Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra: Theme: Strings
Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra: Theme: Percussion
Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra: Theme: Full Orchestra
Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra: Variation I: Flute, Piccolo (Presto)
Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra: Variation II: Oboes (Lento)
Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra: Variations III: Clarinets (Moderato)
Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra: Variation IV: Bassoons (Allegro alla marcia)
Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra: Variations V: Violins (Brillante alla pollaca)
Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra: Variations VI: Violas (Meno mosso)
Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra: Variation VII: Cellos
Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra: Variation VIII: Doublebasses (Comminicando lento, ma pocco accel.)
Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra: Variation IX: Harp (maestoso)
Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra: Variation X: French Horns (Il stesso tempo)
Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra: Variation XI: Trumpets (Vivace)
Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra: Variation XII: Trombones & Tuba (Allegro pomposo)
Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra: Variation XIII: Percussion (Moderato)
Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra: Fugue: Full Orchestra (Allegro molto)
Carnival Of The Animals: Introduction
Carnival Of The Animals: Royal March Of The Lion
Carnival Of The Animals: Hens And Cocks
Carnival Of The Animals: Wild Horses
Carnival Of The Animals: Tortoise
Carnival Of The Animals: The Elephant
Carnival Of The Animals: Kangaroos
Carnival Of The Animals: Aquarium
Carnival Of The Animals: Personages With Long Ears
Carnival Of The Animals: The Cuckoo In The Depth Of The Forest
Carnival Of The Animals: Aviary
Carnival Of The Animals: Pianists
Carnival Of The Animals: Fossils
Carnival Of The Animals: The Swan
Carnival Of The Animals: Finale

Customer Reviews:

This is the one you're looking for!.......2003-08-14

We took our children to the Santa Cruz Symphony's production of Peter and the Wolf. Since the concert, they have been very interested in this classical music collection and listen to it regularly. We purchased this CD and the book "Peter and The Wolf" by Vagin Vladimir (fabulous illustrations). Together, they're a charming gift that any child will love and it could very well be their introduction to classical music for a lifetime.

a beautiful recording.......2002-06-11

David Bowie's voice is wonderful in this beautiful recording of Peter and the Wolf. the orchestra is rich and full and alive.

The most imaginary performance of Peter and Wolf.......2001-08-14

The version of Eugene Ormandy conducting The Philadelphia Orchestra has most youthful and imaginary reading of Peter and Wolf. The color and the flare of the story is vividly drawn out. The orchestral sound are warm, delight and dynamic. Thanks RCA for reserving this musical artistry and rematster it.

Peter & The Wolf - and David Bowie, too!.......2000-01-27

This CD is one of my family's favorites. From the soothing voice of David Bowie (yes, THAT David Bowie!) unfolds the delightful story of Peter and his menagerie of animal friends and foes. The orchestration is simply beautiful, the reading expressive and vibrant, and the story a classic. I would highly recommend this CD - as it also includes two other pieces that will delight music lovers of all ages.

Average customer rating:

Lux aeterna
Mindbendingly beautiful
Crystal-clear performances bring out real beauty
Proving the Durability of a Modern Masterpiece

Morten Lauridsen: Lux aeterna
Morten Lauridsen , Stephen Layton , and Polyphony
Manufacturer: Hyperion UK
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

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Similar Items:

Christmas Present From Polyphony
Lauridsen: Lux Aeterna, etc. / Salamunovich, Los Angeles Master Chorale
Eric Whitacre: Cloudburst and other choral works
Morten Lauridsen: Nocturnes
O Magnum Mysterium

ASIN: B0007GP69W
Release Date: 2005-02-08

Customer Reviews:

Lux aeterna.......2007-05-16

I really loved this cd it is very beautiful . As a singer I have sang selections of these in Latin

Mindbendingly beautiful.......2007-01-24

Gorgeous music. Hard to believe it is contemporary with its chant and canon like qualities, but the real accomplishment of the composer is that he creates such harmony and melody with dissonance and modern chord structure. This music healed every cell in my body and soul.

Crystal-clear performances bring out real beauty.......2006-03-16

When I first heard Lux Aeterna performed, I immediately went out and purchased the premier recording, performed by the Los Angeles Master Chorale under the direction of Paul Salamunovich. I still enjoy that recording, though it is at times dark and quite thick. This new recording by Polyphony and the British Sinfonia moves the work from a rich romantic full choir to a more personal and intimate chamber ensemble. The differences are stunning. While the LAMC's recording melts the harmonies into one rich, thick sound, Polyphony's recording showcases each and every line, part, and harmony. In addition, The chamber sound is well-suited for the madrigali, especially so for Ubi Caritas et Amor.

As a chorister, I can affirm that Lauridsen's compositions are a joy to sing. But they are just as suited to listening. His compositions bring out the best of the choral genre, and this recording showcases that beautiful writing behind the strength of pure tone and clean diction. While this CD would make an excellent companion to the original recording of Lux Aeterna, it also stands quite well on its own.

Proving the Durability of a Modern Masterpiece.......2005-07-24

Morton Lauridsen is a fine composer whose works for chorus and orchestra are among the best being composed today. Since the premiere of his now famous 'Lux aeterna', a repertoire staple with the Los Angeles Master Chorale and Orchestra, this incredibly moving work has enjoyed frequent performances not only in the United States but with European ensembles as well.

This wondrous recording features Polyphony with the Britten Sinfonia under the baton of Stephen Layton. The title piece grows in stature with time and in this performance the myriad subtexts are more clearly defined. Lauridsen tends to write thick choral sounds and while these are organ-like in their beauty, Layton clarifies the more dense sections of the work and the result is illuminating. For the more massive, darker sound the Los Angeles Master Chorale under Paul Salamunovich still satisfies: it is nice to have the 'big' sound along side the 'chamber' sound.

Added bonuses on this recording are the six 'Madrigali', the 'Ave Maria', 'Ubi caritas et amor', and 'O magnum mysterium', each of which are given superlative performances. The recorded sound is crystal-clear without losing resonance. For those who hold the 'Lux aeterna' in high esteem this is a recording that should be along side the original. As for those to whom Lauridsen's name is unknown, this beautiful recording is a fine introduction to an important composer. Highly Recommended. Grady Harp, July 05

Average customer rating:

Old World Sound to Calm the Senses
NOT OF THIS WORLD
Spare brilliance
Magnificat: Magnificent!
If you only buy one Pärt CD, buy this one

Arvo Pärt Sanctuary

Manufacturer: EMI Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Similar Items:

Alina - Arvo Part
Lamentate
Silencio
Tabula Rasa
Arvo Pärt: De Profundis

ASIN: B000002SRI
Release Date: 1998-02-17

Tracks:

Cantus In Memory Of Benjamin Britten
Summa
The Beatitudes - Stephen Cleobury
Fratres (Version VI) - The London Philharmonic
Festina Lente
Magnificat - Stephen Cleobury
De profundis - Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir
Tabula Rasa: Silentium

Customer Reviews:

Old World Sound to Calm the Senses.......2007-01-03

Beautiful, pure, and often heavenly are my select words to describe this CD.

NOT OF THIS WORLD.......2004-08-31

Tabula Rasa: Silentium : This music is not of this world. I worship/pray in silence while driving with this music on with a palm facing the windshield. The haunting, surreal background...the two main violins mournfully cries out aloud...yet so beautiful...my heart cries with them.

Spare brilliance.......2003-01-08

Spending a lot of words describing Pärt's music seems like defeating the purpose. It is transcendent, haunting, solemn, quiet, and all the other things the other reviewers say. I view it, stylistically, as somewhere between the minimalism of Glass et al, and the ambient textures of Steve Roach -- if that description makes any sense. I find myself a little more at home with his instrumental pieces than his choral work, but that's just personal preference.

This is a good first Pärt CD -- then you can move on to other works, especially his Te Deum.

Magnificat: Magnificent!.......2002-08-05

I realize the title of this review is pretty silly, but I had to think of something.
I have always enjoyed classical music, but not nearly as much as other genres... that is until a friend of mine gave me SANCTUARY. I listen to it all the time now. The genius of Arvo Part's music is that although it is quite somber, it is very beautiful. I think that if you don't like classical music now, you will once you listen to Arvo Part. My favourite piece is Magnificat, hence the title.

If you only buy one Pärt CD, buy this one.......2002-02-21

This exquisite recording is an "Arvo Pärt Sampler" that provides a great introduction to this wonderful composer. I bought it because it contains his two best-known short choral works, the Beatitudes and the Magnificat. The performances by the choir of King's College Cambridge are transcendent, as usual; it is very difficult to achieve the serenity of sound needed to communicate Pärt's music, but King's is perfect for it. The instrumental works are samples of Pärt's greatest hits including an especially heart-rending performance of the Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten.

Tracks:

Overture To 'Tannhauser'
Domna, Pos Vos Ay Chausida
We Don't Merely Use Instruments, We Play On Them. And They Play On Us.
Hungarian Dance No.7
The Violin Is One Of The Most Tender And Beautiful Instruments Ever Invented.
Violin Concerto In D Major (Adagio)
But For A Long Time It Was Seen As The Instrument Of The Devil.
The Soldier's Tale: Triumphal March Of The Devil
The Manipulative Seductiveness Of The Gypsy Violin.
Csardas Music
The Violin And The Initiation Of Nature
The Four Seasons (Spring, Mvt 1)
Birds Are Again Evoked In The Second Concerto, Especially Music's Natural Favourite.
The Four Seasons (Summer, Mvt 1)
Like The Devil, The Violin Is A Master Of Disguise.
Old Viennese Dance No.3 'Schon Rosmarin'
The Menacing Sensuality Of Ravel's Tzigane: A Very Different Side Of The Violin:
Tzigane
Do We Now Have The True Measure Of This Instrument? Not Just Yet.
Caprice No.24
The Many Effects Of The String Tremolando: Brandenburg Concerto No.4 (Last Mvt)/From Joy To Fright/Quartettsatz In C Minor/The String Tremolo Practically Spells The World Agitato.
Variations On A Theme Of Frank Bridge (No.7)
Prokofiev's Tremolo In Romeo And Juliet Should Not Be Heard Just Before Bedtime.
Romeo And Juliet: Act IV
Vivaldi Use It To Illustrate The Shivering Of Travellers Crossing The Ice.
The Four Seasons (Winter, Mvt 1)
The Violin Muted
Clair De Lune
The Gentleness Of Muted Strings Persists Even When A Whole Orchestra Plays.
Piano Concerto No.21 In C Major, K.467 (Slow Mvt)
The Pizzicato Violin
Pizzicato Polka
In Prokofiev's Second Violin Concerto, The Accompaniment Is Pizzicato.
Violin Concerto No.2 In G Minor (Slow Mvt)
Varieties Of Pizzicato: Colas Breugnon (The People's Feast)/Now A Drier, Leaner, Hungrier Pizzicato. There's Not A Lot Of Comfort Here./Capriol Suite (Tordion)/The Use Of Pizzicato As 'Percussion'/Romeo And Juliet (Act I)/Mahler Used Pizzicato...
The Planets (Mars - The Bringer Of War)
The Technique Of Double-Stopping Enables The Violin To Play Duets With Itself./Sonata No.3 In C Major For Unaccompanied Violin (Fugue)/Now A Later Example Of The Same Technique
Hungarian Dance No.4
Double-Stopping Is A Standard Feature Of A Lot Of Folk Music.
The Four Seasons (Autumn, Mvt 1)
Now The Same Technique, But The Sound Might Have Come From Another World.
Bolero
Double-Stopping Can Only Approximate The Sound Of A Real Violin Duet.
Cadenza To The Violin Concerto By Brahms
Now Compare That With A Real Violin Duet.
Forty-Four Duos (No. 1: Teasing Song)
Another Duo By Bartok, Demonstrating The Violin's Rich Lower Register
Forty-Four Duos (No.2: Maypole Dance)
And Now What May Be The Most Beautiful Accompanied Violin Duet In History
Concerto In D Minor For Two Violins (Largo)
The Soul Of The Violin Is In Song; But What About This Weird Passage?
Violin Concerto No.1 In D Major (Mvt 2)
The Use Of Harmonies In The Orchestra Can Be Both Magical And Unsettling.
Symphony No.1 'Titan' (Mvt 1, Opening)
Tchaikovsky's Use Of Harmonics In The Sleeping Beauty Is Both Strange And Darling.
The Sleeping Beauty (Act II, No.15: Entr'Acte)
Ravel's Harmonics In Mother Goose Effect A Magical Transformation.
Ma Mere L'Oye - Mother Goose (Beauty And The Beast)
Stravinsky's Harmonics In The Firebird Transport Us Almost Into Another World./The Firebird (Introduction)
The Natural Upper Notes Of The Violins Have A Unique Emotional 'Grab'.
Also Sprach Zarathustra (Of The Afterworldsmen)
Still In Their Upper Register, The Violins Unleash The Energy Of A Young Colt.
Variations On A Theme Of Frank Bridge (No. 4)
Elsewhere, Britten Uses The Same High Register To Create A Very Different Mood.
Four Sea Interludes (Dawn) From 'Peter Grimes'
To End This Outing With The Violins, A Charming Little Elfin Dance
Elfenreigen

Tracks:

Introduction To The Viola
Viola Concerto (Mvt 1)
Khatchaturian Gets A Very Different Sound From It: Fuller, Fruitier, More Exotic.
Gayane Suite No.1 (Armen's Solo)
Very Nearly The Whole Of The Violin's Upper Register Is Also Available To The Viola.
Passacaglia, Op.33b From 'Peter Grimes'
The Viola Can Bring A Special, Rich Twanginess To Pizzicato That The Violins Lack./Don Quixote/Berlioz Drew Sounds From It That Retain Their Metallic Strangeness Even Today.
Harold In Italy (Mvt 4)
The Muted Viola: Intimate, Gentle, Poignant In Dvork
Cypresses (No.9)
The Massed Violas Of The Modern Symphony Orchestra In Mahler
Symphony No.4 (Mvt 3)
The 'Period' Viola In Bach
Brandenburg Concerto No.6 (Last Mvt)
The Cello: A Voice Of Unique Nobility
Suite No.1 For Unaccompanied Cello (Prelude)
Brahms And The 'Soul' Of The Cello
Piano Concerto No.2 In B Flat Major (Mvt 3)
Most Orchestral Composers Tend To Emphasize The Cello's Lower Register.
Cantata 'Herz Und Mund Und Tat Und Leben', BWV 147 (Soprana Aria: Bereite Dir, Jesu)
In The Time Of Beethoven The Cello Remained As Fundamental As Ever.
Symphony No.3 'Eroica' (Finale)
But The Cello Is Not Condemned To Spend Its Life In The Basement.
Elfentanz, Op.39
Not Only In Recital Showpieces Like That Is The Cello Is Used In Its Highest Register.
The Protecting Veil (Opening)
A Cello With An Identity-Crisis: The Pizzicato Flamencan
Flamenco
Double-Stopping In The Lower Reaches Of The Cello's Range
Solo Suiet For Cello And Piano (Sardana)
It's In The Middle Register That The Cello Really Comes Into Its Own.
Oriental Dance, Op.2 No.2
It Was To The Cellos That Beethoven Gave Two Of His Most Famous Themes./Symphony No.5 (Mvt 2)/Still More Famous Than That Theme Is This One From The Ninth Symphony.
Symphony No.9 (Finale)
Introduction To The Double-Bass
The Carnival Of The Animals (The Elephant)
But The Double-Bass Can Be Intensely Expressive And Graceful.
Elegy No.1 In D Major
The Range Of The Double-Bass Is The Greatest Of All The String Instruments/Allegro Di Concerto, 'Alla Mendelssohn'/And It's Also Capable Of Very Considerable Virtuosity.
Capriccio Di Bravura
Double-Bass Solos In Orchestral Scores Are Rare But Often Memorable./Symphony No.1 'Titan' (Mvt 3)/In His Third Symphony Mahler Makes A Very Different Use Of The Instrument./Symphony No.3 (Mvt 1)
The Double-Bass Muted In Prokofiev/Lieutenant Kije Suite (Kije's Wedding)/In Another Work Prokofiev Uses The Double-Bass To Enhance The Winds./Romeo And Juliet (Act III)/And He Combines The Bass Clarinet With A Shivering Tremolo From The Double-Basses....
Symphony No.5 (Mvt 3)/So Much For The Strings/On Now To The Winds

Tracks:

The Antiquity And Magic Of The Flute
Prelude A L'Apres-Midi D'Un Faune
The Versatility And Agility Of The Flute
Orchestral Suite No.2 In B Minor (Badinerie)
The Flute In Fifteenth-Century Spain
Sa'Dawi
Other Flutes: The Bass And Alto
Chamber Music No.II
The Piccolo - Aptly Named
La Naissance D'Osiris (Mvt 6)
From A Piccolo Of The Eighteenth Century To One Of Its Descendants In The Twentieth
Suite No.1 For Small Orchestra (Valse)
A Variety Of Techniques
Chamber Music No.II
Flutter-Tonguing. But Tchaikovsky Got There Eighty Years Before.
The Nutcracker (Act II, No.2: Scene)
From The Transverse To The Vertical: The Baroque Recorder
Recorded Suite In A Minor (Menuet II)
An Unfamiliar, Early Vision Of The Instrument
Naelden, Naelden
The Bachian Oboe
Cantata 'Ein Feste Burg Ist Unser Gott', BWV 80 (No.7: Duetto)
Introduction To The Cor Anglais Or 'English Born'
Symphony No.9 'From The New World' (Mvt 2)
The Loneliness Of The Cor Anglais
The Swan Of Tuonela
The Cor Anglais Joins The French Horn In Haydn.
Symphony No.22 'The Philosopher' (Opening)
Introduction To The Oboe D'Amore, Beloved Of Bach - But Also Of Ravel
Bolero
The Clarinet Family: Boxing The Compass, From The Depths Of The Bass Clarinet.../The Egyptian (Violence)/...To The Raucous And Squealy.../Taras Bulba (The Death Of Ostap)/...To The Shrill And Complaining...
Petrushka (No.8: Peasant With Bear)/...To The High Sprits Of A Playful Puppy./Symphonie Fantastique (Last Mvt)/And To The Downright Jazzy/Romeo And Juliet (Act II)
As The High Clarinets Tend To Be Loud, So The Bass Tends To Be Soft:
Gayane Suite No. 1 (Mvt 5)
The Bass Clarinet Is Used By Most Composers Mainly As A Colouring Agent.../Petrushka (No.4: The Blackamoor)/...But It Does Occasionally Get A Whole Tune To Itself./Iberia (Almeria).
The Range Of The Normal Clarinet Parts Goes Quite High...
The Snow Maiden (Scene 5: Melodrama)
...And Quite Low.
Peter And The Wolf (The Cat)
The Clarinet As Concerto Soloist
Clarinet Concerto In A Major (Rondo)
But That's Not The Instrument Mozart Wrote It For; This Is:
Clarinet Concerto In A Major (Rondo)
Introduction To The Saxophone
Hary Janos Suite (Mvt 4)
The Soprano Saxophone Has Quite A Different Feel To It.
L'Arlesienne Suite No.1 (Minuet)
The Little Sopranino Sax Goes Even Higher.
Bolero
The Most Famous Use Of The Saxophone Is In An Orchestration By Ravel.
Pictures At An Exhibition (The Old Castle)
The Saxophone Can Be Quite Contagiously Good-Humoured.
Sax-O-Phun
The Puffa-Puffa Image Of The Bassoon
Peter And The Wolf (Grandfather)
The Bachian Bassoon, In Accompanimental Mode
Cantata 'Weichet Nur, Betrubte Schatten' ('Wedding Cantata'), BWV 202 (Aria No.1)
Bizet Leaves The Puffa-Puffa Image Out, Allowing The Bassoon To Sing./Carmen Suite No.1 (Les Dragons D'Alcala)
And Ravel, Also In Spanish Mode, Does Likewise.
Bolero
The Bassoon As A Voice Of High Seriousness, Indeed Desolate Loneliness
Symphony No.3 (Opening)
The Eerie Bassoon In Its Highest Register
The Rite Of Spring (Opening)
Stravinsky Now Draws On Its Lowest Register, Lonely And Melancholy.
The Firebird Suite (1919, Berceuse)
The Bassoon As Concerto Soloist, Avoiding All Exaggeration
Bassoon Concerto In G Minor (Finale)
The Deep-Voiced Contra-Bassoon, As A Fairy-Tale Beast
Ma Mere L'Oye - Mother Goose (Beauty And The Beast)
The French Horn Under Its Woodwind Hat
Wind Quintet, Op.43 (Last Mvt)
Now A More Prominent Role, In A Woodwind Quintet From An Earlier Era
Wind Quintet In A Minor, Op.100 No.5 (Mvt 2)
The Horn In Harmonious Blend With Strings In Another Quintet
Horn Quintet, K.407 (Finale)

Tracks:

The Trumpet As Virtuoso Soloist
Brandenburg Concerto No.2 (Last Mvt)
The Special Brillance Of Paired Trumpets
Concerto In C For Two Trumpets, RV537 (Mvt 1)
The Ceremonial Trumpet
Fanfare For The Common Man
Trumpets And Drums - An Incomparable Alliance
Messiah (The Trumpet Shall Sound)
The Versatility Of The Trumpet, From The Most Public To The Most Lonely
Piano Concerto In F (Slow Mvt)
The Trumpet As The Voice Of The City/An American In Paris/The Trumpet As Recruitment Officer/The Soldier's Tale (The March)/The Trumpet As Swaggerer
Carmen Suite No.2 (Habanera)
The Trumpet As The Voice Of Strength And Courage
Carmet Suite No.2 (Toreador's Song)
The Trumpet Muted/Petrushka (No.4: The Blackamoor)/Lieutenant Kije Suite (Opening)/The Trumpet As The Voice Of Weariness
Billy The Kid
The Trumpet As Character Actor
Pictures At An Exhibition (No.6)
The Trumpet As The Voice Of God
Mass In B Minor ('Et Exspecto')
The Birth Of The Trombone
Aenmerckt Nu Hier
The Birth Of The Brass As A Family
Canzon 12 In Double Echo
The Trombone In The Eighteenth Century
Trombone Concerto In B Flat Major (Finale)
The Tone Of The Tenor Trombone/Romance For Trombone And Organ/The Memorable Voice Of The Bass Trombone/Requiem (Mvt 2)/But The Bass Trombone Is More Than An Instrumental Bullfrog.
Hosannah
The Trombones Become Part Of The Orchestra.
Symphony No.5 (Finale)
The Wagnerian Trombone:/Overture To 'Tannhauser'
The Trombone As Caricaturist
Pulcinella (No.19: Vivo)
The Trombone As Raspberry/Concerto For Orchestra (Intermezzo)
The Horn And The Hunt
Horn Concerto No.4 In E Flat, K.495 (Finale)
The Challenging Horn Of The Baroque
Abaris Ou Les Boreades (Menuet)
The Scarcity Of First-Rate Players In Handel's Time
Walter Music (Minuet 1)
The Horn As Magician/The Firebird Suite (1919, Finale)
Horns And The Sound Of Nobility
Overture To 'Tannhauser' (Opening)
The Special Sound Of The Horn In Its Higher Register
Mass In B Minor ('Quoniam Tu Solus Sanctus')
The Trumpet-Like Sound Of Massed Horns
Symphony No.3 (Mvt 1, Opening)
The Tuba - Unfairly Maligned?
Symphony No.6 (Mvt 3)
The Tuba Perfectly Cast By Ravel
Pictures At An Exhibition (Bydlo)

Tracks:

Introduction. And We Begin With A Bang.
Fanfare For The Common Man/The Bass Drum On The Battlefields/Wellington's Victory, Op.91 (Opening)
At The Opposite Extreme Is The Triangle.
Piano Concerto No.1 In E Flat (Scherzo)
Categories Of Percussion: Tuned And Untuned. The Side Drum
Overture To 'La Gazza Ladra' - The Thieving Magpie (Opening)
The Side Drum In An Effective But Unexpected Role/Clarinet Concerto (Mvt 1)
The Tambourine. One Of The Oldest Instruments In The World
Den Hoboecken Dans
Even Older Is The Originally Oriental Gong.
Ma Mere L'Oye - Mother Goose (Laideronette)
No Single Instrument Can Match The Gong In Evoking The Breaking Of Waves./Passacaglia, Op.33b From 'Peter Grimes'/But Gongs Don't Have To Be Struck To Be Effective.
Gymnopedie No.2
The Cymbals Are Generally Discovered Early In Life./The Sanguine Fan/And They Do More Than Clash Together Loudly. They Can Be Clashed Together Softly./Studio Example: But They Needn't Be Clashed Together At All/Studio Example: They Can Be Lightly...
Other Untuned Percussion Instruments Include The Whip.: Piano Concerto In G Major (Opening)/And Here Are No Fewer Than Twenty, Cracked By Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker (Act I, Scene 5)
More Versatile Than The Whip Are The Wood Blocks.../Studio Example/...Which Crop Up All Over The Place In Twentieth-Century American Music.
Rodeo (Hoe-Down)
Related To The Wood Blocks, By Sound, Are The Castanets./Jota Aragonesa/But The Castanets Were Also Used By Monteverdi Back In The Seventeenth Century.
Scherzi Musicali (Damigella Tutta Belle)
A Still Earlier Example From Fifteenth-Century Spain
Yo M'Enamori D'Un Aire
The Birth Of The Bongo
Symphonic Dances From 'West Side Story'
From The Streets Of New York To The Blacksmith's Shop/Il Trovatore ('Anvil Chorus')
Desert-Island Decibels: Grand Canyon Suite (On The Trail)/Arcana
From One Vegetable To Another: The Humble Squash, Or Marrow/Huapango
Onwards To The Tuned Percussion. First, The Timpani
Also Sprach Zarathustra (Introduction)
But The Drum Roll Can Be More Effectively Frightening Than The Big Bang.: Symphony No.2 'Resurrection' (Mvt 3)
Not One Drum Roll, But Many/Grand Canyon Suite (Sunrise)/Symphonie Fantastique (Last Mvt)
Taking Advantage Of Tunability
Music For Strings, Percussion And Celeste (Mvt 2)
The Russian Composer Rodion Shchedrin Takes A Downward Turn./Carmen Suite (Changing Of The Guard)/Tuned, Yes; But For The Truly Melodic We Must Look Elsewhere.
Introducing The Glockenspiel/Carmen Suite (Carmen's Entrance And Habanera)
Saint-Saens And The Xylophone
The Carnival Of The Animals (Fossils)
Ravel And The Xylophone
Ma Mere L'Oye - Mother Goose (Laideronette)
Introducing The Marimba/Carmen Suite (First Intermezzo)
Introducing The Vibraphone
The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre (Narange Dolce)
The Vibraphone Goes Russian.../Carmen Suite (Carmen's Entrance And Habanera)/...And Is Joined By The Marimba./Carmen Suite (Carmen's Entrance And Habanera)
Introducing The Hungarian Cimbalom
Folk Dances
The Cimbalom And The Symphony Orchestra
Hary Janos Suite (Mvt 3)
Introducing The Tubular Bells
Hary Janos Suite (Viennese Musical Clock)
A More 'Up-Front' Approach From Rodion Shchedrin
Carmen Suite (Introduction)
But The Bells Can Also Make The Sinister Even More Sinister./Symphony No.7 'Sinfonia Antartica' (Mvt 1)
Introducing The Celeste
The Nutcracker (Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy)
Magic, In The Use Of Collective Percussion
Miroirs (La Vallee Des Cloches)
Plucked Instruments: The 'Undercover Percussion'/Carmen Suite (Scene)
A Prime Case In Point Is The Harp, Irresistible To The Romantics./The Nutcracker (Act II, No.1: Scene)/The Non-Solo Harp As An Integral Part Of The Orchestra/Hungarian Rhapsody No.1
The Traditionally Subservient Role Of The Harpsichord In The Baroque Orchestra
Brandenburg Concerto No.2 (Slow Mvt)
The Piano: King Of The Tuned Percussion/Symphony No.3 'Organ' (Mvt 3)/And A Quarter Of A Century After That:
Petrushka (Russian Dance)
The Anti-Romantic Piano As An Integral Part Of The Orchestra
Music For Strings, Percussion And Celeste (Last Mvt)

Tracks:

Keyboard Instruments In The Orchestra - The Most Powerful Of Them All:
Symphony No.3 'Organ' (Finale)
But Things In Handel's Day Were Very Different.
Organ Concerto In B Flat, Op.4 No.3 (Last Mvt)
The Organ Is Difficult To Classify.
An Unexpected, Organ-related Guest
Concerto Pour Zampogna (Last Mvt)
Peasant-Fancying... And A Touch Of The Roaming Cowboy
Les Miserables (Drink With Me)
Outside Artefacts And The Power Of Association
Mahler's Sleighbells
Symphony No.4 (Opening)
A Roll-Call Of Some Unusual Guests/The Typewriter/Parade
Chains, And More/Integrales/An American In Paris/Sandpaper Ballet
Purpose-Built Oddities: Wind Machines/Symphony No.7 'Sinfonia Antartica' (Opening)
Don Quixote (Variation VIII)
National Calling Cards: The Guitar For Spain/Concierto De Aranjuez (Finale)
And The Guitar's Poor American Relative, The Banjo/Washington Breakdown
And Poorer Still, The Mouth Organ/The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre (Packing Up)
The Balalaika For Russia/Romeo And Juliet (Act II: No.14)
The Maracas For Mexico/The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre (El Desayuno)
The Bongos And Congas And A Whole Wealth Of Other Drums For Africa And Central America/Studio Example
The Sitar Of India/Evening Raga: Bhapoli
The Accordion For France (Especially Paris)/Paris Canaille
The Zither For Vienna/The Third Man (Theme)
The Cimbalom For Hungary/Folk Dances
The Guitar As An Integral Part Of The Orchestra/Rondena
There Are Whole Orchestras Of Balalaikas./Sveit Mesiats
The Effect Of The Wordless Human Voice, Used Purely As An Instrument/Symphony No.7 'Sinfonia Antartica' (Mvt 1)
Nocturnes
Instruments And the Imitation Of Nature. The Clarinet As Cuckoo
The Carnival Of The Animals (The Cuckoo)
The Flute As An All-purpose Aviary
The Carnival Of The Animals (The Aviary)
The Oboe As Duck
Peter And The Wolf (The Duck)
The Recording Of Reality. Does It Work As Well?
The Pines Of Rome (The Pines Of The Janiculum)
The Recording Of Reality Electronically Reborn In New Guises
Cantus Articus - Concerto For Birds And Orchesra (Mvt 2)
Beethoven Turns Avian: Cuckoo, Nightingale, And Quail
Symphony No.6 'Pastoral' (Andante Molto Mosso)
Some Improbable Casting: The Violin As Braying Donkey
The Carnival Of The Animals (Persons With Long Ears)
A Truly Orchestral Hee-haw To Be Reckoned With
Overture To 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'
A Thunderstorm In A Million
Symphony No.6 'Pastoral (Allegro-Allegretto)
the Instrumental Depiction Of A Silent World
The Carnival Of The Animals (The Aquarium)
Saint-Saens' Menagerie Takes A Curtain Call.
The Carnival Of The Animals (Finale)

Tracks:

The Grouping Of Instrumental Families. An Additive Approach. First, Two Violins
Forty-Four Duos (No.4)
A Great Contrast, Of Both Pitch And Character: Violin And Viola
Duo For Violin And Viola In B Flat Major, K.424 (Finale, Vars 1 & 2)/Studio Example
Arrival Of The Standard String Trio: Violin, Viola, And Cello
String Trio In B Flat (Menuetto)
The String Quartet: Two Violins, Viola, And Cello
String Quartet In F, Op.18 No.1 (Mvt 3)
The String Quintet - When The Extra Instrument Is A Second Viola
String Quartet No.5 In D, K.593 (Adagio)
The String Quintet - When The Extra Instrument Is A Second Cello
String Quintet In C (Mvt 3)
The String Sextet: Two Violins, Two Violas, And Two Cellos
String Sextet In B Flat (Mvt 2)
The String Octet: The Standard String Quaret Times Two
Octet In E Flat, Op.20 (Mvt 1)
Double The String Octet: A Fully Fledged String Orchestra
String Symphony No.2 (Finale)
The Massed Strings Of A Symphony Orchestra
Fantasia On A Theme Of Thomas Tallis
Contrasts Of Pitch And Instrumental 'Colour' In The Woodwind Section
Wind Quintet In A Minor, Op.100 No.5 (Theme)
In The First Variation It's The Horn That Gets The Lion's Share.
Wind Quintet In A Minor, Variation 1
In Variation Two The Torch Is Handed To The Bassoon.
Wind Quintet In A Minor, Variation 2
In Variation Three The Oboe Leads.
Wind Quintet In A Minor, Variation 3
Variation Four: Conversation Before Returning To A Solo-dominated Texture
Wind Quintet In A Minor, Variation 4
And Variation Five is Dominated By The Clarinet.
Wind Quintet In A Minor, Variation 5
The Next To Be Featured Is The Virtuoso Flute.
Wind Quintet In A Minor, Variation 6
Individual Farewells And A Closing Chorus
Wind Quintet In A Minor, Variation 7
A Mixed Group: Clarinet, Bassoon, Horn, String Quartet, And Double-Bass
Octet In F (Mvt 3)
The Early Classical Symphony Orchestra Of Haydn And Mozart
Symphony No.29 In A, K.201 (Finale)
Strings, Wind, But No Brass. What Haydn And Mozart Never Knew
Canzon 28
Beethoven's Fifth: Two Horns, Two Trumpets, And Three Trombones Join The Team.
Symphony No.5 (Finale)
From Beethoven To The Massive Orchestras Of Berlioz, Wagner, And Mahler
Beethoven Changed The Face Of The Symphony And The Orchestra Forever
Symphoy No.6 'Tragic' (Mvt 1)
The Cult Of Orchestral Elephantiasis Reaches Its Peak.
Symphony No.1 'Gothic' (VI: Te Ergo Quaesumus)
When Large Doesn't Necessarily Mean Loud: Debussy
Images (Gigues)
A Crisis Of Confidence; The Orchestra's Survival Hangs In The Balance, But It Still Develops. The Ondes Martenot:
Turangalila Symphony (Chant D'amour 1)
The Advent Of The 'Early Music' Movement Brings A New Vitality And Freshness.
Balle De Xerxes (Gavotte En Rondeau)
Computer And Synthesiser: Friends Or Foes?
Concerto In D Minor For Two Violins (Largo)
A Speculative Look Ahead/Mass In B Minor ('Dona Nobis Pacem')

Customer Reviews:

Instruments of the Orchestra - Great Reference Material!.......2007-04-04

This set lends itself to greatly enhancing one's knowledge of the orchestra, instruments in it, and their usage. I am a huge music buff, and I still picked up a great deal I previously did not know. I highly recommend this for all who wish to understand the origin of music, as well as the processes that are employed to create music!

Beginner or Expert.......2007-03-12

This CD is excellent for the beginner or expert! To be able to haear the instrumets separately and then together really provides a good education. and/or refresher. The book thaty comes with the CD is alomost worth the price by itself!

Very Informative and Enjoyable.......2006-11-20

Whether you're a music novice or pro, "The instruments of the Orchestra" is a very worthwhile purchase. The 7 CDs, with a total of 8 hours, are expertly narrated by Jeremy Siepmann. He's a great speaker, very much like the late Leonard Bernstein was. Mr. Siepmann takes you on an unforgetable musical journey covering the origins and use of the various orchestral instruments throughout musical history. The balance between his narration and a wealth of musical examples, which range from snippets to entire movements, is superb. The comprehensive enclosed booklet is excellent and faithfully follows the 7 CDs in content. Even with my 40+ years of music training I still learned new things from this wonderful collection. Considering the excellence of the content, and a cost that translates to about $5 per disc, this collection is a great value. Grab it, you won't regret that you did. Five solid stars!

Frank's view.......2006-08-19

This boxed set of CD's with booklet achieved all I had hoped that it would. There are good samples of individual instruments and well done commentary on each. The only drawback was that some of the samples were too brief and could have been longer, hoiwever I guess this fits in with time constraints of the medium. It has given me a lot of clues as to future purchases of CD's for listening to individual instruments. Altogeth a satisfactory purchase and a welcome addition to my collection.

Excellent Intro for Those Not Familiar with the Orchestra.......2003-11-08

I've listened to classical music for years and am interested in composition. I bought this CD set to learn how an orchestra and its instruments work. I thought the CDs would be a nice but boring lecture. They aren't! Not only are they FUN but they are informative as well. I learned a huge amount from each CD and couldn't wait to listen to the next one.

The narrator and writer is a great speaker and holds your attention well. He is definitely knowledgeable. He provides musical examples for each point he makes, so you get to "hear" what he just talked about. I'd say the CDs are about 65% music and 35% narration. You'll learn about the range of instruments, some history, different ways to play them, how they sound, and how they are used in the orchestra. This CD set was a great learning experience and is sold at such a low price!

I recommend this CD for those who want to learn about classical music and those who know about it but are interested in learning more about the inner workings of an orchestra. You'll learn much useful information. For instance, the Rite of Spring (with that eerie start) is written for bassoon! I never knew a bassoon could sound like that but now I do.

The one complaint I have is the last CD. This deals with the orchestra. I wanted more of a tour of how the orchestra has been used through history up to the present. Instead, it was a tour of how different groups of instruments sound. I thought it could have been better. The other 6 CDs are excellent.

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