Book Recommendations
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Books Thanksgiving Books for the Whole Family!
20 Lessons in Keyboard Choreography
by Seymour Bernstein
The 50 Greatest Composers and Their 1,000 Greatest Works
by Phil G. Goulding
Reviews
Classical Music and Scores Editor's Recommended Book
This is a fun, approachable guide to classical music that uses a light touch, fun facts and humorous anecdotes to help the neophyte make sense of classical music and its origins.
Who are the ten most important classical composers? Who in the world was Palestrina? Why did Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring" cause a riot? Which five of each important composer's works should you buy? What is a concerto and how does it differ from a sonata?
Maybe you don't know the answers to these questions; author Phil Goulding certainly didn't. When Goulding first tried to learn about classical music, he found himself buried in an avalanche of technical terms and complicated jargon--so he decided to write the book he couldn't find.
The result is a complete classical music education in one volume. Comprehensive, discriminating, and delightfully irreverent, Classical Music provides such essential information as:
- Rankings of the top 50 composers (Bach is #1. Borodin is #50)
- A detailed and anecdotal look at each composer's life and work
- The five primary works of each composer and specific recommended CDs for each.
- Further great works of each composer--if you really like him
- Concise explanations of musical terminology, forms, and periods
- A guide to the parts and history of the symphony orchestra
----The Washington Post
"One terrific music appreciation book...The information is surprisingly detailed but concisely presented. Goulding's writing style is breezy yet mature....[He] has raised music appreciation from a racket to a service."
--The Arizona Daily Star
Synopsis
From Bach to Mozart to Wagner, this comprehensive, opinionated, one-volume guide ranks the top 50 classical composers, provides a detailed and anecdotal look at the life of each, and analyzes five essential works of each composer. Goulding offers specific recommendations for the best CDs, concise explanations of music terms, and more.
Did Mozart come before Beethoven? Who in the world was Palestrina? Why did Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring" cause a riot? Which of Haydn's 104 symphonies should you buy? What is a concerto and how does it differ from a sonata? There are so many composers - who are the ten you really should know? And where can you get answers to these and all your other classical music questions without getting bogged down in technicalities and jargon? Now you can turn to this lively and refreshingly opinionated guide to the top classical composers, designed expressly for beginners. Written by a former classical music novice who grew frustrated by the lack of material aimed at listeners like himself, Classical Music is guaranteed to give you the confidence and the knowledge you need for a lifetime of informed listening. Comprehensive, discriminating, and delightfully irreverent, Classical Music provides such essential information as rankings of the top 50 composers; a detailed look at each composer's life and work; Starter Kits of the five most essential works of each composer; master collections of 25 selections for expanding your library beyond the Starter Kits; specific recommendations for the best CDs of all 250 Starter Kit selections; concise explanations of musical terminology (tone color vs. tonality), forms (sonata vs. concerto), and periods (Baroque vs. Classical); a guide to the parts and history of the symphony orchestra; and the composers' (not always flattering) opinions of each other. Whether you are just starting your music library, expanding an existing collection, or branching out into new works and new composers, you'll find Classical Music an essential guide to the galaxy of classical music stars. It is a complete classical music education in one delightful volume.
From the Publisher
Phil Goulding has written a completely accessible guide to classical music, and the best part is he has the audacity to "rate the composers." If you've ever wanted to know more about classical music, this probably the most approachable guide you could have.
-- Sue Miller, National Accounts Manager
The Definitive Biography of P. D. Q. Bach, 1807-1742?
by Peter Schickele
Reviews
Amazon.com
Kliatt, Nov. 1996
I've been a fan of Schickele for over 25 years. The print version of this work, first released in 1976, was funny then. Now it's hysterical. The original work was full of irreverent jabs at the "stuffed shirtism" of classical music by a man who knew a great deal about the subject. The footnotes were a delight and the whole thing parodied those heavy-handed scholarly works that serious students of music know all too well. The audio version [HighBridge] of this has Schickele in his own inimitable and lunatic fashion ringing doorbells to indicate footnotes and using a clicker to indicate the presence of quotations; it has an audio glossary of bizarre instruments, and is extremely entertaining, to say the very least....I played this on a solo car trip and almost got into accidents several times from belly laughing out loud.
--This text refers to the audio cassette edition of this title
More about P.D.Q. Bach.
Music of P. D. Q. Bach (Schickele)
A History of Western Music
Donald Jay Grout, Claude V. Palisca (Contributor)
Amazon.com Customer Comments
This is the finest text on the history of western music. This book is Donald J. Grout's masterpiece. Scholarly, detailed, and carefully considered, it includes analyses of pieces from every period in the history of western music. Grout interweaves the development of harmony, rhythm, and usage with the evolution of various instruments and vocal trends, and presents all in the context of social and political history.
More about Grout.
MIDI Manual
by David Miles Huber, Craig Anderton
Puts MIDI to work for any beginning- and intermediate-level user! A comprehensive guide to Musical Instrument Digital Interfacing. "Provides introductory coverage of electronic music technology. Studies the multiple uses of MIDI. Includes a reference and equipment guide with advice on which system to purchase. Written for music students, professional musicians, and audio engineers".
Book Description
MIDI is a digital language that allows multiple electronic instruments, performance controllers, computers and other related devices to communicate with each other within a network in a performance setting, so that a musician can create, develop, and/or perform a song in a practical, flexible and affordable production environment. This book has been established as the most complete reference on the subject, by a very respected sound engineer and author.
Synopsis
Puts MIDI to work for you. This book is a serious, comprehensive guide to Musical Instrument Digital Interfacing that provides introductory coverage of electronic music technology; studies the multiple uses of MIDI; and includes a reference and equipment guide with advice on which system to purchase. Written for music students, professional musicians, and audio engineers.
From the Publisher
This manual has been revised and updated to include the new developments in hardware and software. Tips and practical examples on sequencing and mixing techniques have been added to enhance its usefulness as a reference tool for sound engineers, musicians and students.
The Mozart Effect:
Tapping the Power of Music to Heal the Body, Strengthen the Mind and Unlock the Creative Spirit
Classical Music and Scores Editor's Recommended Book
With a subtitle of Tapping the Power of Music to Heal the Body, Strengthen the Mind, and Unlock the Creative Spirit, the casual reader might jokingly ask if the book could also improve chances for world peace, bring free and open elections to third world countries, and give your wash whiter whites and brighter brights. Don Campbell's premise is, however, reasonably straightforward: he asserts that the kind of noise to which one is exposed can have important effects on mental and bodily health. As a trial, try protecting your hearing for a few days from the continuous barrage of noise in a typical urban environment; it really does seem to improve one's attitude and fatigue levels. Where Campbell's ideas become more provocative is in the realm of music. Supported by much anecdotal evidence, he proposes that Classical music with a big "C" (the music of Mozart's period) can reach out to those who are mentally isolated from their fellows, like the autistic, and can help infants react and think better. (Will prenatal music classes be the next big trend for yuppie babies?) In addition, the music of Mozart contributes to the improved functioning of the higher cerebellar functions, including the ability to deal with logical and mathematical concepts, while contemporary rock actually decreases mental acuity.
More about Mozart.
Musichound Soundtracks: The Essential Album Guide to Film,
Television and Stage Music
by Didier C. Deutsch (Editor)
Editorial Reviews
The publisher, Visible Ink Press , January 13, 2000 "If you're interested in diving further into the realm of soundtracks and don't know where to start, look no further. It's all here with brief yet educating passages about the flicks, the year they were made and their music and composers. This is something you should not be without ... this book is so fat with information, it may just break your arm when you're trying to pick it up!"
-- The Aquarian Weekly
The publisher, Visible Ink Press , November 16, 1999 IN A "SOUNDTRACK-CRAZY" WORLD, HOW DO YOU CHOOSE?
Where once soundtracks were primarily sought out by collectors of the genre, today they are marketed to and purchased by a complete cross-spectrum of consumers. Nearly every film, and more and more television shows, are producing and heavily promoting soundtrack CDs. Add these to the tremendous number of releases from the last several years, as well as countless reissues or re-creations of vintage scores (covering more than 70 years of film, stage and television music) and the choices are staggering. Advice on what to buy has never been needed more.
Fortunately, the folks at MusicHound® have recognized this need and have created MusicHound® Soundtracks: The Essential Album Guide to Film, Television and Stage Music which rates and reviews 3,000 soundtrack recordings available on CD. The CDs are reviewed in an A to Z format with each being identified as either a film, television or stage soundtrack. Each entry provides complete production information and a review that takes into consideration production quality, musical quality, and the degree to which the music relates to the dramatic work that it supports. Finally, each entry is awarded a traditional MusicHound "bone" rating, from "5 Bones" (superb) to "Woof!" (a real dog). Five indexes make for easy cross-referencing.
Following the A to Z entries, MusicHound Soundtracks provides two sections on compilation albums. The first covers compilations based on themes ("Great Epic Film Scores"), sub-genres ("British Film Music") and actors or directors ("Music from the Films of Astaire & Rogers"). The second reviews composer compilations (Sondheim: Putting It Together"), of which there are many. Also of interest are the book's two forewords, which offer insight into the two different approaches to soundtracks. The first, by Lukas Kendall, editor of Film Score Monthly, explains why "traditional" film music (music scored expressly for a film) is so unique and satisfying. The second foreword, by Julia Michaels, former Director of Soundtracks at Capitol Records, takes us on a "tour" of how a "pop song compilation" soundtrack (also referred to as a "songtrack") is created. MusicHound Soundtracks was published in an earlier edition in 1997 under the VideoHound® banner. This new edition is completely revised and expanded with 1,000 new entries and the addition of 100 photographs. It has also been re-designed for easier use. Once again, the compiling of this massive undertaking was brilliantly commandeered by Didier C. Deutsch, one of the few practitioners in the business qualified to pull it off. Deutsh has no less than 65 soundtrack production credits to his name including West Side Story, The Bridge on the River Kwai, and My Fair Lady. Deutsch wrote the bulk of the reviews in MusicHound's Soundtracks himself, but compiled an impressive group of more than 15 other contributors to complete the task.
So whether your idea of a great soundtrack is the symphonic lushness of "Star Wars: The Phantom Menace" or the collection of great songs that accompanied "City of Angels," MusicHound Soundtracks will help you find what you want and will let you know if it is a worthwhile investment.
Musical Prodigies: Perilous Journeys, Remarkable Lives
by Claude Kenneson, Contribution by Bejun Mehta, Foreword by Van Cliburn
From The Publisher:
This is a celebration of the remarkable lives of forty-four musical prodigies from the eighteenth century to the present. With a profound appreciation for their gifts, Claude Kenneson tells the amazing stories of Mozart and Paganini, Andrés Segovia and Samuel Barber, Van Cliburn and Ruggiero Ricci, Shauna Rolston and Yo-Yo Ma, to name a few. The author has nurtured several prodigies among his own cello students and brings a teacher's sensitivity to these accounts of many a perilous journey to maturity. He explores early family life, first teachers, the importance of peers, and the inevitable struggles for independence and acceptance as an adult musician. Parents and families of gifted children in all the arts will welcome this book. Young musicians will find companionship, reassurance, and insight into their own lives. And for all who have the opportunity to guide prodigious gifts, Kenneson has created an invaluable resource.
The Music Teacher's Almanac:
Ready-To-Use Music Activities for Every Month of the Year
by Loretta Mitchell
A reader
This is a must have for all elementary school music teachers If you don't already have this book, you need to get it! It has activities for special days throughout the year (even days you might have never known about). The material is well suited to any age and is well liked by the upper grades (which can sometimes be hard to find). The activities are easy to set up and usually fill up one class period. I highly reccommend investing in this book. It saved me my first year of teaching and I plan to use it for as many years as they'll let me teach!
Norton Anthology of Western Music: Ancient to Baroque
by Claude V. Palisca (Editor)
A reader from Port Townsend, WA,
A thorough survey of western music from written sources. Editors Palisca and Grout present a thorough survey of western music from written sources, with a welcome emphasis on lesser-known works. They include neumes and other ancient methods of notation. Entirely scholarly and accompanied by beautifully executed recordings of each piece, this book is a must for every student of musicology, and a boon to anyone interested in ancient music.
A reader from Philadelphia, PA
This is a collection of scores to the CD selections Both volumes of the (paperback) Anthology (N.B.: 3d ed. goes with 5th ed. of the "History" text) are primarily fully reproduced (though reduced in size) scores to the music reproduced audiophonically on the CD's in Volumes 1 and 2 of "Recorded Anthology." The Anthology, according to its 3d ed. preface, now contains almost no text of its own. The "History" text (clothbound and yes, definitive) contains minimal examples in musical notation and refers to these two volumes frequently. Despite the above review being included with this volume, be advised that the study guide by J. Peter Burkholder is to the "History" text, not primarily to the Anthologies, which also supplement the History (along with the CD's).
Norton Anthology of Western Music: Classic to Modern
Claude V. Palisca (Editor)
Star Wars Episode I : Incredible Cross-Sections
by David West Reynolds, et al
Amazon.com
Want to get a battle-droid's-eye view of the inside of an AAT battle tank? Care to see what Darth Maul's hiding in the trunk of his sinister-looking Sith Infiltrator? You're in luck: the crew that brought us the super-cool Star Wars Visual Dictionary and the Incredible Cross-Sections for the first movie trilogy is back. Boy wonder archaeologist-author David West Reynolds has put together another Incredible Cross-Sections guide, this time pulling apart the vehicles and vessels in Episode I: The Phantom Menace. DK has mastered the art of making Star Wars fans drool, and this latest guide is definitely state of the art, opening up everything from Naboo starfighters to Trade Federation transports. As always, Reynolds approaches the Star Wars universe with the respect and love of a fan, putting each ship in context with his characteristic friendly but scientific style. The clean chromium lines and meticulous wiring of Queen Amidala's Royal Starship reflect the order and honor of Naboo royalty; the flowing, shell-like details on a tribubble bongo sub show off the Gungans' organic aesthetic. The best ships, of course, belong to the bad guys: you can check out the secret weapons and cloak field generator packed aboard Maul's Infiltrator (which, we learn, has an "experimental" ion engine that will later put the I-E in TIE fighters), and the Trade Federation's droid starfighter and control ship get a full giant fold-out. From the "bunker-buster" high explosive shells spit out by an AAT to the flame emitter weapon on Sebulba's podracer, this inside-out tour makes all the stops you want it to.
--Paul Hughes
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, see Star Wars at amazon.com
The Story of Opera
by Richard Somerset-Ward
A gorgeously presented history of classical music's most grandiose form, THE STORY OF OPERA examines opera and its mechanics from a critical perspective while providing neophytes with a sense of the form's evolution over the past 400 years.
Time Traveler's Guide to Music History, Books 1 and 2 with MIDI disks
Alfred Publishing
Experience music's evolution through the melodies and stories of it's masters.
- Each chapter contains informative text on a time period and repertoire from that period
- Fascinating and fun "Did You Know?" anecdotes entertain while they teach
- Colorful, animated cartoons and illustrations bring music history to life
- With a general MIDI keyboard you can play each selection using an historically acurate instrument sound
Topsy-Turvy - The Music of Gilbert & Sullivan; Screenplayby Mike Leigh
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
In this screenplay, Mike Leigh-director of Secrets and Lies-brings Gilbert and Sullivan and fin de sicle London to life.
W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan were the most astonishing partnership in the history of musical entertainment, and in Mike Leigh's first historical film-as well as his first film to use famous characters from an earlier era-their lives and times are fully, richly explored. Toward the end of the nineteenth century, all things Japanese enjoyed an unexpected vogue in London society. This was not lost on the celebrated duo of Gilbert and Sullivan, who promptly set to work on The Mikado. Leigh's film presents the trials and tribulations they encountered in bringing their best-loved operetta to the London stage. It re-creates the lost grandeur of Victorian London and its great palaces of entertainment: a city of swirling fog and sputtering gaslights, of horse-drawn carriages and their irascible cabbies, of the newly rich, the nobility, the clubmen and courtiers, the Gaiety Girls and their stage-door Johnnies. Known not only for his acclaimed films, including Secrets and Lies, Naked, and High Hopes, but also for his unusual working method whereby his films are created through improvisation with the actors, Leigh has extended his considerable range still further in this extraordinarily vibrant new work.
20 Black-and-White Photographs
Information about Topsy-Turvey Soundtrack
With Your Own Two Hands -
Self Discovery Through Music
by Semour Bernstein
Click here for Children's Books
Compact Discs Thanksgiving Music for the Whole Family!
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z |
See other musicians whose names begin with "A" on the Music Page
Anderson, Leroy
(Anderson) Blue Tango- Symphonic Pops by Leroy Anderson
by Leroy Anderson
This CD has listening samples.
(Anderson) Fiddle Faddle - 15 Favorites by Leroy Anderson
by Leroy Anderson
Abravanel
This CD has listening samples.
More about Anderson.
Anonymous
Anonymous: Sarum Chant - Missa in Gallicantu
Composer: Anonymous
Conductor: Phillips
Performers: Tallis Scholars
Review
Amazon.com essential recording
The Sarum Rite, England's own version of the Roman Catholic liturgy, was developed early in the 13th century at Salisbury Cathedral. This distinctive body of plainchant was used throughout England until the Reformation. This disc features music from the First Mass of Christmas, celebrated on Christmas Eve in gallicantu--at the cockcrow. All the sung parts of the Mass are performed here by nine male singers who together demonstrate a prodigious understanding of the principles of phrasing and inflection essential to proper interpretation of chant. This includes everything from subtle stresses and syllabic de-emphases to the many instances of extended melismas and florid ornamentation. Like the music itself, the Tallis Scholars' performance transcends the physical confines of notation and text, allowing listeners, undistracted by harmony, instruments, or complex vocal textures, to contemplate this eloquent and beautiful music's higher purpose.
--David Vernier
This CD has listening samples.
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z |
See other musicians whose names begin with "B" on the Music Page
Bach, Johann Sebastian
The music of Johann Sebastian Bach exerts a profoundly moving effect that is unlike any other. Bach's sacred choral music was central to his vast output, and his Magnificat in particular contains many of the secrets of Bach's art.
Bach: The Art of Fugue, Musical Offering
Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach
Conductor: Neville Marriner
Review
Amazon.com essential recording
There are many apocryphal stories in the classical-music world, but the one in which Frederick the Great challenged Bach to improvise a six-part fugue on a theme of the king's own invention is true, and The Musical Offering was, after a period of further reflection, the result. As with all the works of Bach's later years, the work is both great art and a "teaching piece," which shows everything that he thought could be done with the king's theme. The Trio Sonata based on the theme is the only major piece of chamber music from Bach's last decades in Leipzig, and that makes the work and essential cornerstone of any Bach collection. This performance, led by Neville Marriner, is both polished and lively, and very well recorded. At a "twofer" price, coupled with The Art of Fugue, it's the preferred version of the work on modern instruments.
--David Hurwitz
This CD has listening samples.
Bach: Brandenburg Concertos 1-6
Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach
Orchestra: Il Giardino Armonicobr
Review
Amazon.com essential recording
Il Giardino Armonico is an original instruments group made up of skilled young Italian specialists in Baroque music. They bring a light, airy touch to the Brandenburg Concertos, with deeply felt slow movements, sprightly Allegros, and blistering Prestos. Unlike some of their ilk, they play with vitality while avoiding interpretive extremes; the finale of No.3, for example, is taken at a blistering pace but never feels too fast for the music. Solos are highly accomplished, with scintillating violin and wind contributions, along with charmingly blatty period horns in No. 1. The engineering is a big plus, helping to make this one of the best period performances of these perennial favorites.
--Dan Davis
This CD has listening samples.
Bach: The 6 Cello Suites
Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach
Conductor: Ton Koopman
Performer: Pablo Casals
Review
Amazon.com essential recording
Casals crusaded for this music. When he first picked up a used copy of the score in a music store, Bach was not very popular with general audiences, and the cello suites were never played in public. If cellists knew them at all, they used them as finger exercises. After two decades of study, Casals finally gave his first public performances of the suites. For all we know, they may have been the world premieres. Casals thoroughly mastered the music, and by the time he made his recordings, in the 1930s, he gave mature, adept, and loving performances. If his style seems a bit on the romantic side for our 1990s conception of Bach, it is never offensively so. Every music lover should hear this set, with recorded sound that holds up remarkably well. At the same time, we can now realize that Casals sometimes works too hard to make a point, probably knowing that most of his listeners had never heard the music before. So we should also hear more recent recordings of these suites (especially Starker's on RCA) for a more inward, subtle version of the music, which is too great to be fully realized in any one performance.
--Leslie Gerber
This CD has listening samples.
Bach: Goldberg Variations (1955 Recording)
Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach
Performer: Glenn Gould
Review
Amazon.com essential recording
In the summer of 1955, a brash, eccentric, and awesomely gifted 22-year-old pianist swept the didactic cobwebs off this monumental opus, and a star was born. For listeners weaned on romantic Bach stylings of Fischer, Casals, and Landowska, the effect was like stepping into an ice cold shower. Glenn Gould's agile, independent hands and hair-trigger rhythm ignited Bach's virtuosic writing with insight and irreverence, sprucing up the counterpoint with crisp articulation, perky accents, and jaw-dropping tempos. This debut recording is the best-known and arguably the finest of Gould's commercial discs.
--Jed Distler
This CD has listening samples.
Bach: Mass in B minor
Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach
Conductor: Gardiner
Performers: English Baroque Soloists
Review
Amazon.com essential recording
One of the most frequently mentioned "favorite" works of Bach, the B Minor Mass is not really a functional liturgical work, but an assemblage of movements written over a period of many years. Its grand scale is certainly awesome, but its musical and spiritual unity is more remarkable, considering its origin and the fact that it contains several different compositional styles--not to mention some of Bach's most profound and beautiful music. Performing this work and preserving a sense of its grand design while bringing out the considerable musical details is a challenge that most choirs, orchestras, and conductors are not up to. Almost by consensus, however, John Eliot Gardiner's version is the most successful--and it is indeed a phenomenal recording--at once sumptuous and penetrating, with gorgeous choral and solo singing, and spacious, vibrant sound.
--David Vernier
This CD has listening samples.
Simply Baroque
Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach, Luigi Boccherini
Conductor: Ton Koopman
Performer: Ton Koopman, Yo-Yo Ma
Orchestra: Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra
Review
Amazon.com
It was only a matter of time before the remarkable Yo-Yo Ma went along with the tide and dipped his talent into the so-called authentic instrument movement. On this recital, abetted by Ton Koopman--one of the most respected names in early-music practice--Ma plays Bach and Boccherini. The Bach are all transcriptions and very fine ones, indeed--the alto aria Erbarme Dich from the St. Matthew Passion; the equally famous Air on a G String from the Third Orchestral Suite; Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring; and six others, most less well-known. These are followed by two fascinating cello concertos by Boccherini, made all the more interesting by Koopman's cadenzas, which are pretty outrageous. Throughout, Ma's stunning virtuosity is matched by his taste and musicality. The Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra plays handsomely, and the recorded sound is warm and full. "Authentic" or not, this is mighty fine playing, and wait till you hear those cadenzas.
--Robert Levine
This CD has listening samples.
Read Amazon.com's Get Started in Classical feature
Bach in the Children's Section
More about J.S. Bach.
Bach, PDQ (Schickele)
The Definitive Biography of P. D. Q. Bach, 1807-1742? (audiotape)
by Peter Schickele
Reviews
Amazon.com
Publishers Weekly, Sept. 2, 1996
The release of this audio [HighBridge] marks the 20th anniversary of the publication of the book upon which is it based. Schickele has in the meantime achieved pop culture recognition for what once seemed an academic's onetime, ultimate insider joke at best: the parodic imagined life of composer P.D.Q. Bach. Now Schickele's committed audiences enthusiastically seek out his performances and musical recordings.
An Evening With PDQ Bach
PDQ Bach (Schickele)
This CD has listening samples.
An Hysteric Return - PDQ Bach at Carnegie Hall
PDQ Bach (Schickele)
This CD has listening samples.
The Intimate PDQ Bach
PDQ Bach (Schickele)
This CD has listening samples.
A Little Nightmare Music
P D Q Bach Csvang Cv79448
This CD has listening samples.
PDQ Bach: 1712 Overture and Other Musical Assaults
PDQ Bach (Schickele)
Customer Comment
Amazon.com
One track alone is worth the price of the entire CD! The first time I heard the 1712 Overture, I was driving home from work in rush hour traffic. I was listening to the classical music radio station in Orlando, Florida and they played this piece. I laughed so hard I thought I was going to hit the car in front of me. I couldn't see because tears of laughter were pouring down my face. When I finally found a copy of the CD, I immediately bought it with no hesitation. The rest of the pieces are great, as well, especially the introduction to The Preachers of Crimetheus.
This CD has listening samples.
PDQ Bach on the Air with Professor Peter Schickele
by P D Q Bach Csvang Cvsd719-20
Customer comments
A music fan from Washington State , February 4, 1999 Sportcasters, step aside! Before this CD was untimely ripped from my possesion, I almost wore a hole in track 2. The inimitable play-by-play recounting of Beethoven's 5th Symphony in C minor is something even a complete music novice can appriciate and love-- but if you know anything about music, this CD will have you ROTFL! This CD has listening samples.
PDQ Bach: Oedipus Tex and other Choral Calamities
P D Q Bach
Customer Comments
Amazon.com
A music fan from Fulton, MO , January 1, 1999 Love it. Laugh at it. Live with it. Aficionados of choral music will find this work hilariously funny, punny as well as naughty. This was my first PDQ Bach recording purchase after having been introduced to the master's works in my college choir as we sang "My Bonnie Lass She Smelleth". Oedipus Tex is a gem with many hauntingly annoying words and tunes that revisit one's mental crannies.
A music fan from Berkeley CA , September 14, 1998 Brilliant. Best of Genre The ode to Oedipus Tex is so filled with literary and music puns that it made my head spin. One of the funniest of all of Schickele's work, it makes one want Mr. Peter to turn his genius back on and create additional "operas" for the masses. This CD has listening samples.
Portrait of P D Q Bach
by P D Q Bach Csvang Cv79399
This CD has listening samples.
Wurst of P D Q Bach
by P D Q Bach Csvang Cvsd719-20
This CD has listening samples.
Books on P.D.Q. Bach
More about P.D.Q. Bach .
Beethoven, Ludwig von
Piano Music
The piano had a special significance for Beethoven in his quest for self-expression. These three famous sonatas exemplify the emotional range and concentrated intensity which he brought to the keyboard.
Beethoven: 5 Piano Concertos
Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer: Brendel
Orchestra: Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
Review
Amazon.com
Though some musicians rerecord the same repertoire, refining the same concept over time, Alfred Brendel's Beethoven concertos change significantly with every go-around. One of the defining influences in this latest go-around is conductor Simon Rattle. He's one of the stronger minded and truly collaborative conductors that Brendel has ever had, and his bent toward historically informed performance inspires the pianist to a radical reevaluation, resulting in interpretations that achieve a new level of cogency over his previous take. Phrases have an even greater sense of purpose and direction than ever before, forming tiny, mosaic-like entities within the music, often accompanied by something rarely heard from Brendel: rubato. At his considerable best, Brendel's playing has a great sense of inevitability amid the surprises that always come with a great musical mind approaching the music afresh. The only letdown here is the "Emperor" concerto. Although excellent, the reading is just a tad conventional. If you'd like to delve deeper into Beethoven's concertos, you'll enjoy Leon Plantinga's thorough study of all the composer's essays in the genre.
--David Patrick Stearns
This CD has listening samples.
"Moonlight" Sonata, "Pathetique Sonata and "Appassionata" Sonata
Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer: Rudolf Serkin, piano
Review
Amazon.com essential recording
Rudolf Serkin's early 1960s accounts of the most popular "name" sonatas, on a CBS "Great Performances" mid-price CD, are compellingly direct and offer excellent value. The playing is deliberate, but hardly theatrical: as always, the pianist emphasizes the virtues of literalism. The recordings are closely miked and sonorous, and convey good piano tone along with every breath, sigh, groan, and vocalization Serkin produces. The Adagio of the Pathetique is especially lovely.
--Ted Libbey
This CD has listening samples. Symphonies
Beethoven's Seventh Symphony is one of his most joyful, physically charged works.
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Beethoven in the Children's Section
More about Beethoven.
Boccherini, Luigi
Simply Baroque
Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach, Luigi Boccherini
Conductor: Ton Koopman
Performer: Ton Koopman, Yo-Yo Ma
Orchestra: Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra
Review
Amazon.com
It was only a matter of time before the remarkable Yo-Yo Ma went along with the tide and dipped his talent into the so-called authentic instrument movement. On this recital, abetted by Ton Koopman--one of the most respected names in early-music practice--Ma plays Bach and Boccherini. The Bach are all transcriptions and very fine ones, indeed--the alto aria "Erbarme Dich" from the St. Matthew Passion; the equally famous "Air on a G String" from the Third Orchestral Suite; Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring; and six others, most less well-known. These are followed by two fascinating cello concertos by Boccherini, made all the more interesting by Koopman's cadenzas, which are pretty outrageous. Throughout, Ma's stunning virtuosity is matched by his taste and musicality. The Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra plays handsomely, and the recorded sound is warm and full. "Authentic" or not, this is mighty fine playing, and wait till you hear those cadenzas.
--Robert Levine
This CD has listening samples.
Brightman, Sarah
(Brightman) Andrew Lloyd Webber Collection
Sarah Brightman
Reviews
Amazon.com
Sarah Brightman's career was launched by her success in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera, so it's no surprise to hear the soprano paying homage to the composer on this disc. Really a Brightman best-of, the album includes the Phantom theme (a duet with Michael Crawford), the light-opera fare of "Chanson D'enfance" from Aspects of Love, "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina" from Evita, and numerous other Lloyd Webber classics. Throughout, Brightman's diminutive voice lends a fragility to these musical theater tunes that you'll either love or despise. On Evita's "Another Suitcase, Another Hall" and Cats' "Memory," she literally chirps through the vocal lines. No matter. The growing legion of Brightman fans wouldn't have it any other way.
--Jason Verlinde
This CD has listening samples.
More about Brightman.
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Chopin, Frédéric
(Chopin)Evgeny Kissin Plays Chopin
Composer: Frédéric Chopin
Performer: Evgeny Kissin
Reviews
Amazon.com
Ever since the start of his career as a sensational child prodigy, Kissin has displayed a strong affinity for the music of Chopin, in concert and on numerous records. Here he performs a program of substantial pieces: the four ballades, written several years apart and not conceived as a group, which nevertheless complement one another through their contrasts as well as their shared narrative and descriptive atmosphere; the lovely, peaceful berceuse; the swaying, rocking barcarolle; and the brilliant, witty Scherzo No. 4. Throughout, Kissin's effortless virtuosity, his beautiful, singing tone, his command of voicing, dynamics, touch, color, and legato are phenomenal; cascades of notes flow from under his fingers with the speed and glittering lightness of dancing waters; his build-ups achieve orchestral sonorities. Musically, he seems to have lost some of his irresistible earlier spontaneity; the dramatic nature of the ballades encourages exaggeration, and the liberties sound a bit planned. However, the berceuse is a simple, expressive lullaby; the barcarolle surges to a grand climax; the scherzo sparkles with humor--its middle part projects a plaintive, ardent yearning.
--Edith Eisler
This CD has listening samples.
More about Chopin.
Clarke, Jeremiah
(Clarke) Classic Wynton
by Jeremiah Clarke (Composer), et al
Sony Music, Audio CD
Click here for sample tracks.
Wynton Marsalis may not have an easily recognizable or even particularly handsome tone, but this erstwhile jazz trumpeter is an amazing virtuoso with a fine sense of classical style. If you've never owned/heard any of his classical CDs, and you love (mostly baroque) trumpet music, this compilation--a sort of "greatest hits"--is for you. From such cruddy, sensationalistic works as Carnival of Venice to the glories of Haydn's E-Flat Concerto, this is grand entertainment. Marsalis is joined by Kathleen Battle in an exciting version of Handel's "Let the bright seraphim," and the treat there is doubled. A fine piece by Hovhaness for trumpet and organ, never before released, is another surprise. Come listen to the endless, seemingly casual roulades that come out of this guy's trumpet--they'll wake you right up.
--Robert Levine
More about Clarke.
Copland, Aaron
The direct appeal and irresistible imagination of Aaron Copland's works--above all the beloved suite from his ballet score Appalachian Spring--make him one of the defining voices of American music.
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More about Copland.
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Debussy, Claude
(Debussy) "La Mer"
by Debussy: La Mer, Nocturnes, etc / Boulez, Cleveland Orch ~ Claude Debussy (Composer), et al
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Debussy's compositions flow like wind through grassy fields, unpredictable and delightful, with phrasings and arrangements at the whim of mood and evocative recollection. La Mer is perhaps the closest Debussy ever came to capturing the ever-changing flux of nature within a cohesive structure. Its three movements contain all the transcendental elements of the natural world that often inspired Debussy's poetic impulse. Perfect for quiet contemplation beside your favorite stream.
--Matthew Cooke
This CD has listening samples.
More about Debussy.
Dvorak, Anton
Dvorak: "In Nature's Realm"/Liszt: "Les Preludes"
The Philadelphia Orchestra
Wolfgang Sawallisch, conductor
Reviews
Amazon.com
Audiophiles should rejoice upon hearing this disc, for it's something truly special. Earlier this year, Water Lily Acoustics captured the Philadelphia Orchestra under Wolfgang Sawallisch with an all-analog, all-tube recording setup (technology that hasn't been used on a major orchestra in 20 years, yet still sounds incredible--even on CD) performing Liszt's "Les Preludes" and Dvorak's "In Nature's Realm" overture trilogy. The recorded volume may be low for some tastes, but the warm and (not-so) fuzzy sound of analog still comes through. Proof positive that, with a little ingenuity, all those stateside orchestras dropped from major labels can still release excellent, world-class music.
This CD has listening samples.
More about Dvorak.
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Feldman, Morton
Coptic Light
Composer: Morton Feldman
Conductor: Michael Tilson Thomas
Orchestra: New World Symphony
Reviews
Amazon.com
Sure, it takes a bit of patience and an open ear, but the late Morton Feldman's "Coptic Light" is a powerful undertaking. Michael Tilson Thomas leads the New World Symphony through this glacial piece that focuses less on rhythms and traditional structure than emotional heft. It's a moving sonic landscape that slowly evolves over time. Highly recommended.
This CD has listening samples.
More about Feldman.
Foster
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"Appalachian Journey" |
Performers: Yo-Yo Ma, cello; Edgar Meyer, bass; Mark O'Connor, violin
Review
Amazon.com
With the help of some friends (James Taylor and Alison Krauss lend some vocal support), the trio of Yo-Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer, and Mark O'Connor have created yet another fascinating hybrid of chamber music and bluegrass. This follow-up to 1996's Appalachia Waltz is filled with highly lyrical string passages, a homage or two to Copland, and plenty of tracks where Meyer's bass vamps with the best of them. This is reflective (and relaxing) music, lacking the intricate structure of classical music and the rough edges of folk. But, boy, is it catchy! Yo-Yo Ma fans may be disappointed to hear that--aside from the gorgeous "Duet for Cello and Bass"--the cellist takes more of a supportive role on this disc. Still, this is fun music, more intimate than Short Trip Home (Meyer's other crossover project for Sony), but still lively (just check out listening samples "1B" or "Caprice for Three").
--Jason Verlinde
This CD has listening samples.
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Glass, Phillip
The CIVIL warS
Composer: Philip Glass
Conductor: Dennis Russell Davies
Performer: Laurie Anderson, Denyce Graves, et al.
Orchestra: American Composers Orchestra, Morgan State University Choir
Reviews
Amazon.com
Philip Glass's breakthrough achievement in 1976 with Einstein on the Beach proved a milestone in contemporary opera, and Glass has been remarkably prolific--as well as uneven--in his various mutations of the genre ever since. This is the premier recording of one of Glass's more "operatic" ventures. The "Rome Section" is the fifth, final act of the CIVIL warS, originally conceived by Einstein director-designer Robert Wilson for the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles as a multinational collaboration on themes of war and peace. Wilson's trademark theater of images--as opposed to narrative--took its inspiration from Matthew Brady's grimly eloquent photographs of the American Civil War and mixes figures from classical mythology with iconic representations of Abraham Lincoln and his wife, Robert E. Lee, and the Italian revolutionary Garibaldi. The familiar repetitive patterns of Glass's music here play a crucial role in integrating and connecting the text's dream-like montage of material: Seneca's tragedies, Hopi ritual, war narratives, and stream-of-consciousness monologues (narrated by Wilson and Laurie Anderson). Glass calls for high-flying, lush vocalism that at first sounds like a parody of operatic extremes, but over time its sustained emotional pitch creates a mesmerizing effect. The scoring is imaginative and garbs the composer's rhythmic cells and churning major-minor arpeggios in rich colors, with a particularly elegiac prominence given to trumpet and trombone. Dennis Russell Davies balances the large forces here--including some beautifully fluent choral writing--with a sweeping confidence that makes a kind of orchestral counterpart to the famous unanimity of Glass's own touring ensemble. Although the opera's total effect can truly be appreciated only in a full staging, this is an important document of Glass's ongoing experiments in music theater.
--Thomas May
This CD has listening samples.
Phillip Glass "Dracula" score makes news. 1999
Dracula
Composer: Philip Glass
Orchestra: Kronos Quartet
Reviews
Amazon.com
It's no surprise that some of Philip Glass's most inspiring projects have been multimedia. The composer's minimalist tendencies lend themselves to the accompaniment of vast landscapes, silent films, and--now--Tod Browning's 1931 horror classic, Dracula. With longstanding collaborators the Kronos Quartet performing the score, Glass has created a soundtrack that moves with rapid-fire momentum and a timeless chamber-music feel. Dracula never sounds sinister or ironic, just ominous--the perfect companion to a film with plenty of dialogue but no pre-existing score. So what if we've already heard Glass's stylistic trademarks--striking arpeggios, repeated motifs, and the like--on any number of albums (for example, the Kronos/Glass soundtrack to Mishima or Uakti's 1999 release, Aguas de Amazonia)? Unlike the epic three and a half hours of Music in Twelve Parts, this enjoyable disc takes just over an hour and it's well worth hearing. In the new video release of Dracula, accompanied by Glass's score, you'll never see Bela Lugosi's mug the same way again.
--Jason Verlinde
This CD has listening samples.
Koyaanisqatsi (1998 Re-recording) [SOUNDTRACK]
Composer: Philip Glass
Reviews
Amazon.com essential recording
Fifteen years after its initial release, Philip Glass's score to Godfrey Reggio's film Koyaanisqatsi is still as timeless as it was meant to be. Glass's epic score, virtually the only sound in this non-narrative movie, accompanied an exhilarating, wordless meditation of images ranging from expansive, slow-motion landscapes to whirling-dervish city scenes shot using time-lapse techniques. Glass's music was a perfect match. The opening chant is still unlike anything Glass has composed, a Tibetan monk operatic growl that set up the foreboding sense of loss the film engenders. Most of the score, however, casts Glass's minimalist themes in orchestral expanses. Bass strings troll the bottom while flutes draw circles in the air. On "The Grid," manic keyboards drive into the night, pounding out the cyclical refrains that are a Glass trademark. When Koyaanisqatsi came out, it seemed opulent with its orchestral forces, but always at the center were the keyboards, reeds, and voice that are Glass's characteristic sound. Koyaanisqatsi means "life out of balance," but Glass's remarkably austere score remains perfectly poised. This newly re-recorded edition adds nearly 30 minutes to the previous CD release with two previously unissued tracks and extended versions of "The Grid" and "Prophecies," the two signpost works of the film.
--John Diliberto
New York Times
The range of instrumental colors is astonishing. If one particular timbre has come to characterize "Koyaanisqatsi," it is the dark, subterranean growl that opens and closes the score.
This CD has listening samples.
Kundun (Soundtrack)
Composer: Philip Glass
Orchestra: Kronos Quartet
Reviews
Amazon.com
For the second of 1997's dueling Buddhist epics (the other being Seven Days in Tibet, scored by John Williams), director Martin Scorsese made a wise--if commercially challenging--choice in tapping noted minimalist composer Philip Glass to score Kundun. Glass (who's previously scored the avant garde documentary Koyaanisqatsi trilogy, Mishima, and the strange Candyman horror series), is the perfect choice here; his own Buddhist beliefs play a key role in meshing image and music. Glass's familiar compositional techniques are wedded on Kundun to a sensitive use of ethnic instruments and the voices of the Gyuto Monks, adding an aura of spiritual power missing from most Hollywood fare.
--Jerry McCulley
What the Critics Say
Eighteen tracks traverse a wide stylistic field, accumulating a symphonic sweep.... Glass is no stranger to Tibetan culture: portentous, processional, but never pompous, he proves himself an ideal choice for this work.
This CD has listening samples.
La Belle et la Bęte
Composer: Philip Glass
Conductor: Michael Riesman
Performer: Janice Felty, John Kuether, et al.
Orchestra: Philip Glass Ensemble
Conducted by Michael Riesman
Reviews
Amazon.com essential recording
This is an extraordinary retelling of the classic story "The Beauty and the Beast", this time based on the Jean Cocteau film La Belle et la Bete. Philip Glass, one of our reigning minimalists, studied under Darius Milhaud and Nadia Boulanger in Paris and his music has always had a quiet Debussy-like character to it. What is amazing is that Glass is one of the minimalists who have made a successful transition into opera (John Adams is the other). And catch the scary silent-movie-house organ! This is a superlative recording of a clear masterpiece. Highly recommended.
--Paul Cook
This CD has listening samples.
More about Glass.
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Handel, Franz Joseph
Handel: Messiah / Hogwood, Academy of Ancient Music
Composer: Handel
Conductor: Christopher Hogwood
Performer: Paul Elliott, Emma Kirkby, et al.
Orchestra: Academy of Ancient Music, Christ Church Cathedral Choir
Reviews
Amazon.com essential recording
This is the Messiah that started it all--the first period instrument performance recorded with a choir of men and boys. It introduced music lovers the world over to Christopher Hogwood, Emma Kirkby, and a whole host of performers who have since become ubiquitous as the "English Early Music Mafia," appearing as they do under zillions of different ensemble names on a variety of labels. Hogwood's performance still holds its own, however, as one of the finest and freshest available. A first-rate.
--David Hurwitz
This CD has listening samples.
Handel in the Children's Section
More about Handel.
Hildegard of Bingen
Hildegard von Bingen: Ordo Virtutum / Sequentia
Composer: Hildegard of Bingen
Performer: Benjamin Bagby, Elizabeth Gaver, et al.
Orchestra: Sequentia
Reviews
Amazon.com essential recording
Sequentia brought this extraordinary allegorical proto-opera to public attention with a recording and tour in 1982, at the beginning of the Hildegard boom. This new release is the culmination of the label's series of Hildegard's complete works in honor of the 900th anniversary of her birth. The earlier recording included a lot of intrusive instrumental doodling, but 16 years of experience have given Sequentia the courage to let the vocal lines (however plain) speak for themselves--and what glorious lines they are. The Soul's weary lament as she returns from her sojourn with the Devil and Victory's soaring solo upon the Devil's final defeat are astonishing. Fine singing and playing make this disc as fine a tribute as Hildegard and her fans could want.
--Matthew Westphal
This CD has listening samples.
More about Hildegard of Bingen.
Holst, Gustav
Holst: The Wandering Scholar
Composer: Holst
Performer: Ingrid Attrot; Neill Archer; Northern Sinfonia; Richard Hickox
Reviews
Amazon.com
The latest disc from Chandos featuring the music of Gustav Holst seems to pluck works from his entire career. It's a fine offering, featuring the light "Suite de Ballet" of 1899, the comic operetta "The Wandering Scholar" from the '30s, and "A Song of the Night" (1905)--the composer's last orchestral work before he delved into folk song. As always, Richard Hickox delivers strong performances, especially on "The Wandering Scholar."
This CD has listening samples.
More about Holst.
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(Kissin)Evgeny Kissin Plays Chopin
Composer: Frédéric Chopin
Performer: Evgeny Kissin
Reviews
Amazon.com
Ever since the start of his career as a sensational child prodigy, Kissin has displayed a strong affinity for the music of Chopin, in concert and on numerous records. Here he performs a program of substantial pieces: the four ballades, written several years apart and not conceived as a group, which nevertheless complement one another through their contrasts as well as their shared narrative and descriptive atmosphere; the lovely, peaceful berceuse; the swaying, rocking barcarolle; and the brilliant, witty Scherzo No. 4. Throughout, Kissin's effortless virtuosity, his beautiful, singing tone, his command of voicing, dynamics, touch, color, and legato are phenomenal; cascades of notes flow from under his fingers with the speed and glittering lightness of dancing waters; his build-ups achieve orchestral sonorities. Musically, he seems to have lost some of his irresistible earlier spontaneity; the dramatic nature of the ballades encourages exaggeration, and the liberties sound a bit planned. However, the berceuse is a simple, expressive lullaby; the barcarolle surges to a grand climax; the scherzo sparkles with humor--its middle part projects a plaintive, ardent yearning.
--Edith Eisler
This CD has listening samples.
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z |
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Liszt, Franz
Liszt: "Les Preludes" and Dvorak: "In Nature's Realm"
The Philadelphia Orchestra
Wolfgang Sawallisch, conductor
Reviews
Amazon.com
Audiophiles should rejoice upon hearing this disc, for it's something truly special. Earlier this year, Water Lily Acoustics captured the Philadelphia Orchestra under Wolfgang Sawallisch with an all-analog, all-tube recording setup (technology that hasn't been used on a major orchestra in 20 years, yet still sounds incredible--even on CD) performing Liszt's "Les Preludes" and Dvorak's "In Nature's Realm" overture trilogy. The recorded volume may be low for some tastes, but the warm and (not-so) fuzzy sound of analog still comes through. Proof positive that, with a little ingenuity, all those stateside orchestras dropped from major labels can still release excellent, world-class music.
This CD has listening samples.
More about Liszt.
Lloyd Webber, Andrew
(Lloyd Webber) Andrew Lloyd Webber Collection
Sarah Brightman
Reviews
Amazon.com
Sarah Brightman's career was launched by her success in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of th