Christmas Songs

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com essential recording
Mel Torme is so famous for writing "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)," it's surprising that he never recorded a full Christmas album before 1992's Christmas Songs. Besides that standard, Torme's own compositions here include the heartfelt "The Christmas Feeling" and "Christmas Was Made for Children." He also sings Johnny Mercer's Christmas lyrics for "Glow Worm" as well as more traditional fare. Backed by both orchestra and big band, Torme is alternately swinging and sentimental on this instant classic. --David Horiuchi --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Christmas Songs, Music, Mel Tormé, Ballads, Christmas, Christmas / Chanukkah, Christmas Music, Holiday, Pop, Swing, Traditional Pop, Vocal Jazz

Songs from the Street: 35 Years of Music
Average customer rating:

I'd rather just the first 10 years, thanks

A great buy, you'll play this over and over.

An All-Round Pleaser

Childhood Renewed

Come and Play

Songs from the Street: 35 Years of Music
Sesame Street
Manufacturer: Sony Wonder (Audio)
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Sesame Street - Old School, Vol. 1 (1969-1974)

Kids Favorite Songs

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Sesame Street: Platinum Too

ASIN: B0000C05MP
Release Date: 2003-09-02

Tracks:

Sesame Street Theme - The Kids
ABC - DEF - GHI - Big Bird
Bein' Green - Kermit the Frog
Sing - The Kids
Five Songs - The Kids
Five People in My Family - The Anything Muppets
People in the Neighborhood - Bob and the Anything Muppets
Henson King of the Eight - Jim Henson
Hi De Ho Man - Cab Calloway and the Two - Headed Monster
How Do You Do - Lena Horne
Over, Under, Around and Through - Grover
Ladybugs Picnic
Somebody Come and Play - The Kids
Jellyman Kelly - James Taylor and the Kids
Just the Way You Are - Billy Joel and Oscar the Grouch
Everybody Sleeps - Joe Raposo
Rubber Duckie - Ernie
Doin ' the Pidgeon - Bert
Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard - Paul Simon and the Kids
Sweet - A Little Baby Boy - Pete Seeger and the Kids
1-2 - 3 Sesame Street - Stevie Wonder
Pinball Number Count - - The Pointer Sisters
I' ve Got Two - Big Bird. Oscar the Grouch, Mr. Hooper and Everybody
I Love Trash - Oscar the Grouch
Nasty Dan - Johnny Cash and Oscar the Grouch
Sing After Me - Madeline Kahn and Grover
Captain Vegetable - Captian Vegetable with Eddie and Andy
African Alphabet - Ladysmith Black Mambazo and Kermit the Frog.
B.B. King - B.B. King with Bert, Benny Rabbit, Big Bird and Baby Bear
C is for Cookie - Cookie Monster
Kiko and the Lavender Moon (Elmo and the Lavender Moon) - Los Lobos
Sweet in the Mornin' (Tweet in the Mornin') - Bobby Mc Ferrin with the Birds
Small People - Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers with Prairie Dawn and Big Bird
Imagination - Ernie with Big Bird and the Cast
From Your Head - Diane Schuur with Elmo
What's the Name of that Song? - The Cast
The Batty Bat - The Count with Ftatateeta and the Bats
Mah Na Mah Na - Mah Na Mah Na
Little Things - Tony Bennettt with Lexine
One Small Voice - The Kids, Hoots the Owl, Prairie Dawn
I Don't Want to Live on the Moon - Aaron Neville and Ernie
This Frog - Kermit the Frog
I Love Trash - Steven Tyler
Two Princes - Spin Doctors with Zoe, Elmo and Telly
Like the way I do (Like the way U Does) - Melissa Etheridge
But I like You - Bert and Ernie
Tu Me Gustas (I like you) - Luis and Elmo
Mambo I,I,I, - Gloria Estefan
Monster in the Mirror - Grover
Hold my Hand - Hootie & the Blowfish with Elmo and the Kids
I'm Talkin' Love - Trisha Yearwood and Herry Monster
We are the Earthlings - A Boyand the Anything Muppets
Happy to Meet You - Celine Dion with Herry Monster, Elmo and Big Bird
Shiny Happy People (Furry Happy Monsters) - REM and Muppet Rocker
Believe in Yourself - *NSYNC
A New Way to Walk - Destiny's Child with Elmo, Groverand Zoe
Elmo's Song - Elmo, Big Bird and Snuffleupagus
Slide (Pride) - Goo Goo Dolls and Elmo
Sing - Dixie Chicks
Just Happy To Be Me - Fugees
Put Down The Duckie - Ernie and Hoots the Owl
Everybody Be Yo'Self - Keb' Mo' and the Kids
Sesame Street Theme Remix - Ursula 1000

Amazon.com

Songs from the Street, the boxed set that stretches back to "Sesame Street's" 1969 debut, is the kids' record of the year, if not the decade: Big Bird and the gang might've pulled it off themselves--for a crew of fix-it store workers, shopkeeps, and goofball monsters, the talent quotient's off the charts--but when you've got this many names to drop, they've got to land somewhere. What impresses most in three discs is the lack of a single thud. Cab Calloway, Pete Seeger, and James Taylor mosey in on disc one; Johnny Cash, BB King, and Tony Bennett take seats on the stoop for disc two; and the Dixie Chicks, Gloria Estefan, and R.E.M. raise the brownstone roof on disc three--and that's leaving out stars like Lena Horne, Stevie Wonder, Billy Joel, and Trisha Yearwood. When it comes to inspiring preschoolers and their parents to sing the praises of rubber duckies, bein' green, and the people in their neighborhood; "The Street" gets busy. --Tammy La Gorce

Customer Reviews:

I'd rather just the first 10 years, thanks.......2007-05-26

About half the songs are the original television versions. But the liner notes for the other half list them as being "from" other COMPILATIONS released in the 1990s.
Nowhere is it stated whether those compilations used the original versions or re-recordings, so who knows? Even the TITLE theme is not the original (It might be the version they use nowadays, but it's not the version most people know from the 70s).
Sesame should have just used the original TV versions of all tracks as that's what collectors of vintage material would be looking for (and paying quite a lot for).
They also should have focused more on the early years when the show was the most innovative. And as music was a major element, I'm sure there's a lot more material that could have been used, particularly those odd demonstrational songs about the number 5 or the letter R. Instead they've focused on the celebrity guests, most of whom don't really add much value.
I personally hoped there'd be that funky counting to ten song that featured on almost every episode (not the Pinball one, which I love too).
Disappointing, but until a better option comes along, this will have to do.

A great buy, you'll play this over and over........2007-03-15

I bought this when my daughter was born, and two years later she still asks for them to be played. The set contains three CDs, on which are collected famous songs, and ditties from the Sesame Street show...favorites like C is for Cookie, Healthy, Happy Monsters performed by famous groups like REM and more. The songs are not just kid friendly, adults will enjoy the refreshing take on some old favorites too:)

An All-Round Pleaser.......2007-02-15

I have always loved the music from Sesame Street, and as I have gotten older I have found that the next generation loves it just as much as I have, whether it be the older or newer songs. Since I bought this album, I have had it regularly playing at my sons' request. Funnily enough, anyone who walks in to our house smiles when they hear the music, ask what the album is, then sit back and enjoy it all - regardless of whether they have ever watched Sesame Street or not. Furry and real voices have universal appeal whatever the age of the listener! A beautiful album.

Childhood Renewed.......2007-01-09

If you grew up on Sesame Street - or just want some music for kids that isn't annoying - this is the box set for you! The songs are clever, amusing, lively, and educational. We bought it for ourselves as a trip down memory lane before our son was born - and since then it has been our favorite baby shower or first birthday gift! Everyone who has it loves it!

Come and Play.......2006-11-18

WHAT???????
No Capital I!!!! I can't believe that "Capital I" is not on this CD. Boy, I guess they should do two versions: Songs from the Street 60's/70's and songs from the street 80's 90's.

Still a Great CD though.

Average customer rating:

So so music
Get behind me, Santa!
A New Look At An Old Holiday
Highly recommend
Santa Sufjan

Songs for Christmas
Sufjan Stevens
Manufacturer: Asthmatic Kitty
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Folk | Styles | Music

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ASIN: B000HLDF0O
Release Date: 2006-11-21

Tracks:

Silent Night
O Come O Come Emmanuel
We're Goin' To the Country!
Lo How A Rose E'er Blooming
It's Christmas! Let's Be Glad!
Holy Holy, etc.
Amazing Grace

Tracks:

Angels We Have Heard on High
Put the Lights on the Tree
Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing
I Saw Three Ships
Only at Christmas Time
Once in Royal David's City
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing!
What Child Is This Anyway?
Bring A Torch, Jeanette, Isabella

Tracks:

O Come, O Come Emmanuel
Come on! Let's Boogey to the Elf Dance!
We Three Kings
O Holy Night
That Was the Worst Christmas Ever!
Ding! Dong!
All the King's Horns
The Friendly Beasts

Tracks:

The Little Drummer Boy
Away In A Manger
Hey Guys! It's Christmas Time!
The First Noel
Did I Make You Cry On Christmas Day? (Well, You Deserved It!)
The Incarnation
Joy To The World

Tracks:

Once in Royal David's City
Get Behind Me, Santa!
Jingle Bells
Christmas in July
Lo! How A Rose E'er Blooming
Jupiter Winter
Sister Winter
O Come O Come Emmanuel
Star of Wonder
Holy, Holy, Holy
The Winter Solstice

Amazon.com

Every year it's an issue: how does one stomach the onset of holiday music? With an endless stream of overplayed pop stars stirring what Sufjan Stevens calls "That Creepy Christmas Feeling," how does one navigate the sound of the season? Back in 2001, Stevens began making annual EPs of traditional carols and songs mixed with his own holiday-themed tunes. With 2006 and Volume 5, he's compiled a perfect gift for the Christmas-inclined indie rockster: all five EPs in one box, separately slipcased, plus a booklet filled with lyric sheets, chord charts, a Rick Moody essay, and more. Yes, Stevens knows that "Jingle Bells" features him playing (as he notes) "insipid piano," but he also writes gorgeous arrangements. Check out the three versions of "O Come O Come Emmanuel"; each aches. And "O Holy Night" from Volume 3 is lo-fi genius, never mind anyone's resistance to theology; it's a time-stopper. Stevens's own tunes are unmistakably his, hushed vocals highlighting a unique mix of whimsy and yearning--much like the justly-lauded Illinois and Michigan. In the end of the liner essay, Stevens writes that the Christmas story is about love, and on that note, he proclaims that these songs and the "Creepy Christmas Feeling" prompt "a transformation of the heart" for him and bring out affection and reflection. Isn't that a great holiday vibe? --Andrew Bartlett

Album Description

In December 2001, Sufjan set out to create a Christmas gift for his friends and family. The result was a seven-song recording that he called "Noel Vol. 1". Over the next several years, he created new EPs to add to the collection. This 5-CD box set includes all five volumes, plus a 42-page booklet with an original Christmas essay by acclaimed American novelist Ricky Moody, two essays, a short story by Stevens, a holiday sticker, chord charts, lyrics, comic strip, family portrait poster, photos, and an animated video.

Customer Reviews:

So so music.......2007-05-16

I am not a Sufjan Stevens fan. The arrangements are good enough and I think being a Christmas CD, the bar for success if fairly low. I think they just crossed that bar. On complaint about the packaging is that all the songs on the five CDs could easily have been fit on 3 CDs so you end up switching CDs more often than necessary. I guess that's OK if you have a carousel player.

Get behind me, Santa!.......2007-02-06

I love Christmas music and I love Sufjan Stevens. When I saw that Sufjan had his own FIVE CD Christmas album, I bought it without hearing so much as a single track, knowing that whether the album was a success or failure, at least it would be unlike any other Christmas CD I own. Of course Santa Sufjan did not let me down.

First of all, the packaging and the graphic design of this mini box-set of Christmas CD's is awesome--It's worth buying just for the packaging. It includes a free set of stickers, a comic, a Stevens family Christmas portrait, and the most extensive liner notes in recording history, including some excellent Christmas essays and artwork. I was having so much fun with all that, it was a while before I even listened to the first CD of the set!

The five CD's are a collection of non-commercial CD-R's that Sufjan would make for friends and family each Christmas. The first four CD's were not intended to be sold or marketed, and are made up of mostly simple recordings of classic carols and many original Christmas songs. I believe the fifth disk was the only one created with the knowledge that it would be sold.

Since these CD's were made from the heart, and were certainly not an attempt to milk the Christmas music market, one is going to hear songs done in a very simple, rugged and direct manner, with warts and all. Phil Spector's "wall-of-sound" this is not. Rather, it is a humble, contrite attempt at honoring Christmas and Christ with song. Sufjan Stevens channeling the Little Drummer Boy, in a very literal sense, though there are a few songs that are more Spector than Simon & Garfunkel.

In my vast collection of Christmas CD's, numbering well over 50 disks, I found that there is one particular style that really stands out when employed, and that is when an artist chooses to focus on Christmas carols rather than the various secular holiday songs, and then does a simple, straightforward interpretation of these carols, with little to no embellishment. One of the early examples of this is Mitch Miller's "Christmas--Sing Along with Mitch." That album is filled with classic carols, minimal orchestration, and brilliant, lively voices. It works because Mitch wisely leaves the carols alone, staying away from cutesy production tricks, and allows the beauty of the songs to speak for themselves. No doubt Mitch Miller's album was in Sufjan sites when creating this box set, complete with the tongue-in-cheek "SINGALONG in Stereo" blurb on the front of the box.

Like the Mitch Miller album, Sufjan also chooses to stay mainly with carols, rather than do another rendition of "White Christmas" or "Santa Clause is Coming to Town." (However, we do get a Santa Sufjan original: "Get Behind Me Santa!") Like Mitch, his singing of the carols is fairly straight forward, with little fluff or ornamentation--he leaves that for the packaging. But unlike Mitch, Sufjan is quite creative with the musical accompaniment, giving carols a sound that is very earthy and simple. There is a definite folk/blue grass interpretation which is a real pleasure to listen to; it's the polar opposite the big band/swing/jazz style of most secular Christmas albums.

Yet there is more than just carols on this CD, Sufjan gives us many of his own original Christmas songs, which are neither secular nor sacred, but somehow occupy a space in between. They are spiritual without being King James, and they are secular without being profane. Singing about K-Mart, Santa and Jesus in the same tune is something only Sufjan could pull off. While there are some interesting songs in Sufjan's originals, I much prefer his folksy interpretations of the classic carols.

Then there are those carols in which we only get a simple, pleasing instrumental number, no voices or singing, just like the neat little instrumentals spread around Sufjan's 'Illnois' album. They are a wonderful little treat, kind of the musical equivalent of an occasional snack of a Christmas cookie. Speaking of Illinois, there are a few songs, especially from the fourth and fifth disks that would have worked well on either the Illinois or Avalanche albums despite their Christmas theme.

Sadly, while not lacking in creativity or originality, "Songs for Christmas" just doesn't quite cut it as a classic Christmas album. It's refreshingly experimental and "ad hoc" sound will not endear many listeners, as there seems to be certain unspoken parameters as to how far you can push Christmas music interpretations. Outside of the Sufjan faithful, I doubt many folks will be shelving their Bing Crosby or Carpenters disks in favor of "Songs for Christmas." Still, the best thing on this album are Sufjan's beautiful, light renditions of ancient carols, and the album is worth purchasing for those alone.

In a recent Christmas essay, Garrison Keillor states that all one really needs to have a wonderful Christmas are the there "C's" -- carols, cookies, and candles. Well Sufjan Steven's Christmas box set will certainly meet and exceed the "carols" requirement. Maybe next year he'll throw in the cookies and candles, I wouldn't put it past him.

A New Look At An Old Holiday.......2007-01-30

Sufjan Stevens is an original and unique talent and his interpretations of old songs are different yet always respectful. His music is sometimes a bit odd, but always interesting and entertaining. I find it a very pleasant and relaxing blend of sounds.

Highly recommend.......2007-01-22

You get 5 CDs for basically the price of one, plus a lyrics and chord book and, for some reason, stickers. Can't beat that.

Santa Sufjan.......2007-01-22

Sufjan is the reigning king of... well... everything. There isnt an album of his I don't adore, he is a model human being, and everything he touches turns to gold. If you like Sufjan and you like Christmas, this is an album for you. If you don't like either, at least give it a listen.

Average customer rating:

Christmas Songs
YeeHaa. Merry Christmas.
If you like Diana Krall you'll probably hate this review.
Have Diana Krall over for the holidays.
Christmas Songs/Diana Krall

Christmas Songs
Diana Krall , and Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra
Manufacturer: Verve
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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The Christmas Collection

ASIN: B000B7BRMM
Release Date: 2005-11-01

Tracks:

Jingle Bells
Let It Snow
The Christmas Song
Winter Wonderland
I'll Be Home For Christmas
Christmas Time Is Here
Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
White Christmas
What Are You Doing New Year's Eve
Sleigh Ride
Count Your Blessings Instead Of Sheep

Amazon.com

As the song goes, "Merry Christmas" has already "been said many times, many ways." Diana Krall's Christmas Songs is a worthy--though not particularly unique--addition to the holiday catalog. On it, she excels with an approach mastered long ago: elegant delivery that gives extra polish to a very familiar lineup. Some might find her style frosty at times, but that will come as a relief to those who want their carolers to cut through some of the holiday treacle and create a festive, yet grown-up vibe. And Krall does show off her playful side with little, personal touches. In "Winter Wonderland" she promises to "frolic and play the Canadian way," which should draw smiles from her native land. (That'll mean toasting the holiday with Molson, eh?) Elsewhere, she ends "Jingle Bells" with the girlishly giddy statement, "I'm just crazy about horses." Well…can't argue with that. --Leah Weathersby

Customer Reviews:

Christmas Songs.......2007-05-13

The product is what I expected. It arrived on time and in the condition advertised.

YeeHaa. Merry Christmas........2007-02-22

Hot babe. Good Jazz.

Helluva voice.

Nice take on some well-worn standards.

This and the Vince Guarldi Charlie Brown Christmas album are the only two Christmas albums that should be given to everybody who ever bought a CD player, Ipod, whatever.

Nice dress.

Elvis Costello (Mr. Diana Krall) better thank God every day.

I proudly listen to this album at non-Christmas times of the year, by the way. When it plays at work, someone almost always stops and says "Who is THAT?"; never "Why are you listening to Christmas music in June?". That's the power of the voice and arrangements we're dealing with, here.

Thank you for coming into my life, if only as a beautiful voice. And what a voice!

If you like Diana Krall you'll probably hate this review........2007-01-26

I love Diana Krall's voice, style, the music she chooses to record, and the polish of her music. I have all her CDs and they're great. So, when I got this CD at Christmas 2005 I was really disappointed. Look, it's OK, I guess, but not up to her usual standards. There's no enthusiasm here (except for the false enthusiasm of her fingernail-on-chalkboard tittering "I'm just crazy 'bout hooorses").

Rather than write it off as just average I decided to give it a whirl again for Christmas '06, and had the same reaction. Guys might like this CD for her recumbent "come hither and unwrap THIS present" look and posture on the CD packaging, but there's little to come hither for inside.

Have Diana Krall over for the holidays. .......2007-01-21

If your into Diana Krall and your into Christmas, Then this CD is a MUST! It's everything you want in your Jazz Christmas collection.

Christmas Songs/Diana Krall.......2007-01-19

Good CD -- only thing I didn't care for was "scat" on a couple of songs --

A Winter Garden: Five Songs for the Season

Average customer rating:

ok, THIS is Loreena McKennitt's CHRISTMAS Album
Great Artist!
wonderful
a winter garden
beautiful!

A Winter Garden: Five Songs for the Season
Loreena McKennitt
Manufacturer: Quinlan Road
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B000002N3H
Release Date: 1995-11-07

Tracks:

Coventry Carol
God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen
Good King Wenceslas
Snow
Seeds Of Love

Amazon.com

Loreena McKennitt's "songs for the season" are haunting for their beauty and her fascinating voice. Blending traditional Irish music with worldbeat and New Age-like instrumentation, McKennitt's arrangements are at once elegant and eloquent, enchanting and familiar, whether she's singing "Coventry Carol," "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen," or "Good King Wenceslas." "Snow," adapted from a 19th-century poem, and the traditional "Seeds of Love" are so lofty and deep they reach almost mystical places. --Martin Keller

Customer Reviews:

ok, THIS is Loreena McKennitt's CHRISTMAS Album.......2007-06-16

Everyone considers Loreena McKennitt's "To Drive the Cold Winter Away" her Christmas album. I ask people not to call it that, it is more than that, it is music for the whole season from leaf-fall to buds and sprouts in the spring.

This, then, is her Christmas album. Although short, at only five songs, it is a well thought-out album, and a definite "Must-Have" and a "Keeper". The songs here are wonderful, not your standard fare for Christmas, so it is a fresh experience, something always welcome with music for this time of the year, don't you think? Her accompanyment, here, is harp only, so everything is light and open, just right, and soothing after all the crash and bang regular Christmas music......I mean, how many times can one listen to Silver Bells, Jingle Bells, and Here Comes Santa Claus before you just wanna scream "STOP!", huh?

Pick this album up, take it home, and slip in between some other Christmas albums, and be prepared to go "WOW!....That's Nice!", and to also find a new favorite Christmas album. ~operabruin

Great Artist!.......2007-05-14

This is an awesome holiday / winter / Christmas CD. It is short (only 5 songs) but it is full of voice and enough to set the mood perfectly. Not traditional versions of the songs, but none the less beautiful.

wonderful.......2007-01-20

This is THE Christmas album to have.Loreena McKennitt's hauntingly beautiful voice and the wonderful arrangements of traditional Christmas songs has made this our most listened to Christmas album in the last few years.I like to play this album any time of the year as it is very peaceful and relaxing to hear.

a winter garden.......2007-01-11

I love Loreena McKennitts' music. this CD is very melodic in a Celtic way. the music on this CD is also very mellow listening. I love the rhythms of the instruments used.

beautiful!.......2006-12-31

The only reason I gave this item "4 stars" is because it only has the 5 songs on it - I wish it had more. However, it's still worth buying. The songs are hauntingly beautiful, in McKennitt's signature style. If you enjoy her music, this album won't disappoint. I recommend it! :-)

Average customer rating:

FORGOTTEN (BY ME) BEAUTIES
MENDELSSOHN'S 48
Portraits at exhibition!
Second-tier Mendelssohn and Boringboim to boot
Excellent!

Mendelssohn: Songs Without Words, etc.

Manufacturer: Deutsche Grammophon
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Lieder ohne Worte op. 19: No. 1 In E Major - Andante con moto
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Lieder ohne Worte op. 30: No. 4 In B Minor - Agitato e con fuoco
Lieder ohne Worte op. 30: No. 5 In D Major - Andante grazioso
Lieder ohne Worte op. 30: No. 6 In F Sharp Minor 'Venetian Gondola Song' - Allegretto tranquillo
Lieder ohne Worte op. 38: No. 1 In E Flat Major - Con moto
Lieder ohne Worte op. 38: No. 2 In C Minor - Allegro non troppo
Lieder ohne Worte op. 38: No. 3 In E Major - Presto e molto vivace
Lieder ohne Worte op. 38: No. 4 In A Major - Andante
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Lieder ohne Worte op. 38: No. 6 In A Flat Major - Andante con moto
Lieder ohne Worte op. 53: No. 1 In A Flat Major - Andante con moto
Lieder ohne Worte op. 53: No. 2 In E Flat Major - Allegro non troppo
Lieder ohne Worte op. 53: No. 3 In G Minor - Presto agitato
Lieder ohne Worte op. 53: No. 4 In F Major - Adagio
Lieder ohne Worte op. 53: No. 5 In A Minor 'Folksong' - Allegro con fuoco
Lieder ohne Worte op. 53: No. 6 In A Major - Molto allegro, vivace

Tracks:

Lieder ohne Worte op. 62: No. 1 In G Major - Andante espressivo
Lieder ohne Worte op. 62: No. 2 In B Flat Major - Allegro con fuoco
Lieder ohne Worte op. 62: No. 3 In E Minor 'Funeral March' - Andante maestoso
Lieder ohne Worte op. 62: No. 4 In G Major - Allegro con anima
Lieder ohne Worte op. 62: No. 5 In A Minor 'Venetian Gondola Song' - Andante con moto
Lieder ohne Worte op. 62: No. 6 In A Major 'Spring Song' - Allegretto grazioso
Lieder ohne Worte op. 67: No. 1 in E Flat Major - Andante
Lieder ohne Worte op. 67: No. 2 In F Sharp Minor - Allegro leggiero
Lieder ohne Worte op. 67: No. 3 In B Flat Major - Andante tranquillo
Lieder ohne Worte op. 67: No. 4 In C Major 'Spinning Song' - Presto
Lieder ohne Worte op. 67: No. 5 In B Minor - Moderato
Lieder ohne Worte op. 67: No. 6 In E Major 'Wiegenlied' - Allegretto non troppo
Lieder ohne Worte op. 85: No. 1 In F Major - Andante espressivo
Lieder ohne Worte op. 85: No. 2 In A Minor - Allegro agitato
Lieder ohne Worte op. 85: No. 3 In E Flat Major - Presto
Lieder ohne Worte op. 85: No. 4 In D Major - Andante sostenuto
Lieder ohne Worte op. 85: No. 5 In A Major - Allegretto
Lieder ohne Worte op. 85: No. 6 In B Flat Major - Allegretto con moto
Lieder ohne Worte op. 102: No. 1 In E Minor - Andante, un poco agitato
Lieder ohne Worte op. 102: No. 2 In D Major - Adagio
Lieder ohne Worte op. 102: No. 3 In C Major - Presto
Lieder ohne Worte op. 102: No. 4 In G Minor - Un poco agitato, ma andante
Lieder ohne Worte op. 102: No. 5 In A Major - Allegro vivace
Lieder ohne Worte op. 102: No. 6 In C Major - Andante
Kinderstucke op. 72: Allegro non troppo
Kinderstucke op. 72: Andante sostenuto
Kinderstucke op. 72: Allegretto
Kinderstucke op. 72: Andante con moto
Kinderstucke op. 72: Allegro assai
Kinderstucke op. 72: Vivace
Gondellied: Allegretto non troppo
2 Klavierstucke: Andante cantabile
2 Klavierstucke: Presto agitato
Albumblatt op. 117: Allegro

Customer Reviews:

FORGOTTEN (BY ME) BEAUTIES.......2007-05-14

Until I purchased this bargain (two discs for the price of one), recording of Mendelssohn's "Songs without Words" that are played exquisitely by Daniel Barenboim, I, in the past, have listened mainly to Mendelssohn's chamber music, Concertos and/or Symphonies kind of forgetting about these most beautiful compositions, What a real pleasure this recording has been for me. I believe that Mendelssohn composed these" Songs without Words" (also included are Mendelssohn's "Kinderstucke", op 72, "Albumblatt", op. 117 and 2 short pieces) through out his short life. Daniel indeed plays all of the works including the "demanding" ones (there are surprisingly for me some very demanding ones) most beautifully never forgetting that the compositions are above all else "Songs". Daniel Barenboim always lets the melodies be heard above all else and there are some very beautiful melodies to hear.

This recording was made in the early 1970s; however, DGG has done a wonderful job of transferring them to the CD format--the sound is rich, lush and clear.

If you want to hear some beautiful compositions that are played most beautifully, buy this recording.

MENDELSSOHN'S 48.......2006-09-01

Bach's 48 preludes and fugues seem to me to be to some extent a diary of the composer's feelings, and I get much the same impression from Mendelssohn's Songs Without Words, which are also 48 in number. To me, they are beautiful and touching minor masterpieces and when I hear them I am not disturbed, or even visited, by the thought that they are not masterpieces to rank with Bach's. However I am not as exacting in evaluating a performance of them as I would be with Bach either, and when I willingly award this set 5 stars I know that I'm setting the bar lower. There are limits to what any interpreter, even the greatest, of the Songs Without Words can find in them, but for all that some interpreters are greater than others, and I happen to know even better accounts of some of these pieces than you will find on these two discs from Barenboim.

It was high time in any case that I had a complete set of these lovely works. My collection up to now had only stretched to 14 of them, but - I have to say it again - those 14 are enough to teach me the difference between fine performances and great ones. Barenboim's accounts should be easily good enough for most of us most of the time, and in addition to the Songs he throws in the Children's Pieces plus a few other short numbers that Mendelssohn, for reasons known principally to himself, chose not to publish. With one solitary exception, Barenboim's touch is affectionate, warm and beautiful, and is well served by the 1974 recording. Speeds adopted sound about right to me in general, and the interpretations offered are full of insight and loving care, and free from eccentricity or egotism. Barenboim can be powerful when he needs to be, but the requirement for power is very limited in what we have here, and the overall impression that the set leaves is rightly one of tact, sympathy and enthusiasm. My single regret concerns my own favourite of all the Songs - the Duetto op 38/6. Something goes quite unaccountably wrong here. I'd call the speed too fast in the first place, and I would have liked the pseudo-voices brought out more strongly against the arpeggio accompaniment, but the real affront to my sensibilities comes when the two voices sing forte in octaves, and Barenboim bangs out the melody in a bad-tempered and cacophonous way that reminds me of one of Kissin's off-days.

One botched effort out of 58 is not a bad ratio nevertheless. I can play the Duetto to my own satisfaction anyway, or I can listen to it on my old Turnabout LP played by Guiomar Novaes. Novaes seems to be all but forgotten these days, but she was a great player, recognised as such by no less than Debussy when she was a teenager. Her idea of the Duetto is slower than mine, indeed for an amateur like me the piece, which lies beautifully and naturally under the hands, seems practically to dictate its own speed. However it's not the tempo that makes the impression. In this piece as in many others starting with the very first of all the Songs, what transfixes me is the haughty and highlighted clarity of Novaes's melodic line and the magnificence of her left-hand tone. It also happens that in the disc that accompanies the biography of Serkin by Stephen Lehmann and Marion Faber there are two of the Songs in Novaes's selection - a solemn and gripping op 62/1 and a coruscating Spinning Song worthy of Horowitz or Cziffra for virtuosity. The point is simply this - there is an aura of greatness that surrounds the playing of Serkin and Novaes in practically anything they do. Admirable as he is, Barenboim is not quite in that league, although I don't consider the balance of advantage to be totally one-sided, and it may be that Barenboim actually makes a more appealing job of the Spring Song.

Nevertheless I have only 14 of the Songs from Novaes, and all of two from Serkin, in somewhat antiquated sound at that. Barenboim gives me all 48 plus some bonus extras, played with love and appreciation of the soul of this beautiful and affecting music. This is a set I am going to be returning to for solace and balm to the spirit, I can tell already. The recorded sound is not wondrous, but it's good 1974 quality. The liner note is from the distinguished pen of Joan Chissell, but I can't say it seems to me to amount to much. Moreover she nails her colours to the mast with the ringing challenge `No 19th-century composer exceeded Mendelssohn in respect for Classical tradition, and such ordered modes of expression as fugue...' I dispute this strenuously. Not only are Mendelssohn's fugues not his best or most professional work, as Tovey makes very clear, they are inferior in respect for classical precedent and thoroughness of workmanship to Schumann's, as the same sage also points out. Besides which Brahms was a musical scholar of minute and profound learning, particularly steeped in the great German musical tradition, to an extent that Mendelssohn never rivalled. What Mendelssohn can claim is to be sui generis, what he does best he does better than anyone, and some of his most intimate musical thoughts are to be found in the Songs Without Words. For the pleasure and comfort they bring me I thank Mendelssohn's shade and the loving and expert guidance of Barenboim.

Portraits at exhibition!.......2006-04-09

In contrast to many other musicians, Mendelssohn had an evident, fruitful and fortunate association with the visual arts. Keeping in mind his education was conceived as part of the Renascence man, so we should not ignore his classical-humanistic education, so that explains why his Symphonies maybe basically, considered such arresting visual landscapes: the Scottish, Italian and Reform would seem confirm it.

The Songs without words conform ostensibly, a great stylistic and conceptual unity. It could not be other way, noticing the fact John Field was essentially the grandfather of the nocturnes for piano and Chopin the most expressive and intimate explorer of the human soul, Mendelssohn had all those variables in mind and decided to create a portrait album. As other artists as Liszt and Goethe the exerted fascination after being in Venice would work out as febrile inspiration. Every little page of this kaleidoscopic reflects different state anima; they are structured and interweaved similarly respect Robert Schumann with his Carnival or Childhood scenes; with profound lyric and evocative accent, destined to recreate the tourist memory. He achieved then to make a voluminous album of feelings but without that marked introspective mood of Frederic Chopin, for instance.

Daniel Barenboim decided to record these ebb tide piano pieces with personal conviction and lyric imagination. The result was simply refulgent and deeply inspiring.

Second-tier Mendelssohn and Boringboim to boot.......2002-10-21

The majority of Mendelssohn's works consisted of fluff and flutter reminisent of Mozart on an off-day and these piano pieces certainly aren't among Mendelssohn's small number of masterworks.The fact that these compositions are no more than trifles is made worse by Barenboim's insistence in trying to infuse an element of profundity to them.The result is tedium and annoyance.I owned this 2 disk set for more than 2 years and didn't listen to it more than 7-8 times.Every time I would try and listen boredom would set in and within a few minutes listening became a matter of endurance.I finally traded it off and haven't missed it in the least.It may be a 2 for the price of 1 set but,as usual,such "bargains" are hardly a bargain.

Excellent!.......2002-02-18

This is one of my top 5 classical piano CDs. It has a relaxing, easy-to-listen-to sound that I never get tired of. Every song in this 2-cd set is great.

Average customer rating:

Great Music
Nice No words
good instrumental
Nice Cowboy CD
The Greatest Cowboy Songs Ever

Greatest Cowboy Songs Ever
Various Artists
Manufacturer: Warner Bros / Wea
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Polkas | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music

Cowboy | Country | Styles | Music

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Cowboy Songs
Songs Of The West, Vol. 4: Movie & Television Themes
Cool Water (& 17 Timeless Favorites)
Songs of the Old West
Yodel the Cowboy Way

ASIN: B0000062UU
Release Date: 1998-03-10

Tracks:

Home On The Range
Buffalo Gals/Polly Wolly Doodle
Cattle Call
The Yellow Rose Of Texas
The Streets Of Laredo
Tumblin' Tumbleweeds
(Ghost) Riders In The Sky
San Antonio Rose
Don't Fence Me In
Happy Trails

Customer Reviews:

Great Music.......2007-07-03

It has a great variety of songs. They are well orchestrated and fun to listen, too.

Nice No words.......2007-02-15

I didn't realize that when I bought this that it was just instrumental. However my husband loves it wordless and all. If your looking for background music or relax music this is definitely the cd for you.

good instrumental.......2006-02-28

a very pleasant and somewhat haunting cd, easy listening at it's best for western songs,cd only has 10 songs on it but they are all very good and easily worth the price.This cd would be good to play for background music also.I would like to see more of these cd's.

Nice Cowboy CD.......2003-11-03

i really like the CD. it has nice instrumentals of many classic cowboy songs. the quality is very good too. the only downfall is that the CD is only about 30 minutes long so it is quite short. but other than that, i recommend it for anyone wanting to hear these nice classic songs.

The Greatest Cowboy Songs Ever.......2000-01-09

By far, the best instrumental of Western songs I have heard. Very well done! Truely does make you feel you are back in the Old West spiritually!

Sounds of the Season: The John Legend Collection

Average customer rating:

Legend's a Legend

Sounds of the Season: The John Legend Collection
John Legend
Manufacturer: Sony Music Entertainment
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD
Similar Items:

Once Again
Get Lifted/Live at the House of Blues
Get Lifted
I Got My Keys If You're Ready to Leave: The Piano Tribute to John Legend
Live at the House of Blues

ASIN: B000LMEK5I

Product Description

Holiday Christmas collection featuring 4 new recordings: 1. Let It Snow 2. O Holy Night 3. Jesus, What a Wonderful Child 4. Winter Wonderland 5. It Don't Have to Change 6. What a Wonderful World

Customer Reviews:

Legend's a Legend.......2007-01-01

This brief Christmas sampler is more moving and entertaining than a dozen over-produced CDs from our favorite artists. The four piano-voiced cuts are the greatest, but the inclusion of "It Don't Have to Change" from "Get Lifted", featuring the Stephens family, is an exquisite and totally appropriate choice to include on this heartfelt CD. Legend's "What a Wonderful World" pays tribute to the great Ray Charles while interpreting it as a Christmas treat. John Legend has many more treats to give us in his future. What a wonderful Christmas album.

The Essential Leontyne Price: Spirituals, Hymns & Sacred Songs

Average customer rating:

The Price Club
A living legend
not your daddy's old timey spiritual
Immaculate Vocals of Leontyne Price
Great Gospel Stuff

The Essential Leontyne Price: Spirituals, Hymns & Sacred Songs

Manufacturer: RCA
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Folk | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Modern & 20th Century | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Noels | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Price, Leontyne | Divas | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

General Christmas | Holiday | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music

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Leontyne Price: The Ultimate Collection
Leontyne Price Christmas Songs Chants de Noel.Weihnachtslieden Wiener Philharmoniker Herbert Von Karajan
Spirituals in Concert
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Spirituals

ASIN: B000003FWE
Release Date: 1997-01-14

Tracks:

Ev'ry Time I Feel The Spirit - Various Artists
Let Us Break Bread Together On Our Knees - Various Artists
His Name So Sweet - Various Artists
'Roun' About The Mountain - Various Artists
Swing Low , Sweet Chariot - Various Artists
Sit Down, Servant - Various Artists
Were You There - Various Artists
He's Got The Whole World In His Hands - Various Artists
Deep River - Various Artists
Honor! Honor! - Various Artists
My Soul's Been Anchored In De Lord - Various Artists
On Ma Journey - Various Artists
A City Called Heaven - Various Artists
Ride On, King Jesus - Various Artists
I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free - Various Artists
Sinner, Please Don't Let This Harvest Pass - Various Artists
Sweet Little Jesus Boy - Various Artists
There Is A Balm In Gilead - Various Artists
Let Us Cheer The Weary Traveler - Various Artists
Ev'ry Time I Feel The Spirit - Various Artists
My Way Is Cloudy - Various Artists
Nobody Knows The Touble I've Seen - Various Artists
I Couldn't Hear Nobody Pray - Various Artists

Tracks:

Holy, Holy, Holy - Leontyne Price
Lead, Kindly Light - Leontyne Price
Blessed Assurance - Leontyne Price
Ave Maria - Leontyne Price
What A Friend We Have In Jesus - Leontyne Price
Amazing Grace - Leontyne Price
The Lord's Prayer - Leontyne Price
Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior - Leontyne Price
The Church's One Foundation - Leontyne Price
Bless This House - Leontyne Price
I Need Thee Every Hour - Leontyne Price
Schlesische Volkslieder: Fairest Lord Jesus - Leontyne Price
I Wonder As I Wander - Leontyne Price
Ave Maria - Leontyne Price
Porgy And Bess: Summertime - Leontyne Price
America The Beautiful - Leontyne Price
Lift Ev'ry Voice And Sing - Leontyne Price
A Mighty Fortress Is Our God - Leontyne Price
Battle Hymn Of The Republic - Leontyne Price

Customer Reviews:

The Price Club.......2005-04-28

"I am here," said Leontyne Price when interviewed as she opened the new Metropolitan Opera with Samuel Barber's underrated ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA, "and you will know that I am the best and will hear me. The color of my skin or the kink of my hair or the spread of my mouth has nothing to do with what you are listening to." Back in the 1960s Price was one of the greatest divas in all of opera, and it wasn't just her voice but her magnificent stage presence, combined with her social activism. All of the above come into play in this collection of secular songs and ditties, some of them traditional plantation chanties and others, art songs and a scattering of pop music. And some of them, like Gershwin's "Summertime," cross the ever-permeable boundaries between Broadway and classical. These recordings were made at different times in Price's career, and her voice, while always angelic, has different shadings and reaches a different range of timbre in each separate recording date, but there is no question that, as time goes by, she is able to impart a richness of life experience noticeably absent from some of her earlier work.

"Ave Maria" sounds heavenly no matter which way you slice it, and as for "I Wonder As I Wander," it brings tears to your eyes. If you have a heart that's beating you will be moved by this rendition. "Ein feste Burg" is pretty strong, but Price seems more comfortable with the traditional spirituals, though perhaps it is the slightly off-kilter sounds of the Ambrosian Singers (what a name) who back her up on many of these tracks, that detract slightly from the experience. Compare "Lead Kindly Light" for a clear sense of what constitutes authority vs. what is a wee bit overproduced. If you had this compilation, and perhaps one of Leontyne Price's Christmas albums, you could attain nirvana any time you wanted to, just flip a switch and close your eyes, let her lift you up on wings of song.

A living legend.......2005-03-10

Leontyne Price (still alive) and already passing into immortality amongst vocal artists, both classical and popular. Leontyne Price stands at the pinnacle of her classical art, but those who only know her work in La Forza del destino or the Verdi Requiem are in for a heart rending treat with this album where Leontyne Price goes home to her roots in Mississippi and gives an unabashed account of the classic spirituals she sang as a young woman. Like John Mc Cormacks rendering of Irish songs there is a personal longing and devotion expressed here that reveals a side of the artist not known in the bulk of their "classical" repetoire. A sense of going home like Citizen Kane's rosebud, or as Dorothy Gale observes at the end of the Wizard of Oz "everything I could ever have wanted was right in my own backyard "

not your daddy's old timey spiritual.......2004-06-23

Agreed this is a good cd for a beautiful voice, but this is not, repeat not, for someone who wants to hear that old-timey religious fervor that you think of when you've been to a Black Baptist hand-clapping, standing, swaying, and singing service.

Immaculate Vocals of Leontyne Price.......2003-12-31

IMMACULATE, SUPERB vocal range and style! There's no other words that can complement Miss Leontyne Price's vocal arrangements. Miss Price's voice is strong, and shrills very nicely to the instruments played on many songs listed on this double CD which is a joy to treasure; every song listed are songs I was raised to hearing and singing. Miss Price is the reason why many of these songs remain in popularity and presently used. Miss Leontyne Price has been incredible in many of her past performances. This is my fourth CD of Miss Price and I am glad to own this particular CD forever and ever. Many thanks to the executors who found this remarkable album and upgraded it to a CD format! **Angi**

Great Gospel Stuff.......2001-04-12

This is a great CD. The only problem I have with it is that on some of the selections there is a boy's choir screaming in the background, and this takes away (a bit) from her performance. That said, her best selections are those that are either unaccompanied or those where her voice is not buried. Songs that strike me are - His Name So Sweet, He's Got The Whole World, Were You There, I Wonder as I Wander, Lift Every Voice and Sing, and my all time favourite Summertime. Enough said.

Average customer rating:

Microcosmos
Great value with a few flaws
eeh, I guess I don't like Bartok that much
Best classical value out there
5 Stars for the music and performance

Bartok: Complete Solo Piano Music

Manufacturer: Vox (Classical)
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Dances | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music

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ASIN: B00008X5AY
Release Date: 2003-05-27

Amazon.com

Sàndor, still active at 90 as this reissue appears, was a student of Bartók and a preferred interpreter of his music. Since this set appeared on nine LPs in the early 1960s, it has been the standard for Bartók's piano music; in this fine-sounding reissue, it still is. Sàndor can hit hard enough for such virtuoso pieces as the Piano Sonata and "Out of Doors," but he also retains the romantic element heard in the composer's own playing which tempers the harsher qualities of the music. While this collection isn't quite as complete as advertised (some early, insignificant piano music by Bartók is omitted), it includes all of Bartók's significant piano music, including such relatively obscure gems as the Bagatelles, eight Improvisations, and many delectable folk arrangements which will appeal even to listeners who think Bartók is too challenging for them. Vox's recorded sound, superbly remastered, resists obsolescence as effectively as Sàndor's performances. Even with the inclusion of the early books of "Mikrokosmos," which will appeal mostly to piano students, this set is worth several times the asking price. --Leslie Gerber

Customer Reviews:

Microcosmos.......2007-03-08

Sándor was a champion not only of Bartók's music but also of Bartók's style of playing. He often complained that people were too quick to see Bartók as ultra-modern, and to fail to appreciate the rich seam of lyricism that also runs through his music.

The piano music is dominated by short pieces, many of them written for piano students, notably the collections "Microcosmos" and "For Children". These, together with suites of folk dance arrangements, make up the bulk of the solo piano output.

Sandór plays these short, and often simple pieces, with neither too much nor too little art. As a gifted teacher, he knew unerringly how much music each of these small vessels held. The result is beguiling - but be warned: no-one can listen to the 153 short pieces of Microcosmos end-to-end. This is an anthology to be dipped into, not swallowed whole.

The remastering is pretty successful (fortunately - some of Vox's CD reissues are plagued by severe deterioration of the original tapes). And it's for half nothing-what's not to like?

Great value with a few flaws.......2006-07-28

I am not a Bartok expert by any scale, but I do like the way these pieces, without exception, are played. There are, however, a couple of other problems.

As mentioned by an earlier reviewer, very few of the works are split into tracks - Mikrokosmos is divided into 7 for each of its six volumes, and to accomodate for a full CD. In these seven tracks there are 121 songs. I would have much preferred if the songs had been split into tracks. Almost the entire CD set is this way - Fifteen Hungarian Songs is one track, Fourteen Bagatelles, etc. It is very annoying when one wants to hear a particular song in those tracks and not the others.

Another detriment to the collection is the recording quality. It is decent most of the time, but in loud sections the piano buzzes. One might be able to ignore it, but I think that it detracts from the passion of the forte quite a bit.

Overall, for $18 it is pretty decent, but if you are like me and like to keep your music library neatly organized (and aren't extremely cheap), I would not recommend this set.

eeh, I guess I don't like Bartok that much.......2006-07-25

I like the fact that Bartok is into the folk tradition and all, but he just tends to forget the fact that melody has to be SOMEWHERE in the music. I'm all for creative expression when you're sitting alone at the piano, but abstract music should be reserved for performance art. I like playing some of your stuff Bela, but I just don't want to listen to you.

Best classical value out there.......2005-10-05

To put this set in perspective, for months I would go to my local Tower Records fishing for worthwhile classical CDs at least once a week. One of the discs that sat in the bins the longest was a single CD of Bartok piano music, played by Zoltan Kocsis. It was Volume 7 of a complete series. This CD listed for $17.99, and as long as I went to that Tower Records, it did not budge an inch, nor was its price amended.

Now, Kocsis is one of the greatest pianists alive, and if anyone is worthy of commanding a premium, it is him. And to be fair, that CD is going to be re-released on October 11 as part of a Collector's Edition - eight CDs, $63.97 MSRP. But it's already going up against this little gem, which contains five CDs with all of the truly great solo-piano works by an internationally recognized Bartok specialist for $21 - not much more than the cost of one CD from the other set. This kind of value is not to be taken lightly.

I came to this set with my impression of Sandor informed by his complete Prokofiev - ultra-hard, sometimes rhythmically slack, always melodically lacking in some way or another. But he held a very special feeling for Bartok, and saved his best playing for the great Hungarian. In passages like the first of the Three Csik Dances, the opening of the Improvisations Op. 20, or in the Ten Easy Pieces, there is a simplicity, charm and wistful homesickness that is quite touching. In pieces like the Out of Doors suite, the Sonata, or the Burlesques, there is a vicious, impulsive energy, a wicked sense of humor and an overabundance of overtones. It is never mindless, inappropriate or even overly harsh - it's just very, very loud.

In this set I like best the endless landscape of the Sonatina, the unusual colors and fragrances in the Etudes, the brilliantly conceived Bear Dance (the last of the Ten Easy Pieces), and the multifaceted, complex, gorgeous Improvisations. Any fan of Bartok should hear these.