Concerto for Group & Orchestra [Import] [Original recording remastered] [SACD]

Editorial Reviews
Album Description
2002 reissue of 1969 recording live at London's Royal Albert Hall. This newly mixed CD, using the latest digital technology, brings that evening to life like never before. Here though, for your pleasure, is the original performance of the Concerto along with Deep Purple's three song set also recorded that night and the encore of the Concerto's Third Movement, released for the very first time. Slipcase. Harvest.

Tracks:

Horn Concerto, K.495, Movt 3
Clarinet Quintet, K.581, Movt 2
Symphony No.1, K.16, Movt 2
Piano Sonata In F, K.332, Movt 3
Medley: We Are Three Spirits ('Drei Knabchen')/Magic Flute, K.620
Overture, Marriage Of Figaro, K.492
Arrival At Court: Child's Minuet in C
Medley: Symphony No.1, K.16, Movt 1/Variations On 'La Ci Darem,' By Beethoven
Evening Falls ('Abendempfindung'), K.523
Flute Quartet, K.285, Movt 2
Symphony No.40, K.550, Movt 1
Arrival In Rome
Miserere Mei, By Allegri
Cassation in C, K.63
Minuet, Don Giovanni, K.527
Medley: Barrel-Organ Var On 'Deh Vieni,'/Don Giovanni, K.527
Variations On 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,' K.265
Letter Duet, ('Canzonetta Sull'aria'), Marriage Of Figaro, K.492
Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, K.525, Movt 4
Ave Verum Corpus, K.618
Medley: Waldstein Sonata, Op.53, By Beethoven/Piano Concerto in C, K.467, Movt 1...
Medley: Piano Sonata in A, K.331, Mvt 1/Gran Partita, K.361, Movt 7
Blow Softly, You Breezes ('Soave Sia Il Vento'), Cosi Fan Tutte, K.588...

Product Description

GENERAL FEATURES: The Dream Children are about to be written out of Mozart's most famous opera. Hoping to change their fate, they enlist the help of the composer's young son Karl. Together the children embark on an incredible journey that takes them back in time to Mozart's childhood as well as far into the future. Along the way, Karl learns much about his father and comes to understand his legacy of timeless music. Educational entertainment for all ages.

Customer Reviews:

Too busy.......2006-07-14

I was hoping for more music - there's just too much storytelling for my and my kids' taste. We love the Beethoven's Wig series and were hoping this would be similar.

good product and fast service.......2005-09-11

Product arrived in ample time overseas and was pleased with quality of product!

what a road trip.......2005-02-21

i bought this item after reading some of the reviews on amazon for my nephews who are 2 and 4 years of age. two months after christmas their mom was explaining how they request the cd everytime they are in the car. she groaned when i was in the car and they boys wanted to show me how much they liked the cd. during the trip i witnessed a mother humming along to the music with her children, the boys singing to excerpts, and an overall execptional learning experience about music, culture, and history. if you are looking for something that all children will like, passes the time on a road trip, and teaches important lessons about life without being pretentious then get this cd, it is a guaranteed crowd pleaser.

Mesmerized and moved mom to tears.......2005-01-26

This CD is awesome, the music great, the story captivating. But it's Mozart, you already know about the music. Other reviewers have already discussed the story and I agree with their assessments that it's very good. The reason for this review is to say that my very active, never stopping, constantly in motion 5 year old SAT DOWN AND LISTENED without fidgeting or fiddling for a full 20 minutes and then sat but fiddled for the remainder of the CD. Maybe this is not a big deal to moms of "normal" energy level children -- but this simple act of being still for 20 minutes moved me to tears. I said nothing before putting the CD in, I just put it in while he was doing his running around. Within seconds of hearing the story start he sat down on the floor, crossed his legs, and listened while looking at the speakers. I have never seen this behavior from my child before, ever. Please note that this is a child who is not ADD, he just cannot be still. He listens to hundreds of hours of stories we read to him -- while he's doing something else. He "watches" videos -- while he's doing something else. He reads, while clapping or tapping out the beat of the syllables. I cannot remember my child ever stopping what he was doing to JUST LISTEN. When it was over he said, "That was a cool story," and got up to run around. That was it, but that's high praise from this child. To see my child sitting still for a full 20 minutes, you cannot begin to imagine my awe. I am running right out to get the rest of the series! Bravo to the producers!

Daughter loves it.......2003-03-27

My daughter is 5 and loves to hear this CD over and over in the car.

The Swingle Singers - Bach Hits Back ~ A Capella Amadeus

Average customer rating:

Flats and Sharps
Still new... and fantastic
A Swingle Singers Half Treasure -
A capella reigns
Best Swingles Ever

The Swingle Singers - Bach Hits Back ~ A Capella Amadeus
Johann Sebastian Bach , Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , and The Swingle Singers
Manufacturer: EMI Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Keyboard Classics
Swingle Singers
Jazz Sebastian Bach, Vol. 1
Jazz Sebastian Bach, Vol. 2
Christmastime

ASIN: B00000632P
Release Date: 1998-05-05

Tracks:

Ein' feste Burg - Johann Sebastian Bach_
Organ Fugue from Fantasia and fugue - Johann Sebastian Bach_
The Well -Tempered Clavier: Prelude XVIII - Johann Sebastian Bach_
Cantata No. 140: Chorale prelude from Cantata No. 140 'Wachet Auf' - Johann Sebastian Bach_
Wachet Auf: Chorale from 'Wachet Auf' - Johann Sebastian Bach_
Liebster Jesu, wir sind hier - Johann Sebastian Bach_
In Dulci Jubilo - Chorale Prelude - Johann Sebastian Bach_
In Dulci Jubilo - Chorale - Johann Sebastian Bach_
Andante fromSonata No. 2 for unaccompanied violin - Johann Sebastian Bach_
First movement from Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 - Johann Sebastian Bach_
Cantata No. 208: Schafe konnen Sicher Weiden (Sheep May Safely Graze) from Cantata No. 208 - Johann Sebastian Bach_
Badinerie from Suite No. 2 - Johann Sebastian Bach_
Fugue VIII fromThe Well-Tempered Clavier - Johann Sebastian Bach_
Three - Part Invention - Johann Sebastian Bach_
Mass In B Minor: Et Resurrexit from Mass in B minor - Johann Sebastian Bach_
Bist Du Bei Mir - Johann Sebastian Bach_
St. Mathew Passion: Blute Nur, Du Liebes Herz - Johann Sebastian Bach_
Organ Fugue: Alla Gigue - Johann Sebastian Bach_
Suite No. 3: Air from Suite No. 3 (Air on a G String) - Johann Sebastian Bach_
Little Organ Fugue - Johann Sebastian Bach_
Cantata No. 60: Es Ist Genug from Cantata No. 60 - Johann Sebastian Bach_

Tracks:

Symphony No. 40: Die Zauberflote - Overture - Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus
Symphony No. 40: I Molto Allegro - Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus
Symphony No. 40: II Andante - Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus
Symphony No. 40: III Minuetto: allegretto - Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus
Symphony No. 40: IV Finale: Allegro assai - Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus
Ave Verum Corpus - Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus
String Quartet In G Major: Finale from String Quartet in G major - Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus
Cosi fan tutte: Un' Aura Amorosa from Cost fan tutte - Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus
Eine Kleine Nachtmusik: Finale: Rondo from Eine kleine Nachtmusik - Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus
Finale from Horn Concerto No. 4 - Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus
Canzonetta from Don Giovanni - Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus
Terzettino from Cosi Fan Tutte - Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus
Gigue - Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus
Piano Concerto No. 21: Andante from Piano Concerto No. 21 - Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus
Hostias from Requiem - Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus
Requiem: Quam Olim Abrahae from Requiem - Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus
Piano Sonata In A Major: Finale: Alla Turca from Piano Sonata in A major - Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus
Fantasia In F Minor And Major - Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus

Customer Reviews:

Flats and Sharps.......2007-05-18

I enjoy the Swingle Singers very much but sadly, in this album they are flat on about half of the tracks. When they are on key, they are very, very good. When they are flat they are awful. Recommendation: buy a different Swingle Singers CD.

Still new... and fantastic.......2007-03-25

As time goes by, these recordings seem to become better and better. Fresh, perfect... fantastic CD.

A Swingle Singers Half Treasure -.......2007-03-10

If you love Bach and are a fan of the Swingle Singers, buy this CD. Fans of the Swingle Singers enjoy them for what they do to music - release it with air and bounce - and their style is perfectly suited for Bach. I couldn't enjoy it more. But the second Cd in this set is their treatment of Mozart, and, for me, it's inconsistent. This is due to the different styles of the two composers and I just think they match up better with Bach. But at this price, I shouldn't be complaining. The first CD alone is worth twice as much. Snatch it up!

A capella reigns.......2007-01-12

Another fine offering by this group. Fun for classical music buffs and novices.

Best Swingles Ever.......2006-02-16

If you know the Swingle Singers, you may expect jazzed-up Bach with a rhythm section. Now, don't get me wrong, i like that stuff, too, but that is just clean fun, while this is just Bach. No percussion, no jazzy rythym, just straight unaccompanied Bach. AND IT IS WONDERFUL.
Precise rhythm, clear vocal lines, everything you expect from the Swingles without the jazz. This is a really great album that should be bought by all Swingle lovers and all Bach lovers.
P.S. i bought this cd when it first came out,so I have never even heard the Mozart. With all due deference to fans of the worthy Wolfgang, i have always found the artful Amadeus rather a bore, so I will remain silent about that part of the album. No matter. The Bach alone is worth twice the price, so enjoy. And, hey, the Mozart is a nice bonus.

The Mozart Effect: Music For Children, Vols. 1-3

Average customer rating:

Great CD's for children.
Eh...
We Love These!!!
Bringforth the artist within by listening to Mozart
Absolute nonsense

The Mozart Effect: Music For Children, Vols. 1-3

Manufacturer: Children's Group
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Similar Items:

Music For The Mozart Effect, Volume 4, Focus & Clarity
The Mozart Effect: Music For Children, Vol. 4: Mozart To Go
The Mozart Effect for Children: Awakening Your Child's Mind, Health, and Creativity with Music
The Mozart Effect: Music for Newborns - A Bright Beginning
Music For The Mozart Effect, Volume 1, Strengthen the Mind

ASIN: B000002134
Release Date: 1997-09-30

Tracks:

Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, K.525: Rondo - The Cambridge Buskers
Vn Con No.2, K.211: Allegro Moderato - Capella Isopolitana
Sinf, K.297b: Vars - Capella Isopolitana
Sym No.17, K.129: Andante - Northern Chamber Orchestra
Sym No.24, K.182: Andantino - Northern Chamber Orchestra
5 Vars on Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, K.265 - Jeno Jando
Vn Con No.5, K.219: Allegro Aperto - Capella Isopolitana

Tracks:

The Marriage Of Figaro: Voi Che Sapete - The Cambridge Buskers
Cassation, K.63: Andante - Salzburg Chamber Orchestra
Sym No.6, K.43: Andante - Northern Chamber Orchestra
Sym No.18, K.130: Andantino Grazioso - Northern Chamber Orchestra
Ser No.10, K.361: Adagio, Gran Partita - Amamdeus Wind Orchestra
Ser No.9, K.320: Concertante - Capella Isopolitana
Bn Con, K.191: Andante Ma Adagio - VIENNA MOZART ACADEMY
Divert, K.287: Adagio - Capella Isopolitana

Tracks:

Don Giovanni: Champagne Aria - The Cambridge Buskers
Rondo Alla Turca - The Cambridge Buskers
'Die Leyerer', K.611 - Orpheus Chamber Orchestra
'La Bataille', K.535 - Orpheus Chamber Orchestra
March No.1, K.335 - Orpheus Chamber Orchestra
Divert in B Flat, K.15gg: Cotillion, Allegro - Academy Of St. Martin-In-The-Fields
The Magic Flute, K.620: Papageno's Song - The Cambridge Buskers
Sym No.40, K.550: First Movt - The Cambridge Buskers
German Dance No.4, K.602 - Capella Isopolitana
German Dance No.2, K.605 - Capella Isopolitana C
Ser in D, K.250: Menuetto - Capella Isopolitana
Ser, K.205: Menuetto, Divert - Capella Isopolitana
Divert in B Flat, K.287: Menuetto - Capella Isopolitana
Ser, K.203: Prestissimo - Salzburg Chamber Orchestra

Product Description

Studies prove that the music of Mozart has a powerful effect on the intellectual and creative development of children. Don Campbell, musician, teacher and author of the new book The Mozart Effect for Children and The Mozart Effect, has selected some of the best of Mozart's music to stimulate and inspire young minds. Based on up-to-date medical and psychological research in creativity and intelligence, the pieces on each recording have been carefully chosen by the author so that tempos, key signatures and textures of the music change with each selection in order to provide a rich listening and learning experience for children of all ages.

Amazon.com

Two hundred years after Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's death, French physician Dr. Tomatis discovered a relationship between listening and learning. Remarkably, he found that children develop their listening ability in the womb. According to medical studies, we now know that the music of Mozart in particular has a profound effect on the human mind, body, and spirit. Working in accordance with this philosophy, internationally known teacher and musician Don Campbell wrote The Mozart Effect, a seminal book correlating music with health, well-being, and increased intelligence. Campbell's musical collection of the same name presents compositions carefully chosen for the benefit of children. Volume 1, "Tune Up Your Mind," is formulated to gently stimulate young minds. Volume 2, "Relax, Daydream, and Draw," includes excerpts from Symphony Nos. 6 and 18, and volume 3, "Mozart in Motion," a delightfully playful disc, includes an excerpt from The Magic Flute. --Paige La Grone

Customer Reviews:

Great CD's for children........2007-05-23

These CD's are very uplifting and will leave you in a great mood. These are wonderful for children to listen to on a daily basis.

Eh..........2007-01-10

It's okay. For the classroom, there is one CD that's good background music for working at desks and one that's good for dancing. But I'd rather listen to "real" classical music with kids.

We Love These!!!.......2006-02-11

Our whole famiy loves these CDs! They are very relaxing to listen to while playing games, drawing, or building! I'm no music expert, but I thought the sound quality was good. We listen to them almost everyday! In fact, our kids request 'Mozart music' when playing and it does seem to help keep them focused on one thing for quite some time. :)

Bringforth the artist within by listening to Mozart.......2005-10-07

Some scholars claimed that the Author of "The Mozart Effect", Don Campbell, overemphasized his theory. I bought his 2 books, and this set of CD to find out whether his findings are legitimate.
The more I listen to Mozart, according to his arrangement, the more I'm convinced. The Mozart Effect: Music for Children, Volume 1-3 is an excellent prescription for the young and older mind, alike.

Absolute nonsense.......2005-03-06

I have not heard this CD but the idea that listening to Classical music in the womb has been disproven by legitimate scientists for a long time. A simple search found the following...

"The Mozart Effect is an example of how science and the media mix in our world. A suggestion in a few paragraphs in a scientific journal becomes a universal truth in a matter of months, eventually believed even by the scientists who initially recognized how their work had been distorted and exaggerated by the media. Others, smelling the money, jump on the bandwagon and play to the crowd, adding their own myths, questionable claims, and distortions to the mix."

"The idea for the Mozart Effect originated in 1993 at the University of California, Irvine, with physicist Gordon Shaw and Frances Rauscher, a former concert cellist and an expert on cognitive development. They studied the effects on a few dozen college students of listening to the first 10 minutes of the Mozart Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major (K.448). They found a temporary enhancement of spatial-temporal reasoning, as measured by the Stanford-Binet IQ test. No one else has been able to duplicate their results. One researcher commented that the "very best thing that could be said of their [Shaw's and Rauscher's] experiment-were it completely uncontested-would be that listening to bad Mozart enhances short-term IQ" (Linton). Rauscher has moved on to study the effects of Mozart on rats. Both Shaw and Rauscher have speculated that exposure to Mozart enhances spatial-reasoning and memory in humans. "

Note that the only scientific tests were performed on college students.

Tracks:

The Marriage Of Figaro: Voi Che Sapete - The Cambridge Buskers
Cassation, K.63: Andante - Salzburg Chamber Orchestra
Sym No.6, K.43: Andante - Northern Chamber Orchestra
Sym No.18, K.130: Andantino Grazioso - Northern Chamber Orchestra
Ser No.10, K.361: Adagio/Gran Partita - The German Wind Soloists
Ser No.9, K.320: Concertante - Capella Istropolitana
Bn Con, K.191: Andante Ma Adagio - VIENNA MOZART ACADEMY
Divert, K.287: Adagio - Capella Istropolitana

Product Description

Based on the Avon Books release The Mozart Effect Features some of Mozart's most powerful, playful and affecting compositions, selected by the author for children ages 2-16 and designed to achieve a particular effect, including inspiring creativity.

Customer Reviews:

Very relaxing, bright music selection.......2007-06-29

I was not disappointed when I played this CD for the first time. The music is really compatible with relaxing, daydreaming and drawing. My kids enjoy listening to it and I do to.

My daughter loves this CD!.......1999-03-20

My seven year old is quickly progressing at piano and is playing simple pieces of Bach. She had previously only appreciated Bach (with a Bach children's tape) but now is true to Mozart. Plays every morning on our way to school--what a way to start the day!

This music sets the mood........1998-11-28

I play this music for my art classes. I teach Kindergarten through 6th grade art at an elementary school in Connecticut. All classes respond to this music. It seems to be calming and helps them to focus on their art work. I explain that the music will make them more creative. One third grade boy said "This really works."

The Mozart Effect Music for Babies, Vol. 3: Daytime Playtime

Average customer rating:

The Mozart Effect Music for Babies, Vol. 3: Daytime Playtime

Manufacturer: Children's Group
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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The Mozart Effect Music for Children, Volume 2: Relax, Daydream, & Draw

ASIN: B00006NSIL
Release Date: 2002-10-22

Tracks:

Rondo Alla Turca, K.331 - R. Lafond
Clarinet Quartet In B Flat Major, III, K.317 - Jozsef Balogh
Divertimento In D Major, III, K.205 - Capella Istropolitana
L. Mozart, The Toy Symphony, I - Capella Istropolitana
Flute Concerto No.1 In G Major, III, K.313 - Capella Istropolitana
Cassation In B Flat Major, I, K.99 - Harald Nerat
Clarinet Quartet In F Major, III, K.496 - Jozsef Balogh
Flute Concerto No.2 In D Major, III, K.314 - Harald Nerat
Cassation In D Major, VI, K.100 - Harald Nerat
Rondo In D Major, K.382 - Jeno Jando

Average customer rating:

Instruments of the Orchestra - Great Reference Material!
Beginner or Expert
Very Informative and Enjoyable
Frank's view
Excellent Intro for Those Not Familiar with the Orchestra

Instruments of the Orchestra
Various Artists
Manufacturer: Naxos
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Britten: Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra Op34; Simple Symphony Op4
The Life and Works of Ludwig van Beethoven
What to Listen for in Music
Study of Orchestration, Third Edition
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ASIN: B00006O0NT
Release Date: 2002-12-03

Tracks:

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

Tracks:

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

Tracks:

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

Tracks:

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

Tracks:

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

Tracks:

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

Tracks:

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

Customer Reviews:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tracks:

'Rondo' From Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, K.525 - Michael Copley
Allegro Moderato, Violin Concerto No.2 In D Major, K.211 - Capella Istropolitana
Variations, Sinfonia In E Flat Major, K.297b - Capella Istropolitana
Andante, Symphony No.17 In G Major, K.129 - Northern Chamber Orchestra
Andantino, Symphony No.24 In B Flat Major, K.182 - Northern Chamber Orchestra
5 Variations On Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, K.265 - Jeno Jando
Allegro Aperto, Violin Concerto No.5 In A Major, K.219 - Capella Istropolitana
Andante, Symphony No.15 In G Major, K.124 - Northern Chamber Orchestra

Product Description

1999 Oppenheim Award. Based on the Avon Books release The Mozart Effect by Don Campbell, accomplished author, teacher, musician and noted authority on music and healing. Features some of Mozart's most powerful, playful and affecting compositions, selected by the author for children ages 2-16 and designed to achieve a particular effect, including enhancing the IQ. Includes "Rondo" from Eline Kleine Nachtmusik, "Allegro moderato - Violin Concerto #2", "Variations - Sinfonia, Andante - Symphony #17", "Andantino - Symphony #24", "5 Variations - Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star", "Allegro aperto - Violin Concerto #5", "Andante - Symphony #15". Running time 50.0

Customer Reviews:

Mozart Effect Music for Children Volume 1.......2007-02-09

I like the music and variety of selections. I wish it had more selections.

Ok classical music CD........2003-01-31

This is a pretty run of the mill clasical music CD. The first track sounded a little rough to me (sounded like harmonica and recorder -- I was not overly impressed) but the other tracks seem more par for the course.

Average customer rating:

Good Introduction

Swingle Singers

Manufacturer: Virgin Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Fugues | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

Suites | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Jazz | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

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

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

General | Oldies | Pop | Styles | Music

General | Vocal Pop | Pop | Styles | Music

Classic | Vocal Pop | Pop | Styles | Music

A Cappella | Folk | Styles | Music

The Swingle Singers - Bach Hits Back ~ A Capella Amadeus
Keyboard Classics
Jazz Sebastian Bach, Vol. 1
Christmastime
Jazz Sebastian Bach, Vol. 2

ASIN: B000A2ES7E
Release Date: 2006-01-24

Tracks:

Peter Gunn
Fugue In D Sharp Minor
Joshua Fought The Battle In Jericho
Alla Turca
Cachapaya
Andante
Country Dances
Requiem
Concerto No.3
De Punta Y Taco
Air On G String
Eine Kleine Nachtmusik
Coventry Carol
Symphony No.40
Fugue BWV 542

Customer Reviews:

Good Introduction.......2007-02-16

As might be expected with a compilation, this is a little inconsistent. It also lacks the more swinging tracks they recorded with a jazz rhythym section, but it's still a great and very inexpensive introduction to this great a cappella group, who were a staple of movie soundtracks in the 60's.

The Ligeti Project III: Cello Concerto / Clocks & Clouds / Violin Concerto / Síppal, Dobbal, Nádihegedüvel

Average customer rating:

Thank you for all, Mr. Ligeti.
Deep contrasts and consistencies among four masterful pieces
A great Ligeti disc, including two world premieres
More serious fun from Ligeti
two string concertos, two vocal works

The Ligeti Project III: Cello Concerto / Clocks & Clouds / Violin Concerto / Síppal, Dobbal, Nádihegedüvel
Gyorgy Ligeti , Siegfried Palm , Frank Peter Zimmerman , ASKO/Schonberg Ensemble , Capella Amsterdam , and Amadinda Percussion Group
Manufacturer: Teldec
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Choruses | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

The Ligeti Project IV: Hamburg Concerto (Horn Concerto) / Double Concerto / Ramifications / Requiem
The Ligeti Project II: Lontano / Atmosphères / Apparitions / San Francisco Polyphony / Concert Românesc - Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra / Jonathan Nott
The Ligeti Project I: Melodien / Chamber Concerto / Piano Concerto / Mysteries of the Macabre - Schönberg Ensemble / ASKO Ensemble / Reinbert de Leeuw
The Ligeti Project, Vol. 5
György Ligeti Edition 1: String Quartets and Duets - Arditti String Quartet

ASIN: B00006F1P9
Release Date: 2003-01-28

Customer Reviews:

Thank you for all, Mr. Ligeti........2006-06-14

It's not easy to write about Ligeti today, he has just passed away last Monday, so this is the first review I write about his works with Ligeti death... We know it could happen because of his very weak health, but it hurts when finally it's confirmed that he is not with us... We have his works and that's the most direct way to the immortality, that one Ligeti is living now in our memory and in our ears, those that were filled so many times with his extraordinary music, one of the best I know in the XXth Century, that finally will be Ligeti's century, as his work is quite complete written in that period.

Teldec continued some years ago Sony series of Ligeti music, a break that didn't suffer too much of that change, adding enormous artists like those you can listen in this CD. All the series is an outstanding thing, an some performances are really the best.

Cello Concert is my favourite Ligeti's concerto together with the Chamber one. A work in the style of his marvellous orchestral works of the `60s that explores the cello resources in an unique way. Palms' performance is very good, but he is not in so good shape like in the years of the premiere, and in general terms nowadays I prefer Queyras performance with Boulez for DG, really the version of Ligeti's Cello Concerto I think it's the best available. The ensemble playing is really amazing, one of the best I know on CD, and you have to think there're very good performances, like Boulez's one or the one played by Miklos Perenyi & Ensemble Modern, conducted by Peter Eötvös (Sony), my third version after Boulez and this one.

Clocks and Clouds, for voices and ensemble, is an interesting work that explore natural rhythms and mechanical ones, transforming them. This is the world premiere recording, I can't believe it, because it's really a very good work, sometimes in quite minimal style, working with elemental cells.

Violin concert is the typical example from Ligeti's final period, much more focused on rhythm and colour, and less explorative than his previous periods I really liked much more. This performance by Frank Peter Zimmermann is the best I know, better than Sashko Gawriloff one with Boulez and the EIC (DG), which is really very good too. I talked with Zimmermann about this recording some months ago, and he agreed to this is a marvellous recording and CD, with Ligeti help.

Sippal, dobbal, nádihegeduvel is a piece I didn't know and which I find very interesting too. Even the piece I really consider the best one in this CD is Cello Concert.

The sound is simply perfect in every piece, in the very high level Teldec is recording the full series. Warm sound, compact, clear, clean and very well balanced and direct. A natural sound in which the works seems even better.

Great CD in an outstanding project.

Deep contrasts and consistencies among four masterful pieces.......2004-11-04

This is the third disc in Teldec's "Ligeti Project", which continues the collection started by Sony's "Gyorgy Ligeti Edition" of the composer's works in performances supervised by the composer himself. It contains four works, including two world premiers, and represents works from the 1960's and the 1990's. As with most of the material in the "Ligeti Project" series, the orchestras are the Asko and Schoenberg Ensembles conducted by Reinbert de Leeuw.

The "Cello Concerto" was premiered in Berlin with Siegfriend Palm on cello in 1967, and Palm, one of the most famous interpreters of the avant garde cello over the last forty years, returns on this performance. In spite of its name, however, the work is not a traditional concerto, for the soloist does not dominate to the expected degree and only his visual presence marks his role. The piece begins with a long-held E, marked "pppppppp", the softest dynamic in Ligeti's entire oeuvre, which continues for a minute and a half before it meets F. This gradual evolution continues for the five-plus minutes of the first movement, opening up the harmonic cluster in both directions like an elegant vista. The second movement is in a way Ligeti's embrace of pre-serialist norms, for he uses open octaves and tritones, but its series of gestural mannerisms and wild gesticulations keeps it firmly in the modern tradition. This is not one of his most famous works of the 60's, but still deserving of attention.

"Clocks and Clouds", inspired by a lecture by Karl Popper on the distinction between mechanical regularity and fuzzy nebulosity, is a piece for 12 female voices and orchestra written in 1973 but never before recorded. It uses a remarkable selection of instruments containing seventeen woodwinds, but only two trumpets and no other brass, no violins among the strings, and glockenspiel, vibraphone, celestra, and two harps in important roles. The sung text is merely phonetic symols meant to blend with the instrumental sonorities. This is an ethereal, lush, and dreamlike piece that is among Ligeti's most easily listenable, and stylistically it shows inspiration from the school of minimalism which Ligeti became acquainted with during a term teaching in San Francisco.

The "Violin Concerto" (1989-1992) was written between 1989 and 1993 by comission of the violinist Saschko Gawriloff. Here the soloist is Frank-Peter Zimmermann. The work is a carnival of microtones. The orchestra consists of ten wind players, percussion, and eleven solo strings, and tuning varies wildly. Brass players often play natural harmonics that clash with equal temperment, two string players retune their instruments to follow the seemingly out-of-tune sounds of the double-bass, and several players turn to imprecise ocarinas and slide whistles. Like many works of the late Ligeti, this is in a postmodern vein, where the composer not only showcases his own new ideas but quotes his own past works ("Musica Ricercata") and borrows from Balkan folk music concepts. I concur with those who would call this music "wacky", it's certainly exhuberant and hops from style to style in a very fun way.

"Sippal, Dobbal, Nadihegeduvel" is a circle of seven songs based on poems by Sandor Weores, among the greatest of 20th century Hungarian poets whose works Ligeti and fellow Hungarian composer Peter Eotvos have extensively set. The work uses only mezzo-soprano and percussion, and was written for the Amadinda Percussion Group who also perform it here. It is in some ways a return to the faux folk music Ligeti wrote in communist Hungary, using only convential tunings but it nevertheless has a very exotic and non-traditional sound through its uses of metallophone percussion. I enjoy these songs because I am a great fan of Weores' poetry, but they are quite different than most of Ligeti's adult works and may meet many listeners with bafflement. What one must understand before hearing these seven pieces is that Ligeti has a sense of humour just like all people and is not some deadly serious ivory tower academic composer like, say, Boulez.

While perhaps not the best introduction to Ligeti (try "Gyorgy Ligeti Edition 3: Piano Works" or "The Ligeti Project IV") This is one of the strongest discs in his collected works and passionately recommended.

A great Ligeti disc, including two world premieres.......2003-11-21

This, the third entry in Teldec's Ligeti Project, is sensibly balanced in terms of its coverage of Ligeti's output. Two of the four works are vocal, two are concerti. Two are from his 'clocks and clouds' micropolyphonic phase, two are from his recent postmodern one. And all are given superlative performances.

The cello concerto of 1966 was perhaps the decisive work in Ligeti's first mature period, as it is the piece in which he begins to return to conventionally beautiful harmonic writing. The first of the two movements of the cello concerto is very slow, beginning with a single cello note initially marked pppppp (!), which slowly becomes louder until it is joined by other instruments which start to fill in the notes above and below it. Eventually, the notes in the center of the pitch range fall away, and the cello sails as high as it can reach over a single held bass note, 'alone and lost' as the composer puts it. In contrast, the second movement covers a similar process in a much more hyperactive manner, ending with the soloist sputtering out percussive raps and jerky notes. The performance here, by the dedicatee of the work, Siegfried Palm, outclasses both his earlier recording and that by Jean-Guihen Queyras on DG, and can be considered definitive.

Clocks and Clouds, for small chorus and chamber orchestra, is 30 years old now, but previously unrecorded. The title, taken from an essay by Karl Popper on the difference between discrete and continuous phenomena, is a very good description of the work, which contrasts rhythmic, mechanical repetition with near-static, slowly shifting harmonies. Ligeti himself was very critical of this work, believing it was too derivative of American minimalists like Steve Reich and Terry Riley, but it sounds like pure Ligeti to me. The orchestration is limpid and clear, with some superb writing for tuned percussion, and the choral writing is a model of clarity.

1992's violin concerto is a paragon of later Ligeti--its Bartokian inheritance twisted by an interest in clashing tunings and impure intonation. Its five movements (fast-slow-fast-slow-fast in Bartokian arch form) provide much contrast--the first movement emerging out of repeated ostinato figures into melody, the second varying a folk-like theme (with the harmonies 'bent' by slide whistles and ocarinas). A brief, rapid intermezzo, coloured by a haze of harmonic clashes, forms the third movement, before an intense passacaglia, slow passacaglia that climaxes in dissonant, harmonically clashing notes. The virtuoso finale climaxes with a cadenza--the violinist is invited to supply his or her own, though here Frank Peter Zimmermann uses the one written by the work's dedicatee Sashko Gawriloff--before the orchestra rudely ends the work with a brief series of chords. This is by any standards a major work, and Zimmermann's performance should be considered the most desirable on record at this point.

The final work, With Pipes, Drums, Fiddles is a song cycle for soprano and percussion quartet, based on poetry by Sandor Weores. The seven songs here are brief, and the accompaniment often tends towards bizarre sound effects, but it is still a strong work. The first song rumbles away splendidly: "A mountain walks/The other mountain comes towards it", as the words have it. The second song is a rapid nonsense poem with delighted squeaks and squeals from the percussionists: in contrast, the third is merely a sequence of peaceful diatonic chords. The fourth song evokes mindless labour, the aggression that is beneath the surface eventually coming to the surface near the end. Two slow songs follow, the fifth a melancholic, ruminative piece where the vocalist is accompanied by four harmonicas, the sixth a near-folk-pop slice of melancholy, and the whole work is rounded off by a deliciously over-the-top nonsense song.

This might well be the best single Ligeti disc available today. Even by Ligeti's impressive standard, the works are consistently fine, and the performances here are all outstanding.

More serious fun from Ligeti.......2003-03-18

Serious composers probably take umbrage at the notion that their works sound "whacky," but that's the best adjective I can think of for Ligeti's exuberant compositions. This series (and its earlier incarnation on Sony) has brought us some really out-there stuff from one of the most individual composers of the 20th century. This latest release has the beautiful but quirky Violin Concerto, a kind of cuckoo-land successor to the Bartok 2nd concerto. There's also a piece for voices and orchestra from the '60s that's more in the serious vein. Not so the cycle for voice and percussion at the end of the CD, where the singer screams, yelps, and makes all manner of crazy sounds, all of it to more dramatically convey the text. Compared to many Europeans of his generations, Ligeti has always had a sense of humor (dark at times, but never the less). This latest release is a delight, and the performances are exquisite.

two string concertos, two vocal works.......2003-03-02

This, the third in the LIGETI PROJECT series, features new recordings of the Cello Concerto and the Violin Concerto, along with premieres of two vocal works, "Clocks and Clouds" from 1973, and a new work, "With Pipes, Drums, Fiddles" from 2000.

Siegfried Palm plays the cello, as he did in the original recording of the Concerto in 1967 (Wergo 60613-50). This is a fine version, but it's not clear that it surpasses the original. The recording quality, with state-of-the-art compression, is creamier, yet murkier than the more natural 1967 version. I have not heard the DG recording with Queyras, and Boulez conducting. "Clocks and Clouds" is a superb piece, one of the last in Ligeti's characteristic style of the 1960s -- with both vocals and orchestra, it could be a hybrid of "Atmospheres" and "Lux Aeterna." The Violin Concerto has been hailed as one of Ligeti's finest later works, and Frank Peter Zimmerman gives it a spectacular performance. Again, I have not heard the original DG recording with Gawriloff and Boulez to compare, but in its own right this long-awaited recording is outstanding. Finally, "Sippal, dobbal, nadihegeduvel: Weores Sandor verseire" is a collage of seven short vocal pieces, setting verse by the Hungarian poet to song. Katalin Karolyi is the mezzo-soprano, with idiosyncratic accompaniment by such instruments as slide whistles and harmonicas.

Another fine collection of Ligeti! For anyone first investigating Ligeti's soundworld, I would recommend beginning with the LIGETI PROJECT II, which includes some of his most well-known and influential orchestral works brilliiantly played by the Berlin Philharmonic. This disc is essential for collectors because of the otherwise unavailable vocal work premieres, and will give anyone a great introduction to a 20th century master.

See my GYORGY LIGETI'S SOUNDWORLD, as well as my THE 7 BEST COMPOSERS OF THE LATE 20TH CENTURY lists for more Ligeti recordings and reviews.

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Casals Festivals at Prades, Vol. 2

Manufacturer: Music & Arts Program
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Quartets | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

Quintets | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

Trios | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

Fantasies | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

Fugues | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music