Cradle of the Sun

1. Back to Havana

2. Mystic Dancer

3. Guardians of Nature

4. Spirit in the Rain

5. In America

6. Birds of Paradise

7. Yan Valu

Cradle of the Sun,Michael Pluznick,Narada,Adult Alternative,Ethnic Fusion,New Age / Meditation

Average customer rating:

Transcendent Vocalism
Beautifully delivered as always, but not my material.
Lives up to their reputation
One of the best I've picked up in ages
Fantastic recording of contemporary choral works

Colors of Love
Steven Stucky , John Tavener , Bernard Rands , Long Zhou , Chen Yi , Augusta Read Thomas , Steven Sametz , Marianne Kach , and Chanticleer
Manufacturer: Teldec
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

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

A Cappella | Folk | Styles | Music
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Our American Journey
Wondrous Love: A World Folk Song Collection
Tavener: Lamentations & Praises
Lost in the Stars
Chanticleer: Magnificat (A Capella Works by Josquin, Palestrina, Titov, Victoria, and Others)

ASIN: B00000IWR3
Release Date: 1999-05-18

Tracks:

Cradle Songs: Rouxinol do pico preto (Brazil)
Cradle Songs: Lilajze, Jezuniu (Poland)
Cradle Songs: Buy Baby Ribbon (Tobago)
Village Wedding
Canti d'Amor: 'Winds of May, that dance on the sea'
Canti d'Amor: 'O cool is the valley'
Canti d'Amor: 'This heart that flutters near my heart'
Canti d'Amor: 'Silently she's combing her long hair'
Canti d'Amor: 'Gentle lady, do not sing sad songs'
Canti d'Amor: 'Sleep now, O you unquiet heart'
Canti d'Amor: 'All day I hear the noise of waters'
Words of the Sun
Tang Poems: Written on a Rainy Night
Tang Poems: Wild Grass
The Rub of Love
in time of
Love Songs: 'Look out upon the stars, my love'
Love Songs: 'Love is a beautiful dream'
Love Songs: 'Alas, the love of women!'
Love Songs: 'For stony limits cannot hold love out'
Love Songs: 'All mankind love a lover'

Amazon.com

This compilation of modern-day madrigals, the latest in a fascinating series of discs from the San Francisco-based all-male vocal group Chanticleer, won the Grammy for Best Small Ensemble Performance of 1999. The selections range over a variety of styles and aesthetics, from the haunting, hypnotic sounds of Steven Stucky's Cradle Songs to the archaic, ethereal beauty and Eastern inflections of John Tavener's "Village Wedding." There are the soft (and somewhat affected) asperities of Bernard Rands' Canti d'Amor as well as the gentle, almost English pastoralism of Zhou Long's "Words of the Sun" (beautiful!) and the colorfully exotic Orientalism of Chen Yi's Tang Poems. Other examples of the wide range here are the self-conscious busywork of Augusta Read Thomas's Love Songs to the darkly lush, 12-part weave of Steven Sametz's "In Time Of," with its radiant climax and pulsating chordal sonorites like the tolling of bells. All of this Chanticleer sings with striking freshness and commitment, virtuosic to a fare-thee-well, always sensitive to the emotional cues of the texts. The recording, made at Skywalker Ranch in January of 1999, is vivid and warm, and so is much of the music. Truly a winning disc. --Ted Libbey

Customer Reviews:

Transcendent Vocalism.......2005-01-31

This compilation is essential listening, especially (but not exclusively) for those already introduced to the marvels of Chanticleer. It features a wide variety of contemporary madrigals all dedicated to the theme of love. Gorgeous polyphony, entrancing dissonance; the music is very difficult, but Chanticleer's vocalism is exemplary, as always. The whole feel of the album takes some getting used to for the uninitiated. After a few listenings, though, one can fully perceive its unique and sublime beauty.

Highlights abound. The first three tracks, all lullabies by Steven Stucky, are brilliantly executed, but it is track four, Village Wedding by John Taverner, that first knocked my socks off. It seems to represent the absolutely ideal match between composer and performer, between written and sung text. It consists of a wonderful poem by Greek poet Angelos Sikelianos, with a recurring excerpt from the Eastern Orthodox wedding ceremony interspersed throughout. Taverner is himself a member of the Eastern Orthodox church, and the song is as much a spiritual experience as a musical one.

Another fantastic piece is Words of the Sun, by Chinese composer Zhou Long. It is probably the most accessible song on the CD, with numerous lovely subtleties and nuances that can be fully appreciated after multiple exposures.

Lastly, I'd like to express my sincere conviction that In Time Of (by Steven Sametz, set to a poem by E.E. Cummings) is the single most gorgeous piece of music I have ever had the great fortune to hear. The sonority is perfectly balanced, each arching phrase better than the one before. Please, for the sake of pure unadulterated beauty, purchase this CD. You will not regret it.

Beautifully delivered as always, but not my material........2002-07-30

I came to this album as a fan of Chanticleer more than of contemporary art music, though I like to think I do have a certain ear for the stuff. I haven't been educated in it, but I've sung some in my time in choruses, and I learned to appreciate those pieces the way that I learned to appreciate the more classical stuff as a child--by feeling it and hearing it come out of my own body, the ways that it worked, what was exciting, ect. That said, there is a point where I don't get it, and I reached that point all over this album. I thought I'd pass it on because it is hard for most of us to pick this kind of music off the shelf--there will be pieces that skewer us and some that make us fidget. For my part, I am grateful to have the album for the sake of three (long) songs. The Tavner Wedding song itself is probably worth it. But the album will never be put on leisurely.

Lives up to their reputation.......2001-03-07

Just recently had the opportunity to hear Chanticleer in concert...this CD certainly gives a cross section of their range...especially liked the "Tang Poems" and "Words of the Sun", which they performed live...very esoteric mix of musical styles...well worth the purchase for Chanticleer lovers!

One of the best I've picked up in ages.......2000-11-25

First of all let me state that the 4 stars isn't for the performance...which is truly outstanding...it is for a few pieces that are a tad sub-par. I also want to mention that its not that the pieces are modern either, I happen to be extremely sympathetic to modern music.

I usually don't like to do reviews this way, but I'm going to make a few comments piece by piece:

1) CRADLE SONGS - The first two of this trio of lullabies are great...the ones from Brazil & Poland are hauntingly beautiful...I'm not so crazy about the one from Tobago. A fairly strong piece, its certainly interesting.

2) VILLAGE WEDDING - This is one of the best three pieces on the album, and probably the best. Hearing John Tavener's work next to his contemporaries is an easy indicator of why he is considered one of this century's greatest and certainly one of the greatest living composers. Simultaneously it is joyous, austere, reverent & spiritual. Simply beautiful & amazing.

3) CANTI D'AMOUR - This is an up & down work. I'm not sure what the composer had in mind, but I find the first part to be amusing. It reminds me of barbershop quartet. It has more somber moments too that are quite moving. Overall though, its okay.

4) WORDS OF THE SUN - After the Tavener piece, this is my favorite one. I would like to hear some of Zhou Long's other works. It is a very subtle piece. Very Chinese too, yet simultaneously western. This is one of my favorite pieces by eastern composers of western music. Lyrically, it is amazing. Its borrowed from a 20th century Chinese poem that is gorgeous in English, I'm sure its even more so in Chinese. Musically, it is very stirring.

5) TANG POEMS - This piece too is written by a Chinese composer (Chen Yi) and it is distinctly Chinese. I am intrigued at some of the techniques used by the composer. I am really pleased with the piece, although I'm sure some find it a little "too eastern." It is extremely pretty if one is accustomed to eastern melodies. The 2nd part is a bit sharper and probably less accessible than the first part.

6) THE RUB OF LOVE - One of the duller pieces on the album.

7) IN TIME OF - Sublime. The opening few bars are unearthly. Definately one of the three best pieces. They definately need to keep this one in their concert repetoire (along with the Tavener and the two pieces by Chinese composers.) This is one of those works you have to hear to believe.

8) LOVE SONGS - This is a quirky collection of tunes by Augusta Read Thomas. It runs the gamut of serious to extremely silly. There are some strong points here, but some of it is too silly to stand the test of time ("Alas, The Love of Women"). Eventhough it is extremely unconventional, the part entitled "For Stony Limits Cannot Hold Love Out" is powerful. It is piercing & strange, but it really works with the text.

There are times when I love everything on this CD, and times when some of it gets on my nerves. It is, however, never boring and the performances are superb. I highly congratulate Chanticleer for not sitting on their laurels. This is adventursome stuff and it works 90% of the time, which is more than I can say for 99% of the ensembles out there.

I highly recommend this disc for "Village Wedding," "Words of the Sun," "In Time of," and "Tang Poems."

Pick it up, be adventuresome. Enjoy.

Fantastic recording of contemporary choral works.......2000-09-21

Chanticleer is one of the USA's finest choral ensembles, and they have picked a marvelous and diverse program for this recording -- with something that would appeal to absolutely everybody. The inclusion of two "husband-wife" pairs in the choice of music also makes for a special connection to the theme of the disc. Of special note to this reviewer are the "delicious" sonorities of Bernard Rands's "Canti d'Amor" and Augusta Read Thomas's "Love Songs" -- Chanticleer is a group who is able to pull off this difficult music beautifully. This recording was absolutely deserving of the Grammy that is received -- one of the finest discs of modern choral music in the past few years.

Average customer rating:

A century of British art songs to delight those who love them

English Song

Manufacturer: Naxos
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

Compilations | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

A Treasury of English Song
Favorite English Songs
Songs by Roger Quilter
Bryn Terfel - The Vagabond & other songs by Vaughan Williams, Butterworth, Finzi & Ireland
Silent Noon

ASIN: B0002JEG6I
Release Date: 2005-03-22

Tracks:

A Soft Day - Bernadette Greevy
Irish Skies - Bernadette Greevy
Cherry Ripe - Janice Watson
Mustard And Cress - Neal Davies
The Lily Of A Day - Janice Watson
Henry King - Neal Davies
Fain Would I Change That Note - Graham Johnson
In Summer-Time On Bredon - Christopher Maltman
The Lads In Their Hundreds - Christopher Maltman
Among The Rocks - Graham Johnson
It Was A Lover And His Lass - Anthony Rolfe Johnson
The Water Mill - Anthony Rolfe Johnson
On Wenlock Edge - Anthony Rolfe Johnson
The Call - Graham Johnson
Silent Noon - Graham Johnson
Now In These Fairylands - Philip Langridge
The Dream-City - Philip Langridge
Margrete's Cradle Song - Susan Gritton
The Heart Worships - Christopher Maltman
Take, O Those Lips Away - Anthony Rolfe Johnson
Now Sleeps The Crimson Petal - Graham Johnson
Love Calls Through The Summer Night - Anthony Rolfe Johnson
I Will Go With My Father A-Ploughing - Graham Johnson
The Rio Grande (Capstan Shanty) - Ian Partridge
Theodore, Or The Pirate King - Ian Partridge
A Long Time Ago (Hilliard's Shanty) - Ian Partridge
Oh Dear, What Can The Matter Be? - Bernadette Greevy

Tracks:

The Grenadier - Richard Edgar-Wilson
The Young Lover - Richard Edgar-Wilson
Betty And Johnny - Richard Edgar-Wilson
Rise Up And Reach The Stars - Richard Edgar-Wilson
The Bells - Nik Hancock-Child
Ann's Cradle Song - Nik Hancock-Child
As I Lay In The Early Sun - Nik Hancock-Child
The Cherry Tree - Nik Hancock-Child
Dusk - Nik Hancock-Child
Peter Warlock's Fancy - John Constable
The Frostbound Wood - John Constable
Chopcherry - John Constable
A Sad Song - John Constable
Rutterkin - John Constable
Bethlehem Down - John Constable
Wapping Old Stairs - Felicity Lott
Long Steel Grass - Martyn Hill
Tango-Pasodoble - Martyn Hill
Popular Song - Martyn Hill
Beatriz's Song - Felicity Lott
Lay Your Sleeping Head, My Love - Philip Langridge
Early One Morning - Felicity Lott
The Foggy, Foggy View - Philip Langridge
Now The Leaves Are Falling Fast - Philip Langridge
Tell Me The Truth About Love - Della Jones
The Choirmaster's Burial - Philip Langridge

Customer Reviews:

A century of British art songs to delight those who love them.......2006-06-26

These 53 songs have been collected by Naxos from their extensive acquisitions from Collins Classics, and perhaps other British sources now out of business. There's a steady cottage industry, year after year, producing the typical English art song, which is usually based on folk songs, but even in more modern idioms is profuondly conservative and nostaligic. Half these songs, not to mention half the composers, are totally unknown to American audiences, but the familiar names of Vaughan Williams and Britten represent high quality, and the lesser lights, such as Warlock and Quilter, are mainstays in this repertoire.

I'd challenge all but the most addicted listener to make it through more than ten songs at a sitting, and many of these pieces are tepid, offering comfort rather than inspiration. The singers are among the best, but Graham Johnson and Steuart Beford, who do most of the accompaniments, are lackluster. I know that won't be a popular comment, yet if you compare any of these songs with rendiitons done by Janet Baker, John Shirley-quirk, and most recently Bryn Terfel and Ian Bostridge, you immediately notice how much more intensity and drama is pesent than htis colleciton reveals.

Marc Blitzstein: Musical Theatre Premières

Average customer rating:

Mixed offerings
Good historical document, not an exciting perf. or recording

Marc Blitzstein: Musical Theatre Premières

Manufacturer: Pearl
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

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

English | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
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The Cradle Will Rock: Original 1985 Cast Recording
Cradle Will Rock

ASIN: B000009QC2
Release Date: 1998-08-18

Tracks:

The Cradle Will Rock: Scene 1: Streetcar
The Cradle Will Rock: Scene 2: Nightcourt
The Cradle Will Rock: Scene 3: Mission
The Cradle Will Rock: Scene 4: Lawn Of Mr. Mister's Home
The Cradle Will Rock: Scene 5: Drugstore
The Cradle Will Rock: Scene 6: Hotel Lobby
The Cradle Will Rock: Scene 7: Nightcourt
The Cradle Will Rock: Scene 8: Faculty Room
The Cradle Will Rock: Scene 9: Dr. Specialist's Office
The Cradle Will Rock: Scene 10: Nightcourt
NO FOR AN ANSWER: Act 1 - Scene 1: Opening Chorus
NO FOR AN ANSWER: Act 1 Scene 4: Secret Singing
NO FOR AN ANSWER: Act 1 Scene 6: Dimples-Fraught
NO FOR AN ANSWER: Act 1 Scene 8: Francle
NO FOR AN ANSWER: Act 1 Scene 10: No For An Answer

Tracks:

NO FOR AN ANSWER: Act 2 Scene 1: Penny Candy
NO FOR AN ANSWER: Act 2 Scene 4: Mike
NO FOR AN ANSWER: Act 1 Scene 3: Gina
NO FOR AN ANSWER: Act 2 Scene 7: Nick
NO FOR AN ANSWER: Act 2 Scene 7: Purest Kind Of A Guy
NO FOR AN ANSWER: Act 2 Scene 9: Make The Heart Be Stone
NO FOR AN ANSWER: Dusty Sun
The Airborne Symphony - 1st Movement: I. Theory Of Flight
The Airborne Symphony - 1st Movement: ii. Ballad Of HIstory And Mythology
The Airborne Symphony - 1st Movement: iii. Kittyhawk
The Airborne Symphony - 1st Movement: iv. The Airborne
The Airborne Symophony - 2nd Movement: v. The Enemy
vi. Threat And Approach
The Airborne Symphony - 2nd Movement: vii. Ballad Of The Cities
The Airborne Symphony - 2nd Movement: viii Morning Poem
The Airborne Symphony - 3rd Movement: ix. Ballad Of Hurr-Up
The Airborne Symphony - 3rd Movement: x. NIght Music: Ballad Of THe Bombarder
The Airborne Symphony - 3rd Movement: xi-a. Recitative
The Airborne Symphony - 3rd Movement: xi-b. Chorus OF The Redezvous
The Airborne Symphony - 3rd Movement: xii. The Open Sky

Customer Reviews:

Mixed offerings.......2007-03-31

The CD was ordered for the Airborn Symphony. That piece was exactly what we had been looking for and quite outstanding. The rest of the music on the CD has however been somewhat of a disappointment.

Good historical document, not an exciting perf. or recording.......2000-06-02

This recording of The Cradle Will Rock is an important historical recording of the oiginal 1938 Broadway cast. The document presents 56 minutes from the show, leaving something more than half of the performance unknown to today's public. Marc Blitzstein performs at the piano. The recording also presents 37 minutes exerpted from No For An Answer, also performed by its 1940 original cast, and the 3-movement, 13-section Airborne Symphony for orchestra, male chorus, tenor & baritone soli, and narrator.

The format of the recording of The Cradle Will Rock is of scenes introduced by a narrator, musical numbers accompanied by piano, and acted portions of the spoken roles. The liner notes claim that most important revivals of the work use these and other no-budget restrictions imposed by the original opening night. In this recording, the performances are played very close to the microphone, and the piano is always relegated to the background. Some performances are shrill or overly arch, especially in the spoken portions.

The performances captured on this recording attest to its importance as a pace-setting feat. Unfortunately, the renowned director Orson Welles failed to appreciate a need for rethinking the performances for an audio recording. Some casting seems misguided in matching the voices to the characters they portray, especially in which some older characters are played by voices that seem surprisingly young. The reduction of the book to linking narration matches what one might expect had occurred at the alternate theatre to which cast and audience marched after finding themselves locked out of the WPA Theatre on opening night, 1937. However, the reductions of staging and motivations leave some bits of incongruity that might work well on stage but provide comical images while listening. For example, "Scene 4. The lawn of of Mr. Mister's home. Enter Junior Mister and Sister Mister, each reclining in a hammock." or "The Moll sits quietly on the railing in the half light. She begins to speak, and then she sings." followed by-what else?-the Moll actually speaking, and then actually singing. Scene 2 consists only of the narrative precis of what might be an exciting melange of chorus and soloists.

Judging solely from the exerpted product, the book to The Cradle Will Rock expresses everything exactly on the nose, providing little nuance in its polemic. From our perspective more than 60 years distant, the result is a one-dimensional cartoon rather than a persuasive challenge to the status quo. With the lack of revised direction and revulsion toward modifying the stage performance, the music comes across as dated and safe, despite the subject matter. The music and the mileau have some afinity to the music of Dreigroschenoper (Weill/Brecht, 1928), particularly in the incorporation of chorale-inspired melodies for the Mission, scene 3, in the free mixture of popular music genres, and in the occasional love duet. Finally, in addition, nearly every track suffers from an ever-present rain of surface noise from the original disks.

The recorded performance of No For An Answer (1940, recorded 1941) retains some of the audience-distancing quirks that Cradle has: accompaniment is still the solo piano, the voices are still placed on top of the microphone, and the document consists of portions of incomplete scenes. At least the narrative precis of action has been discarded. Weirdly, one scene is shuffled from act one to act two, simply to place so-called character sketches together. The performances are uninspired-with one exception being Carol Channing at a less-ripe age and at a nice juxtaposition to most other singers in this recording-and leave little doubt that one may never see a revival of this work. However, the sound quality is much improved from the recording of Cradle, made only 4 years earlier.

The Airborne Symphony (1946, and recorded in the same year) is more a cantata than symphony, given the vocal forces and the obvious choice to eschew the forms associated with the symphony. The music and its mixture with theme and speaker (Robert Shaw) are reminiscent of A Lincoln Portrait (Copland, 1942) and, at some points, Richard Rodgers and Roger Sessions. The miking of the performance is again heavily weighted in favor of the speaker and solo voices (Charles Holland, tenor, and Walter Scheff, baritone). The work by conductor Leonard Bernstein is gentle, perhaps too deferential to the soloists and slighted to a great extent because of the miking decisions. The text moves from an opening paean to the flights of Icarus and the Wright brothers (first movement), to a tone painting of flight used to advance war and malefaction (second movement), to a glorification of the British and American forces who were victorious against the mid-20th-Century threats (third movement). One section, "Night Music: Ballad of the Bombardier" is a very nice love song to the flyer's "Emily" back home.

Liszt: The Canticle of the Sun
Average customer rating:

Liszt the Celestial

Liszt: The Canticle of the Sun

Manufacturer: Hyperion UK
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

All Works by Liszt | Liszt, Franz | ( L ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
Preludes | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music
Character Pieces | Short Forms | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music
Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music
General | Keyboard | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music
Organ | Keyboard | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music
Howard, Leslie | ( H ) | Featured Performers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
General | Classical | Styles | Music
General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music
Romances | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
Classical | Imports | Stores | Music
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Liszt Transcriptions of Berlioz, Chopin, Saint-Saëns

Liszt: Fantasy, Variations, Funeral Odes, Concert Solo

Liszt at the Opera: Operatic Fantasies, Paraphrases, and Transcriptions, Vol. VI (Complete Music for Solo Piano, Vol. 54)

Liszt: The Complete Music for Solo Piano Vol. 23

Liszt: New Discoveries, Vol. 2

ASIN: B000002ZTR
Release Date: 1994-02-01

Tracks:

San Francesco - Preludio per il Cantico del Sol, S499a
Cantico del Sol di San Francesco d'Assisi, S499
Von Der Wiege Bis Zum Grabe - Du berceau jusq u'a la tombe, S512: Die Wiege - Le berceau
Von Der Wiege Bis Zum Grabe - Du berceau jusq u'a la tombe, S512: Der Kampf um's Dasein - Le combat pour la vie
Von Der Wiege Bis Zum Grabe - Du berceau jusq u'a la tombe, S512: Zum Grabe: Die Wiege des zuken Lebens
O sacrum convivium, S674a
Salve regina, S669/1
Ave maris stella, S669/2
Gebet, S265
Ora pro nobis - Litanei, S262
O sacrum convivium, S674a (Alternative Version)
Resignazione - Ergebung, S187b (Second Version)
Il m'aimait tant, S533
Romance 'O pourquoi donc', S169
Ich liebe dich, S546a
Die Zelle in Nonnenwerth, S534 (Fourth Version)

Customer Reviews:

Liszt the Celestial.......2007-07-08

Volume 25 in the Hyperion Liszt series introduces piano music borrowed from other compositions: the numerous transcriptions of various motets, choral pieces, and songs are representative. In addition, Howard has also recorded the solo piano version of Liszt's profound and last symphonic poem, "From the Cradle to the Grave." The quality of music and the impact of this piano version are largely responsible for my five star review. And yet Liszt's poetic piano arrangement of the "Cantico del Solo di San Francesco d'Assisi" is another blockbuster.

Liszt's passion for the Saints is evident in his two piano pieces, the Legends. Howard explains, "The Fioretti (Little Flowers) of St. Francis of Assisi was amongst Liszt's favourite inspirational and devotional readings, and it is The Canticle of the Sun from that book which provides him with the text for the choral version of the Cantico del Sol." Liszt changed the title in his piano version to "Cantico di San Francesco," and the work is a fervid and serious one. The booming opening hymn in the bass leads to a majestic thread of meditative ideas and passionate outbursts. Howard describes the work simply as "a paean of joy." Indeed, along with the counterpart piece, "Preludio," Liszt explores his own spirituality and religious zeal, best supported by the delicate and virile dynamics of the piano.

Liszt's thirteenth and last symphonic poem, "From the Cradle to the Grave" was written in 1881 and is one of those rare post-Weimar years' orchestral works. The philosophical meaning and nature of this last symphonic poem is decidedly somber. Humphrey Searle reports that the work "was inspired by what is apparently a very bad painting by Count Michael Zichy, and is divided into three parts, 'The Cradle,' 'The Struggle for Existence,' and 'To the Tomb: the Cradle of the Future Life.'" Liszt's orchestral version is visceral, but as always with Liszt's piano-writing, melodic fragments and individual lines of music reveal themselves better in his piano transcriptions. This piano version, I think, illustrates Liszt's pensive ideas quite well. The last portion in particular, "To the Tomb: the Cradle of the Future Life," sounds exalted in the piano's registers. The music itself plunges a dichotomy of depths: the funereal mood of death and the mysterious voyage of the afterlife. Although this is the only piano recording of this symphonic poem, I believe Howard's playing is noble and directed with careful pacing and dynamics.

No less significant than the two major works mentioned above are the smaller piano pieces derived from other choral compositions and songs. Both versions of "O Sacrum convivium" percolate with beautiful quietude, while the "Ave maris stella" is a wonderful pianistic treatment of a simple plainchant. There are other pieces here, however, that could be safely labeled "secular," and one of the finest is "Il m'aimait tant," a transcription of Liszt's own song, "which tells of the grief of love lost after a broken tryst." Clothed in Liszt's melancholic lyricism and Romantic sentiment, the piece is simply lovely. Another worthy transcription is the brief but even more effective song, "Ich liebe dich," played with heart-felt ardor by Howard. The "Romance" and "Die Zelle in Nonnenwerth" have been recorded elsewhere in their other versions, but offer new angles to familiar music content.

Bottom line: The absence of reviews for this Hyperion release is sad and the degree of quality these pieces exude can't be emphasized enough. The piano versions of the "Cantico del Sol" and Liszt's abstract "From the Cradle to the Grave" are celestial and imposing works. And in the various piano versions of motets and songs, Liszt displays a prolificacy that never ceases to be astonishing.

Average customer rating:

Brainy Music: Peaceful Baby

Manufacturer: Brainy Baby
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Ballets | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music

Fugues | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Children's Music | Styles | Music

General | Vocal Pop | Pop | Styles | Music
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Brainy Music: Sleepy Baby
Brainy Music: Cheerful Baby
Brainy Music: Playful Baby
Brainy Music: Sing Along Songs
Brainy Music: Classical Tunes

ASIN: B00009IAYI
Release Date: 2003-05-20

Tracks:

Gaelic Cradle Song
Baa! Baa! Black Sheep
Prelude #1 In C
Moon And Sun
Waltz
Barcarolle
All The World Is Sleeping
French Folk Song
Quiet Time
Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star
Lambs Are Sleeping
Adagio From Winter
Berceuse From Dolly Suite
Dodo, Baby, Do
Dance Of The Sugarplum Fairy

Product Description

Peaceful Baby is a soothing collection arranged to act as a calming influence on your child. Designed by a team of experts from a broad range of scientific and artistic disciplines, Peaceful Baby's compositions explore melodies, rhythms and tonal ranges most likely to induce tranquility in little listeners. Peaceful Baby's resonant acoustic recordings feature harp, celeste, violin, viola, clarinet, flute and cello, masterfully played by the award-winning musicians of The Arcangelos Chamber Ensemble. Selections include classical and folk music, lullabies and nursery rhymes.

Ernestine Schumann-Heink: The Victor Recordings, 1911-20

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Ernestine Schumann-Heink: The Victor Recordings, 1911-20

Manufacturer: Romophone
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Sacred & Religious | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

French | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Italian | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

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

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

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

General | Folk | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000051ZZX
Release Date: 2001-05-08

Average customer rating:

devastating, addictive

Tchaikovsky Romances

Manufacturer: Polygram Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00000418K
Release Date: 1994-05-10

Tracks:

My Protector, My Angel, My Friend
None but the Lonely Heart (Song of Mignon), Op.6 No.6
Why?, Op.6 No.5
Not a Word, Beloved, Op.6 No.2
Heed Not, My Love, Op.6 No.1
Spirit My Heart Away
Lullaby, Op.16 No.1
Acquiescence, Op.25 No.1
The Frightening Moment, Op.28 No.6
It Happened in the Early Spring, Op.38 No.2
Nights of Delerium, Op.60 No.6
Gipsy Girl's Song, Op.60 No.70
The Stars Looked Tenderly Upon Us, Op.60 No.12
This, Our First Reunion, Op.63 No.4
Indoors, the Lights Were Being Put Out, Op.63 No.5
Serenade, Op.65 No.1
The Sun Has Slipped From Sight, Op.73 No.4
Night, Op.73 No.2
Once Again, Alone, Op.73 No.6

Customer Reviews:

devastating, addictive.......1999-03-17

A thorough immersion in the madness, flight and obsession of romance and carnality. Utterly convincing performances.

Average customer rating:

Beautiful Music...
Beautiful songs, beautifully sung

Amai

Manufacturer: Amasong Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Folk | Styles | Music

General | New Age | Styles | Music

Meditation | New Age | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

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

General | Easy Listening | Pop | Styles | Music

General | Vocal Pop | Pop | Styles | Music

General | New Age | Indie Music | Stores | Music
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Laulu Voim: The Power of Song

ASIN: B00005YH4D
Release Date: 2001-08-02

Tracks:

Blood and Gold
Women of Ireland (Mna Heann)
Lauluja MereltSongs from the Sea): uule Tyttuli
Lauluja MereltSongs from the Sea): Sympaati
Lauluja MereltSongs from the Sea): En Mineryattiit
Lauluja MereltSongs from the Sea): Hyvi, Kultaseni
Draum Om NedsnBruer (Dream of Snow-Covered Bridges)
Orientis Partibus
There Is No Rose
Stove
Four Russian Peasant Songs: U Spassa V'chigisach
Four Russian Peasant Songs: Ovse
Four Russian Peasant Songs: Shchuka
Four Russian Peasant Songs: Uzh Kak Vwishla
On Suuri Sun Rantas Autius (How Lonely Is Your Shore)
Fisher Lid (Fisherman's Song)
J'Ai Fait Mon IdLa Danse de Mardi Gras (I've Made Up My ...)
We Will Walk With Mother and Mourn
Cradle Me
All Is Well
Shenanhoah
Keep Your Lamps
Job, Job
Amai

Customer Reviews:

Beautiful Music..........2004-10-30

I moved to Champaign a few months ago and came across Amasong through a friend. This choir is AMAZING! I bought Amai over the summer and was stunned by their sound. Though most of the members are not "professional" musicians, they have an incredibly professional sound! I was so blown away that I went out and auditioned for the chorus and began singing with them! This is a must have for anyone who enjoys beautiful choral music!

Beautiful songs, beautifully sung.......2003-01-04

This album has a wonderful variety of songs in many styles and languages, sung by a chorus with a very professional sound, although they are mostly non-professional singers. Although Amasong is a lesbian/feminist chorus, you don't have to fall into either of those groups to enjoy it. Kudos to their extraordinary founder/conductor, Kristina Boerger, for her wonderful choral arrangements as well as great leadership of her group.