Bird Songs [Import]

Track Listings
 
1. Up In The Sky
2. Voyage To Birdland
3. Summernights
4. Land Of The Rainbow
5. Over The Mountains
6. Crystal Sounds
7. Lullaby Of The Birds
8. Morning Sunrise
9. Promenade In The Forest
10. Meadow In Summer

Bird Songs,Various Artists,Laserlight,New Age


Bird Songs [Import]

Bird Songs [Import]
Instruments of the Orchestra
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Instruments of the Orchestra
Various Artists
Manufacturer: Naxos
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Similar Items:
  1. Britten: Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra Op34; Simple Symphony Op4
  2. The Mahler Symphonies: An Owner's Manual (includes 1 CD)
  3. The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra (Book & CD)
  4. Study of Orchestration, Third Edition
  5. The Life and Works of Ludwig van Beethoven

ASIN: B00006O0NT
Release Date: 2002-12-03

Tracks:

  1. Overture To 'Tannhauser'
  2. Domna, Pos Vos Ay Chausida
  3. We Don't Merely Use Instruments, We Play On Them. And They Play On Us.
  4. Hungarian Dance No.7
  5. The Violin Is One Of The Most Tender And Beautiful Instruments Ever Invented.
  6. Violin Concerto In D Major (Adagio)
  7. But For A Long Time It Was Seen As The Instrument Of The Devil.
  8. The Soldier's Tale: Triumphal March Of The Devil
  9. The Manipulative Seductiveness Of The Gypsy Violin.
  10. Csardas Music
  11. The Violin And The Initiation Of Nature
  12. The Four Seasons (Spring, Mvt 1)
  13. Birds Are Again Evoked In The Second Concerto, Especially Music's Natural Favourite.
  14. The Four Seasons (Summer, Mvt 1)
  15. Like The Devil, The Violin Is A Master Of Disguise.
  16. Old Viennese Dance No.3 'Schon Rosmarin'
  17. The Menacing Sensuality Of Ravel's Tzigane: A Very Different Side Of The Violin:
  18. Tzigane
  19. Do We Now Have The True Measure Of This Instrument? Not Just Yet.
  20. Caprice No.24
  21. 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.
  22. Variations On A Theme Of Frank Bridge (No.7)
  23. Prokofiev's Tremolo In Romeo And Juliet Should Not Be Heard Just Before Bedtime.
  24. Romeo And Juliet: Act IV
  25. Vivaldi Use It To Illustrate The Shivering Of Travellers Crossing The Ice.
  26. The Four Seasons (Winter, Mvt 1)
  27. The Violin Muted
  28. Clair De Lune
  29. The Gentleness Of Muted Strings Persists Even When A Whole Orchestra Plays.
  30. Piano Concerto No.21 In C Major, K.467 (Slow Mvt)
  31. The Pizzicato Violin
  32. Pizzicato Polka
  33. In Prokofiev's Second Violin Concerto, The Accompaniment Is Pizzicato.
  34. Violin Concerto No.2 In G Minor (Slow Mvt)
  35. 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...
  36. The Planets (Mars - The Bringer Of War)
  37. 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
  38. Hungarian Dance No.4
  39. Double-Stopping Is A Standard Feature Of A Lot Of Folk Music.
  40. The Four Seasons (Autumn, Mvt 1)
  41. Now The Same Technique, But The Sound Might Have Come From Another World.
  42. Bolero
  43. Double-Stopping Can Only Approximate The Sound Of A Real Violin Duet.
  44. Cadenza To The Violin Concerto By Brahms
  45. Now Compare That With A Real Violin Duet.
  46. Forty-Four Duos (No. 1: Teasing Song)
  47. Another Duo By Bartok, Demonstrating The Violin's Rich Lower Register
  48. Forty-Four Duos (No.2: Maypole Dance)
  49. And Now What May Be The Most Beautiful Accompanied Violin Duet In History
  50. Concerto In D Minor For Two Violins (Largo)
  51. The Soul Of The Violin Is In Song; But What About This Weird Passage?
  52. Violin Concerto No.1 In D Major (Mvt 2)
  53. The Use Of Harmonies In The Orchestra Can Be Both Magical And Unsettling.
  54. Symphony No.1 'Titan' (Mvt 1, Opening)
  55. Tchaikovsky's Use Of Harmonics In The Sleeping Beauty Is Both Strange And Darling.
  56. The Sleeping Beauty (Act II, No.15: Entr'Acte)
  57. Ravel's Harmonics In Mother Goose Effect A Magical Transformation.
  58. Ma Mere L'Oye - Mother Goose (Beauty And The Beast)
  59. Stravinsky's Harmonics In The Firebird Transport Us Almost Into Another World./The Firebird (Introduction)
  60. The Natural Upper Notes Of The Violins Have A Unique Emotional 'Grab'.
  61. Also Sprach Zarathustra (Of The Afterworldsmen)
  62. Still In Their Upper Register, The Violins Unleash The Energy Of A Young Colt.
  63. Variations On A Theme Of Frank Bridge (No. 4)
  64. Elsewhere, Britten Uses The Same High Register To Create A Very Different Mood.
  65. Four Sea Interludes (Dawn) From 'Peter Grimes'
  66. To End This Outing With The Violins, A Charming Little Elfin Dance
  67. Elfenreigen

Tracks:

  1. Introduction To The Viola
  2. Viola Concerto (Mvt 1)
  3. Khatchaturian Gets A Very Different Sound From It: Fuller, Fruitier, More Exotic.
  4. Gayane Suite No.1 (Armen's Solo)
  5. Very Nearly The Whole Of The Violin's Upper Register Is Also Available To The Viola.
  6. Passacaglia, Op.33b From 'Peter Grimes'
  7. 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.
  8. Harold In Italy (Mvt 4)
  9. The Muted Viola: Intimate, Gentle, Poignant In Dvork
  10. Cypresses (No.9)
  11. The Massed Violas Of The Modern Symphony Orchestra In Mahler
  12. Symphony No.4 (Mvt 3)
  13. The 'Period' Viola In Bach
  14. Brandenburg Concerto No.6 (Last Mvt)
  15. The Cello: A Voice Of Unique Nobility
  16. Suite No.1 For Unaccompanied Cello (Prelude)
  17. Brahms And The 'Soul' Of The Cello
  18. Piano Concerto No.2 In B Flat Major (Mvt 3)
  19. Most Orchestral Composers Tend To Emphasize The Cello's Lower Register.
  20. Cantata 'Herz Und Mund Und Tat Und Leben', BWV 147 (Soprana Aria: Bereite Dir, Jesu)
  21. In The Time Of Beethoven The Cello Remained As Fundamental As Ever.
  22. Symphony No.3 'Eroica' (Finale)
  23. But The Cello Is Not Condemned To Spend Its Life In The Basement.
  24. Elfentanz, Op.39
  25. Not Only In Recital Showpieces Like That Is The Cello Is Used In Its Highest Register.
  26. The Protecting Veil (Opening)
  27. A Cello With An Identity-Crisis: The Pizzicato Flamencan
  28. Flamenco
  29. Double-Stopping In The Lower Reaches Of The Cello's Range
  30. Solo Suiet For Cello And Piano (Sardana)
  31. It's In The Middle Register That The Cello Really Comes Into Its Own.
  32. Oriental Dance, Op.2 No.2
  33. 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.
  34. Symphony No.9 (Finale)
  35. Introduction To The Double-Bass
  36. The Carnival Of The Animals (The Elephant)
  37. But The Double-Bass Can Be Intensely Expressive And Graceful.
  38. Elegy No.1 In D Major
  39. 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.
  40. Capriccio Di Bravura
  41. 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)
  42. 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....
  43. Symphony No.5 (Mvt 3)/So Much For The Strings/On Now To The Winds

Tracks:

  1. The Antiquity And Magic Of The Flute
  2. Prelude A L'Apres-Midi D'Un Faune
  3. The Versatility And Agility Of The Flute
  4. Orchestral Suite No.2 In B Minor (Badinerie)
  5. The Flute In Fifteenth-Century Spain
  6. Sa'Dawi
  7. Other Flutes: The Bass And Alto
  8. Chamber Music No.II
  9. The Piccolo - Aptly Named
  10. La Naissance D'Osiris (Mvt 6)
  11. From A Piccolo Of The Eighteenth Century To One Of Its Descendants In The Twentieth
  12. Suite No.1 For Small Orchestra (Valse)
  13. A Variety Of Techniques
  14. Chamber Music No.II
  15. Flutter-Tonguing. But Tchaikovsky Got There Eighty Years Before.
  16. The Nutcracker (Act II, No.2: Scene)
  17. From The Transverse To The Vertical: The Baroque Recorder
  18. Recorded Suite In A Minor (Menuet II)
  19. An Unfamiliar, Early Vision Of The Instrument
  20. Naelden, Naelden
  21. The Bachian Oboe
  22. Cantata 'Ein Feste Burg Ist Unser Gott', BWV 80 (No.7: Duetto)
  23. Introduction To The Cor Anglais Or 'English Born'
  24. Symphony No.9 'From The New World' (Mvt 2)
  25. The Loneliness Of The Cor Anglais
  26. The Swan Of Tuonela
  27. The Cor Anglais Joins The French Horn In Haydn.
  28. Symphony No.22 'The Philosopher' (Opening)
  29. Introduction To The Oboe D'Amore, Beloved Of Bach - But Also Of Ravel
  30. Bolero
  31. 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...
  32. 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)
  33. As The High Clarinets Tend To Be Loud, So The Bass Tends To Be Soft:
  34. Gayane Suite No. 1 (Mvt 5)
  35. 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).
  36. The Range Of The Normal Clarinet Parts Goes Quite High...
  37. The Snow Maiden (Scene 5: Melodrama)
  38. ...And Quite Low.
  39. Peter And The Wolf (The Cat)
  40. The Clarinet As Concerto Soloist
  41. Clarinet Concerto In A Major (Rondo)
  42. But That's Not The Instrument Mozart Wrote It For; This Is:
  43. Clarinet Concerto In A Major (Rondo)
  44. Introduction To The Saxophone
  45. Hary Janos Suite (Mvt 4)
  46. The Soprano Saxophone Has Quite A Different Feel To It.
  47. L'Arlesienne Suite No.1 (Minuet)
  48. The Little Sopranino Sax Goes Even Higher.
  49. Bolero
  50. The Most Famous Use Of The Saxophone Is In An Orchestration By Ravel.
  51. Pictures At An Exhibition (The Old Castle)
  52. The Saxophone Can Be Quite Contagiously Good-Humoured.
  53. Sax-O-Phun
  54. The Puffa-Puffa Image Of The Bassoon
  55. Peter And The Wolf (Grandfather)
  56. The Bachian Bassoon, In Accompanimental Mode
  57. Cantata 'Weichet Nur, Betrubte Schatten' ('Wedding Cantata'), BWV 202 (Aria No.1)
  58. Bizet Leaves The Puffa-Puffa Image Out, Allowing The Bassoon To Sing./Carmen Suite No.1 (Les Dragons D'Alcala)
  59. And Ravel, Also In Spanish Mode, Does Likewise.
  60. Bolero
  61. The Bassoon As A Voice Of High Seriousness, Indeed Desolate Loneliness
  62. Symphony No.3 (Opening)
  63. The Eerie Bassoon In Its Highest Register
  64. The Rite Of Spring (Opening)
  65. Stravinsky Now Draws On Its Lowest Register, Lonely And Melancholy.
  66. The Firebird Suite (1919, Berceuse)
  67. The Bassoon As Concerto Soloist, Avoiding All Exaggeration
  68. Bassoon Concerto In G Minor (Finale)
  69. The Deep-Voiced Contra-Bassoon, As A Fairy-Tale Beast
  70. Ma Mere L'Oye - Mother Goose (Beauty And The Beast)
  71. The French Horn Under Its Woodwind Hat
  72. Wind Quintet, Op.43 (Last Mvt)
  73. Now A More Prominent Role, In A Woodwind Quintet From An Earlier Era
  74. Wind Quintet In A Minor, Op.100 No.5 (Mvt 2)
  75. The Horn In Harmonious Blend With Strings In Another Quintet
  76. Horn Quintet, K.407 (Finale)

Tracks:

  1. The Trumpet As Virtuoso Soloist
  2. Brandenburg Concerto No.2 (Last Mvt)
  3. The Special Brillance Of Paired Trumpets
  4. Concerto In C For Two Trumpets, RV537 (Mvt 1)
  5. The Ceremonial Trumpet
  6. Fanfare For The Common Man
  7. Trumpets And Drums - An Incomparable Alliance
  8. Messiah (The Trumpet Shall Sound)
  9. The Versatility Of The Trumpet, From The Most Public To The Most Lonely
  10. Piano Concerto In F (Slow Mvt)
  11. 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
  12. Carmen Suite No.2 (Habanera)
  13. The Trumpet As The Voice Of Strength And Courage
  14. Carmet Suite No.2 (Toreador's Song)
  15. The Trumpet Muted/Petrushka (No.4: The Blackamoor)/Lieutenant Kije Suite (Opening)/The Trumpet As The Voice Of Weariness
  16. Billy The Kid
  17. The Trumpet As Character Actor
  18. Pictures At An Exhibition (No.6)
  19. The Trumpet As The Voice Of God
  20. Mass In B Minor ('Et Exspecto')
  21. The Birth Of The Trombone
  22. Aenmerckt Nu Hier
  23. The Birth Of The Brass As A Family
  24. Canzon 12 In Double Echo
  25. The Trombone In The Eighteenth Century
  26. Trombone Concerto In B Flat Major (Finale)
  27. 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.
  28. Hosannah
  29. The Trombones Become Part Of The Orchestra.
  30. Symphony No.5 (Finale)
  31. The Wagnerian Trombone:/Overture To 'Tannhauser'
  32. The Trombone As Caricaturist
  33. Pulcinella (No.19: Vivo)
  34. The Trombone As Raspberry/Concerto For Orchestra (Intermezzo)
  35. The Horn And The Hunt
  36. Horn Concerto No.4 In E Flat, K.495 (Finale)
  37. The Challenging Horn Of The Baroque
  38. Abaris Ou Les Boreades (Menuet)
  39. The Scarcity Of First-Rate Players In Handel's Time
  40. Walter Music (Minuet 1)
  41. The Horn As Magician/The Firebird Suite (1919, Finale)
  42. Horns And The Sound Of Nobility
  43. Overture To 'Tannhauser' (Opening)
  44. The Special Sound Of The Horn In Its Higher Register
  45. Mass In B Minor ('Quoniam Tu Solus Sanctus')
  46. The Trumpet-Like Sound Of Massed Horns
  47. Symphony No.3 (Mvt 1, Opening)
  48. The Tuba - Unfairly Maligned?
  49. Symphony No.6 (Mvt 3)
  50. The Tuba Perfectly Cast By Ravel
  51. Pictures At An Exhibition (Bydlo)

Tracks:

  1. Introduction. And We Begin With A Bang.
  2. Fanfare For The Common Man/The Bass Drum On The Battlefields/Wellington's Victory, Op.91 (Opening)
  3. At The Opposite Extreme Is The Triangle.
  4. Piano Concerto No.1 In E Flat (Scherzo)
  5. Categories Of Percussion: Tuned And Untuned. The Side Drum
  6. Overture To 'La Gazza Ladra' - The Thieving Magpie (Opening)
  7. The Side Drum In An Effective But Unexpected Role/Clarinet Concerto (Mvt 1)
  8. The Tambourine. One Of The Oldest Instruments In The World
  9. Den Hoboecken Dans
  10. Even Older Is The Originally Oriental Gong.
  11. Ma Mere L'Oye - Mother Goose (Laideronette)
  12. 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.
  13. Gymnopedie No.2
  14. 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...
  15. 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)
  16. More Versatile Than The Whip Are The Wood Blocks.../Studio Example/...Which Crop Up All Over The Place In Twentieth-Century American Music.
  17. Rodeo (Hoe-Down)
  18. 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.
  19. Scherzi Musicali (Damigella Tutta Belle)
  20. A Still Earlier Example From Fifteenth-Century Spain
  21. Yo M'Enamori D'Un Aire
  22. The Birth Of The Bongo
  23. Symphonic Dances From 'West Side Story'
  24. From The Streets Of New York To The Blacksmith's Shop/Il Trovatore ('Anvil Chorus')
  25. Desert-Island Decibels: Grand Canyon Suite (On The Trail)/Arcana
  26. From One Vegetable To Another: The Humble Squash, Or Marrow/Huapango
  27. Onwards To The Tuned Percussion. First, The Timpani
  28. Also Sprach Zarathustra (Introduction)
  29. But The Drum Roll Can Be More Effectively Frightening Than The Big Bang.: Symphony No.2 'Resurrection' (Mvt 3)
  30. Not One Drum Roll, But Many/Grand Canyon Suite (Sunrise)/Symphonie Fantastique (Last Mvt)
  31. Taking Advantage Of Tunability
  32. Music For Strings, Percussion And Celeste (Mvt 2)
  33. 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.
  34. Introducing The Glockenspiel/Carmen Suite (Carmen's Entrance And Habanera)
  35. Saint-Saens And The Xylophone
  36. The Carnival Of The Animals (Fossils)
  37. Ravel And The Xylophone
  38. Ma Mere L'Oye - Mother Goose (Laideronette)
  39. Introducing The Marimba/Carmen Suite (First Intermezzo)
  40. Introducing The Vibraphone
  41. The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre (Narange Dolce)
  42. The Vibraphone Goes Russian.../Carmen Suite (Carmen's Entrance And Habanera)/...And Is Joined By The Marimba./Carmen Suite (Carmen's Entrance And Habanera)
  43. Introducing The Hungarian Cimbalom
  44. Folk Dances
  45. The Cimbalom And The Symphony Orchestra
  46. Hary Janos Suite (Mvt 3)
  47. Introducing The Tubular Bells
  48. Hary Janos Suite (Viennese Musical Clock)
  49. A More 'Up-Front' Approach From Rodion Shchedrin
  50. Carmen Suite (Introduction)
  51. But The Bells Can Also Make The Sinister Even More Sinister./Symphony No.7 'Sinfonia Antartica' (Mvt 1)
  52. Introducing The Celeste
  53. The Nutcracker (Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy)
  54. Magic, In The Use Of Collective Percussion
  55. Miroirs (La Vallee Des Cloches)
  56. Plucked Instruments: The 'Undercover Percussion'/Carmen Suite (Scene)
  57. 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
  58. The Traditionally Subservient Role Of The Harpsichord In The Baroque Orchestra
  59. Brandenburg Concerto No.2 (Slow Mvt)
  60. The Piano: King Of The Tuned Percussion/Symphony No.3 'Organ' (Mvt 3)/And A Quarter Of A Century After That:
  61. Petrushka (Russian Dance)
  62. The Anti-Romantic Piano As An Integral Part Of The Orchestra
  63. Music For Strings, Percussion And Celeste (Last Mvt)

Tracks:

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

Tracks:

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

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars 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!

5 out of 5 stars 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!

5 out of 5 stars 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!

3 out of 5 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.

5 out of 5 stars Excellent Intro for Those Not Familiar with the Orchestra.......2003-11-08

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

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

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

The one complaint I have is the last CD. This deals with the orchestra. I wanted more of a tour of how the orchestra has been used through history up to the present. Instead, it was a tour of how different groups of instruments sound. I thought it could have been better. The other 6 CDs are excellent.
Si ji (Four Seasons)
Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • Successful crossing over from East to West
  • One of the best solo guitar albums I have ever heard
  • Virtuoso playing and an unusual repetoire
Si ji (Four Seasons)

Manufacturer: Gsp Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Chamber MusicChamber Music | Forms & Genres | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music
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  2. Paul Galbraith: French Impressions
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  4. David Russell: Art of the Guitar
  5. A Jug of Wine and Thou

ASIN: B000AXWHEY
Release Date: 2005-09-13

Tracks:

  1. Wang Huiran: Yi Dance
  2. He Luting: Shepherd Boy with Flute
  3. Dietmar Ungerrank: Intonation & 4 Sound-and-Image Compositions - Intonation
  4. Dietmar Ungerrank: Intonation & 4 Sound-and-Image Compositions - Long Out-stretched Pier with its Shadows
  5. Dietmar Ungerrank: Intonation & 4 Sound-and-Image Compositions - Wind on The Hill
  6. Dietmar Ungerrank: Intonation & 4 Sound-and-Image Compositions - Waiting for Guests
  7. Dietmar Ungerrank: Intonation & 4 Sound-and-Image Compositions - Land Circus
  8. Traditional - Heavenly Bird
  9. Tradional - Lantern Song
  10. Traditional - Mayila
  11. Evan Hirschelman: Meditation No.2
  12. Evan Hirshelman: Meditation No.1
  13. Stephen Goss: The Blue Kite
  14. Stephen Goss: Yellow Earth
  15. Stephen Goss: Farewell My Concubine
  16. Carlo Domeniconi: I Ching - 1 T'ai
  17. Carlo Domeniconi: I Ching - 3 Lin
  18. Carlo Domeniconi: I Ching - 4 T'ung len
  19. Carlo Domeniconi: I Ching - 5 Huan
  20. Carlo Domeniconi: I Ching - 6 K'uei
  21. Carlo Domeniconi: I Ching - 7 Chieh
  22. Stephen Funk Pearson: South China Sea Peace
  23. Thierry Rougier: Four Seasons - Spring
  24. Thierry Rougier: Four Seasons - Summer
  25. Thierry Rougier: Four Seasons - Autumn
  26. Thierry Rougier: Four Seasons - Winter

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Successful crossing over from East to West.......2007-07-06

Nowadays many classical musicians move to 'cross-overs' between Western classics to exotic works, and Chinese musicians and composers pioneer in cross-overs from Chinese music to Western.
Alas, not all attempts are successful. Either there has not been enough nurturing in the Chinese repertoire, or the western playing style has not yet been fully developed.
Ms. Yang is a young classical guitarist. Gathering from what she said in her own introduction to this disc, she is a musician with a great ambition. It is true that the classical guitar may not have a substantial repertoire as other western instruments like the violin and piano. Hence drawing materials from other culture in a guitarist's repertoire is both a necessity and an endeavour.
A guitarist from Beijing, Ms. Yang is familiar with classical Chinese instruments like the gu qin, the zheng and the pipa. These ancient Chinese instruments are like the guitar- all are played by plucking strings set on wooden surfaces. So as Ms Yang herself noted - the guitar originated from the Middle East, a 'cross-over' area of Eastern and Western culture.
In many of the modern works recorded in this disc, Ms Yang played the guitar to the effect of those ancient Chinese instruments, and this is quite stunning. Her familiarity with the Eastern musical style is fully demonstrated, adding the requisite flavour of authenticity to her interpretation. There are a number of great compositions of the gu qing, the zheng as well as the pipa, and I truly look forward to Ms Yang's transcriptions of those to the guitar in due course.
A highly recommended recording for guitar players, guitar lovers and Chinese music fans alike.

5 out of 5 stars One of the best solo guitar albums I have ever heard.......2006-10-06

One of the most original CDs I've ever heard. This CD is full of incredible music. Yang XueFei plays with sensitivity, creativity and passion.
When I played this CD for my guitar teacher, he commented that it was rare for him not to have heard at least one piece on any particular classical guitar CD, yet all these pieces were new to him. Carlo Domeniconi (who wrote the masterpiece "Koyunbaba") has composed an outstanding suite based on the I Ching. The 3 pieces by Stephen Goss, which are based on Asian films, are themselves cinematic: "The Blue Kite" is a work of minimalist beauty. There are many other talented composers lending their gifts to this CD. Most of the selections are either composed for Yang Xuefei or are arrangements by her. All are inspired by Chinese culture and music. My favorite piece is "Long Outstretched Pier with its Shadow" (by Dietmar Ungerrank); it is elegantly written and the execution is sensual and rich.
Yang XueFei's technical agility, especially the right hand, (as in "Yi Dance") goes beyond that of her contemporaries. As impressive as this is, the passion she imbues into each work is what connects her to the songs and ultimately to the audience. Technique is there to help her express what is inside of her. It is as if the guitar is her lover. This just isn't a great guitar album; it is a great album period. Its emotional complexity deepens with each listening. Buy it!
I've also purchased "Romance de Amor" which is extremely good as well (listen to her version of "Requerdos de la Alhambra" as compared to one of her heroes, John Williams on "The Guitarist"), but "Si Ji" is totally unique. Don't miss it.
As an aside, If you do end up buying and enjoying this CD, you might listen to Lily Afshar. The influence of her Persian heritage is similar in effect to "Si Ji" by Yang XueFei. Both artists have breathed life into the modern repertoire of guitar music.

5 out of 5 stars Virtuoso playing and an unusual repetoire.......2005-10-26

I am a classical guitar student, and an over-the-top consumer. So I have a lot (many dozens) of classical guitar CDs. They are for the most part quite good, but they tend to blend. I might be able to distinguish Tennant's Rodrigo or Barrueco's Scarlatti, but too many guitarists play an awful lot of the same repetoire, and they play it quite similarly.

This CD is quite different. The pieces are all Asian in flavor and by composers I had never heard of. And they are quite beautiful. Ms. Yang appears to be quite young, so this could be the start of a long and interesting career. But at least one of the pieces was written for her, so she has already apparently developed a solid reputation.
Bird on the Wire/the Songs of Leonard Cohen
Average customer rating: Not rated
    Bird on the Wire/the Songs of Leonard Cohen
    Perla Batalla
    Manufacturer: Mechuda Music
    ProductGroup: Music
    Binding: Audio CD

    GeneralGeneral | Folk | Styles | Music
    GeneralGeneral | Pop | Styles | Music
    GeneralGeneral | Easy Listening | Pop | Styles | Music
    GeneralGeneral | Folk | Indie Music | Stores | Music
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    1. Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man
    2. Heaven and Earth
    3. Mestiza
    4. Famous Blue Raincoat
    5. Leonard Cohen I'm Your Man

    ASIN: B000CAJQC6
    Release Date: 2005-08-16

    Tracks:

    1. If It Be Your Will
    2. Seems So Long ago Mancy
    3. Coming Back to You
    4. Dance me to the end of Love
    5. So Long Marianne
    6. Came so far for Beauty
    7. Ballad of the Absent Mare
    8. Famous Blue Raincoat
    9. Bird on the Wire
    10. Suzanne

    Product Description

    Leonard Cohen’s gruff voice has kept many from properly appreciating the brilliance and utter romanticism of his songs. Perla Batalla here lovingly wraps her warm voice around 10 of them to glorious results. The best are the ones where she takes the most liberties: “Famous Blue Raincoat” backed by a string quartet, a jazzy “Seems So Long Ago, Nancy,” “Ballad of the Absent Mare” as a duet with David Hidalgo of Los Lobos, “Dance Me to the End of Love” as a duet with Bill Gable partially translated into Spanish, “Suzanne” cleverly interpolating bits of Steven Foster’s “O Susanna.” The sound is sumptuous. Engineer/mixer Leanne Unger is an excellent choice for the project as she has worked on many of Cohen’s own albums over the years. Her sympathy and love for Cohen’s songs, plus her familiarity with them, greatly enhances the album. The three cover shots of Perla Batalla and Leonard Cohen sharing warm moments speaks volumes both to Perla’s sincerity and love for Cohen’s songs and Cohen’s endorsement of Perla’s work. Beautifully conceived and executed, Bird on the Wire is a rewarding listening experience I find myself returning to frequently. It is every bit the equal of Jennifer Warnes’ classic Cohen tribute album Famous Blue Raincoat. For those uninitiated to the glories of the songs of Leonard Cohen this is a wonderful introduction. For the rest of us it is simply heavenly. — Michael Tearson
    Complete Flanders & Swann
    Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    • Return to Sanity
    • Have Some Madeira
    • British humour at its best
    • If you haven't heard this...
    • Gentle Satire
    Complete Flanders & Swann

    Manufacturer: EMI Int'l
    ProductGroup: Music
    Binding: Audio CD

    All Works by Wolfgang Amadeus MozartAll Works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus | ( M ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
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    DivertimentosDivertimentos | Serenades & Divertimentos | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music
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    Vocal & SongVocal & Song | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music | Cantatas | Romances
    French HornFrench Horn | Brass | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music
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    ASIN: B000006T4S
    Release Date: 1997-04-30

    Tracks:

    1. Warthog, The (The Hog Beneath The Skin)
    2. The Sea Horse
    3. The Chameleon
    4. Whale, The (Mopy Dick)
    5. Je Suis Le Tenebreux
    6. Songs For Our Time
    7. A Song Of The Weather - Flanders & Swann
    8. The Reluctant Cannibal
    9. Greensleeves
    10. Misalliance
    11. Kokoraki
    12. Madeira M'Dear?
    13. Too Many Cookers
    14. Built Up Area
    15. In The Bath (From 'At The Drop Of A Hat')
    16. Sea Fever
    17. The Hippopotamus Song

    Tracks:

    1. The Gas Man Cometh
    2. Sounding Brass
    3. Los Olividados
    4. In The Desert
    5. The Sloth
    6. The Rhinoceros
    7. Kangaroo Tango
    8. Jaguar
    9. Dead Ducks
    10. The Elephant
    11. By Air
    12. Slow Train
    13. A Song Of Patriotic Prejudice - Flanders & Swann
    14. The Humming Bird
    15. The Portuguese Man-Of-War
    16. Sea Fever
    17. The Hippopotamus Song

    Tracks:

    1. The Gas Man Cometh
    2. Sounding Brass
    3. Los Olividados
    4. In The Desert
    5. The Sloth
    6. The Rhinoceros
    7. Kangaroo Tango
    8. Jaguar
    9. Dead Ducks
    10. The Elephant
    11. By Air
    12. Slow Train
    13. A Song Of Patriotic Prejudice - Flanders & Swann
    14. The Humming Bird
    15. The Portuguese Man-Of-War
    16. The Wild Boar
    17. The Ostrich
    18. The Wompom
    19. Twice Shy
    20. Commonwealth Fair
    21. P** P* B**** B** D******
    22. Paris
    23. Eine Kleine Nacht Musik Cha Cha Cha
    24. The Hundred Song
    25. Food For Thought

    Album Details

    Fantastic Triple CD Box Set of the Recorded Works of One of Britain's Most Popular Comedy Duos. Their Keen Observations of Everyday British Life and Abilities to Exemplify them in Song Made them the Darlings of the UK. Cleverness, Wit and Absoute Hilarity were the Order of the Day, in Just About Any Style of Music. Pure Comic Genius on Three Discs!

    Customer Reviews:

    5 out of 5 stars Return to Sanity.......2005-07-27

    Before Monty Python, before the Beatles, before "'Enery the Aigth Oi Am" there was the subtle, sweet, insdious humor of Flanders and Swann, and their lyrics remain part of the recognition rituals of Ivy Leaguers of the sixties. For any aging hippies or yuppies who find life WAY more stressful than we ever expected, and for whom the down side of alcohol, sex, and drugs has become apparent, I recommend listening several times to "In the Bath". It raises a cry for peace among the nations by inviting all the leaders to sit congenially steaming in a communal bathtub. And they reminding us of our essential self-interest when they add the proviso "as long as Swann and Flanders get the end without the taps." On those nights when we suspect that there isn't any point to it all, reach for the Flanders and Swann. They won't convince you there is any meaning to life, but they'll make it a lot easier to bear. Don't even try to do without it.

    5 out of 5 stars Have Some Madeira.......2005-07-06

    Not every line in Flanders and Swann has become part of our 37-year marriage, but many have. As our turntables fail, we are pleased that we can relive all the fun stuff we used to collect. Nothing is like this duo, especially what you usually hear as French horn by Mozart converted into "I found that horn go(r)ne." And, of course,
    "Have some Madeira, m'dear" is an all-time favorite.

    5 out of 5 stars British humour at its best.......2003-03-15

    When I started out as a teacher of English, I had the most wonderful colleague as a mentor -- when she retired she gave me three LPs with much of what is on these CDs, and it must be one of the best gifts I have ever been given. Practically all of it makes me smile or laugh out loud (although I must admit that some, like The Armadillo and Slow Train, make me so melancholy that I can just feel my lower lip tremble and my eyes fill up). How can you beat lines like "Hail to thee, blithe Wompom", or "The English are moral, the English are good / And clever, and modest, and misunderstood"? I find they make great listening exercises for my teenaged students as well -- they consider it ancient, but incredibly funny!

    5 out of 5 stars If you haven't heard this..........2003-01-16

    The great comedic pairing of the late Michael Flanders (vocals) and Donald Swann (piano and occasional vocals) must surely rank among the hall of fame of comic singers and songwriters. Descended from the British music hall tradition, these two men wrote and performed music which still sparkles with wit today, some 40 or more years since it was recorded.

    After being told to take up singing as a means of strengthening his polio-weakened lungs, the wheelchair-bound Flanders teamed up with pianist Swann and proceeded to write such classic songs as "The Hippo Song (Mud Mud Glorious Mud)", "The Gasman Cometh", "The Gnu Song", "A Transport of Delight" and many others. As well as a gently satirical spirit, all these songs feature the sublime wordplay and interplay of both men.

    The first two discs of this box set are actual concerts - "At The Drop Of A Hat" and its successor "At The Drop Of Another Hat". Recorded at the height of the duo's popularity and form, the sound quality is surprisingly good for recordings this old.

    "At The Drop Of A Hat" opens with three of the Flanders and Swann classics. "Transport Of Delight", a song in praise of the "97 horsepower omnibus" features the wonderful harmonies of the duo on lines like "any more fares" and Flanders' dead-on impression of a London busdriver "Geddardait, we're full right up inside". "Song of Reproduction" deals with the new, as it was then, stereo technology and features Flanders delivering an incredible monologue using every conceivable piece of audiophile jargon. "The Gnu Song" (in which "gnu" is pronounced phonetically) is a real treat. The audience's reaction to the reappearance of the gnu is superb.
    As well as this opening trio, the disc features Flanders' snippets of "Songs For Our Time" (in which he experiments with conventions of hit songs), "Song of the Weather" (a rundown of English weather throughout the year), "The Reluctant Cannibal" (featuring Swann in the tititular role and the chorus "I can't eat people/I won't eat people/eatin' people is wrong"), Swann's foray into Greek folksong "Kokraki" and the justifiably famous "Madeira M'Dear". The performance ends with a rousing version of "The Hippo Song".
    Flanders is in fine voice throughout and his comments introducing each song are delivered with deadpan accuracy. The story behind "The Gnu Song" is an absolute masterpiece. Flanders' monologue about the creation of "Greensleeves" is also superb - "'Greenfleeves'. That's an interesting name for a fong" (referencing old English script) being just a taste.

    "Another Hat" begins in equally fine form with "Gasman Cometh" and "Ill Wind". "Gasman", presaged as "a tale of unending domestic upheaval", is sure to have most people who've ever dealt with unreliable tradesmen nodding in agreement, while "Ill Wind" is Flanders' attempt at setting words to a French horn concerto featuring the immortal lines "I lost that horn/lost that horn/lost that horn/found that horn/gorn". The performance continues with Swann's Russian/English song "In The Desert", the ending of which is truly side-splitting. "All Gall" (a reinterpretation of "This Old Man" to fit then-French President Charles de Gaulle) is a little dated but very cleverly done. "Song of Patriotic Prejudice", with its introduction and opening lines grabbing the audience's attention is another triumph, while the "Hippo Encore" is a great end to the performance.
    Again Flanders is at his peak. His loving description of the Spanish olive-stuffers ("Olividados") and his superb story about flying ("By Air") are both brilliant examples of the shaggy dog story.
    My favourite from both of these discs would have to be "First and Second Law". Flanders decides to educate Swann in elementary science and picks on the first and second laws of thermodynamics ("heat is work and work is heat" and "heat cannot of itself pass from one body to a hotter body") and the repetition of these phrases in time to Swann's barely-there piano accompaniment is one of the finest moments in British comedy.

    The third disc is largely forgettable. It begins with a series of animal-related songs performed in a studio and without much of Flanders' rambling introductions. "Warthog" has its moments, while the others were clearly not performed in front of an audience for a reason. "Wompom" is also mildly diverting, presenting a story about a made-up substance which is the answer to everything.
    The rest of the disc is then filled out with much earlier material in a rather poorly-recorded concert. "20 Tons of TNT" (related to the calculation the pair had done which gave that as the amount of TNT per person on the planet at the time) provides food for thought, but little more.

    Is this box set for everyone? No. Much of the humour both within and without the songs does require a bit of background knowledge to what was going on in Britain and Europe at the time (1960s), John Profumo is referenced a few times as well as Charles de Gaulle and the Common Market, while a smattering of classical music knowledge can help out a bit with Swann's work and "Ill Wind". The fact that my grandfather (who's in his late 70s) recalls hearing these songs and laughing may give an indication as to the age of some of the subject matter. Equally the fact that "First and Second Law" references an awful lot of physics might do the same.

    Nevertheless, for anyone who loves British humour done in a gentle manner or who is interested in the source of "mud mud glorious mud/nothing quite like it for cooling the blood", give these CDs some serious consideration.

    5 out of 5 stars Gentle Satire.......2002-04-03

    I've been singing Flanders and Swann every day In the Bath since I first heard them in 1964. If you don't know them, think Gilbert and Sullivan by way of English music hall and Noel Coward, with a bit of Tom Lehrer musical satire and classic Bob Newhart or Charlie Manna monologues. F&S commented gently on their times: "The purpose of satire, it has been rightly said, is to strip away the veneer of comfortable illusion and cozy half-truth. And our job, as I see it, is to put it back again." Quite simply the best comic songs and patter of the 20th century. Michael died in 1975, Donald in 1994. Goodnight, Mabel Figworthy, wherever you are.

    Here are some samples of Michael's verbal wit.

    Wordplay:
    - "A Transport of Delight," their song of the pleasures of the double-decker bus "has recently been adopted as the theme song of the Underground resistance movement."
    - Speculating that Henry VIII wrote Greensleeves: "and the royalties go to royalty."
    - About a tennis referee late in the day: "the umpire upon whom the sun never sets."
    - Explaining how he was hoisted in his wheelchair onto airliners by a fork lift: "Why they need a great machine like that to lift forks I do not know. Well, they're only plastic, now, aren't they?"
    - On status symbols: "The object is to Gunga Din your neighbor: 'I'm a better man than you' is the acid test," and, "let's bang our status cymbals with the best."
    - To a disenchanted cannibal: "You used to be a regular anthropophagi."
    - Of a lecher: "And he said as he hastened to put out the cat, the wine, his cigar, and the lamps," while the girl "lowered her standards by raising her glass, her courage, her eyes, and his hopes."
    - At the corrida d'olivas (the Andorran festival of olive stuffing, not to be confused with the Spanish corrida de toros, or bullfight): "And a great cry goes up of Ole! He has made an 'ol."
    - "It's no good going up to a scientist and saying to him like you would to anybody else, 'Good morning, how are you, lend me a quid, and so on.' He'll just glare at you, or make a rude retort."

    Throw-aways
    - During the height of the cold war the Soviet Union sent the Moscow Ballet on a world tour. Donald sang one chorus of the Hippopotamus Song "mud, mud, glorious mud - nothing quite like it for cooling the blood" in Russian. Michael: "That should improve our cultural relations."
    - During the 1963 Mandy Rice-Davies and Christine Keeler scandal: "None of that going around saying no smoke without fire. Nil cumbustibus, Profumo." Also, from "Friendly Duet," "such models of friendship are precious and rare, while the friendship of models is not."
    - "Now if you're writing a musical, as I'm sure practically all of you are, . . ."
    - Of Donald: "You know that no one has a higher regard for your music . . . than you do yourself. I merely meant that you are not great because you are not dead. If you wish to be great you must stop composing and start decomposing."
    - "We never found a rhyme for (Soviet Premier Nikita) "Kruschev" until he was dead: Did he die or was he "pushed off"?"
    - "We spent two dreadful, uh, delightful years, entertaining the Americans whose need, let's face it, is greater even than yours. Of course, when we're over there we say that the other way 'round."
    - "No matter what you may say about the Germans, and who doesn't . . ."
    - "Some of the songs that have made our names a household word, like slop-bucket . . ."
    - "They've started testing cars now. They started at 10 years, then 5, now three. There's even some talk of having them tested before they leave the factory."

    Absurdities
    - "I'm delirious about our new oven fitted with the eye-level grill. This means that without my having to bend down the hot fat can squirt straight into my eye."
    - A spectator during the construction of Stonehenge: "So, it's not going to be lived in. Well, that's something anyway. So what is it, then? It's a what?! A calendar?! A bit big for a calendar isn't it? You'd look pretty foolish with that on your desk."
    - "Donald knocked himself out this morning. Got one of those new pop-up toasters. Nasty things."

    Incredible multiple rhymes:
    - "The fair hippoptama he aimed to entice from her seat on her hilltop above, as she hadn't got a ma to give her advice, went tip-toeing down to her love."
    - Of Josephine: "Nonsense, said Bonaparte. She lives on her own, apart, in her own apartment."
    - "Oh let us be married if our parents don't mind. We'd be happy and inseparable. Inextricably entwined. We'd live happily every after, said the Honeysuckle to the Bindweed."
    - "And you'll always see a single lace-less left-hand leather boot. A bootless British river bank's a shock. We leave them there at midnight, you can track a member's route by the alternating print of boot and sock."
    Sniper & Other Love Songs
    Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    • One little thing
    • Chapin RAW - his most affecting album. I'd give it a 10.
    • Harry proved here that he was no sentimentalist
    • Heavy songs that are nice to know
    • some dark love songs
    Sniper & Other Love Songs
    Harry Chapin
    Manufacturer: Wounded Bird Records
    ProductGroup: Music
    Binding: Audio CD

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    ASIN: B000068TN3
    Release Date: 2002-06-18

    Tracks:

    1. Sunday Morning Sunshine
    2. Sniper
    3. And The Baby Never Cries
    4. Burning Herself
    5. Barefoot Lady
    6. Better Place To Be
    7. Circle
    8. Woman Child
    9. Winter Song

    Album Description

    Harry Chapin was a folk-rock balladeer extraordinaire who tragically died in an auto accident in 1981. He issued many albums throughout the 80's but surprisingly Sniper & Other Love Songs was never issued on CD, until now. Chapin fans have been campaigning for this album to come out on CD, so here it is! 2002.

    Customer Reviews:

    4 out of 5 stars One little thing.......2007-04-11

    Here's classic Harry Chapin, the way he'll be heard for the next thousand years or so. But, there's this little thing that nags me. 'Barefoot lady'? No! The songs called 'Barefoot Boy'. It's a piece I helped an old girlfriend do for a school project, using a slide projector and a turntable. ( OK, I'm old, stuff happens) I do wish the printer will see this and correct it.

    5 out of 5 stars Chapin RAW - his most affecting album. I'd give it a 10........2006-04-07

    This is Chapin's strongest album, but it's not for everyone -- "Sniper" and "A Better Place to Be" are about the rawest, most emotional works I've ever heard. "Sniper" is in fact a love song, but it's a look into an an awfully strange world view.

    If you like "Heads & Tails," give this one a try, but be ready for a visceral experience. I went almost 10 years between listenings at one point, and remembered every song almost word for word. You don't have that kind of recall if material is just goop. This is a real artistic roller coaster.

    5 out of 5 stars Harry proved here that he was no sentimentalist.......2005-12-29

    During the time he was still with us, the rock'n'roll crowd sneered that he didn't have the proper rock "attitude". The folkies felt he was too philosophical and didn't stick to the standard ballad form enough. Fortunately the bona fide folk purists weren't listening anymore because original material had been "in" for folksingers for years, or we'd have heard "where's Jimmy Crack Corn?" ad nauseam. The audience who listened to Carole King and Carly Simon wanted to hear love ballads and Harry wasn't enough of a Neil Diamond clone for their tastes. The Singer/ Songwriter fans complained that his lyrics were too prosaic, too matter-of-fact. But Harry overcame the "sophomore jinx" by giving us more "pay attention, Jack" material than on his "Heads & Tales" debut. From the start, we got some very listenable material. "Sunday Morning Sunshine" is a joyful your-love-gives-my-life-meaning song. Then the album abruptly shifts to the raging epic title song, the tale of Charles Whitman of Texas Tower fame. Given the times this song was written during, Chapin can be forgiven his attempt to understand this monster who didn't realize that the universe underwrites no insurance against hurt feelings to any of us--instead Whitman threw the most fearsome temper tantrum a human being can throw: mass murder. Listen to the lyrics--every slight mentioned has happened to all of us, but the difference is that the rest of us do like the old saying: "get a life". Then the album moves to a song of a lonely musician who finds love in the arms of an abandoned single mom whose "Baby Never Cries". Then to "Burning Herself", the helpless thoughts of a man in love with a woman who's into self-mutilation and he can't think of a thing he can do to help her, and as such he's letting her down. "Better Place To Be" is the tale of a lonely waitress who meets an equally lonely customer in the line of duty. The sequence of "Sunday Morning Sunshine" and "And the Baby Never Cries" bracketing the shock-and-awe "Sniper" isn't a recent development of later editions--I still have the LP of it, which I grabbed when it was first released over 20 years ago. This album is basically Harry saying "bull" to those who called him a wimp and a poor songwriter on strength of his freshman effort. Not to mention those who couldn't fit him into a convenient pigeonhole so decided to sneer at him instead--the sneer being the defalt facial expression of 20th century Americal, a syndrome our society is still sick unto death from. To call him "progressive folk" along with brilliant Texan Shawn Phillips is the closest one can come under mass-market music rules. That's if those really apply. Which they don't--this is Harry Chapin Music you're buying here. That's the name of the category.

    5 out of 5 stars Heavy songs that are nice to know.......2005-01-24

    Steve Chapin plays piano for his brother Harry Chapin on the album "Sniper and Other Love Songs" released in 1972. With Tim Scott on cello, Ron Palmer on lead guitar, John Wallace on electric bass, and Harry Chapin with his own guitar, the group always has plenty of irons in the fire to add to the astounding lyrics of Harry Chapin. The first song brags about having "a pocket full of stories that I just had to tell." On the dramatic side, this album is named for a song called "Sniper" that is 9 minutes and 50 seconds long, ("Seven A.M., the day is beginning, so much to do and so little time") that tells a story which starts with a tower on a campus. By the middle of the song, the main character is spewing out "Are you listening to me? Are you listening to me? Am I?" as the bullets fly. "Not much of a joiner" was the explanation people gave for his idiosyncrasies.

    The song "Circle" has a 1971 copyright, and the "let's go 'round one more time" theme is just right for a career in music. The best song with a "Sshh, I know just how you feel" line is "Better Place to Be," which takes 7 minutes and thirty-five seconds to answer the question:

    Where the hell you been hiding,
    and why do you look so down?

    The long story keeps turning into a chorus when it gets to:

    If you want me to come with you
    then that's alright with me
    'cause I know I'm going nowhere
    and anywhere's a better place to be.

    4 out of 5 stars some dark love songs.......2002-12-06

    I have waited for 10 years for sniper and other love songs to be released on cd. The album is very dark, typified by "Sniper", and "Woman Child". The album features the Chapin anthem "Circle" and Harry's favorites song that he wrote "A Better Place" to be. Over all a very good album. aaron neubauer
    English Madrigals and Songs
    Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    • A very pleasant tour through early music history
    English Madrigals and Songs

    Manufacturer: Naxos
    ProductGroup: Music
    Binding: Audio CD

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    ASIN: B000001446
    Release Date: 1996-11-19

    Tracks:

    1. Pastime With Good Company
    2. Blow Thy Horn, Hunter
    3. Ah Robin, Gentle Robin
    4. Hey Trolly Lolly Lo
    5. Draw On, Sweet Night
    6. Thule, The Period Of Cosmography
    7. Weep, Weep Mine Eyes
    8. As Vesta Was
    9. Sound Saddest Notes
    10. Fair Phyllis
    11. Sleep, Fleshly Birth
    12. Mother, I Will Have A Husband
    13. Lay A Garland
    14. Brigg Fair
    15. The Trees They Do Grow High
    16. The Blue Bird

    Customer Reviews:

    5 out of 5 stars A very pleasant tour through early music history.......2004-11-24

    From King Henry through the early 18th century, the best vocal music of the times. I was so taken by the earliest material that my a capella group learned several of the pieces and have performed them in many venues over the years.

    If you like the sound of early music, this is a must-have.
    Sondheim At The Movies: Songs From The Screen (Studio Cast Re-recordings)
    Average customer rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
    • What can you lose?
    • Pleasant overall, with some invaluable rarities
    Sondheim At The Movies: Songs From The Screen (Studio Cast Re-recordings)

    Manufacturer: Varese Sarabande
    ProductGroup: Music
    Binding: Audio CD

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    1. Marry Me A Little (1981 Original Off-Broadway Cast)
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    5. The Frogs / Evening Primrose (2001 Studio Cast)

    ASIN: B000001512
    Release Date: 1997-09-09

    Tracks:

    1. Back In Business - Alet Oury, Julie Alderfer, Farah Alvin, Heidi Godt, Kelli Shrewsbury, Gretchen Weiss
    2. Dawn - Jolie Jenkins, Bryan Batt, Danny Burstein, James Hindman
    3. The Glamorous Life - Cassidy Ladden
    4. What Can You Lose? - Guy Haines
    5. More - Jennifer Simard
    6. Stavisky Suite One - Orchestra
    7. Sand - Christiane Noll
    8. It Takes All Kinds - Bryan Batt, Danny Burnstein, Robert Randle, Jim Ryan, Kevin Pariseau, Alec Timerman
    9. Little Dream - Susan Egan
    10. Stavisky Suite Two - Orchestra
    11. Sooner Or Later - Jane Krakowski
    12. Stavisky Suite Three - Orchestra
    13. If You Can Find Me, I'm Here - Gary Beach
    14. I Remember - Liz Callaway
    15. When - Liz Callaway, Gary Beach
    16. Take Me To The World - Liz Callaway, Gary Beach
    17. Goodbye For Now - Orchestra

    Amazon.com

    The premier stage composer of his time, Stephen Sondheim has also contributed a substantial body of work to the big and small screens, explored in this 65-minute collection by the Varèse Sarabande stable of artists. The best known is Warren Beatty's 1990 live-action cartoon Dick Tracy, which won Sondheim an Oscar for "Sooner or Later" (covered here by Ally McBeal's Jane Krakowski). This CD includes "Back in Business" as well as the three songs also released on Madonna's movie tie-in album. Other rarities include "Dawn" and "Sand" from the unproduced film project Living Out Loud, the revised version of "The Glamorous Life" written for the 1978 feature film, and "It Takes All Kinds" from The Bird Cage. Orchestral selections include three suites taken from the film score of Stavisky and the gorgeous ballad "Goodbye for Now" from Reds. The major piece here is five songs written for the 1967 television drama Evening Primrose and covered by golden-voiced Liz Callaway and Gary Beach. The recording may not have the star power of an earlier recording by Mandy Patinkin and Bernadette Peters, but it's simply and effectively performed here. --David Horiuchi

    Customer Reviews:

    4 out of 5 stars What can you lose?.......2000-01-29

    Sondheim's little-known work for the big and small screen get presented in this enjoyable compilation. Fans of Sondheim's stage work might be extremely surprised to find the master trying his hand at several pop-flavored tunes. Gary Beach and Liz Callaway do a magnificent job with the four songs from "Evening Primrose" (and is my preference over Mandy Patinkin's over-hysterical rendition with Bernadette Peters), with particular beauty found in the stunning duet "When?"

    Sondheim even tries the cheesy disco thing, with "It Takes All Kinds", cut from "The Birdcage". A more thrilling piece of ear candy has never been heard. Although the movie version of "Glamorous Life" can be heard on one or two other compilations and the movie soundtrack, this is one of the best.

    I wish the album was truly comprehensive (tracks which have gotten more exposure, such as "Sooner or Later" "Can That Boy Foxtrot" and "Water Under the Bridge" are omitted), but the gems it contains more than compensates. An important album in any Sondheim fan's collection

    3 out of 5 stars Pleasant overall, with some invaluable rarities.......1999-05-07

    The best moments from this umpteenth collection of music by Broadway supercomposer Stephen Sondheim are the (remarkably dissimilar) selections from 1990's "Dick Tracy" and the obscure 1960's TV musical "Evening Primrose," some of which have never before been recorded. Other items are less memorable, including some regrettable disco/80's pop pastiches from "Singing Out Loud" and "The Birdcage." The selections from "A Little Night Music" and "Stavisky" received sharper performances in the original soundtrack recordings ("The Glamorous Life" can be found appended to the newly remastered Sony/Columbia recording of "Night Music"s original cast; the complete soundtrack to "Stavisky" is available packaged with the must-have 1985 concert recording of "Follies."). This CD should be invaluable to avid Sondheim collectors for the "Primrose" numbers, dynamically sung by Gary Beach and Liz Callaway. Those less fanatic will probably find this a pleasant and workmanlike, but not particularly outstanding recording.
    Olde English Madrigals & Folk Songs at Ely Cathedral
    Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
    • Music for the masses
    • Beautiful but perhaps overly solemn for some selections
    • A tasteful and beautiful collection
    Olde English Madrigals & Folk Songs at Ely Cathedral

    Manufacturer: American Gramaphone
    ProductGroup: Music
    Binding: Audio CD

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    ASIN: B0000005MB
    Release Date: 1990-10-25

    Tracks:

    1. Come Away, Sweet Love
    2. Weep, O Mine Eyes
    3. Fair Phyllis I Saw
    4. Now Is The Month Of Maying
    5. Fairwell, Dear Love
    6. April Is In My Mistress' Face
    7. Draw On, Sweet Night
    8. Sing We At Pleasure
    9. My Bonnie Lass She Smileth
    10. The Silver Swan
    11. Mother, I Will Have A Husband
    12. Dainty Fine Bird
    13. As Vesta Was From Latmos Hill Descending
    14. I Love My Love
    15. My Sweetheart's Like Venus
    16. Bushes And Briars
    17. The Turtle Dove
    18. The Three Ravens
    19. Dashing Away With The Smoothing Iron
    20. O Waly, Waly
    21. Greensleeves

    Customer Reviews:

    5 out of 5 stars Music for the masses.......2005-09-25

    This disc is a bit different from many of the Cambridge Singers' discs in that it is exclusively secular songs. They have retained one of their favourite recording spaces, the Lady Chapel at Ely Cathedral, a structure well atuned to a capella singing (it has a natural nine second delay in the cathedral). This recording was John Rutter's first album on American Gramaphone Records.

    --Music--
    Madrigals are songs that have various purposes. They can be for private or public entertainment; they can be together with dramatic performances or played on their own. Petrarch is the inspiration of many madrigal texts, and folk songs also feature significantly. The English Madrigal School took full bloom during the golden age of Elizabeth; by the middle of the seventeenth century, the era of composition of the madrigal was essentially over. However, they have remained a popular pieces for performance, and many modern composers have arranged them, including on this disc Holst, Vaughan Williams and the Cambridge Singers director, Rutter.

    Madrigals are often upbeat, happy, sometimes poignant, and lively. Some madrigals incorporate humour and jokes. There are exceptions to all of these, to be sure, including among the songs on this disc. Perhaps the best known madrigal in modern times, Greensleeves, is presented as the last piece on this disc, here in an arrangement by Vaughan Williams. There are lively emotions and sombre tones here, all sung with grace and consistent quality.

    --Liner Notes--
    Unlike many of the Cambridge Singers' CDs' liner notes, this one has a biographical sketch of John Rutter, a description of the setting at Ely Cathedral, a listing of the singers, and an essay about madigrals. Also unlike other CDs of theirs, this one does not include the words to the songs, a missing piece that would be helpful for many of the songs.

    --John Rutter--
    Rutter was born in London and educated at Clare College, Cambridge. This was where his career as a composer, arranger and conductor began. His early work was with groups at King's College Chapel at Cambridge as well as the Bath Choir and Philharmonic Orchestra. He has worked for the BBC providing music for educational series such as 'The Archaeology of the Bible Lands', until in 1979 he began forming the Cambridge Singers, and has continued a remarkable career of performance and recording as their director ever since.

    --The Cambridge Singers--
    The Cambridge Singers are a mixed choir of voices, many of whom were members of choir of Rutter's college, Clare College, Cambridge. While they specialise in English and Latin liturgical pieces, they have a wide range of recordings that span from modern compositions (including a remarkable requiem by Rutter) to English folk songs of the Middle Ages. Many are former members of the choir of Clare College and other Cambridge collegiate choirs (hence the name, Cambridge Singers). In the quarter-century since the founding, the Cambridge Singers have produced an impressive body of recordings.

    This is a fun and fabulous recording.

    3 out of 5 stars Beautiful but perhaps overly solemn for some selections.......2002-10-19

    The splendor of these arrangements and the setting confer on all of these traditional madrigals (and some newer arrangements: Side B is dominated by twentieth century arrangements) a certain solemnity and a certain stately pace (so the lyrics are not lost in the echo of the cathedral).

    This leaves a strange effect on some selections, such as "Now Is The Month of Maying," which is about, um, springtime urges and here sounds oddly like a mass.

    5 out of 5 stars A tasteful and beautiful collection.......2001-08-21

    This disc furthers my belief that madrigals are the best forum for a capella voice. Each song is unique and beautiful, and the sequencing allows a very smooth flow. Better-known works such as "Month of Maying" or "April is in my Mistress' Face" are perhaps most representative of the style, but included here are many lesser-known gems that you're sure to enjoy. The Cambridge Singers use their obviously well-honed skills to great results, from the more frivolous tracks to the darker, more solemn ones. Very highly recommended.
    There Is Sweet Music: English Choral Songs, 1890 - 1950
    Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    • A Cambridge Singers high point
    • How sweet it is
    • Something about British Choral Music...
    • Unbelievably gorgeous
    There Is Sweet Music: English Choral Songs, 1890 - 1950
    Cambridge Singers , and Rutter
    Manufacturer: Collegium
    ProductGroup: Music
    Binding: Audio CD

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    ASIN: B00006O0OB
    Release Date: 2003-02-25

    Tracks:

    1. Stanford: Partsongs Op. 119 No 3, Bluebird
    2. Delius: To be sung of a summer night on the water, 2 songs for chorus
    3. Elgar: Partsongs for chorus, Op.53 No 1, There Is Sweet Music
    4. Elgar: My Love Dwelt in a Northern Land for Chorus, Op.18, No. 3
    5. Vaughan-Williams: Shakespeare Songs for chorus
    6. Moeran: The Sailor and Young Nancy, for chorus
    7. Traditional: Brigg Fair
    8. Irish Traditional: Londonderry Air (Danny Boy)
    9. Anon.: The Three Ravens
    10. Anon.: My Sweetheart's Like Venus
    11. Anon.: The Oak and the Ash
    12. Stanford: Quick! We Have But A Second for chorus
    13. Britten: Flower Songs for SATB chorus, Op. 47

    Album Description

    `I have rarely been so stunned by the opening track of a disc before. The performance of Stanford's The Blue Bird here attains the sublime.' Hi-Fi News & Record Review

    Customer Reviews:

    5 out of 5 stars A Cambridge Singers high point.......2005-10-17

    One of the very best recordings this choir has produced, and a definitely top choice for anyone who loves this choir or English choral music in general. Absolutely first-rate singing...and the literature is just too gorgeous to be on a one disc and pass up. The Delius pieces will make you melt, and the Vaughan Williams 3 Shakespeare Songs are nothing short of phenomenal.

    5 out of 5 stars How sweet it is.......2005-09-26

    This disc is a bit different from many of the Cambridge Singers' discs in that it is exclusively secular songs. This was recorded at the Great Hall of University College School, London, in 1986, and originally released on vinyl. I cannot find an analog/digital code (many vinyl originals were first recorded in analog and then transferred to digital, sometimes clumsily) - despite this, the recording quality is crisp, clear, and vibrant.

    --Music--
    The music here is simply gorgeous. English musical tradition is long in the area of folk songs, but there was a waning of folk songs during Georgian and Victorian times. Also, despite the tradition of choral music which has been strong in England continuously, there was a definite resurgence of interest with the advent of the Oxford Movement in the nineteenth century.

    The music here represents the work of many prominent English composers - Vaughan Williams, Holst, Britten, Delius, Stanford, and Elgar; others whose names are less well known generally are also represented, such as Moeran, Grainger, Chapman, and Bairstow. Vaughan Williams is represented in his setting of three Shakespeare texts to music ('Full Fathom Five', 'The cloud-capp'd towers', and 'Over Hill, Over Dale'). Britten is represented with Five Flower Songs. The title piece comes from a text chosen by Elgar - 'There is sweet music', according to Rutter, demonstrates a wonderful ability to match words to music in a way he describes as uncanny.

    There is poetry in the texts and in the music here.

    --Liner Notes--
    The notes for this recording include the titles and words of each song together with source citations. There is also a brief essay on this musical period in English history. One thing conspicuously missing is much biographical information about John Rutter, or any descriptive information about the Cambridge Singers. This disc does not even have a list of the singers.

    --John Rutter--
    Rutter was born in London and educated at Clare College, Cambridge. This was where his career as a composer, arranger and conductor began. His early work was with groups at King's College Chapel at Cambridge as well as the Bath Choir and Philharmonic Orchestra. He has worked for the BBC providing music for educational series such as 'The Archaeology of the Bible Lands', until in 1979 he began forming the Cambridge Singers, and has continued a remarkable career of performance and recording as their director ever since.

    --The Cambridge Singers--
    The Cambridge Singers are a mixed choir of voices, many of whom were members of choir of Rutter's college, Clare College, Cambridge. While they specialise in English and Latin liturgical pieces, they have a wide range of recordings that span from modern compositions (including a remarkable requiem by Rutter) to English folk songs of the Middle Ages. Many are former members of the choir of Clare College and other Cambridge collegiate choirs (hence the name, Cambridge Singers). In the quarter-century since the founding, the Cambridge Singers have produced an impressive body of recordings.

    This is a gorgeous recording.

    5 out of 5 stars Something about British Choral Music..........2005-07-19

    It is such pleasure to see this re-release of 1986 recording by John Rutter and the Cambridge Singers from the Great Hall of University College School, London. The original recording has long been a favorite of legions of devotees of the British Choral tradition and this collection remains one of the finest samplings of significant a capella songs available.

    Opening with the hauntingly simple and beautiful 'The blue bird' by CV Stanford (to whom this album was dedicated), the tone of the CD is set as a stroll through the mists and bogs of the English countryside. Songs by Frederick Delius (one featuring the then unappreciated tenor soloist Mark Padmore!), Edward Elgar, various folk songs beautifully arranged for four-part chorus, the 'Five Flower Songs' by Benjamin Britten, and finally the extraordinary 'Three Shakespeare Songs' set to music by Ralph Vaughan Williams are all included in this generous recital.

    Vaughan Williams songs are brief but immaculately written choral works. 'Full fathom five' and 'The cloud-capped towers' find all the mystery in Shakespeare's 'The Tempest' while 'Over hill, over dale' is the quintessential musical rendering of the fairies frolics from 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'. Rutter and the Cambridge Singers are splendid and the acoustic of the recording hall adds just the right amount of resonance to complete the magic of these songs. Highly recommended! Grady Harp, July 05

    5 out of 5 stars Unbelievably gorgeous.......2005-04-09

    This is one of my all-time favorite choral CDs -- from start to finish, the harmonies are gorgeous, the mood contemplative, and the singing (as usual with the Cambridge Singers) is inspired. The title track is stunning, and the Londonderry Air is one of the most beautiful wordless arrangements you'll ever hear. I also love "The Oak and the Ash," although it's hard to pick favorites on such a uniformly wonderful CD. I myself am a serious singer, and this is the kind of music that keeps me coming back to rehearsals. Buy it, you will definitely never regret it!
    Rautavaara: Cantus Articus; Piano Concerto
    Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
    • The essential Rautavarra disk
    • Entertaining music that is ultimately revealed as hollow
    • Good account of Rautavaara's most distinctive work
    • Highly recommended!
    • My first Rautavaara, and still my favorite.
    Rautavaara: Cantus Articus; Piano Concerto

    Manufacturer: Naxos
    ProductGroup: Music
    Binding: Audio CD

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    Similar Items:
    1. Rautavaara: Symphony No. 7 "Angel of Light"
    2. Rautavaara: Piano Concertos Nos. 2 and 3
    3. Rautavaara: Violin Concerto; Angels and Visitations; Isle of Bliss
    4. Rautavaara: Garden of Spaces; Clarinet Concerto; Cantus Arcticus
    5. Rautavaara: Angel of Light

    ASIN: B00000I7RC
    Release Date: 1999-03-09

    Tracks:

    1. Cantus Arcticus, Op. 61 (Concerto for Birds and Orchestra): Suo (The Marsh)
    2. Cantus Arcticus, Op. 61 (Concerto for Birds and Orchestra): Melankolia (Melancholy)
    3. Cantus Arcticus, Op. 61 (Concerto for Birds and Orchestra): Joutsenet muuttavat (Swans Migrating)
    4. Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 45.: Con grandezza
    5. Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 45.: Andante (ma rubato)
    6. Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 45.: Molto vivace
    7. Symphony No. 3, Op. 20.: Langsam, breit, ruhig
    8. Symphony No. 3, Op. 20.: Langsam, doch nicht schleppend
    9. Symphony No. 3, Op. 20.: Sehr schnell
    10. Symphony No. 3, Op. 20.: Bewegt

    Customer Reviews:

    4 out of 5 stars The essential Rautavarra disk.......2007-01-21

    If you have just discovered -- or are about to discover -- the music of Finland's Einojuhani Rautavarra (one of today's better living symphonists) this is the CD you should start with to get an idea of what you're getting into.

    This disk contains Rautavarra's most famous composition -- Cantus Arcticus (Concerto for Birds & Orchestra), for orchestra & taped bird songs Op. 61 -- A "concerto" in name only that is supposed to evoke the spirit of the Antarctic and other places through its bird sounds. The performance on this disk by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra conducted by Hannu Lintu is not as subtle as it could be and is, therefore, not the best rendition of this music. Still, it is a worthy introduction to the composer's most accessible and important piece.

    The remaining items on the disk -- Piano Concerto No.1 performed by pianist Laura Mikkola and the Brucknerian Symphony No.3, Op. 20 are more in keeping with Rautavarra's mature minimalist style.

    His best composition aside from Arctus Canticus is probably the atmospheric Symphony No. 7 subtitled "Angel of Light". You can acquire this symphony on another inexpensive Naxos CD or on a higher priced BIS CD where it is grouped with Cantus Arcticus and the Flute Concerto. Either will give satisfaction.

    Until then, spend some time with this recording and begin to come to grips with Finland's most important composer since Sibelius. You will find a good measure of Sibelius' Finnish desolation in Rautavarra's music, as well as some post-atonal late 20th century scoring. Rautavarra is clearly an acquired, not natural, taste and the beginnings of acquiring it are on this CD.

    3 out of 5 stars Entertaining music that is ultimately revealed as hollow.......2006-10-28

    This Naxos CD contains three pieces by Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara that may be the best introduction his work. Hannu Lintu leads the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, with pianist Laura Mikkola as soloist on the concerto.

    "Cantus Arcticus" (1972), subtitled "concerto for birds and orchestra", pairs the orchestra with recordings of birds made in north Finland above the arctic circle. The orchestral writing serves provides subdued counterpoint to the birds, who in the first two movements are in the spotlight, while in the third both assert themselves toward an elegant climax. The orchestral writing includes some aleatorism, but this is not very noticeable even if one compares different recordings. This Naxos recording is especially admirable for its balance; in other recordings the birds are often too low in the mix. It's a charming piece, and it's no wonder that it has become Rautavaara's most widely performed work. Still, after hearing the piece several times, one begins to notice a lack of substance in the music, which turns out to be common to most of Rautavaara's music.

    In "Piano Concerto No. 1" (1969), Rautavaara wanted to restore the "grand style" of 19th-century piano writing. The expressive palm clusters of the opening movement seem like Liszt brought back to life. Only later does one notice that there are some departures from common practice tonality, though few would find this "dissonant". The third movement, "Molto vivace" is quite electic, swinging between straightforward waltz and a sense of approaching doom. In fact, it sounds like Shostakovich, another fairly lightweight composer (a second- or third-pressing of Mahler, as Boulez quipped), and for all of Rautavaara's melodramatism there's really not much here to discover on repeat listens.

    The "Symphony No 3." (1959-1960) was written during Rautavaara's interest in twelve-tone serialism. His application of the method, however, is totally unlike the pointillistic music of the Darmstadt group and instead shows a Romantic exhuberence that many have compared to Bruckner. While I prefer more abstract serialism, it's neat to see someone following in Berg's footsteps in turning the dodecaphonic technique to something palatable to more sensitive listeners.

    Rautavaara is an electic composer who has dabbled in all genres and schools, but one notices that his music generally feels hollow. Those wishing to know what's going on with contemporary music in Finland would do better to seek out some Saariaho or Lindberg. Listeners wanting to hear contemporary music that is tonal and gentle should seek out Norgard (his Third Symphony or "Through Thorns" harp concerto) or Julian Anderson. Rautavaara's music is entertaining enough on the first listens, and might be a good gift for classical fans to whom you'd like to present contemporary repertoire, but it lacks anything perpetually fresh.

    3 out of 5 stars Good account of Rautavaara's most distinctive work .......2006-03-14

    Cantus Articus was the work that got me into Rautavaara's music - the second movement, Melankolia, is for me one of the most beautiful pieces of classical music produced in the past 50 years. In this unusual work, tape recordings of arctic bird song are superbly mixed in with orchestral playing. The effect can be simply magical and one can picture oneself by a lake in Northern Finland, watching the swans fly and the midges dance on an endless summer evening. This was the piece with which Rautavaara abandoned his adherence to the rigid forms of post-war atonalism and, to my mind at least, his masterpiece.

    The Piano Concerto is a more angular, atonal, work with lots of clashing harmonies. However it also has a real energy and verve with some ravishing interplay between the strings and the piano, especially in the middle movement.

    Finally there's the 3rd symphony, the first two movements of which are full of gorgeous broad chords on string and brass, very reminiscent of Sibelius. In the latter movements the pace picks up as the sympony heads towards a rousing finish.

    The RNSO, who seem to be Naxos' specialist Rautavaara orchestra, give a good account of all of this. With this CD at such a low price there's no better introduction to this composer.

    5 out of 5 stars Highly recommended!.......2005-12-31

    A long time ago, encouraged by positive reviews, I purchased Rautavaara's 7th Symphony. While I found it very inspired in parts, I thought it dissapointing on the whole, and I wrote the composer off for several years. Fortunately the budget label Naxos makes taking a risk quite pain-free. This is simply the best classical recording I've heard in a long, long time! The Cantus Arcticus integrates a variety of pre-recorded bird calls into the orchestral framework. At the end, both birds and orchestral burst forth in a momentus celebration. In text, it may sound like the worst possible new-agey, "mystical" silliness, but it is incredbily beautiful and moving. The Concerto is easily one of the best from the latter half of the 20th century; both overtly "modern" yet familiarily Romantic. While the symphony is a marvelous homage to Bruckner, is is superb in its own right. This is one of the few collections of "new" music that warrants repeat listenings and has true enduring power. I can't recommend this enough!

    5 out of 5 stars My first Rautavaara, and still my favorite. .......2005-11-17

    I had no idea what to expect when I bought this CD. I don't even remember why I bought this CD. But it led me to a lot more Rautavaara CDs! It's still my favorite, though. The Cantus Articus is very accessible; the Piano Concerto #1 took me a few listenings to digest but has become one of my favorite piano concertos. ER's #2 and #3 still haven't gripped me as well as #1 did.

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