Tubular Bells II

Track Listings
 
1. Sentinel
2. Dark Star
3. Clear Light
4. Blue Saloon
5. Sunjammer
6. Red Dawn
7. Bell
8. Weightless
9. Great Plain
10. Sunset Door
11. Tattoo
12. Altered State
13. Maya Gold
14. Moonshine

Tubular Bells II,Mike Oldfield,Warner Bros / Wea,Popular Music,Prog-Rock/Art Rock,Progressive Electronic,Rock


Tubular Bells II

Tubular Bells II
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.
Tubular Bells II
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • Return of the Bells
  • Listen and enjoy!!! Wonders abound!! Don't close your mind!!
  • This is my favorite of ALL the re-packagings of Tubular Bells
  • Starts out good, but sort of morphs into Hergest Ridge
  • ...and I love it more and more!
Tubular Bells II
Mike Oldfield
Manufacturer: Reprise / Wea
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

GeneralGeneral | New Age | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Rock | Styles | Music
Progressive RockProgressive Rock | Progressive | Rock | Styles | Music
ElectronicElectronic | Progressive | Rock | Styles | Music
Pop RockPop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music
Similar Items:
  1. Tubular Bells
  2. Tubular Bells III
  3. Tubular Bells 2003
  4. The Songs of Distant Earth
  5. Hergest Ridge

ASIN: B000002MFQ
Release Date: 1992-09-22

Tracks:

  1. Sentinel
  2. Dark Star
  3. Clear Light
  4. Blue Saloon
  5. Sunjammer
  6. Red Dawn
  7. The Bell
  8. Weightless
  9. The Great Plain
  10. Sunset Door
  11. Tattoo
  12. Altered State
  13. Maya Gold
  14. Moonshine

Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars Return of the Bells.......2007-01-24

19 years after Mike Oldfield's groundbreaking and complex debut album he returned to drink from the well which had launched his career onto an unsuspecting public. It is easy to criticise Oldfield and record label Warners for the opportunism of this album, but one has to remember the difficulties Oldfield had endured through the late 1980's thanks to Virgin Records indifferent promotional attitude to his work. Pressured throughout the decade to follow "Tubular Bells" up Oldfield resisted Virgin's entreaty. That he eventually chose to record a follow up album for a new record label shows a clear attempt on Oldfield's part to stick two fingers up at Richard Branson et al, like "Tubular Bells" this album was an act of rebellious revenge.
Musically it is also very satisfying, polished and precise Oldfield has never struggled when it comes to producing memorable and often entrancing music. Warner's cleverly marketed the album at the emergent audience for "New Age" music that Enigma had established. The lead track "Sentinel" is a perfect evocation of Oldfield's multifarious thematic style. Certainly large swathes of the music use the "Tubular Bells" as a basis, but Oldfield often takes us on a journey heavenwards as the guitars soar and range. The major difference is the production. Trevor Horn brings a polished over produced sound that is at times clinical. The aggressive improvisation of "Tubular Bells" is not replicated and nor is the energy. Nevertheless on tracks such as "Weightless" and "Tattoo" Oldfield produces some of his most emotive and memorable music. This is an experiment that could have gone terribly wrong, but in fact it is an excellent nostalgic addition to Oldfield's fascinating body of work.

5 out of 5 stars Listen and enjoy!!! Wonders abound!! Don't close your mind!!.......2006-12-25

This is a fantastic musical sojourn that should not be viewed as a rehash of anything. Melodies abound. Listen and listen again.
I am a rocker and fingerstyle acoustic guitarist. Some new-age reviewers are sickeningly pompous as if their false elitism disallows recognition of good work. Again, listen to the music and enjoy. Mr. Oldfield takes us on journeys to places yet visited. Textures and virtuosity, interesting layers live here. Even the tinkling piano-based recurring theme from Bells 1 is different. If discerning reviewers cannot tell one from the other, I have some basement demos I will get to you. It must be lonely on that pedestal of vitriol.

5 out of 5 stars This is my favorite of ALL the re-packagings of Tubular Bells.......2006-08-06

Now, I know everybody who likes Mike Oldfield is criticizing him for re-recording and re-packaging Tubular Bells over and over, and over again these past 30 plus years. But, if it wasn't for the 1992 release of Tubular Bells II, I would have probably just let myself forget all about him. I really didn't follow Mike Oldfield's music much after Crises (1983) and The Killing Fields (1984). I didn't care for how Mike Oldfield was doing less long played projects and started to perform pop sounding ditties with other singers. Sometimes, you wouldn't know if you were listening to Mike Oldfield or ABBA, or just simply someone else. Simple pop songs like "Family Man", "To France", "Moonlight Shadow", etc. done with a female vocalist. And when I saw "Discovery" (1984) and seen that it had more short pop songs with vocals, I just sort of gave up on Mike Oldfield, altogether. So I think, TB II was a smart move for Mike Oldfield to re-introduce himself to the music world. "Tubular Bells" (1973) was considered a Progressive Rock achievement back then, and so TB II of 1992 had to compete with the modern day New Age music market. I don't think TB III was a great disappointment, and I certainly I won't give it a miss either. To see it performed live now (on his very hard to find PAL region only DVD release of "Tubular Bells II and III Live") actually makes me appreciate this album and that album so much more.

And why shouldn't Mike Oldfield try and keep Tubular Bells alive? When we go to see any singer or band in concert, we are usually not too concerned about hearing some of their new material. We want to see and hear the hits, or the pieces of music that are his claim to fame, of course. Especially from bands who's past is much more glorified than where they are today.

However, Mike Oldfield's recording of "Tubular Bells 2003" was just ridiculous! On this album, he is trying to re-record, as closely as possible, to the original 1973 release. This might have been more enjoyable if he and his other performers filmed this tight performance live before an audience. A DVD of this performance would have been much more justified than this pointless CD only release.

So, if he tries to re-record this album just once more, he really should seek some therapy. I think by now, he's beat this horse enough. Please Mike, give it a rest!

3 out of 5 stars Starts out good, but sort of morphs into Hergest Ridge.......2006-03-15

How do you rate this? Do you rate it on its own merits, as a rehash, or one of many Oldfield outputs to milk every last penny out of the name Tubular Bells?

FIRST, LET'S LOOK AT THIS ON ITS OWN, AS IF THERE WERE NO OTHER VERSIONS OF TUBULAR BELLS:

I give it 3 stars. Released in 1992, this is a nice, mostly instrumental CD. It is 58 minutes long and has very good sound.

The first 25 minutes are a great flowing suite of progressive rock music. It kind of reminds of Focus in how well the music flows from one section to the next.

Things start to go downhill after the first 25 minutes. It first goes into The Bells, which has a nice rhythm and theme, but is silly and goes on too long at 8 minutes. There is a great bassline, while an announcer calls out the names of different instruments that play a riff.

From there, things just fall apart. The next 17 minutes are some New Age Scottish/Irish influenced folk music. It is a lot like Oldfield's second album Hergest Ridge. It is just boring and goes on too long. This is followed by the really wierd Altered States, that consists of some wierd vocals that sound like someone is trying to clear his throat, plus a mommy singing and a girl asking questions.

Things get back on track with the nice accoustic guitar and vocals number, Maya Gold, and then finishes off with a little Blue Grass number.

NOW LET'S COMPARE THIS TO THE ORIGINAL TUBULAR BELLS:

I give this version to 2 stars when I compare it to the original.

Although the original Tubular Bells was a ground breaking album that helped increase the popularity of Progressive Rock, it was only a 4 star album.

There were some great passages in the original Tubular Bells, such as the theme that was used in the movie, The Excorcist (which in turn made Tubular Bells a smash hit). But, it does have some minor excesses and pretentiousness that mar many progressive/art rock works, such as the silly part where there is an announcer that calls out each instrument as it does a solo and the vocals that sound like someone trying to clear his throat.

Tubular Bells 2 is an extended, updated version of the original. The first 25 minutes are as good and might even be better than the original. There are some interesting vocals and instruments in this new version.

But, after The Bells, Tubular Bells 2 really falls apart. It no longer flows like the original. What is sounds like is one of those CD's that had a bunch of crappy bonus material tacked on to the end. The type of bonus material that should have stayed on the cutting room floor.

I don't think the first part of Tubular Bells 2 is different enough from the original to recommend buying it. And the second part is a disaster.

NOW LET'S LOOK AT IT COMPARED TO ALL THE VERSIONS OF TUBULAR BELLS.

I give it 1 star.

There are at least 7 versions of Tubular Bells:
The original
The original live version
The original with orchestra
Tubular Bells 2
Tubular Bells 2 live
Tubular Bells 3
Tubular Bells 2003

Just how many ways can you milk this beast? Especially when it was just merely a good piece of music. If Oldfield is going to keep remaking this, he shouldn't be just doing slight variations on a theme. He should go for one really great version. And get rid of the master of ceremonies and clearing of the throat.

5 out of 5 stars ...and I love it more and more!.......2005-04-02

This is no plain old follow up to a big hit as was TB I. It is a work on its own to be enjoyed over and over. Its one for the stranded island collection for sure. If you like Oldfield's music you will not fail to like, love TB II.
Ultimate Cult Themes
Average customer rating: Not rated
    Ultimate Cult Themes

    Manufacturer: Crimson Productions
    ProductGroup: Music
    Binding: Audio CD

    All Works by HerrmannAll Works by Herrmann | Herrmann, Bernard | ( H ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
    All Works by SchifrinAll Works by Schifrin | Schifrin, Lalo | ( S ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
    VangelisVangelis | ( V ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
    Movie ScoresMovie Scores | Soundtracks | Styles | Music
    Movie SoundtracksMovie Soundtracks | Soundtracks | Styles | Music
    GeneralGeneral | Soundtracks | Styles | Music
    Orchestral PopOrchestral Pop | Easy Listening | Pop | Styles | Music
    SoundtracksSoundtracks | Imports | Stores | Music
    ASIN: B000066I7T
    Release Date: 2005-06-07

    Tracks:

    1. Thunderbirds (Theme)
    2. Prisoner
    3. Mission Impossible (Theme)
    4. Man from U.N.C.L.E. (Theme)
    5. Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) (Theme)
    6. Avengers (Theme)
    7. Persuaders (Theme)
    8. Champions (Theme)
    9. Twin Peaks (Theme)
    10. X-Files (Theme)
    11. Tomorrow People (Theme)
    12. Doctor Who
    13. Twilight Zone (Theme)
    14. Quantum Leap (Theme)
    15. Time Tunnel (Theme)
    16. Dragnet (Theme)
    17. Bewitched (Theme)
    18. Catweazle/Busy Boy
    19. Space 1999 (Theme)
    20. Vision On/Left Bank

    Tracks:

    1. Lost in Space (Theme)
    2. Total Recall (Theme)
    3. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Theme)
    4. Star Trek (Theme)
    5. Fifth Element (Theme)
    6. Logan's Run (Theme)
    7. Blade Runner (Theme)
    8. Alien Resurrection (Theme)
    9. Scream (Theme)
    10. Psycho (Theme)
    11. Tubular Bells [The Exorcist]
    12. Thing
    13. Friday the 13th (Theme)
    14. Pet Semetary (Theme)
    15. Carrie (Theme)
    16. Vertigo (Theme)
    17. Salem's Lot (Theme)
    18. Howling (Theme)
    19. Silence of the Lambs (Theme)
    20. Nightmare on Elm Street (Theme)
    Tubular Bells II
    Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
    • Return of the Bells
    • Listen and enjoy!!! Wonders abound!! Don't close your mind!!
    • This is my favorite of ALL the re-packagings of Tubular Bells
    • Starts out good, but sort of morphs into Hergest Ridge
    • ...and I love it more and more!
    Tubular Bells II
    Mike Oldfield
    Manufacturer: Warner
    ProductGroup: Music
    Binding: Audio CD

    GeneralGeneral | New Age | Styles | Music
    GeneralGeneral | Rock | Styles | Music
    Progressive RockProgressive Rock | Progressive | Rock | Styles | Music
    Similar Items:
    1. Tubular Bells
    2. Tubular Bells III
    3. Tubular Bells 2003
    4. The Songs of Distant Earth
    5. Hergest Ridge

    ASIN: B0000248GR

    Customer Reviews:

    4 out of 5 stars Return of the Bells.......2007-01-24

    19 years after Mike Oldfield's groundbreaking and complex debut album he returned to drink from the well which had launched his career onto an unsuspecting public. It is easy to criticise Oldfield and record label Warners for the opportunism of this album, but one has to remember the difficulties Oldfield had endured through the late 1980's thanks to Virgin Records indifferent promotional attitude to his work. Pressured throughout the decade to follow "Tubular Bells" up Oldfield resisted Virgin's entreaty. That he eventually chose to record a follow up album for a new record label shows a clear attempt on Oldfield's part to stick two fingers up at Richard Branson et al, like "Tubular Bells" this album was an act of rebellious revenge.
    Musically it is also very satisfying, polished and precise Oldfield has never struggled when it comes to producing memorable and often entrancing music. Warner's cleverly marketed the album at the emergent audience for "New Age" music that Enigma had established. The lead track "Sentinel" is a perfect evocation of Oldfield's multifarious thematic style. Certainly large swathes of the music use the "Tubular Bells" as a basis, but Oldfield often takes us on a journey heavenwards as the guitars soar and range. The major difference is the production. Trevor Horn brings a polished over produced sound that is at times clinical. The aggressive improvisation of "Tubular Bells" is not replicated and nor is the energy. Nevertheless on tracks such as "Weightless" and "Tattoo" Oldfield produces some of his most emotive and memorable music. This is an experiment that could have gone terribly wrong, but in fact it is an excellent nostalgic addition to Oldfield's fascinating body of work.

    5 out of 5 stars Listen and enjoy!!! Wonders abound!! Don't close your mind!!.......2006-12-25

    This is a fantastic musical sojourn that should not be viewed as a rehash of anything. Melodies abound. Listen and listen again.
    I am a rocker and fingerstyle acoustic guitarist. Some new-age reviewers are sickeningly pompous as if their false elitism disallows recognition of good work. Again, listen to the music and enjoy. Mr. Oldfield takes us on journeys to places yet visited. Textures and virtuosity, interesting layers live here. Even the tinkling piano-based recurring theme from Bells 1 is different. If discerning reviewers cannot tell one from the other, I have some basement demos I will get to you. It must be lonely on that pedestal of vitriol.

    5 out of 5 stars This is my favorite of ALL the re-packagings of Tubular Bells.......2006-08-06

    Now, I know everybody who likes Mike Oldfield is criticizing him for re-recording and re-packaging Tubular Bells over and over, and over again these past 30 plus years. But, if it wasn't for the 1992 release of Tubular Bells II, I would have probably just let myself forget all about him. I really didn't follow Mike Oldfield's music much after Crises (1983) and The Killing Fields (1984). I didn't care for how Mike Oldfield was doing less long played projects and started to perform pop sounding ditties with other singers. Sometimes, you wouldn't know if you were listening to Mike Oldfield or ABBA, or just simply someone else. Simple pop songs like "Family Man", "To France", "Moonlight Shadow", etc. done with a female vocalist. And when I saw "Discovery" (1984) and seen that it had more short pop songs with vocals, I just sort of gave up on Mike Oldfield, altogether. So I think, TB II was a smart move for Mike Oldfield to re-introduce himself to the music world. "Tubular Bells" (1973) was considered a Progressive Rock achievement back then, and so TB II of 1992 had to compete with the modern day New Age music market. I don't think TB III was a great disappointment, and I certainly I won't give it a miss either. To see it performed live now (on his very hard to find PAL region only DVD release of "Tubular Bells II and III Live") actually makes me appreciate this album and that album so much more.

    And why shouldn't Mike Oldfield try and keep Tubular Bells alive? When we go to see any singer or band in concert, we are usually not too concerned about hearing some of their new material. We want to see and hear the hits, or the pieces of music that are his claim to fame, of course. Especially from bands who's past is much more glorified than where they are today.

    However, Mike Oldfield's recording of "Tubular Bells 2003" was just ridiculous! On this album, he is trying to re-record, as closely as possible, to the original 1973 release. This might have been more enjoyable if he and his other performers filmed this tight performance live before an audience. A DVD of this performance would have been much more justified than this pointless CD only release.

    So, if he tries to re-record this album just once more, he really should seek some therapy. I think by now, he's beat this horse enough. Please Mike, give it a rest!

    3 out of 5 stars Starts out good, but sort of morphs into Hergest Ridge.......2006-03-15

    How do you rate this? Do you rate it on its own merits, as a rehash, or one of many Oldfield outputs to milk every last penny out of the name Tubular Bells?

    FIRST, LET'S LOOK AT THIS ON ITS OWN, AS IF THERE WERE NO OTHER VERSIONS OF TUBULAR BELLS:

    I give it 3 stars. Released in 1992, this is a nice, mostly instrumental CD. It is 58 minutes long and has very good sound.

    The first 25 minutes are a great flowing suite of progressive rock music. It kind of reminds of Focus in how well the music flows from one section to the next.

    Things start to go downhill after the first 25 minutes. It first goes into The Bells, which has a nice rhythm and theme, but is silly and goes on too long at 8 minutes. There is a great bassline, while an announcer calls out the names of different instruments that play a riff.

    From there, things just fall apart. The next 17 minutes are some New Age Scottish/Irish influenced folk music. It is a lot like Oldfield's second album Hergest Ridge. It is just boring and goes on too long. This is followed by the really wierd Altered States, that consists of some wierd vocals that sound like someone is trying to clear his throat, plus a mommy singing and a girl asking questions.

    Things get back on track with the nice accoustic guitar and vocals number, Maya Gold, and then finishes off with a little Blue Grass number.

    NOW LET'S COMPARE THIS TO THE ORIGINAL TUBULAR BELLS:

    I give this version to 2 stars when I compare it to the original.

    Although the original Tubular Bells was a ground breaking album that helped increase the popularity of Progressive Rock, it was only a 4 star album.

    There were some great passages in the original Tubular Bells, such as the theme that was used in the movie, The Excorcist (which in turn made Tubular Bells a smash hit). But, it does have some minor excesses and pretentiousness that mar many progressive/art rock works, such as the silly part where there is an announcer that calls out each instrument as it does a solo and the vocals that sound like someone trying to clear his throat.

    Tubular Bells 2 is an extended, updated version of the original. The first 25 minutes are as good and might even be better than the original. There are some interesting vocals and instruments in this new version.

    But, after The Bells, Tubular Bells 2 really falls apart. It no longer flows like the original. What is sounds like is one of those CD's that had a bunch of crappy bonus material tacked on to the end. The type of bonus material that should have stayed on the cutting room floor.

    I don't think the first part of Tubular Bells 2 is different enough from the original to recommend buying it. And the second part is a disaster.

    NOW LET'S LOOK AT IT COMPARED TO ALL THE VERSIONS OF TUBULAR BELLS.

    I give it 1 star.

    There are at least 7 versions of Tubular Bells:
    The original
    The original live version
    The original with orchestra
    Tubular Bells 2
    Tubular Bells 2 live
    Tubular Bells 3
    Tubular Bells 2003

    Just how many ways can you milk this beast? Especially when it was just merely a good piece of music. If Oldfield is going to keep remaking this, he shouldn't be just doing slight variations on a theme. He should go for one really great version. And get rid of the master of ceremonies and clearing of the throat.

    5 out of 5 stars ...and I love it more and more!.......2005-04-02

    This is no plain old follow up to a big hit as was TB I. It is a work on its own to be enjoyed over and over. Its one for the stranded island collection for sure. If you like Oldfield's music you will not fail to like, love TB II.
    Duo Sonare Plays Mike Oldfield
    Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    • Classical guitar duo plays Mike Oldfield's TUBULAR BELLS
    Duo Sonare Plays Mike Oldfield

    Manufacturer: MD&G Records
    ProductGroup: Music
    Binding: Audio CD

    GeneralGeneral | Rock | Styles | Music
    GeneralGeneral | Classical | Styles | Music
    ASIN: B0000021I5
    Release Date: 1996-09-24

    Tracks:

    1. Tubular Bells: Part I - Duo Sonare
    2. Tubular Bells: Part II - Duo Sonare
    3. The Sailor's Hornpipe - Ian Vance Melrose

    Customer Reviews:

    4 out of 5 stars Classical guitar duo plays Mike Oldfield's TUBULAR BELLS.......2000-11-23

    A shame to see that, at the time of writing this, the album "is currently not available". I purchased it last month from the sister Amazon site in the UK and was impressed enough to write a review there. I am adding a review here in the hope that interest in the album will generate orders and restocking! Here is what I wrote in the UK:

    I came across this album quite by accident.

    I have always been a fan of Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells and its sequels. I was searching the net for CD singles from Tubular Bells III when I came across a forum and read a short post about this guitar duo. I followed it up with some more searching and ended up buying it. Why? Read on. I listened to the short sound clips of the tracks and was impressed. Duo Sonare seem to have researched the exact guitar phrasing very closely and it shows. I'm sure we have all heard 'covers' of favourite pieces of music and been disappointed by the results - parts 1 and 2 of this album are definitely NOT in that category!

    However, it does strike me as odd that the version of the Sailors Hornpipe that they chose to cover is the 'drunken' Vivian Stanshall one from the Mike Oldfield 3-album Boxed Set and not the original release instrumental version. Yes, I know the Viv Stanshall version was preferred by Mike Oldfield but in this cover it is odd and slightly embarrassing. Vivian is amusing but to blandly repeat his words in a dead-pan, upper-class and obviously sober voice just doesn't work. Nevertheless, as it is only a very short section of the whole album it barely detracts from the whole listening experience. Given the difficult structuring of the original music I believe that Duo Sonare have created a wonderful version.

    If you are a fan of the first Tubular Bells or its orchestral version then I highly recommend this classical guitar duo version to you. It is very relaxing to listen to.

    If you are not a fan of the original Tubular Bells or Mike Oldfield I can still commend this music to you. It is wonderful.......and it may just sow the seeds of a an experience that will make you wonder what you have missed all those years since 1973.
    Tubular Bells II/Tubular Bells III
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      Tubular Bells II/Tubular Bells III

      ProductGroup: Music
      Binding: Audio CD

      GeneralGeneral | Rock | Styles | Music
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      ASIN: B0000C3WC1
      Release Date: 2006-08-08

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