ANTOnline.com - Naxos 8555319-20 A to Z of Classical Music

Product Description

Is it a two-CD set with a particularly thick booklet, or a 562-page book with a compilation album attached? Either way, the unpretentious text by Keith Anderson offers an introduction to the lives and works of dozens of composers, together with recommended recordings from the Naxos and Marco Polo catalogs. Anderson includes a useful 59-page glossary of musical terms and an extensive listing of classical pieces used in films. The odd thing about the 36 extracts and complete pieces on the CDs is that they do not form an A-to-Z at all. Rather, they are arranged chronologically, from 1,000-year-old Gregorian chant to the opening movement of contemporary composer Philip Glass's Violin Concerto. Between these two points is the early music of Palestrina and Byrd; the Baroque glories of Vivaldi and Bach; the 19th-century Romantic masters, from Beethoven to Tchaikovsky; and such 20th-century greats as Rachmaninov and Stravinsky. Opera, song, and chamber music are barely represented, but only so much can fit into 151 minutes. Essentially a deluxe sampler of the vast Naxos catalogue, the discs offer a good introduction to some of the most famous and melodic music ever composed, while the book will be very useful to newcomers to the potentially confusing world of classical music. --Gary S. Dalkin

Track Listings : Disc 1
- De Profundis - Nova Schola Gregoriana
- Alleluia - O Virga Mediatrix - Oxford Camerata
- Gloria - Oxford Camerata
- Pavane - Red Byrd
- Canon - Capella Istropolitana
- Vivace - Grave - Capella Istropolitana
- Prelude - Laurence Cummings
- Allegro - Takako Nishizaki
- Adagio - Miroslav Kejmar
- Air On The G String - Capella Istropolitana
- Hallelujah Chorus - Scholars Baroque Ensemble
- Menuetto: Allegretto - Capella Istropolitana
- Andante - Failoni Orchestra
- Allegro - Capella Istropolitana
- Adagio - Jeno Jando
- Andante - Ernst Ottensamer
- Quis Est Homo - Hungarian State Opera Chorus
Track Listings : Disc 2
- Ave Maria - Ingrid Kertesi
- Un Bal - Pinchas Steinberg
- Wedding March - Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra
- Minute Waltz - Idil Biret
- Larghetto - Alexander Rahbari
- Ride Of The Valkyries - Uwe Mund
- Prelude - Alexander Rahbari
- Hungarian Dance No.3 - Budapest Symphony
- Scene - Ondrej Lenard
- Slavonic Dance No.1 - Balazs Szokolay
- Nimrod - Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
- Clair De Lune - Keith Clark
- Also Sprach Zarathustra (Opening) - Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra
- Prelude In C Sharp Minor - Idil Biret
- Fountain Of The Villa Medici At Sunset - Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
- Overture - Bournemouth Sinfonietta
- O Fortuna - Slovak Philharmonic Chorus
- Playful Pizzicato - Bournemouth Sinfonietta
- Violin Concerto - Adele Anthony

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Naxos

A to Z of Classical Music

Product Description