Us and Them

Amazon.com
Naysayers take note: Shinedown’s Us and Them does not disappoint. Longtime fans and a horde of new and faithful followers will revel in heavy, swaggering, bloozy stomps ("Heroes," "Atmosphere"), anthemic radio-ready ballads ("Beyond The Sun," "Some Day") and the tracks that fall somewhere in between (including the pop-ish "I Dare You"). The quartet evokes a different mood on virtually every track here, whipping out Led Zeppelin-esque riffs one moment, then moving onward to delightfully bloated classic rock fodder (the finely flawed "Lady So Divine") the next. Us and Them does hit two bum notes, albeit gracefully, toward the album’s end with the forgettable "Fake" and "Begin Again," but even those tunes fail to ruin the celebratory vibe found elsewhere. Easily one of the most memorable rock releases of 2005. --Jedd Beaudoin

Us and Them,Shinedown,Atlantic / Wea,Alternative Metal,Pop,Post-Grunge,Rock,Rock/Pop,United States of America

---

Us and Them

Average customer rating: They avoid a sophomore slump with another good one. Shinedown- Us and Them Excellent Album...Perfect Evolution My New Favorite Album I dare you to tell me... I dare you to...

Us and Them Shinedown Manufacturer: Atlantic / Wea ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Post Grunge | American Alternative | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Alternative Metal | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music Pop | Styles | Blowout Music | Stores | Music Rock | Styles | Blowout Music | Stores | Music Alternative Rock | Styles | Blowout Music | Stores | Music Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Blowout Music | Stores | Music All Blowout Music | Blowout Music | Stores | Music More Titles at Least 25% Off | Blowout Music | Stores | Music Party Boys | Warner Brothers Records | Stores | Music Similar Items: Leave a Whisper Extreme Behavior Karma and Effect All the Right Reasons One X ASIN: B000B5KRTI Release Date: 2005-10-04

Tracks:

1. The Dream
2. Heroes
3. Save Me
4. I Dare You
5. Yer Majesty
6. Beyond The Sun
7. Trade Yourself In
8. Lady So Divine
9. Shed Some Light
10. Begin Again
11. Atmosphere
12. Fake
13. Some Day

Amazon.com

Naysayers take note: Shinedown's Us and Them does not disappoint. Longtime fans and a horde of new and faithful followers will revel in heavy, swaggering, bloozy stomps ("Heroes," "Atmosphere"), anthemic radio-ready ballads ("Beyond The Sun," "Some Day") and the tracks that fall somewhere in between (including the pop-ish "I Dare You"). The quartet evokes a different mood on virtually every track here, whipping out Led Zeppelin-esque riffs one moment, then moving onward to delightfully bloated classic rock fodder (the finely flawed "Lady So Divine") the next. Us and Them does hit two bum notes, albeit gracefully, toward the album's end with the forgettable "Fake" and "Begin Again," but even those tunes fail to ruin the celebratory vibe found elsewhere. Easily one of the most memorable rock releases of 2005. --Jedd Beaudoin

Customer Reviews:

They avoid a sophomore slump with another good one........2007-04-13

I think that this release is on par with their successful debut album. It is likely that they will continue their commercial success. There are some great songs on here, but overall it wasn't solid enough to warrant more than four stars. If you like the hard rock genre, you should introduce yourself to Shinedown. You've likely heard a number of their songs on the radio, but maybe didn't know who it was.

Shinedown- Us and Them.......2007-04-11

This CD rocks! I bought it because I liked one song on it but as it turned out, I loved the whole CD.

Excellent Album...Perfect Evolution.......2007-03-05

I saw Shinedown LIVE 3 times on the Whisper tour; only because I am a Van Halen fanatic and they were opening. I didn't pay a whole lot of attention to the band but I met the singer in Las Vegas (for a brief moment in a bar) and he was very cool; so I bought the album. Loved it. I really didn't want to buy this new album (US AND THEM) because I am not a HUGE fan; but I really like it. I think this one is much better than the previous, only because I think the band has "grown up" and obviously the constant touring has polished up their ability to play. For those skeptical, play "I dare you" 3 times thru your headphones on HIGH...and you will love the album. The only critics of this album are hard core METAL HEADS who want this band to be something they are not. I say, GROW UP and respect some respectable musicians. ALL bands worth listening to EVOLVE and GROW. You can't be 15 all your life...nor can you expect GOOD musicians to cater to your adolescent needs.

My New Favorite Album.......2007-01-20

I recently discovered Shinedown and I love both of their albums 'Us and Them' and 'Leave a Whisper'. The new album is more refined than the latter.

These guys just plain ROCK!

I dare you to tell me... I dare you to..........2007-01-11

Shinedown rocks! This CD is very awesome! I love every song on here!

Average customer rating: Wonderful, but not my first choice THE BEST recording of the BEST oratorio ever... Too bad there are so few recordings of Elijah

Mendelssohn: Elijah Manufacturer: EMI Classics ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Mendelssohn | Mendelssohn, Felix | ( M ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Oratorios | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Oratorios | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Similar Items: Franz Joseph Haydn: The Creation Mendelssohn - Elijah / Terfel, Fleming, Bardon, Ainsley, Fulgoni, Paul Daniel Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde Brahms - Ein Deutsches Requiem (A German Requiem) / Auger, Stilwell, Atlanta SO, Robert Shaw Brahms: Ein deutsches Requiem [A German Requiem] ASIN: B0002XV31A Release Date: 2005-02-15

Tracks:

1. Introduction: As God The Lord Of Israel Liveth
2. Overture
3. No.1 Help, Lord! Wilt Thou Quite Destroy Us?
4. No.2: Lord! Bow Thine Ear To Our Prayer!
5. No.3: Ye People, Rend Your Hearts
6. No.4: If With All Your Hearts
7. No.5: Yet Doth The Lord See It Not
8. No.6: Elijah! Get Thee Hence
9. No.7: For He Shall Give His Angels Charge Over Thee
10. Recitative: Now Cherith's Brook Is Dried Up
11. No.8: What Have I Do To Do With Thee?
12. No.9: Blessed Are The Men Who Fear Him
13. No.10: As God The Lord Of Sabaoth Liveth
14. No.11: Baal, We Cry To Thee: Hear And Answer Us!
15. No.12: Call Him Louder, For He Is A God!
16. No.13: Call Him Louder! He Heareth Not!
17. No.14: Lord God Of Abraham, Isaac And Israel!
18. No.15: Cast Thy Burden Upon The Lord
19. No.16: O Thou, Who Makest Thine Angels Spirits
20. No.17: Is Not His Word Like A Fire?
21. No.18: Woe Unto Them Who Forsake Him!
22. No.19: O Man Of God, Help Thy People!
23. No.20: Thanks Be To God!

Tracks:

1. No.21: Hear Ye, Israel; Hear What The Lord Speaketh
2. No.22: Be Not Afraid, Saith God The Lord
3. No.23: The Lord Hath Exalted Thee
4. No.24: Woe To Him, He Shall Perish
5. No.25: Man Of God, Now Let My Words Be Precious
6. No.26: It Is Enough; O Lord Now Take My Life
7. No.27: See, Now He Sleepeth
8. No.28: Lift Thine Eyes To The Mountains
9. No.29: He, Watching Over Israel, Slumbers Not
10. No.30: Arise, Elijah, For Thou Hast A Long Journey
11. No.31: O Rest In The Lord
12. No.32: He That Shall Endure To The End, Shall Be Saved
13. No.33: Night Falleth Round Me, O Lord!
14. No.34: Behold! God The Lord Passed By!
15. No.35: Above Him Stood The Seraphim
16. No.36: Go, Return Upon Thy Way
17. No.37: For The Mountains Shall Depart
18. No.38: Then Did Elijah The Prophet Break Forth
19. No.39: Then Shall The Righteous Shine Forth
20. No.40: Behold, God Hath Sent Elijah
21. No.41: But The Lord, From The North Hath Raised One
22. No.41a: O Come Everyone That Thirsteth
23. No.42: And Then Shall Your Light Break Forth

Customer Reviews:

Wonderful, but not my first choice.......2007-04-07

I believe this was the first recording of Elijah in English that used an "international" conductor and some international singers. Fruhbeck gives a good, dramatic sweep to the piece, with some wonderful dramatic moments. This is an old fashioned performance, with only a solo quartet, and if there is a semi-chorus, I can't tell the difference. This means that the soprano is the Widow, and an Angel, the mezzo the Angel and Queen Jezabel, etc. You really should have a libretto, but you don't get one at this price.
Fischer-Dieskau roughens up his voice for the role, and therein lies a problem. The voice spreads and his diction suffers because of it; that and his unidiomatic pronounciation, with far too many rolled "r"s. He does the drama well, but what works well in lieder works here less well on the large scale. Odd, given his success as on opera singer (check out his Iago), that here he frequently comes off blustery.
Dame Gwyneth Jones belies her reputation and gives a contolled, dramatic performance, using her "edge" to advantage in "Hear Ye, Israel". Gedda's diction is amazing, with exactly the right color for this literature, and projecting a little more blood than an English tenor.
Dame Janet Baker is my star in this performance. Dramatic, heart-rending when need be, and in wonderful voice. She'll chill your blood when she tells the people of Baal to "slaughter him, do what he hath done!".
And as for the people of Baal, the Philharmonia Chorus is wonderful. Incisive and dramatic, with beautiful tone. I could do without the trick of the boy choir for "Lift Thine Eyes", and I miss the small ensembles, but all in all a fine performance, and good recording, circa 1968.
First choice in English, Daniels/Terfel: better Elijah in Terfel, better recording, more authentic orchestra, small vocal ensembles (as per the score) but inferior women (including Fleming: beautiful tone, but where's her head?). In German, it's Sawallisch/Adam all the way.
But if you're singing Elijah, and have a score, this is a good choice.

THE BEST recording of the BEST oratorio ever..........2006-08-15

Okay, I'm gonna admit I'm biased- I first sung in the chorus of Elijah when I was 14 and it made a BIG impression on me!
This recording is in every way wonderful. Starting with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. He IS Elijah to me. His singing is perfection. He has amazing phrasing and his diction makes it possible to understand the lovely, inspired libretto to this heavenly music. There are so many pieces that are ephemeral, but a couple of my favorites are: #14, Lord God of Abraham and #37, For the Mountains shall Depart. Dieskau does a great job of what I think of as compassionate, heartfelt singing. His interpretation sounds like the voice of God himself. It has a quality of kindness and yet he sounds just as convincing reprimanding the people of Baal. He is the true highlight of this recording.

That said, the rest of the cast is wonderful as well. Gwyneth Jones has a lovely, silvery voice that has a clarion bell-like tone that rings over the large orchestra with ease. She has occasional "misfire" but is a consistent performer. Dame Janet Baker and Nicolai Gedda both perform at a consistently lovely level. The orchestra and chorus are both wonderful. #15, Cast thy Burden upon the Lord, #32 He that Shall Endure to the End, and #38 Then Did Elijah are all highlights.

All said, for me the main reason to get this recording is Dieskau's Elijah- after all, he's the main character. But don't forget the lovely music. This story is exciting and passionate and sacred all at the same time. For me, it's the best oratorio that has a moving story and great music too.

Too bad there are so few recordings of Elijah.......2006-07-03

This is a good recording of an oratorio that deserves more attention. The chorus and soloists are very good--I just wish Fischer-Diskau wouldn't slide around so much in singing the title part!

Average customer rating: Morning Sadness The absolute album of the year!!! Very Solid. Nothing special to say but... outstanding!!!!!

From Them, Through Us, To You Madina Lake Manufacturer: Roadrunner Records ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Indie Rock | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Punk-Pop | Hardcore & Punk | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Post Grunge | American Alternative | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music $7.99 and Under | Blowout Music | Stores | Music Pop | Styles | Blowout Music | Stores | Music Rock | Styles | Blowout Music | Stores | Music Alternative Rock | Styles | Blowout Music | Stores | Music All Blowout Music | Blowout Music | Stores | Music $7.99 and Under | Prices | Blowout Music | Stores | Music More Titles at Least 25% Off | Blowout Music | Stores | Music Similar Items: Southern Weather Brace Yourself Minutes to Midnight Dressed Up As Life Lies for the Liars ASIN: B000N0JK58 Release Date: 2007-03-27

Tracks:

1. Here I Stand
2. In Another Life
3. Adalia
4. House Of Cards
5. Now Or Never
6. Pandora
7. Stars
8. River People
9. One Last Kiss
10. Me Vs. The World
11. Morning Sadness
12. True Love

Album Description

Chicago's Madina Lake is definitely not your run of the mill rock band. Hardworking and dedicated from the start, they've always had their eyes on the goal of reaching as many people with their music as possible. The identical twins, Nathan and Matthew proved their dedication to their dream by competing and winning on the twins episode of reality show FEAR FACTOR and turning their winnings into the demos that would get them signed to Roadrunner. Since then the band has been tearing up the road, with over 150 shows in 2006 opening for Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Paramore, Halifax, 10 Years, Gym Class Heroes and many more. Now after winning fans every night on stage, the band is ready to expand their clan of "River People," as their fans are called, with their debut full length From Them, Through Us, To You. Produced and mixed by punk/emo master Mark Trombino (Blink-182, Jimmy Eat World, Motion City Soundtrack, Something Corporate), the album is full of catchy hooks that will draw the listener in, where they will find an addictive album full of elaborate textures and layers. Never ones to do anything the norm, the album's themes, artwork and the band's website all revolve around the story of Madina Lake, a fictional 1950's town where a mysterious disappearance has turned the town upside down.

Customer Reviews:

Morning Sadness.......2007-05-30

Morning Sadness is a great song, and shows a definite uniques quality in this band. Other than that I guess I just don't get it.
The album was produced by the same guys who produced albums for Jimmy Eat World and you can hear that sound. These guys play good, and have great voices- all the attributes, but without interesting new music they'll fade into the background. Interestingly enough- the producer Tambino alo produced Motion City Soundtrack CD's too. While you can also hear that same sound here, Motion City is far superior, and far more creative and they stand out. I guess what I am saying is that these kids have been touring their tails off but have yet to really find a sound all their own. They still sound like 100 other songs, and bands I've heard before. A great rock band should leave it's mark, and they really don't. The album is totally forgettable, and even if you love it- in a few years you won't remember them.

The absolute album of the year!!!.......2007-04-11

Madina Lake is absolutely the best band I've ever come across in my time. If their music isn't enough to make you love them, the band themselves will.

Madina Lake's From Them, Through Us, To You is a force not to be reckoned with. Every song on this album is punched full of energy and passion. You will not be sorry when you pick up this album. Here I Stand, Adalia, One Last Kiss, and Me Vs. The World are upbeat and will make you dance and sing along with the big choruses. For the rockers, True Love, House Of Cards, and Pandora will surely be your favorites. The album shows its vulnerable side with Morning Sadness and gets gritty with River People.

and for those who wish to dig a bit deeper, FT,TU,TY also takes the listener on a journey through a mystery in a fictional town in the 1950's. There are clues hidden throughout the songs and in the album's beautiful, yet eerie artwork.

Watch out, Madina Lake will take over the music scene very soon! You'll be seeing a lot more of this band!

Overall rating: 5 out of 5!!

Very Solid........2007-04-07

The only reason I bought this CD was because it was $10. I sound like a bad fan, but its true. I had heard the new version of adalia online and it turned my interest of buying this cd into nothing. It sounded like they took a step back from the original recording [Note, I'm not sure if its the same as the Disappearance of Adalia, I have the EP/Sampler from before that]. That song was damn good, and was what hooked me into Madina Lake a little more than 1 1/2 years ago.

With that said, I had low expectations for this CD going into it. I was wrong, by far. The songs flow together very well, and I was interested in every song, no skipping songs here. I have now learned, never doubt Madina Lake. These songs are a little harder than what theyve done before, and im thinking its from Roadrunner [possibly?]. They seemed like an odd fit on the label. The Screamo[ish] [I use this term very lightly] approach on some of the songs is very well done, which I would not have thought coming from them. My only gripe for this CD is adalia, the line "But I won't let her go" just seems out of place for me. The background screaming though is a nice touch, while its not as melodic as it was before.

Overall, im very impressed. My original love for Madina Lake is back thanks to me being cheap, and their musicianship. I can't wait for their next release, whenever that might be.

Nothing special to say but..........2007-04-04

I got nothing too special to say except this cd satisfies me in every way I want it to. Go out (or stay in), get a copy, and enjoy.

outstanding!!!!!.......2007-03-30

good way to spend your winnings on fear factor by making a damn good cd...trust me your band will profit big time...most of all yall song have catchy chorus..my faves are house of cards-in another life-stars-river people-true love...so enjoy making it big-yall deserve it..!!!

Average customer rating: Just buy this right now. Love this album why did this bomb? Love It Motorcycle Club rides again!

Take Them On, On Your Own Black Rebel Motorcycle Club Manufacturer: Virgin Records Us ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Indie Rock | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Noise | Rock | Alternative Styles | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Experimental Rock | Rock | Alternative Styles | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Post Grunge | American Alternative | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music Experimental Music | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music Pop | Styles | Blowout Music | Stores | Music Rock | Styles | Blowout Music | Stores | Music Alternative Rock | Styles | Blowout Music | Stores | Music All Blowout Music | Blowout Music | Stores | Music More Titles at Least 25% Off | Blowout Music | Stores | Music Similar Items: B.R.M.C. Baby 81 Tepid Peppermint Wonderland: A Retrospective Strung Out in Heaven Passover ASIN: B0000BV1ZE Release Date: 2003-09-02

Tracks:

1. Stop
2. Six Barrel Shotgun
3. We're All in Love
4. In Like the Rose
5. Ha Ha High Babe
6. Generation
7. Shade of Blue
8. US Government
9. And I'm Aching
10. Suddenly
11. Rise Or Fall
12. Heart + Soul

Amazon.com

More poised and less self-conscious after two years of continuous touring, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club has taken a huge artistic leap forward with their second album, stripping away much of florid guitar work and anxious drumming featured on their self-titled debut and replacing it with a sleeker sound. On their previous disc, you could barely make out their enigmatic and half-formed lyrics buried underneath the feedback and thick psychedelic swirls, but they've fixed all that and have turned out a collection of tetchy but intelligent post-modern protest songs that are a huge departure from their earlier compositions about the capricious nature of love. Titles like "Stop," "Six Barrel Shotgun," "(Kill the) US Government" crackle with anger and confrontation, much like MC5's "Kick Out the Jams" was to earlier generations. No longer sounding like Jesus & Mary Chain retreads, BRMC has carved out their own niche by combining dark poetry with a sharp disgust with the way the world is being run. --Jaan Uhelszki

Customer Reviews:

Just buy this right now........2007-05-25

BRMC are the best of the newer bands around today. So just buy this now if you love rock music that is dark, loud and very very beautiful. This is their second release and as good as anything they have done before or since. All the potential from their first is realized here. Not a bad song on here. Half the record is a complete classic for the genre, the other is just extraordinary. Forget what you have heard about JMAC rip off's, false false false. This band is consistant, talented and are like no one else. Live they are the absolute finest. All the attitude of punk, all the musicianship of classic rock and all the melodies of english pop (stone roses, primal scream , new order et all). I urge you catch this band before they are gone. A must buy!

Love this album.......2005-12-26

Great record. One of the best I've heard in the last years. Lots of attitude, lots of great guitars and an overall great sound.Includes some glorious moments like "In like the rose" "Rise or fall" and "Heart and soul". You can tell they worked hard on this one. It's ALMOST perfect because a couple of tracks could be skipped, that's why I give it four stars. If you are looking for a consistent pop-rock album this is what you need. You won't be disappointed.

why did this bomb?.......2005-11-15

this is a superb second album from the leather rockers
with the guitars distorted and fuzzy and the vocals clear yet murky ad lyrics expressing love government and pain what more could fellow fans want not much in my opipion this should of been thier first album not their second oh well
highlights include
stop[the bass driven single]
we're all in love
us government
and i'm only aching
suddenly
heart and soul

classic future album from a band who hasn't got the belief they deserve

Love It.......2005-07-06

I love this band and its darkness and the way they deliver the music. They have lot of faded out/fuzzed vocals and the music dial is up. Every song is alive with music and alive with power driven guitar. A lot of people would relate this band to other bands like The Strokes and some other garage bands. I see the relevance, but I don't really like those bands that people would associate BRMC with...I think it's because BRMC offers something different. If you only like pop and soft rock, then don't even waste your money. This is not "nu-metal" (at least i don't consider it to be), this is not "emo" or "screamo". This is not your average mainstream band and I don't think they get the attention they deserve.

Standout tracks for me:
"We're All in Love" 8/10
"In Like The Rose" 9/10
"My Generation" 9/10
"US Government" 9/10 (a lot of people will like the guitar work in here)
"Suddenly" 10/10 (a softer song but well managing of the rock and a melodious song)
"Rise or fall" 9/10 (the vocals and music really hit you)

Motorcycle Club rides again!.......2005-04-24

This being their sophomore effort, BRMC had to have had a lot riding on "Take Them On...". Cutting right to the chase, they surely did not disappoint with this endearing outing. It is filled with much of the same melodramatic poetry and captivating sound that defined them thus far.

The leadoff track and single, "Stop" is not only the best on the cd, it was the track that started it all for me. I quickly immersed myself into the sensuous BRMC world, bought this cd and remain floored since then. Other really great tunes include the roaring "Six Barrel Shotgun", the tranquil "Shade Of Blue", and the epic "Heart + Soul".

Ride on with this cd, you'll be relieved afterwards.

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

Instruments of the Orchestra Various Artists Manufacturer: Naxos ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra | ( H ) | Featured Performers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music London Philharmonic Orchestra | ( L ) | Featured Performers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra | ( M ) | Featured Performers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music National Philharmonic Orchestra London | ( N ) | Featured Performers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Rap & Hip-Hop | Styles | Music General | Soundtracks | Styles | Music General | Instructional | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music Blowout Box Sets | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music More Titles at Least 20% Off | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music All Classical Music Blowout | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra | ( H ) | Performers, A-Z | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music London Philharmonic Orchestra | ( L ) | Performers, A-Z | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra | ( M ) | Performers, A-Z | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music National Philharmonic Orchestra London | ( N ) | Performers, A-Z | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music Instrumental | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music Similar Items: Britten: Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra Op34; Simple Symphony Op4 The Mahler Symphonies: An Owner's Manual (includes 1 CD) The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra (Book & CD) What to Listen for in Music Study of Orchestration, Third Edition 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:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

Average customer rating: Shocking surprise Just back from Aussiefloyd concert The best Symphonic Floyd I've heard Yes, there are people who don't know Pink Floyd. . . Classic(al) Floyd.

Us and Them: Symphonic Pink Floyd London Philharmonic Orchestra Manufacturer: Philips ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | New Age | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Progressive Rock | Progressive | Rock | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music Orchestral Pop | Easy Listening | Pop | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music Album-Oriented Rock (AOR) | Classic Rock | Styles | Music General | New Age | Indie Music | Stores | Music General | Rock | Indie Music | Stores | Music Similar Items: Kashmir: The Symphonic Led Zeppelin The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Plays the Hits of Pink Floyd Symphonic Rock Riders on the Storm: The Doors Concerto Music of ABBA, Beatles & Queen ASIN: B0000040UZ Release Date: 1995-10-10

Tracks:

1. Time
2. Brain Damage
3. Another Brick In The Wall (Part II)
4. Comfortably Numb
5. Breathe
6. Money
7. The Great Gig In The Sky
8. Nobody Home
9. Us And Them
10. Time

Customer Reviews:

Shocking surprise.......2007-01-10

Don't know what I was thinking when I ordered this one but it turned out to pretty good. Makes for great backgroud music while working on my websites.

Just back from Aussiefloyd concert.......2006-11-26

I thought I could do no more with my collection of Pink Floyd music. Last night in St. Louis I attended the AussieFloyd concert - It was awesome. However I'm now listening to this Symphonic version of "Us and Them".
all I can say is: - Oh My Gosh! - This is very relaxing, and it's like a midevil fairy-tale with the floydster. I love it! Get it - you can't miss.

The best Symphonic Floyd I've heard.......2006-07-25

Being a fan of Pink Floyd, I am oftentimes simultaneously curious and leary of Floyd tributes or treatments. Previous to this recording, I have purchased two different performances by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. I was somewhat disappointed with those recordings. At times it seemed as if it were a performance by a "cover band" with a back-up orchestra. They included electric guitar, electric bass, full trap set and even some vocals. Not so with this recording. This is pure symphony at its finest. Jaz Coleman's arrangements of timeless songs composed by Roger Waters and David Gilmour do not cease to amaze with their brilliance. The brief and unfortunate sound clips offered above do no justice to the recording as a whole.

Standout movements include "Comfortably Numb", "Breathe" and "That Great Gig in the Sky". This album is perfect for someone looking for a purely orchestral version of some of Pink Floyd's most proficient work.

Yes, there are people who don't know Pink Floyd. . ........2006-02-26

. . .but love this album. A friend introduced me to "Hey you" and I loved it, but with the exception of "Comfortably Numb" and "Breathe" didn't like the music all that much (sorry!) Then my 16 year old godson suggested this. I play it constantly!

Classic(al) Floyd........2005-12-11

This is a disc I found by chance for cheap, but it paid off big. As soon as I realized what it was, the London Philharmonic Orchestra covering Pink Floyd songs, it seemed like a good idea. Sometimes these "tribute" type albums are a bust, but this one I like alot. Obviously a liking for both parties helps, but I believe even someone with no knowledge of Pink Floyd would enjoy this (do any of those people exist?). I also think that if a person listening didn't know these were Floyd songs, they might not catch it, yet if you did know, you hear it right away. My favorites on here are "Time", "Breathe", and the simply moving "Comfortably Numb". I could have tossed on another few tracks, but this does run over 70 minutes. Overall, if you're somebody that can stand George Winston covering The Doors, you should love this as well.

Average customer rating:

Handel: The Masterworks (Box Set) Manufacturer: Brilliant Classics ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Trios | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Handel | Handel, George Frideric | ( H ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Concerto Grossi | Concertos | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music General | Concertos | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music General | Sonatas | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Trio Sonatas | Sonatas | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Suites | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music General | Baroque (c.1600-1750) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Flute | Reeds & Winds | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music Oboe | Reeds & Winds | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music Recorder | Reeds & Winds | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music Violin | Strings | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music Baroque (c.1600-1750) | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music General | Sacred & Religious | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music Cantatas | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Baroque (c.1600-1750) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Italian | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Oratorios | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Anthems | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Cantatas | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Hymns | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Oratorios | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Passions | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Blowout Box Sets | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music More Titles at Least 20% Off | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music All Classical Music Blowout | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music Handel, George Frideric | ( H ) | Composers, A-Z | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music Opera & Vocal | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music Brilliant Classics | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music Similar Items: Vivaldi: The Masterworks (Box Set) Haydn: The Masterworks [Box Set] Mendelssohn: The Masterworks [Box Set] Dvorák: The Masterworks [Box Set] Schubert: The Masterworks [Box Set] ASIN: B00062FLI8 Release Date: 2004-11-30

Average customer rating: a voice teacher and early music fan I really love this recording Some very good parts Great mezzo and trumpet And He Shall Reign Forever and Ever, Amen.

Handel - Messiah / McNair · von Otter · Chance · Hadley · Lloyd · Marriner George Frideric Handel , Neville Marriner , Anne Sofie von Otter , Michael Chance , Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields , Sylvia McNair , Jerry Hadley , and Robert Lloyd Manufacturer: Philips ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD All Works by Handel | Handel, George Frideric | ( H ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Baroque (c.1600-1750) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Marriner, Sir Neville | ( M ) | Featured Performers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Hadley, Jerry | ( H ) | Featured Performers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Oratorios | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Oratorios | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Otter, Anne Sophie von | Divas | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music General Christmas | Holiday | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music Opera & Vocal | Holiday | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music General Christmas | Holiday Music | Special Features | Music Opera & Vocal | Holiday Music | Special Features | Music Similar Items: Handel - Messiah - The 250th Anniversary Performance / Marriner, Academy and Chorus of St. Martin in the Fields Handel - Messiah / Ameling · A. Reynolds · Langridge · Howell · Marriner Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 (The Historic 1955 Debut Recording) ASIN: B00000414Y Release Date: 1992-11-17

Tracks:

1. Messiah: Part I: Symphony
2. Messiah: Part I - No. 1 Accompagnato: Comfort Ye, Comfort Ye, My People
3. Messiah: Part I - No. 2: Air Ev'ry Valley Shall Be Exalted
4. Messiah: Part I - No. 3 Chorus: And The Glory Of The Lord
5. Messiah: Part I - No. 4 Accompagnato: Thus Saith The Lord
6. Messiah: Part I - No. 5 Air: But Who May Abide The Day Of His Coming
7. Messiah: Part I - No. 6 Chorus: And He Shall Purify The Sons Of Levi
8. Messiah: Part I - No. 7 Recitative: Behold, A Virgin Shall Conceive
9. Messiah: Part I - Nos. 8-9 Air And Chorus: O Thou That Tellest Good Tidings
10. Messiah: Part I - No. 10 Accompagnato: For Behold, Darkness Shall Cover The Earth
11. Messiah: Part I - No. 11 Air: The People That Walked In Darkness
12. Messiah: Part I No. 12 Chorus: For Unto Us A Child Is Born
13. Messiah: Part I No. 13 Pifa: Pastoral Symphony
14. Messiah: Part I No. 14 Recitative: There Were Shepherds - And Lo, The Angel Of The Lord - And The Angel Said Unto Them - And Suddenly There Was
15. Messiah: Part I No. 15 Chorus: Glory To God In The Highest
16. Messiah: Part I No. 16 Air: Rejoice Greatly, O Daughter Of Zion
17. Messiah: Part I No. 17a Recitative:Then Shall The Eyes Of The Blind
18. Messiah: Part I No. 18a Duet: He Shall Feed His Flock
19. Messiah: Part I No. 19 Chorus: His Yoke Is Easy
20. Messiah: Part II No. 20 Chorus: Behold The Lamb Of God
21. Messiah: Part II No. 21 Air: He Was Despised
22. Messiah: Part II No. 22 Chorus: Surely He Hath Borne Our Griefs
23. Messiah: Part II No. 23 Chorus: And With His Stripes We Are Healed
24. Messiah: Part II No. 24 Chorus: All We Like Sheep

Tracks:

1. Messiah: Part II No. 25 Accompagnato: All They That See Him
2. Messiah: Part II No. 26 Chorus: He Trusted In God
3. Messiah: Part II No. 27 Accompagnato: Thy Rebuke Hath Broken His Heart
4. Messiah: Part II No. 28 Arioso: Behold, And See
5. Messiah: Part II No. 29 Accompagnato: He Was Cut Off
6. Messiah: Part II No. 30 Aria: But Thou Didst Not Leave
7. Messiah: Part II No. 31 Chorus: Lift Up Your Heads
8. Messiah: Part II No. 32 Recitative: Unto Which Of The Angels
9. Messiah: Part II No. 33 Chorus: Let All The Angels Of God
10. Messiah: Part II No. 34a Air: Thou Art Gone Up On High
11. Messiah: Part II No. 35 Chorus The Lord Gave The Word
12. Messiah: Part II No. 36 Air: How Beautiful Are The Feet
13. Messiah: Part II No. 37a Arioso: Their Sound Is Gone Out
14. Messiah: Part II No. 38 Air: Why Do The Nations
15. Messiah: Part II No. 39 Chorus: Let Us Break Their Bonds Asunder Let us break their bonds asunder
16. Messiah: Part II No. 40 Recitative: He That Dwelleth In Heaven
17. Messiah: Part II No. 41 Air: Thou Shalt Break Them
18. Messiah: Part II No. 42 Chorus: Hallelujah
19. Messiah: Part III No. 43 Air: I Know That My Redeemer Liveth
20. Messiah: Part III No. 44 Chorus: Since By Man Came Death
21. Messiah: Part III No. Accompagnato: Behold, I Tell You A Mystery
22. Messiah: Part III No. 46 Air: The Trumpet Shall Sound
23. Messiah: Part III No. 47 Recitative: Then Shall Be Brought To Pass
24. Messiah: Part III No. 48 Duet: O Death, Where Is Thy Sting?
25. Messiah: Part III No. 49 Chorus: But Thanks Be To God
26. Messiah: Part III No. 50 Air: If God Be For Us
27. Messiah: Part III No. 51 Chorus: Worthy Is The Lamb - Blessing And Honour
28. Messiah: Part III: Amen

Customer Reviews:

a voice teacher and early music fan.......2006-10-21

The "Messiah" was composed by Handel at his London home in the late summer of 1741..Charles Jennens described his libretto for the 'Messiah' as a "Scripture Collection", because it consists of a cleverly-arranged selection of biblical texts. Musically speaking, the recitatives and arias are definately in a style derived from opera, supplemented by choruses of the type Handel has developed in his English odes and oratorios-the presentation of the story was unconventional. The work is divided into three acts or parts, but the narrative is largely confined to Part Two: Part One is mainly concerned with prophecy and its fullfilment and Part Three with commentary on the importance of the previous story. This recording of the famous 1992 performance at Dublin took place at the Point Theatre on the 250th anniversary of the work's premeire which took place in Dublin on April 13th 1742. It is an outstanding performance, especially chorally and instrumentally. The soloists: Sylvia McNair(soprano)-Anne Sofie von Otter(mezzo)-Michael Chance (alto) were superb!!! Personally I was not pleased by Jerry Hadley's interpretation of Handel; I have a recording of him singing show tunes, and I think he does that best! Robert Lloyd's (bass) diction was most peculiar and annoyed me. However, the last 2 comments may not be universally accepted. All in all, it's one of the best 'Messiahs' I have heard, and is actually my favorite of many that I own.

I really love this recording.......2005-03-26

While I haven't sampled that many different recordings of the Messiah, I really like this version. I sometimes find myself singing it, and this is the version I hear. One thing I don't like about it is that it is a 2-disc set, but the Messiah has three parts. Part II is divided -- the first half on disc 1 and the second part on disc 2. It would be nice if the parts weren't divided in the middle.

Some very good parts.......2002-12-14

This is my fifth Messiah disk and I had hoped my last. Von Otter is a real draw and she is truly great. Marriner's pacing is still good. But many aspects of this CD pull it down. I have a theory that the tenor (Jerry Hadley) was mad at Marriner and sang technically perfect with zero emotion. I don't how he was allowed to get away with this. I also did not like the baritone. While I think varying the size of the chorus in this piece has merit, this choir is generally on the small side and does not have the punch when needed. Messiah choirs carry a two edged burden, either the choir is large and it gets muddy in the delicate sections or it is small and can't punch the big sections. This disk errs on the small side. The recording quality is very good, something that dodges many Messiahs. The violins are too close to the soloist microphone (or poorly mixed) and come in much too loud. So whenever there is an sprite from the violins it jumps out at you and drowns the soloists.

The best Messiah for me is still Marriner's 1976 disk, much better overall rendition.

Great mezzo and trumpet.......2002-05-17

This is one of the better Messiahs, although not quite up to Westenberg's level.

Its world-beater aspects include mezzo Anne-Sophie von Otter, whose "He was despised" is well north of magnificent: Warmly mournful in the slow sections, snarling and spitting in the center section.

Trumpeter Mark Bennett does by far the best trumpeting on any of my 30 complete Messiahs. "Glory to God" and "Hallelujah" are as good as it gets -- no, better than any other recording gets.

Countertenor Michael Chance is quite good in "If God be for us" -- I say that as someone who doesn't like countertenors.

Some of the other choruses are also well done. But tenor Jerry Hadley seems to have thought he had more lucrative things to do with his time than to think about Messiah.

And He Shall Reign Forever and Ever, Amen........2002-01-01

This recording ranks itself on the top of the greatest recordings of Handel's Messiah. Being a live recording, it surpasses every other studio recordings of this piece in terms of interpretation and drama. The soloists are superb, the chorus are crisp and vital, and the ensemble plays with great virtuoso. My special remark goes to Miss McNair, I simply cannot grow tired of her! Her lyrical voice is simply destined for this work, especially in aria no 16 `Rejoice greatly, o daughter of Zion' - rejoice indeed! It is to Marriner we should all be grateful for producing this remarkable recording in the first place. Known mainly for his stupendous recordings of Mozart, it is not surprising that he's able to interpret in a true Handelian way. It's a pity that he seldom records works by Handel - I don't know if he performs them unrecorded.
There are actually two versions of this live performance, the one here and the other is available on LaserDisc. I believe that they were recorded on two different performance time, for on some arias the soloists have different style in singing the cadenza. Whichever you prefer, this is a recording you must simply own - even when your music library boasts a dozen or so of Handel's Messiah!!

Average customer rating: Ladies & gentleman: The Lord'n Savior, God Almighty So Fashionable, and So Disappointing A nice combination of period nad tradiitonal Wait! Before you buy... La mas bella y fidedigna interpretacion que se pueda obtener

Handel - Messiah / Augér, von Otter, Chance, Crook, Tomlinson, English Concert, Pinnock George Frideric Handel , Arleen Auger , Anne Sofie von Otter , Trevor Pinnock , The English Concert & Choir , Michael Chance , Howard Crook , and John Tomlinson Manufacturer: Archiv Produktion ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD All Works by Handel | Handel, George Frideric | ( H ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Baroque (c.1600-1750) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Pinnock, Trevor | ( P ) | Featured Performers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Oratorios | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Oratorios | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Otter, Anne Sophie von | Divas | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music General Christmas | Holiday | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music Opera & Vocal | Holiday | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music General Christmas | Holiday Music | Special Features | Music Opera & Vocal | Holiday Music | Special Features | Music Blowout Box Sets | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music More Titles at Least 20% Off | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music All Classical Music Blowout | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music Handel, George Frideric | ( H ) | Composers, A-Z | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music Pinnock, Trevor | ( P ) | Performers, A-Z | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music Otter, Anne Sophie von | ( O ) | Performers, A-Z | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music Opera & Vocal | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music Similar Items: Bach: Brandenburg Concertos / Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment Handel - Messiah / Ameling · A. Reynolds · Langridge · Howell · Marriner Belcea Quartet ~ Debussy · Dutilleux · Ravel Beethoven: Symphony No 9 /ORR * Gardiner Tchaikovsky: Symphony 6 "Pathétique" in B minor Op. 74 ASIN: B0000057DB Release Date: 1990-10-25

Tracks:

1. Messiah: Part One - 1. Sinfony (Grave - Allegro moderato)
2. Messiah: Part One - 2. Accompagnato : Comfort Ye My People
3. Messiah: Part One - 3. Air : Ev'ry Valley Shall Be Exalted
4. Messiah: Part One - 4. Chorus : And The Glory Of The Lord Shall Be Revealed
5. Messiah: Part One - 5. Accompagnato : Thus Saith The Lord Of Hosts
6. Messiah: Part One - 6. Air : But Who May Abide The Day Of His Coming
7. Messiah: Part One - 7. Chorus : And He Shall Purify
8. Messiah: Part One - 8. Recitative : Behold, A Virgin Shall Conceive
9. Messiah: Part One - 9. Air and Chorus : O Thou That Tellest Good Tidings
10. Messiah: Part One - 10. Accompagnato : For Behold, Darkness Shall Cover
11. Messiah: Part One - 11. Air : The People That Walked In Darkness
12. Messiah: Part One - 12. Chorus : For Unto Us A Child Is Born
13. Messiah: Part One - 13. Pifa (Pastoral Symphony)
14. Messiah: Part One - 14. Recitative: There Were Shepherds Abiding In The Field - Accompagnato: And Lo, The Angel Of The Lord - 15. Recitative: And The Angel Said Unto Them - 16. Accompagnato: And Suddenly There Was With The Angel
15. Messiah: Part One - 17. Chorus : Glory To God In The Highest
16. Messiah: Part One - 18. Air : Rejoice Greatly, O Daughter Of Zion
17. Messiah: Part One - 19. Recitative : Then Shall The Eyes Of The Blind
18. Messiah: Part One - 20. Air : He Shall Feed His Flock
19. Messiah: Part One - 21. Chorus : His Yoke Is Easy, His Burthen Is Light
20. Messiah: Part Two - 22. Chorus : Behold The Lamb Of God
21. Messiah: Part Two - Air : 23. He Was Despised

Tracks:

1. Messiah: Part Two - 24. Chorus : Surely He Hath Borne Our Griefs
2. Messiah: Part Two - 25. Chorus : And With His Stripes We Are Healed
3. Messiah: Part Two - 26. Chorus : All We Like Sheep Have Gone Astray
4. Messiah: Part Two - 27. Accompagnato : All They That See Him
5. Messiah: Part Two - 28. Chorus : He Trusted In God
6. Messiah: Part Two - 29. Accompagnato : Thy Rebuke Hath Broken His Heart
7. Messiah: Part Two - 30. Arioso : Behold, And See If There Be Any Sorrow
8. Messiah: Part Two - 31. Accompagnato : He Was Cut Off Out Of The Land
9. Messiah: Part Two - 32. Air : But Thou Didst Not Leave His Soul
10. Messiah: Part Two - 33. Chorus : Lift Up Your Heads, O Ye Gates
11. Messiah: Part Two - 34. Recitative : Unto Which Of The Angels
12. Messiah: Part Two - 35. Chorus : Let All The Angels Of God Worship Him
13. Messiah: Part Two - 36. Air : Thou Art Gone Up On High
14. Messiah: Part Two - 37. Chorus : The Lord Gave The Word
15. Messiah: Part Two - 38. Air : How Beautiful Are The Feet
16. Messiah: Part Two - 39. Chorus : Their Sound Is Gone Out
17. Messiah: Part Two - 40. Air : Why Do The Nations So Furiously Rage
18. Messiah: Part Two - 41. Chorus : Let Us Break Their Bonds Asunder
19. Messiah: Part Two - 42. Recitative : He That Dwelleth In Heaven
20. Messiah: Part Two - 43. Air : Thou Shalt Break Them
21. Messiah: Part Two - 44. Chorus : Hallelujah
22. Messiah: Part Three - 45. Air : I Know That My Redeemer Liveth
23. Messiah: Part Three - 46. Chorus : Since By Man Came Death
24. Messiah: Part Three - 47. Recitative : Behold, I Tell You A Mystery
25. Messiah: Part Three - 48. Air : The Trumpet Shall Sound
26. Messiah: Part Three - 49. Recitative : Then Shall Be Brought To Pass
27. Messiah: Part Three - 50. Duet : O Death, Where Is Thy Sting?
28. Messiah: Part Three - 51. Chorus : But Thanks Be To God
29. Messiah: Part Three - 52. Air : If God Be For Us
30. Messiah: Part Three - 53. Chorus : Worthy Is The Lamb That Was Slain --- Amen

Amazon.com essential recording

This is a terrific performance of Messiah. Not only are the soloists all superb, but Trevor Pinnock completely contradicts the image of many period instrument performances as small-scale, scrappy affairs. Indeed, he invests the choruses with as much genuine Handelian pomp as Beecham at his most extravagant. The trumpets really blaze, and the timpani thunder, and everyone simply has a great time. A joyous performance, just right for the holiday season. --David Hurwitz

Amazon.com

Trevor Pinnock meets with mixed success in this account of the Messiah with the English Concert & Choir and soloists Arleen Auger, Anne Sofie von Otter, Michael Chance, Howard Crook, and John Tomlinson, recorded and released in 1988. Its strengths are the strengths of the early-music movement in general. The size and distribution of the instrumental and vocal forces are optimal, which means that textures are clear and balances apt. Rhythms are nicely pointed, though often, in Pinnock's case, not quite well enough sprung. Tempos are well chosen; for example, "All we like sheep"--which turns out to be one of the set's best numbers--is a real bourré, and Pinnock animates it in just the right way. But the performance often seems workmanlike and unemotional, weighed down in too many instances by the humdrum work of the chorus. The alto section in particular, which is half male and half female, sings timidly and is constantly swallowing its entrances. Bass soloist John Tomlinson is a further drag on the effort. He has the right idea--that there's an Italian opera hiding behind all this biblical imagery--but his cottony sound is out of place, a misguided attempt to mimic Nicolai Ghiaurov. His usable range is less than a tenth (he croaks the low G's and F-sharps), and his diction is horrible. "Thus spake the Lord" is strangled, and when, in "The trumpet shall sound" Tomlinson gets to the words "we shall be changed," one can't help wishing that he had been changed too, right before the sessions started. --Ted Libbey

Customer Reviews:

Ladies & gentleman: The Lord'n Savior, God Almighty.......2007-06-13

Handel's Messiah is my favorite piece of classical music. Of the two versions that I had I only have left this one, and it is not the best (the other had been a cheap recording whose author's name I forgot too). This version seems to lack a little enthusiasm from the voices; too melancholic. Anyway, this is the first review of any music that I write, and probably will be the last too, so I just want to leave my impression of how I feel when I hear these solemn and heavenly sounds. One feels so raised to the heavenlies... I can almost sense the presence of the Lord Almighty up yonder among the clouds, and me being carried in solemnity to meet Him. Far away are the buzzing sounds of earthly chores. The air is fresh and clean as we are raised above the valleys, and we come to meet God's elected amid the singing, stronger and stronger. Jubilant, bathed in the glorious rays of the Savior's Light, we come together and sing: Glory to God, glory to God, praise and glory for He is coming...

So Fashionable, and So Disappointing.......2007-02-01

This would be a great 21st Century Reader's Digest version of Messiah, if such a thing existed any more. Handel did as much as he could, but really, the performers still have to do something besides posture, which, by the way, seems to me to characterize many performances these days. Fashionable, but musically deficient.

Specifically: John Tomlinson sings like he thinks he IS God, instead of singing about Him. Heavy, cumbersome, and overblown. May I add boorish?

Arleen Auger has a very sweet voice. And??

Despite the program notes insisting that certain segments of this Messiah are given to "the contralto", Anne Sofie von Otter is NOT a contralto. Not even close.

The male alto can barely sustain a legato line - why he insists upon throwing in those complicated, badly-performed embellishments I can't figure. Well, I can, but I'd really rather not say.

Wake up, choristers!! It's 'For Unto Us A Child Is Born," not "Oy, I have to go to the grocery store today."

Boy do I regret having spent almost $40 on this one. Thank goodness I have the Colin Davis to console me.

A nice combination of period nad tradiitonal.......2006-12-17

This 1988 recording sits between the euqally English, euqally period-ifnluenced Hogwood and Garidner. Of the three, Hogwood sounds more 'authentic' because it uses boys in the chorus and singers schooled period practice. By comparison, Pinnock's soprano, Arleen Auger, and mozeeo, Von Otter, are essentially modern singers--gorgeous ones, of course, Gardiner is far more anemic in his conducting and uses a scrwny-sounding orchestra, so if that's more authentic, so be it. Of the three, Pinnock gives us more traditional music values in his emotional expression and instrumental timbres.

The competiiton is mushc stiffer now than in 1988, but Pinnock's reading has survived the test of time. He is not a genuinely inspired conductor--sadly, Messiah has become a cottage industry that excludes most big-name talents--but neither are Gardiner and Hogwood. (For sheer musicality, I tend to put my money on Andrew Parrott, Robert King, Marc Minkowski, Niklaus Harnoncourt, and Rene Jacobs.) But he's certainly good eough. The reason I haven't given five stars is that the male soloists aren't first-rate, and in particular the Wotan voice of John Tomlinson sounds cavernous in the bass arias. Add to that Pinnock's tendency toward tepidness, and what you end up with is a very good but not great performance.

Wait! Before you buy..........2006-05-28

... This Messiah has recently been re-released at a much cheaper price. Go back and look for the DG "The Originals" release, which is being sold new for under $12.

La mas bella y fidedigna interpretacion que se pueda obtener.......2004-12-29

Soy uno de los mas fanaticos seguidores de Handel y de su obra El Mesias... He escuchado muchas versiones de esta genial e impresionante obra del maestro Handel y, sencillamente no me queda mas que recomendar esta interpretacion, bajo la batuta del maestro Trevor Pinnock. Se nota la exigencia con que esta version se interpreto, dentro el contexto del arte barroco y la magnificencia de la pronunciacion del ingles de la epoca. La orquesta se luce impresionantemente desde la obertura... y le da a cada movimiento, toda aquella fuerza y a la vez delicadeza requerida en el sentimiento que aplica en cada uno de los textos biblicos escogidos por el guionista Jennens. El Coro del English Concert es arrebatador y demuestra maestria en la interpretacion de cada una de las arias que le corresponde. La soprano Arleen Auger, la puedo definir como un angel cantando y resulta ser una caricia a los oidos, a la vez que es capaz de arrancarle a uno las lagrimas por lo excelso de su magia interpretativa. El tenor Crook, aunque no es un tenor con tesitura para canto barroco, es realmente habil y agil al momento de interpretar los melismas caracteristicos de este brillante periodo musical. El contratenor Michael Chance, es fenomenal y quiera Dios que yo tenga el honor de conocer a este genio del canto: "But who may abide..." interpretado por Chance en esta version, es como para caer en extasis. La contralto Anne Sophie von Otter..., tiene una voz oscura y redondeada..., tambien resulta una caricia a los oidos y su "If God be for us..." es desbordante, capaz tambien de hacerle a uno derramar lagrimas por su belleza interpretativa. El bajo Tomlinson..., es barbaro!!! (Soy bajo-baritono en el Coro de la Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional de Costa Rica...) A pesar de su voz tan oscura, es tremendamente agil cuando le toca cantar los melismas y es genial al alcanzar la tonalidad brillante en las partes de notas altas y agudas...; por ejemplo: "The people that walked in darkness..." y "Why do the nations..." Tengo seis años de experiencia, interpretando musica coral y tengo que decir que espere esos seis años, desde 1999, para felizmente cantar esta obra "El Mesias". Ha sido fantastico finalmente lograr este objetivo..., la espera valio la pena y debo admitir que mi inspiracion ha sido sin duda alguna, la version que puede usted encontrar en este disco compacto. Doy gracias a todos los que intervinieron en esta grabacion (al maestro Trevor Pinnock, al English Concert and Choir y a los solistas ya mencionados), en nombre mio y en nombre del maestro Handel.

Average customer rating: Beecham's noisy Messiah The Big Victorian Handel 'Messiah': Indulge Yourself! Comfort Ye! Familiarity hasn't bred much affection Thanks to Jon!

Handel - Messiah / Vyvyan · Sinclair · Vickers · Tozzi · Royal PO · Beecham George Frideric Handel , Sir Thomas Beecham , Jennifer Vyvyan , Monica Sinclair , Royal Philharmonic Orchestra , Jon Vickers , and Giorgio Tozzi Manufacturer: RCA ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD All Works by Handel | Handel, George Frideric | ( H ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Baroque (c.1600-1750) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General Modern | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Oratorios | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Oratorios | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music General Christmas | Holiday | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music Opera & Vocal | Holiday | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music Bargain Box Sets | Classical General | Classical | Today's Deals in Music | Formats | Music All Bargain Titles | Classical General | Classical | Today's Deals in Music | Formats | Music Bargain Box Sets | Opera & Vocal General | Opera & Vocal | Today's Deals in Music | Formats | Music All Bargain Titles | Opera & Vocal General | Opera & Vocal | Today's Deals in Music | Formats | Music General Christmas | Holiday Music | Special Features | Music Opera & Vocal | Holiday Music | Special Features | Music Opera & Vocal | The Sony BMG Masterworks Store | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music Similar Items: Handel - Messiah / Harper, Watts, Wakefield, Shirley-Quirk, LSO, C. Davis Handel: Messiah Purcell: Dido and Aeneas / James, Lewis, Baker, Herincx Handel - Joshua / Kirkby, Bowman, Oliver, Ainsley, George, The King's Consort Samson ASIN: B000003FB8 Release Date: 1992-07-14

Tracks:

1. Messiah: Overture - Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
2. Messiah: Recit: Comfort Ye, My People (Tenor) - Jon Vickers
3. Messiah: Air: Every Valley Shall Be Exalted (Tenor) - Jon Vickers
4. Messiah: Chorus: And The Glory Of The Lord - John McCarthy
5. Messiah: Recit: Thus Saith The Lord Of Hosts (Bass) - Giorgio Tozzi
6. Messiah: Air: But Who May Abide (Bass) - Giorgio Tozzi
7. Messiah: Chorus: And He Shall Purify - John McCarthy
8. Messiah: Recit: Behold, A Virgin Shall Conceive (Contralto) - Monica Sinclair
9. Messiah: Air & Chorus: O Thou That Tellest Good Tidings (Contralto) - John McCarthy
10. Messiah: Recit: For, Behold, Darkness Shall Cover (Bass) - Giorgio Tozzi
11. Messiah: Air: The People That Walked In Darkness (Bass) - Giorgio Tozzi
12. Messiah: Chorus: For Unto Us A Child Is Born - John McCarthy
13. Messiah: Pastoral Symphony - Royal Philharmonic Chorus
14. Messiah: Recit: There Were Shepherds Abiding (Soprano) - Jennifer Vyvyan
15. Messiah: Recit: And The Angel Said Unto Them (Soprano) - Jennifer Vyvyan
16. Messiah: Recit: And Suddenly There Was (Soprano) - Jennifer Vyvyan
17. Messiah: Chorus: Glory To God In The Highest - John McCarthy
18. Messiah: Air: Rejoice Greatly, O Daughter (Soprano) - Jennifer Vyvyan
19. Messiah: Recit: Then Shall The Eyes (Contralto) - Monica Sinclair
20. Messiah: Air: He Shall Feed His Flock; Come Unto Him (Contralto & Soprano) - Monica Sinclair
21. Messiah: Chorus: His Yoke Is Easy - John McCarthy

Tracks:

1. Messiah: Chorus: Behold The Lamb Of God - John McCarthy
2. Messiah: Air: He Was Despised (Contralto) - Monica Sinclair
3. Messiah: Chorus: Surely He Hath Borne Our Griefs - John McCarthy
4. Messiah: Chorus: And With His Stripes We Are Healed - John McCarthy
5. Messiah: Chorus: All We Like Sheep Have Gone Astray - John McCarthy
6. Messiah: Recit: All They That See Him (Tenor) - Jon Vickers
7. Messiah: Chorus: He Trusted In God - John McCarthy
8. Messiah: Recit: Thy Rebuke Hath Broken His Heart (Tenor) - Jon Vickers
9. Messiah: Air: Behold, And See If There Be (Tenor) - Jon Vickers
10. Messiah: Recit: He Was Cut Off Out Of The Land (Tenor) - Jon Vickers
11. Messiah: Air: But Thou Didst Not Leave (Tenor) - Jon Vickers
12. Messiah: Chorus: Lift Up Your Heads - John McCarthy
13. Messiah: Air: How Beautiful Are The Feet (Soprano) - Jennifer Vyvyan
14. Messiah: Chorus: Their Sound Is Gone Out Into All Lands - John McCarthy
15. Messiah: Air: Why Do The Nations So Furious Rage (Bass) - Giorgio Tozzi
16. Messiah: Chorus: Lets Us Break Their Bonds Asunder - John McCarthy
17. Messiah: Recit: He That Dwelleth In Heaven (Tenor) - Jon Vickers
18. Messiah: Air: Thou Shalt Break Them (Tenor) - Jon Vickers
19. Messiah: Chorus: Hallelujah! - John McCarthy
20. Messiah: Part III - Air: I Know That My Redeemer Liveth (Soprano) - Jennifer Vyvyan
21. Messiah: Chorus: Since By Man Came Death - John McCarthy
22. Messiah: Recit: Behold, I Tell You A Mystery (Bass) - Giorgio Tozzi
23. Messiah: Air: The Trumpet Shall Sound (Bass) - Giorgio Tozzi
24. Messiah: Chorus: Worthy Is The Lamb - John McCarthy

Tracks:

1. Messiah: Recit: Unto Which Of The Angels (Tenor) - Jon Vickers
2. Messiah: Chorus: Let All The Angels Of God Worship Him - John McCarthy
3. Messiah: Air: Thou Art Gone Up On High (Bass) - Giorgio Tozzi
4. Messiah: Chorus: The Lord Gave The Word - John McCarthy
5. Messiah: Recit: Then Shall Be Brought To Pass (Contralto) - Monica Sinclair
6. Messiah: Duet: O Death, Where Is Thy Sting? (Contralt