For the End of Time

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Philips has been giving Leila Josefowitz a major buildup recently. This time around she has pop star packaging and program notes in the form of an interview, printed in an almost illegible format. Still, the playing is what counts. The technical weakness heard on her debut release has now been overcome, and she deals intelligently with an impressive variety of music here. The program is uncommonly attractive, and in John Novacek she has an appropriately assertive partner. But Josefowicz doesn't seem to have developed the musical personality to handle her role here effectively, and as well-played as these performances are, they are also a bit bland and lacking in passion. She'll probably do better in a few years, but this is the disc we have now. --Leslie Gerber

Tracks:

The Hallejuah Trail-Overture
The Alamo-The Green Leaves Of Summer
The Alamo-Davy Crocket
The Big Country-The Welcoming/Finale
The Big Valley-Main Theme
Blazing Saddles-Blazing Saddles
Bonaza-Main Theme
Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid-raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head
The Comancheros-McBain/Main Title
Duel In The Sun-Main Title/The Legend/Orizaba
A Fistfull Of Dynamite-Duck You Sucker
For A Few Dollars More-Main Theme
Friendly Persuasion-Thee I Love
Giant-Main Theme
The Good, The Bad And The Ugly-Main Theme
The Good, The Bad And The Ugly-The Ecstasy Of Gold
Gunfight At The O.K. Corral-Suite
Hang 'Em High-Main Theme
The Hanging Tree-Main Title

Tracks:

High Caparral-Main Theme
How The West Was Won-Prelude/The Land
High Noon-Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darlin'
The Jayhawkers-The Lynching/Two Brothers/The Hayhawkers
The Lone Ranger-William Tell Overture: Finale
Nevada Smith-Main Title
Old Gringo-Main Themes
Once Upon A Time In The West-Man With The Harmonica
One Eyed Jacks-Main Title
The Proud Rebel-Main Titles
The Quick And The Dead-End Titles
Quigley Down Under-End Titles
Rio Bravo-Rio Bravo/De Guella
The Scalphunters-Main Title
Shane-Main Theme: The Call Of The Farwaway Hills
The Shootist-Main Title
The Unforgiven-The Need For Love
Viva Zapata-Gathering Forces
The Virginian-Main Theme

Customer Reviews:

Not My Style.......2007-05-11

This CD has a lot of good songs on it, but it just too bland for our taste. We prefer Western music to sound as though genuine cowboys are singing it - not a fancy chorus!

Rockin' Western Collection.......2006-08-28

For anyone who likes movie/tv music from westerns should purchase this CD. What a wonderful collection of both film and tv with great renditions of each piece. I'm about to purchase Vol. 1 to complete my collection.

Hard to Find Great Western Themes .......2006-03-16

This CD has a number of great western themes that are not in some of the standard lists. For example it includes "The Hallejuah Trail", "Blazing Saddles", and "Giant". This CD also has what I consider the true theme of "The Comancheros". I have been disappointed with some other CDs I have purchased listing "The Comancheros" which had a song rather than this theme. Many of the tracks on this two disk CD go beyond the main theme music and are actually suites. The "Big Country" and "How the West Was Won" are just a couple of examples. It may be a little more expense than some CDs, but not bad for a two disk set. I am really happy with my purchase.

Western Music.......2005-07-29

I enjoy this CD. It has many familiar melodies. Good background for reading, nice to listen while driving. It is also the only CD I've ever found that has the great theme from the movie "Giant."

A great follow-up.......2003-08-29

This is the second collection by SilvaScreen, who are also responsible for "The Wild West: The Essential Western Film Music Collection" (see my review). And it's just as good as the first. There are themes in here that everyone will recognize ("Bonanza," "A Fistful of Dollars"), themes that may not be so familiar ("Duel in the Sun," "The Hanging Tree," the lively "Blazing Saddles"), and even themes you may not associate with Westerns at all ("The Friendly Persuasion"). And no duplication either: when this disc includes a piece from one of the same sources covered in its predecessor, it's a different piece. One great treat: the full lyrics to "Gunfight at OK Corral," which I've never heard outside the soundtrack of the movie itself. The arrangement from "Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid" includes not only the familiar song "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head" but an overview of the music--seguing almost seamlessly into Bernstein's magnificent "The Comancheros," a rare find indeed. An expensive item, but if you love Western film music, well worth it.

Placido Domingo: A Love Until The End Of Time

Average customer rating:

love songs easy to listen too
This is an oldie but a goodie!
Great for boring candlelight dinner or quick ride in an elevator.
Beautiful music
A Valentine's Day Gift for all time

Placido Domingo: A Love Until The End Of Time
Ken Hirsch , Jule Styne , John & Paul McCartney Lennon , Consuelo Velazquez , John Denver , Andrew Lloyd Webber , Richard Rodgers , Henry Mancini , Johnny Mercer , Armando Manzanero , and Maureen McGovern
Manufacturer: Sony
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Perhaps Love
The Domingo Songbook
Very Best of
100 years of Mariachi
De Mi Alma Latina, Vol. 2

ASIN: B0000026H6
Release Date: 1990-10-25

Tracks:

Maria
Siboney
A Love Until The End Of Time
Noche Azul
La Comparsa
Save Your Nights For Me
Time After Time
Malaguena
Yesterday
Besame Mucho
My Life For A Song
Annie's Song
Siempre en me Corazon
Love Came For Me (Love Theme From Splash)
I Don't Talk To Strangers
Blue Moon - Moon River
Autumn Leaves
Adoro

Customer Reviews:

love songs easy to listen too.......2007-05-07

I love a classical voice singing this type of mustic, or sacred (from the operas (in English), or, out of print sacred. Wish I could find a source for some of my old tapes (some recorded from 78s) of artists like Jerome Hines (Holy City, 1962-3, 78 record I transferred to tape), Russel Davis (1970 or early 8os record I coped, of tape my Dad had copied), William Harness, Kathleen Battle, etc. etc. I enjoy a wide range of music, but had operatic training, so understand the requirements for superior vocal skill. John Denver had much of the quality. Music for me is part of the fabric of life.

This is an oldie but a goodie!.......2006-11-09

One of his first albums of "popular" songs and one of the best of the songs we have loved for years with a fresh, new Domingo treatment. Just as his album with John Denver was a something new for him, these songs are out of the opera world. You'll never hear any of them performed by anyone up to the "gold standard" of Domingo. That being said, I love this album, but - the accent gets in the way on the English songs. You have to be able to accept the accented English and just listen to the gorgeous voice singing some very romantic songs. I highly recommend!

Great for boring candlelight dinner or quick ride in an elevator........2006-10-31

As much as I enjoy listening to Placido Domingo's popular recordings this is not one of his best performances. Missing the full-blooded belting that can be heard on his other albums ("Be My Love" for example). The orchestration is very mediocre and uninspired.
For a romantic mood, "Perhaps Love" (simply fabulous) is much better choice.

Beautiful music.......2006-02-23

I have been looking for this title for a long time...in all the wrong places.

A Valentine's Day Gift for all time.......2005-02-02

If you truly want to touch someone's heart, give this as a Valentine's gift. I received the CD last year and I love every minute. It makes a loving gift of one of the greats. With such a long career you would think that Placido would disappoint. So far it hasn't happened. This year my honey and I will see him in concert! Another Valentine's day wish come true.

Olivier Messiaen: Quartet for the End of Time

Average customer rating:

Fin
A great work, a Catholic work
Imagining the end...
Unique Spiritual Expression
Unique and Interesting

Olivier Messiaen: Quartet for the End of Time

Manufacturer: RCA
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Similar Items:

Olivier Messiaen: Turangalîla Symphony; L'ascension
For the End of Time: The Story of the Messiaen Quartet
Olivier Messiaen: Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant-Jésus
György Ligeti Edition 3: Works for Piano (Etudes, Musica Ricercata) - Pierre-Laurent Aimard
György Ligeti Edition 1: String Quartets and Duets - Arditti String Quartet

ASIN: B000003ERU
Release Date: 1989-08-11

Tracks:

Quartet For The End Of Time: Liturgy of Crystal
Quartet For The End Of Time: Vocalise, for the Angel who announces the end of Time
Quartet For The End Of Time: Abyss of the birds
Quartet For The End Of Time: Interlude
Quartet For The End Of Time: Praise to the Eternity of Jesus
Quartet For The End Of Time: Danse of Fury, for the seven trumpets
Quartet For The End Of Time: Cluster of rainbows, for the Angel who announces the end of Time
Quartet For The End Of Time: Praise to the Immortality of Jesus

Amazon.com

This all-star chamber ensemble was specifically formed to play Messiaen's masterpiece. Two decades after this recording was made, it still shows the effects of their intense identification with the music. Some listeners find Messiaen's music longwinded and difficult, and my own opinion varies depending on the work and my mood. But this piece, written in a German concentration camp during the early years of World War II, is truly one of the greatest works of music of the 20th century. Although it lasts nearly an hour, its variety of color and its powerful expressiveness will engross any responsive listener, especially in this performance. --Leslie Gerber

Customer Reviews:

Fin.......2007-07-18

I gave my copy of this (favorite) album to my favorite music professor -- now I have to replace it! Other reviewers have stressed the history behind the composition and its premiere in a Nazi POW camp, so I won't go into that, interesting and pertinent as it may be. Other reviewers have focussed on the fact that Messiaen was a devout Catholic mystic, implying that the listener must share the composer's religious convictions in order to fully appreciate his artistic expression. However, because this is a work of art, listeners will hear in it beauties unique to their own sensibilities. The listener can be a complete atheist and respond emotionally to Messiaen's passionate, idiosyncratic, and heart-wrenching composition. This is a piece that brings tears to my eyes and makes me intellectually curious too; I want to get the score so I can see how Messiaen works his magic. It's emotional, odd, intense, riveting, and harmonically sophisticated, right up there with the best of the 20th Century composers' works.

A great work, a Catholic work.......2007-02-17

This recording of the "Quartet for the End of Time," one of the greatest musical works of the 20th century, is precious to me. Performers Peter Serkin (piano), Ida Kavafian (violin), Fred Sherry (cello), and Richard Stoltzman (clarinet) offer a stunning, heartfelt performance. Olivier Messiaen, a Frenchman born in 1908 who demonstrated an early gift for music as a pianist, composed the piece in a Nazi prison camp for the few instruments he had available, including an out-of-tune piano on which he performed, a violin, a cello, and a clarinet. Imagine. World War II was obviously a dark time, and Messiaen went into the army with some rations and a few musical scores that he kept in his backpack. Not to diminish his suffering, but he was not treated as poorly as Jewish prisoners were in the death camps. He was not made to work in total starvation, nor was he deprived of all contact with the outside world (he was able to write home and have supplies sent to him). However, being a Catholic mystic, Messiaen sensed that the rise of the Third Reich signified the Apocalypse as prophesied in Revelations. Germans being Germans (they do love their music, after all), the camp guards allowed him to perform this piece in the camp with the group of musicians he assembled. His astonishing music captures not only that desperation and discord of the earth's final days, but also the redemption that can only be found through Our Lord Jesus Christ. However, you do not have to be a Christian to feel or understand the power in this music. Christianity has inspired the best music in Western culture (those "scientists" and "mathematicians" and "philosophers" who misguidely try to secularize J.S. Bach are wrong), and while Messiaen's music speaks for itself, his explanation for the final passage of this quartet is eternal: "Why this second glorification? It addresses itself more specifically to the second aspect of Jesus -- to Jesus the man, to the Word made flesh, raised up immortal from the dead so as to communicate His life to us. It is total love. Its slow rising to a supreme point is the ascension of man toward his God, of the son of God toward his Father, of the mortal newly made divine toward paradise." Amen to that, son, which is an important message for today's youth.

Imagining the end..........2007-02-07

I wonder how many other masterpieces were in fact lost in prisoner or war camps. We shouldn't be listening to this work today. It should not have survived. Perhaps Messiaen should not have either. But he did, and it did, and we are lucky because of it.

The quartet, composed for violin, clarinet, cello and piano because those were the instruments Messiaen's fellow inmates played, is in, oddly, eight movements instead of the Biblical seven. It is prefaced by a quotation from the Apocalypse of St. John Chapter 10: "I saw a mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud; and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire." That moment is depicted on the cover of this CD. The eight movements describe the harmonious "silence" of the heavens (including the awakening of birds--birds fascinated Messiaen all his life), Vocalise for the angel who announces the end of Time,* the Abyss of the birds, with a very technically-demanding clarinet solo (as an amateur clarinetist myself I find it hard to just play it all in tune, never mind the extreme dynamics), a bouncy scherzo interlude, which is the brightest part of the work, Praise to the Eternity of Jesus, which is deeply moving and spiritual if pulled off right, Dance of Fury for the Seven Trumpets, which is a real rhythmic tour-de-force (try to figure out the time signatures), Cluster of Rainbows, for the angel who announces the end of time (supremely haunting) and finally Praise to the Immortality of Jesus, which is supposed to represent the man Jesus more than the divine Son of God.

In terms of time, the work is extraordinarily complex, even in this post-Stravinsky universe. In fact, I couldn't begin to tell you I understand all that's going on, and would love to get my hands on a score. But the sonorities of this unusual combination of instruments makes you really pay closer attention--the unusual message is heard in an unusual voice. Use of dissonance is extremely intelligent--compared to so many "modern" compositions I hear today that claim to be profound (the Fourth Concerto for Orchestra by Robert Holloway, which I just heard premiered the other night in San Francisco, comes to mind), this score uses dissonance and consonance for a very high purpose, very judiciously, and not just because it can. Oh, and the ending pages of this work are a stunner, one of the most chilling finishes I've ever heard in a work. It's like the end of Mahler's 9th without the sentimental comfort--and yes, next to this, Mahler's 9th sounds sentimental and comforting.

This is all-around the best performance I've ever heard of the Quartet, though a Philips recording with Vera Beths, George Pieterson, Anner Bijlsma and Reinbert de Leeuw is better-recorded. They don't quite reach the heights and depths that these four musicians do, however, particularly in the Abyss of the Birds and the Praise to the Immortality. Despite some intonation issues by Stoltzman, he's more soulful in his lengthy solo than the more-in-control Pieterson.

The rest of the forces here are magnificent too. Ida Kavafian has always struck me as an underrated violinist. For a while she played with the Beaux Arts Quartet, but recently I have not seen her with them--what happened?

The Quartet was premiered to an audience of fellow prisoners and prison guards in Stalag VIII-A in Görlitz, Germany on January 15, 1941. "Never have I been heard with as much attention and understanding," Messiaen later said. Considering the effect this music has on us, as we arrive warm and fed at the concert hall after the attendant parks our Mercedes or Lexus, how this work must have felt to the starving cold war prisoners of 1941 surely cannot be imagined.

*The "end of time" is not purely an allusion to the Apocalypse, the work's ostensible subject, but also refers to the way in which, through rhythm and harmony, Messiaen used time in a way that was completely different from the music of his predecessors or contemporaries.

Unique Spiritual Expression.......2006-12-22

The Quartet for the End of Time and The Turangalila Symphony are great pieces by Messaien. If you're looking at this version by Tashi, you are looking at a legendary performance. Similarly, Antoni Wit on the Naxos label does wonders in the Turangalila Symphony, a very lively work. Let's not skirt the issue: both are strange pieces, lovable for their insanity. Here, however, you have a piece with an amazing history and an intimate depth of soul.

I think the titles of some of the movements say a lot about the work, like "Cluster of Rainbows, for the Angel Who Announces the End of Time." As a person who is awe-inspired by symbols, alchemical art work, and out of the ordinary things, titles like these bring tears to my eyes. The cover art for this album is a striking representation of this rare kind of beauty.

The music expresses itself on its own terms. You are receiving the language of another dimension. It is that bizarre, and you must be prepared. Put down all conceptions of what Western music is. Do not compare this to any other work. Extraterrestrial visitors will guide you to the mothership. Take the ride. And remember that for Messaien God is at the center of all things. You will feel this presence as the music wends its way through the final moments.

Unique and Interesting.......2006-07-19

Oliver Messiaen's music takes some getting used to. It's not unlike some of Stravinsky's works, but doesn't quite fit into any particular category. This particular work was written in a German prison camp and first performed there in 1941. Some people might want to buy it just for the historical significance, but I encourage you to buy it because it is downright interesting and enjoyable music. This might not be the best first album to buy as an introduction to Messiaen, as it's not his best work. It is somewhat subdued music; not particularly upbeat or awesome. It's not meant to be. Still well worthy of 5-stars.

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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

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Britten: Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra Op34; Simple Symphony Op4
What to Listen for in Music
Study of Orchestration, Third Edition
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ASIN: B00006O0NT
Release Date: 2002-12-03

Tracks:

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

Tracks:

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

Tracks:

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

Tracks:

The Trumpet As Virtuoso Soloist
Brandenburg Concerto No.2 (Last Mvt)
The Special Brillance Of Paired Trumpets
Concerto In C For Two Trumpets, RV537 (Mvt 1)
The Ceremonial Trumpet
Fanfare For The Common Man
Trumpets And Drums - An Incomparable Alliance
Messiah (The Trumpet Shall Sound)
The Versatility Of The Trumpet, From The Most Public To The Most Lonely
Piano Concerto In F (Slow Mvt)
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
Carmen Suite No.2 (Habanera)
The Trumpet As The Voice Of Strength And Courage
Carmet Suite No.2 (Toreador's Song)
The Trumpet Muted/Petrushka (No.4: The Blackamoor)/Lieutenant Kije Suite (Opening)/The Trumpet As The Voice Of Weariness
Billy The Kid
The Trumpet As Character Actor
Pictures At An Exhibition (No.6)
The Trumpet As The Voice Of God
Mass In B Minor ('Et Exspecto')
The Birth Of The Trombone
Aenmerckt Nu Hier
The Birth Of The Brass As A Family
Canzon 12 In Double Echo
The Trombone In The Eighteenth Century
Trombone Concerto In B Flat Major (Finale)
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.
Hosannah
The Trombones Become Part Of The Orchestra.
Symphony No.5 (Finale)
The Wagnerian Trombone:/Overture To 'Tannhauser'
The Trombone As Caricaturist
Pulcinella (No.19: Vivo)
The Trombone As Raspberry/Concerto For Orchestra (Intermezzo)
The Horn And The Hunt
Horn Concerto No.4 In E Flat, K.495 (Finale)
The Challenging Horn Of The Baroque
Abaris Ou Les Boreades (Menuet)
The Scarcity Of First-Rate Players In Handel's Time
Walter Music (Minuet 1)
The Horn As Magician/The Firebird Suite (1919, Finale)
Horns And The Sound Of Nobility
Overture To 'Tannhauser' (Opening)
The Special Sound Of The Horn In Its Higher Register
Mass In B Minor ('Quoniam Tu Solus Sanctus')
The Trumpet-Like Sound Of Massed Horns
Symphony No.3 (Mvt 1, Opening)
The Tuba - Unfairly Maligned?
Symphony No.6 (Mvt 3)
The Tuba Perfectly Cast By Ravel
Pictures At An Exhibition (Bydlo)

Tracks:

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

Tracks:

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

Tracks:

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

Tracks:

Excerpts From: Pee Wee's Big Adventure
Excerpts From: Batman
Excerpts From: Dick Tracy
Excerpts From: Beetlejuice
Excerpts From: Nightbreed
Excerpts From: Darkman
Excerpts From: Back To School
Excerpts From: Midnight Run
Excerpts From: Wisdom
Excerpts From: Hot To Trot
Excerpts From: Big Top Pee Wee
Excerpts From: The Simpsons
Excerpts From: Alfred Hitchcock Presents: The Jar
Excerpts From: Tales From The Crypt
Excerpts From: Face Like A Frog
Excerpts From: Forbidden Zone
Excerpts From: Scrooged

Customer Reviews:

Great compilation - and that's just the first half........2005-09-14

I first got this on cassette in the summer of '94 and listened to it every day, drawn by its thematic range and compositional depth. And that was just side-one.

Elfman pioneered the sound that drives today's movie adaptations of comic-books and darker-themed children's stories. Side-One kicks things off with a rollicking, hyper-cartoonish theme from the first Pee-Wee movie - the one where Pee-Wee searches for his beloved bike. Elfman's theme contains layers of different rides - on tightropes, highways, in the middle of a NASCAR rally - which rudely yet melodically crash into each other.

The Batman entry actually contains several pieces - the opening credits, the extended sequence in the cathedral and the climax - which show Batman's darkened extreme at its "Frank Miller" best. (Dir. Tim Burton couldn't sustain the mood in the next sequel, and the franchise took a turn towards the camp of the TV series with the next 2 movies.)

The theme for "Dick Tracy" is perhaps the most romantic on this disc, a quality that surpasses the theme's comic-book origins, but ends on an ironic note that's pure Elfman.

"Beetlejuice" (opening & closing credits) gives Elfman's childish ID a chance to stretch its legs, or in this case, slam-dance.

"Nightbreed" is an enigma wrapped in a dark mystery, and that's just Elfman's score. Elfman's work on this movie is as good as the movie wasn't, having a more powerful narrative than the script - easily the best track on the entire disc, one likely to exceed the movie in its dose of chills.

"Darkman" doesn't quite rise to the occasion, though the score may be hobbled by the movie itself, which seldom surpassed one of the many "Batman" clones of the early 1990's. "Darkman" (the movie, I mean) excelled as a parody of many comicbook staples (the wronged hero, the relentless villain, the scientific breakthrough with just one flaw), but not enough to escape being largely anonymous. Within those constraints, it's still a moving if scary piece.

When is Elfman not like Elfman? When he was in the mid-late `80's and scored "Back to School" (A Rodney Dangerfield vehicle) and "Midnight Run". Horns in "School" bring it closer to Elfman's over-the-top style, while "Run" sounds like a love-theme for the run-down, out-of-the-way parts of America that seldom appear in Elfman-movies. "Run" is a fun score for a fun movie - it's nothing like Elfman's previous work but it perfectly captures the on-the-road-without-a-map craziness of the movie.

To this day, I don't know why I never ventured to Side-two, but it's irrelevant. Even half this disc is worth it

The best of Elfman!!!.......2005-09-05

I was obsessed about getting this CD right from when I heard about it. I found it at the library and was so excited about it, and it didn't let me down. In fact, it was a lot better than I expected. It's a fun and creepy (strange mix, but it really works!) collection of Danny Elfman's film and television soundtracks. The first track, Pee Wee's Big Adventure, is probably my favorite. Also, I really like Batman and Wisdom. Batman is creepy and dark, and Wisdom is just weird, in the best possible way.
I'd recommend this to anyone who likes film music, or everyone who is even the tiniest bit an Elfman fan. It's amazing!

Great Collection, A LIttle Too Eclectic.......2003-08-19

You should be able to tell from the movies and TV shows listed here whether or not you'd be interested in this collection. It's a little too eclectic for my tastes (hence only 4 stars) but better than volume 2. I think thatthe miscellaneous collected ites here along with the previously unreleased stuff should make this worth buying. Especially if you're a fan of Elfman's movie soundtrack work.

What Great Music.......2003-05-11

I fell in love with the music of Danny Elfman when Beetlejuice came out. There was something different about the music that he made. When Edward Scissorhands, and then Nightmare Before Christmas - I knew this man was a musical master. Its the verbal form of surrealism.

super.......2003-04-17

What a great CD. Danny's music is so original and inventive. this CD contains his pre 90's quirky, gothic music. it's all very well written and beautifully orchestrated. batman and darkman contain some really excellent long, dark, gothic cues that really take u away from reality. in my opinion no one, apart from howard shore, is as inventive and original as danny in the world of filmmusic. he far surpasses the repetitive works of williams or horner. buy this, and volume two, and keep supporting one of the greatest film composers of all time.ohh...and buy fellowship of the ring and two towers by howard shore....amazing work!

1000: A Mass for the End of Time / Anonymous 4

Average customer rating:

Want to hear something spectacular?
Lovely
Perfectly lovely - wrong, but still perfectly lovely.
Year 1000--A Mass for the End of Time
A Peace Beyond All Understanding

1000: A Mass for the End of Time / Anonymous 4
Gregorian Chant , and Anonymous 4
Manufacturer: Harmonia Mundi Fr.
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

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Gloryland

ASIN: B00004UFGW
Release Date: 2000-09-12

Tracks:

Processional Hymn: Judicii Signum
Troped Introit: Quem Creditis Super Astra/Viri Galilei
Kyrie: Celestis Terrestrisque
Gloria: Prudentia Prudentium
Alleluia I: Dominus In Sina
Alleluia II: Ascendens Cristus
Sequence With Prose: Salvator Mundi/Rex Omnipotens Die Hodierna
Troped Offertory: Elevatus Est Rex Fortis/Viri Galilei
Sanctus: Ante Secula
Agnus Dei: Omnipotens Eterne
Troped Communion: Corpus Quod Nunc/Psallite Domino
Lection: Apocalypse 21:1-5
Prose: Regnantem Sempiterna
Hymn: Cives Celestis Patrie

Amazon.com essential recording

Remember all of the year-2000 nervousness in the latter part of 1999? That was nothing. As the year 1000 approached, people all over the Christian world were convinced that the Apocalypse--as depicted in the biblical Book of Revelation--and the end of the world were at hand. In one of the more interesting musical program ideas to be inspired by the turn of the calendrical odometer, Anonymous 4 revisits the original "millennium madness" with a disc of chant from around the year 1000--specifically, a Mass for the Feast of the Ascension, one of the few occasions on which the liturgy included readings from the Book of Revelation. This is the oldest written Western music to have survived, and it's difficult even to decipher (the original notation has no staff lines or clear indications of rhythm), let alone perform. Yet, the challenges involved seem to have done these ladies good: not only is their performance both assured and confident, but one can hear new facets in their vocal sound--a sound that, however beautiful it might be, some listeners find monotonous. (One new facet is Jacqueline Horner, the quartet's newest member, for whom this is the first recording.) The singers experiment with interpretation of ornaments that are indicated in the manuscript sources (there's a fascinating little trill that sounds rather like a cooing dove); in some of the chants, they add an additional line in accordance with the principles of improvising polyphony that were laid out in 10th- and 11th-century treatises. The entire program seems thoroughly considered, as well as immaculately executed. If you count on the consistently pure, silky tone and meditative quality that has made Anonymous 4 world-famous, you'll definitely find it here; if you've gotten bored with them, you might find this disc a fascinating surprise. --Matthew Westphal

Customer Reviews:

Want to hear something spectacular?.......2007-05-23

For most folks, Gregorian Chants are probably a little off the beaten track. This is a stellar recording that's hard to beat, and the best of my Gregorian Chant collection. You won't be disappointed.

Lovely.......2006-03-03

A lovely performance of music from the beginning of the western musical tradition. The vocal quality of the performance is first rate and the music itself is very interesting. Recommended strongly.

Perfectly lovely - wrong, but still perfectly lovely........2004-06-28

For those of you who - like me - have had a couple experiences with Gregorian Chant that moved you deeply - and now you need some Gregorian Chant for those moods when nothing else is right - this is it. "A Mass For The End Of Time" is beautiful, and rich, and the selections intense and moving. This is exactly what most people reading this are looking for. Furthermore the performers seem to have captured the spirit of the music - which is critical because this is spiritual music. So why do I give it 4 stars?

Gregorian Chant is not music that can be removed from its place and time well. It is site specific - it should be heard live in a cathedral whose walls are stone or at least in a place that reflects sound - setting up resonance inside the head. Gregorian Chant is a form of meditation that is distinctly medieval European. The group that performs "A Mass For The End Of Time" is 4 women called Anonymous. But Gregorian Chant was written for men - it has different feel when men do it. Anonymous is very good - but the music would work even better with 4 equally good male voices.

Year 1000--A Mass for the End of Time.......2004-01-04

The year AD 1000 appeared to be an apocalyptic harbringer of destruction to the devout Catholics of Western Europe. This collection of medieval chants based on themes of God's impending wrath and the judgement of the world are excellent primary sources for understanding the mystical religious mindset of the days of yore. Gregorian Chant, while different from Byzantine (Greek) and Russian chanting, is a very methodological and otherworldly form of music. It's monotone is radically opposed to the harsh discord of "rock n' roll" and "rap" music which sound like broken machinery that are so popular among all aspects of society, even the so-called "Christian rock." Although the music itself is sung in Latin, the disc is accompanied by a booklet which gives the lyrics in English translation (along with a few other languages).

A Peace Beyond All Understanding.......2002-04-30

I have always been highly suspicious of "spiritual people". Why them and not me? I was only looking for pretty music when I, a rock n roller by upbringing, purchased this CD. What followed during the listening of this CD, was a deeply meditative state as I let the music, so beautiful words cannot describe, transport me into a deeper consciousness. There I was able to pray from the deepest part of my soul. A first. It has immediately replaced my incremental valium use. I am not a meditator, not into Yoga, don't even like people who are, but this music sounds like the holy ghost if it can be personified, who pleads with such compassion for each and every one of us in a world gone mad. The gregorian chant music on this particular cd seems to be telling the story of time and man to God. It is a sad and compassionate tale that doesn't miss a detail as its heavenly and soulful sound tells in words beyond my understanding a long story filled with strife, sin, pain and sorrow, yet with such love and feeling that it catches its listener up as though it were part of the communication to God and lifts the listener to a serene place where all of the cement jungle, and hostile traffic, and hate among people seem to become the other dimension and not the dimension you find yourself in when listening to this CD. Maybe it is something different for every listener. This was my experience.

Average customer rating:

A Real Treat!
I LOVE IT!!!

Movie Love Themes

Manufacturer: Telarc
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Beautiful Hollywood
Hollywood's Greatest Hits, Vol. 2
Classics of the Silver Screen
Better Together: The Duet Album
Cousins

ASIN: B000003CWT
Release Date: 1991-05-10

Tracks:

Main Theme From On Golden Pond
Unchained Melody From Ghost
Sooner Or Later From Dick Tracy
We're Losing Him From Somewhere In Time
Love Theme From Flashdance
Marion's Theme From Raiders Of The Lost Ark
Evergreen From A Star Is Born
Flashdance....What A Feeling
People Alone From The Competition
End Title From Shirley Valentine
Arthur's Theme From Arthur
The Last Time I Felt Like This From Same Time Next Year
Love Theme From Cousins
Waltz From Cousins
Through The Eyes Of Love From Ice Castles
End Title From Ghost
Cavatina From The Deer Hunter
The Way We Were

Customer Reviews:

A Real Treat!.......2007-02-16

As someone who works from home, this is a wonderful collection to put on during the day. The beautiful arrangements of some of film's most memorable music is a treat to listen to day in and day out. I was one of those looking for music from the "Cousins" soundtrack. I'm so much happier to have found this CD with more great music than I could've bargained for. I'm very glad to have this in my collection!

I LOVE IT!!!.......2005-09-11

I HAVE BEEN SEARCHING FOR THE SOUNDTRACK OF COUSINS... I KNOW BUT HEY I LOVED THE MOVIE AND WHEN I REALIZE THAT THE SOUNDTRACK WAS BEEN ASK $120 I JUST WENT NUTS LOL LOL BUT I WENT ON MY SEARCH AND FOUND THIS GREAT GREAT GREAT CD, THAT HAS THE SONGS I WAS SEARCHING FOR AND MORE.

FOR EXAMPLE, CAVATINA FROM THE DEER HUNTER, HMM GREAT MOVIE AND GREAT SONG. AND LETS NOT FORGET THE WAY WE WERE, COME ON THAT IS A CLASSIC. AND ITS HAS THE THEME FROM THE MOVIE ON GOLDEN POND, ALSO UNCHAINED MELODY FROM THE MOVIE GHOST.

BUT WHAT TOOK MY OFF MY SIT WAS THE SONG *WE ARE LOOSING HIM, FROM THE MOVIE SOMEWHERE IN TIME. LOOK THIS IS A GREAT CD, AND IT IS WORTH ALL.

I HAVE ALL THE SONGS I EVER WANTED AND MORE. BELIEVE ME YOU ME, IT IS A GREAT BARGAIN. WONT BE DISSAPOINTED.

Paramount 90th Anniversary Collection: Scores

Average customer rating:

Great Movies have Great Soundtracks!
Only Disc 1 Is Worth Anything
More of a propaganda CD
Great selection of Film Hits!
Older recordings, main themes only

Paramount 90th Anniversary Collection: Scores
Various Artists
Manufacturer: Sony
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Simply the Best Movie Themes
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ASIN: B000068TN9
Release Date: 2002-07-02

Tracks:

Saving Private Ryan 'Hymn To The Fallen' - John Williams
Double Indemnity 'Prelude' - Miklos Rozsa
The Lost Weekend 'Finale' - Miklos Rozsa
The Heiress 'Departure/Morris Suggests Love/The Proposal/Finale' - Aaron Copland
Sunset Boulevard 'Prelude' - Franz Waxman
The Ten Commandments 'Prelude' - Elmer Bernstein
Breakfast At Tiffany's 'Moon River' - Henry Mancini
Hatari! 'Baby Elephant Walk' - Henry Mancini
Rosemary's Baby 'Main Title (Vocal)' - Christopher Komeda
Romeo & Juliet 'Love Theme From Romeo & Juliet' - Nino Rota
Once Upon A Time In The West 'Once Upon A Time In The West' - Ennio Morricone
Love Story 'Theme From Love Story' - Francis Lai
The Godfather 'Main Title (The Godfather Waltz)' - Nino Rota
The Godfather 'Love Theme From The Godfather' - Nino Rota
Chinatown 'Love Theme From Chinatown (Main Title) - Jerry Goldsmith
The Godfather - Part II 'End Title' - Nino Rota
Star Trek: The Motion Picture 'End Title' - Jerry Goldsmith
Raiders Of The Lost Ark 'Raiders Of The Lost Ark' - John Williams
Terms Of Endearment 'Theme From Terms Of Endearment' - Michael Gore
Flashdance 'Love Theme From Flashdance' - Giorgio Moroder
Beverly Hills Cop 'Axel F' - Harold Faltermeyer

Tracks:

Witness 'Building The Barn' - Maurice Jarre
Children Of A Lesser God 'Main Title' - Michael Convertino
The Untouchables 'The Strength Of The Righteous (Main Title)' - Ennio Morricone
Fatal Attraction 'Fatal Attraction' - Maurice Jarre
The Addams Family 'Main Title' - Marc Shaiman
Dead Again 'Winter 1948' - Patrick Doyle
Indecent Proposal 'Flashback & Photos' - John Barry
The Firm 'How Could You Lose Me?-End Title' - Dave Grusin
Clear And Present Danger 'Main Title/A Clear And Present Danger' - James Horner
Braveheart 'For The Love Of A Princess' - James Horner
Primal Fear 'Courtroom Montage' - James Newton Howard
Mission: Impossible 'Zoom B' - Danny Elfman
Star Trek: First Contact 'End Credits' - Jerry Goldsmith
Titanic 'Hard To Starboard' - James Horner
The Rugrats Movie 'Baby Shower Happenings' - Mark Mothersbaugh
The Talented Mr. Ripley 'Italia' - Gabriel Yared
Rules Of Engagement 'Semper Fidelis (Always Faithful)' - Mark Isham
Mission: Impossible 2 'The Bait' - Hans Zimmer
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider 'Main Titles' - Graeme Revell
Vanilla Sky 'To The Roof' - Nancy Wilson
The Sum Of All Fears 'The Mission' - Jerry Goldsmith
Forest Gump 'I'm Forrest...Forrest Gump' - Alan Silvestri

Amazon.com

Granddaddy of the Hollywood studios, Paramount Pictures is rightfully proud of its century of contributions to both American cinema and the art of film scoring. But the first disc of this 43-track double-CD anthology merely hints at the studio's musical peaks, blithely skipping through its first seven decades in just 17 tracks. Indeed, the package as a whole seems more interested in marketing its post-'70s catalog of hits and blockbusters than it does in paying real homage to history and roots. Even rarities like Double Indemnity and The Lost Weekend are served up via modern budget-line rerecordings, as is Ennio Morricone's epochal Once upon a Time in the West). Contemporary recordings of Aaron Copland's rare score to The Heiress and Franz Waxman's great Sunset Blvd. fare better, but soundtrack fans may miss the originals. The studio's rich pop-crossover successes in the '60s are documented via Breakfast at Tiffany's "Moon River" and excerpts from Romeo and Juliet and Love Story, while successful franchises like Star Trek and Raiders also get their due. Too often the '90s-focused second disc only underscores some uncomfortable trends in contemporary scoring--orchestral nervous tics punctuated by booming crescendos, treacly piano Muzak--and makes one wonder if the music of The Rugrats Movie and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider are really film music milestones. --Jerry McCulley

Customer Reviews:

Great Movies have Great Soundtracks!.......2007-05-10

If you love movies and movie music, you can't go wrong with this two cd Paramount Anniversary set.

Only Disc 1 Is Worth Anything.......2006-07-19

Normally I have a lot to say in my reviews, but not this time. The main problem with this collection is that all the most memorable film scores are just on one disc, with the second used mostly to play out stuff from the last ten years that, really, musically isn't very memorable and only includes three pieces anyone will recognize just because, like the movies they come from, they're based on old TV shows - The Addams Family, Star Trek, and Mission: Impossible.

And that brings up another problem. With all due respect to the late Jerry Goldsmith, who has provided some truly great classic movie scores, was it REALLY necessary to include TWO versions of the SAME Star Trek march in this collection? This seems evocative of the milk-it-for-all-its-worth attitude Paramount has had lately toward its now-tarnished crown-jewel franchise. Where's James Horner's theme music from Star Trek II and III? If they're gonna put Star Trek on here twice, they should have provided a little diversity. It wouldn't have taken much, I'm sure.

I'm sure that Paramount's had other films with far more memorable music (even Harold Faltermeyer's Top Gun Anthem could have helped on Disc 2). This just seems like a lazy attempt at something that really could have been great.

More of a propaganda CD.......2002-10-30

There are some really great songs on this 2 CD set. However, those really great songs seem to be lightly interspersed amongst a large number of forgettable songs whose main purpose seems to be to remind you of those movies you enjoy(ed) so much.

It seems a little odd to me that out of 90 years of film making the most memorable scores have been largely released within the last few years. I was pleased to find themes from the Godfather, Indiana Jones and Witness. I was perplexed with the inclusion of songs from Rugrats, both Mission Impossible movies (one would have been more than enough) and Tomb Raider (memorable???).

This is my own personal bias, but I do prefer movie soundtracks that evoke a feeling of excitement. With this collection I just couldn't get excited. I kept finding myself being let down by songs that didn't in some way complement the preceeding song.

There are certainly some great tracks here, but overall I was disappointed. My advise would be to look elsewhere.

Great selection of Film Hits!.......2002-09-25

This one was a pleasant surprise! I thought- how could any CD that had "Baby Elephant Walk" be all that good? This one is. Lots of great scores- classics and a few hidden treasures. After hearing the beautiful title score for "Children of a Lesser God", I had to buy the entire soundtrack - very soothing. There are a few that may seem too overplayed ("Love Story", "Raiders of the Lost Ark",), but most are a welcome addition to any compilation. Try NOT loving "Building the Barn" from "Witness" or the "Hymn to the Fallen" from "Saving Private Ryan". Hours of great listening.

Older recordings, main themes only.......2002-08-27

This is a great album concept, but I really wish Paramount had re-recorded these scores as they deserve to be heard. The tracks range from 1944 to the present, and the older recordings sound just like the cleaned-up older recordings that they are.

I would also personally have enjoyed more "secondary" music themes (otherwise it becomes like reading book summaries that always only quote the opening paragraph), and I could easily have done without the "pop" tunes (like Baby Elephant Walk and the Rugrats theme). In fact, it would have been very nice to listen to an album comprised of tracks chosen for their strong musical value rather than apparently for their box office and/or hit song popularity. But, to be fair, that may be precisely what draws some people to this CD set.

Tracks:

Gone With The Wind: Overture
Citizen Kane: Overture
Casablanca: As Time Goes By
It's A Wonderful Life: It's A Wonderful Life
The Third Man: The Harry Lime Theme
The Searchers: Suite
The Bridge On The River Kwai: Colonel Bogey March
Vertigo: Prelude
Touch Of Evil: Main Title
Ben-Hur: Parade Of The Charioteers
North By Northwest: Prelude
Psycho: Suite
The Magnificent Seven: The Magnificent Seven
Lawrence Of Arabia: Overture

Tracks:

To Kill A Mockingbird: Suite
The Great Escape: Main Title
Doctor Zhivago: Main Title & Lara's Theme
The Good, The Bad And The Ugly: The Good, The Bad And The Ugly
Once Upon A Time In The West: Jill's Theme
2001: A Space Odyssey: Also Sprach Zarathustra
Midnight Cowboy: Midnight Cowboy
Get Carter: Main Title
A Clockwork Orange: Ode To Joy
The Godfather: Waltz & Love Theme
Jaws: Jaws
Rocky: Gonna Fly Now
Taxi Driver: Suite
Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope

Tracks:

Superman: Main Theme
Alien: End Title
Raging Bull: Intermezzo From Cavalleria Rusticana
Raiders Of The Lost Ark: Raiders March
Blade Runner: End Titles
E.T.: The Extraterrestrial: Adventures On Earth
Once Upon A Time In America: Deborah's Theme
Back To The Future: Main Theme
Witness: Building The Barn
Aliens: Main Title
Cinema Paradiso: Cinema Paradiso
Glory: Charging Frot Wagner
Dances With Wolves: The John Dunbar Theme
Unforgiven: Claudia's Theme

Tracks:

The Piano: The Heart Asks Pleasure First
Schindler's List: Main Theme
Braveheart: End Credits
Titanic: My Heart Will Go On
Saving Private Ryan: Hymn To The Fallen
American Beauty: Any Other Name
Gladiator: Now We Are Free
Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring: The Fellowship
The Girl With The Pearl Earring: Griet's Theme
Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl: Suite
Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban: Suite
Lemony Snicket's A Series Of Unfortunate Events: The Letter That Never Came
Finding Neverland: Impossible Opening
The Incredibles: Overture

Customer Reviews:

Six Decades of Film Music.......2007-05-13

This is film music for the classical music lover. The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra presents excellent arrangements of a number of classic film themes (although several pieces of the 56 film classics selected for this 4 CD set are not orchestral arrangements, but rather specialty arrangements). Besides great film composers such as John Williams, Elmer Bernstein, Ennio Morricone, and James Horner, classical composers such as Richard Strauss and Pietro Mascagni make an appearance. On several of the numbers the Crouch End Festival Chorus adds the human voice to the power of the full symphonic orchestra to create true movie magic. If you like the sound of a full symphony orchestra playing some of the most recognized themes ever written, you'll love these CDs.

Excellent collection with fine performances.......2007-03-28

Silva Screen Records, based in England, has been issuing some fine collections of film scores, more in one box than we have the right to expect. This four-CD box contains scores by many of the best writers, including Max Steiner, Bernard Herrmann, Dimitri Tomkin, Kenneth J. Alford (The Bridge on the River Kwai), Elmer Bernstein, Maurice Jarre, Ennio Marricone, John Barry, Nino Rota, John Williams, James Horner, and more. We can all think of additional film scores we wished were included, but then there's no way this collection could be all-inclusive. The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, supplemented by Crouch End Festival Chorus on some numbers, does a very competent job...The liner notes give the basic information without any commentary, and as far as I can see, contain only one error. Am I wrong or are tracks 9 and 10 on the fourth CD mislabeled? Track 9, which runs 7:33, seems to have the excitement of "Pirates of the Caribbean" (which I did not see) and track 10, which runs 4:22, the more sedate "The Girl with the Pearl Earring (which I also did not see). Listings seem to have them reversed.

"essential film scores from 1939 to 2004 ~ Incredible Music".......2005-05-16

When I think of the "Golden Age" of Hollywood, many composers come to mind...you gave the usher your ticket in the theater and sat down, knowingly you were going to get your moneys worth...when the curtain opened and you heard those first few notes...you sat back, watched and listened as the film score and orchestra worked their magic...now we have the ultimate from Silva Screen Classics "The Incredible Film Music Box", featuring a four disc set of the essential film scores of the past 60 years...covering several decades from 1939 through and up to the present 2004

There are compilations and then there are "Compilations" beginning with a classic that even the youngsters today recognize "GONE WITH THE WIND" (1939) (Max Steiner), sweeping score that captures the tragic history of the South during the Civil War, one great cue after another, it doesn't get any better than this, nominated by the Academy for Best Original Score...and closing on Disc 4 with "THE INCREDIBLES" (2004) (Michael Giacchino), the big hit in computer animation from Walt Disney & Pixar that once again pit Super-Heroes against the forces of evil...our family of five Supers prove crime doesn't pay, but box-office receipts do...gotta love it!

Silva Screen Classics as usual, has put quality into this 4-CD-Set featuring The City Of Prague Philarmonic Orchestra and the Crouch End Festival Chorus conducted by Kenneth Alwyn, Bill Ashton, Paul Bateman, James Fitzpatrick, Mario Klemens, Derek Wadsworth, and Nic Raine. Recorded in "Dolby Surround" with the new technology of "HDCD", this is a "film-score-buffs" dream, one to treasure now and years to come.

Some selections are missing, but when you think of what Silva has included, it is impossible to please everyone...was happy to see "TOUCH OF EVIL" (1958) from composer Henry Mancini, as I feel this composer deserves all the recognition that has been overlooked recently in the music world...This collection is aimed directly at the "Serious Film Score" music fans and collectors...Silva is as always, perfect in every way...just the way we like 'em!

Total Time: 4-CD-Set ~ Silva America 1181 ~ (5/10/2005)

Great Movie Love Themes: Five Star Collection

Average customer rating:

Should be titled Great End Credits Themes
Great Mood Music!
movie themes
Wonderfully romantic
A Good Listen

Great Movie Love Themes: Five Star Collection
Various Artists
Manufacturer: Varese Sarabande
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Movie Soundtracks | Soundtracks | Styles | Music

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ASIN: B00006IK4E
Release Date: 2002-09-10

Customer Reviews:

Should be titled Great End Credits Themes.......2007-04-05

Okay, so I thought I was buying "Great Movie Love Themes." I was familiar with the list, so I thought I would be getting the perfect compilation of melodies. Wrong. This CD should be titled, "Great Movie End Credits Themes," because four of the 12 selections are End Credits music, the stuff no one wants to listen to as all the technical information rolls at the end ot a movie (you know, exit music). The trouble with End Credits is that few carry the actual love theme music or they carry only a small snippet. Most End Credits music is boring. "The English Patient," "Shakespeare in Love," "Sabrina," and "Braveheart," are all End Credits music. Don't expect to hear predominant love themes in these particular selections for which the movies are known.

On the plus side, "Unchained Melody," "Somewhere in Time," and "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini," are beautiful renditions. And the End Credits music for "Sabrina," is better than expected. I'd give "Unchained Melody," "Somewhere in Time," and "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini" five stars, "Sabrina" four stars and the other eight selections two stars.

Just be aware when you buy this album that you are not getting exactly what is described. You have to read the fine print on the back of the CD cover.

Great Mood Music! .......2006-02-27

I love any movie themes, especially the unsung tracks such as the music for opening or closing credits. This is a terrific CD and keeps me happy at work!

movie themes.......2006-02-18

This CD is one of my new favorites. The music is just beautiful. Very relaxing soundtracks for in the car or at home.

Wonderfully romantic.......2004-02-10

I really enjoy listening to CD for everything it has. The mixture of cinema movies makes it more likeable for they're films that most movie-goers will be able to relate to, in one way or another. Just say "Romeo and Juliet" and I'll think Nino Rota.
A personal favourite would have to be "The Heart Asks Pleasure First" (The Piano) but "Rose" (Titianic) follows close behind. The suite, "A Time For Us" (Romeo and Juliet) brings tears to my eyes and "Somewhere In Time" is a lovely ballad. For any other lovers of romance, whether it be in movies or in music, this is one cd that you are sure to like.

A Good Listen.......2003-01-28

Some familiar favorites from great movies. A good cd to have for entertaining because everyone recognizes the tunes.

Track Listings: