Books [EP] [Import]

1. Your Cover's Blown

2. Wrapped Up in Books

3. Your Secrets

4. Cover (Version) [Version]

5. I'm a Cuckoo (Japanese Version) [Version]

6. Final Day (Slow)

Tracks:

II: Andante - Stephen Hough
I: Adagio Sostenuto - Dame Moura Lympany
Jesus Bleibet Meine Freude (Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring) - Dame Moura Lympany
Nocturne No. 2 In E Flat - John Ogdon
Clair De Lune - Dame Moura Lympany
II: Adagio - Cecile Ousset
Tango - Dame Moura Lympany
Liebestraum No. 3 In A Flat - John Ogdon
Waltz No. 9 In A Flat - Dmitri Alexeev
Rhapsody On A Theme Of Paganini - Cecile Ousset
Traumerei - Dame Moura Lympany
La Maja Y El Ruisenor - Magda Tagliaferro
Nocturne No. 5 In F-sharp Minor - Maurizio Pollini
Gymnopedie No. 1 - Aldo Ciccolini
Fur Elise - Dame Moura Lympany
Etude In E 'Tristesse' - John Ogdon
Fruhlingslied - Daniel Adni
II: Andante - Dmitri Alexeev

Tracks:

II: Adagio Cantabile - Walter Gieseking
II: Romanze - Annie Fischer
Aria - Maria Tipo
II: Romance (Larghetto) - Garrick Ohlsson
Granada - Gonzalo Soriano
Waltz No. 15 In A Flat - Maura Lympany
II: Largo - Andrei Gavrilov
An Den Fruhling - Daniel Adni
Nocturne No. 10 In A Flat - Daniel Adni
II: Adagio Un Poco Mosso - Walter Gieseking
La Fille Aux Cheveux De Lin - Dame Moura Lympany
Cancons I Dansas No. 1 - Gonzalo Soriano
II: Adagio Sostenuto (Opening) - Cecile Ousset
Prelude No. 15 In D Flat 'Raindrop' - Dmitri Alexeev
Gnossienne No. 1 - Aldo Ciccolini
Berceuse - Jean-Philippe Collard
Minuet In G - Dame Moura Lympany
Berceuse In D Flat - Peter Donohoe

Customer Reviews:

something to have.......2007-03-14

These CD's are filled with all the awesome relaxing songs for the evening when you need it. It is just one of those must have items in your CD collection.

Excellent Music.......2007-02-19

This album was a "try and see" purchase but I love it. It makes great dinner music, great music to drift off to sleep with, or just nice background filler during social events needing a softer tone. It is not all solo piano music if that s what you are after; the other instruments blend very well however and don't challenge the piano playing. It is a piano album after all!

buy now.......2006-09-01

Want to know why I think the piano is the best musical instrument ever invented? Because no matter how the piano is played, it will always sound good. Whether the music is fast, slow, quiet or loud, it ALWAYS delivers with an appealing sound. This is something you need to buy.

Lovely.......2006-02-22

This is a beautiful calming cd. The playing is excellent and the pieces are well chosen.

Aesthetically Pleasing.......2005-09-14

I simply love piano music. If you're looking to relax, enjoy a peaceful time, then you must check out this album. If you truly enjoy piano music, this album is by far one of the best you can purchase.

As it says....it is the "Most Relaxing Piano Album in the World...Ever..." Well, I haven't listened to all piano albums in the world, but I don't need to, this one is just perfect for me, and I think you will agree!

I would say the pianists' are extremely accomplished. At times, I would admit-it's a bit 'spine tingling'!

Kirtan: The Art and Practice of Ecstatic Chant

Average customer rating:

"A Joyful Noise"
Not As Ecstatic As I Like To Be
Devotional music at its sweetest
Kirtan: The Art and Practice of Ecstatic Chant by jai Uttal
How can I express my joy?

Kirtan: The Art and Practice of Ecstatic Chant

Manufacturer: Sounds True
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Music for Yoga and Other Joys
Greatest Hits of the Kali Yuga
All One
Dakshina
Best of Both Worlds; Yoga Chant Kirtan Music

ASIN: 1591791065
Release Date: 2004-03-16

Tracks:

Ganesha Sharanam
Invocation/ Introduction
Radha Govinda
Sita Ram
Nataraj

Tracks:

Durga Pahimam
Hara Harah Mahadev/ Om Namah Shivaya
Jaya Radha
Radha Rani
Shri Krishna Govinda
Kali Bolo

Book Description

"Kirtan is the calling, the crying, the reaching across infinite space—and digging into the heart's deepest well—to touch and be touched by the Divine Presence," teaches world music pioneer Jai Uttal. On Kirtan! The Art and Practice of Ecstatic Chant, Jai guides listeners through the practice of Kirtan—singing the many names of God and Goddess—an essential part of Bhakti yoga, or the yoga of devotion. This sacred music form is for all people; there are no experts, nor beginners, and the practice itself is the teacher, guiding us to ourselves. Listeners join Jai Uttal to explore: the power of ancient Sanskrit syllables in chant to invoke the Divine, how to open the voice and learn to love the sound that comes from our bodies, more than two hours of music recorded by Jai Uttal to commune with the Divine through sacred chant, and the path of Bhakti and Kirtan, the journey of surrender, and much more.

Customer Reviews:

"A Joyful Noise".......2007-05-16

When I heard an interview on NPR with this artist,Jai Uttal,and music from his CD I couldn't get it out of my mind. It is "a joyful noise" that lifts the spirit and energizes. His very personal explanation of Kirtan on Track 2 gives one an understanding of the spiritual basis of the music and even if it is not a path that you might follow you can't help but be swept up in the chanting. I play it in the car on days when I feel stressed and it removes all that chatter in my head and helps me arrive at my destination uplifted and in the present. His interpretation of the ancient chants using non traditional instruments and renditions is appealing and engaging. P.S.It is a 2 disc set so you can have one at home and one in the car!

Not As Ecstatic As I Like To Be.......2007-04-22

Although a double CD set, both disks pose a problem to this reviewer's taste. Each contains a rather lengthy exposition by the artist on the nature of Bhakti (Devotional) Yoga sandwiched in the program. Jai Uttal has a very pleasant speaking voice & the material was helpful, even inspiring--but do you really want to hear it all over again everytime you play either discs? I know I don't. The musical material is engaging, but not particularly special. It is authentic mantra, but without the technical brilliance of many such CDs (see links below). I don't regret buying it--again, BUT it won't become a treasured favorite. I don't think it would turn-on people who weren't mantra fanatics like me or a real fan of the artist--or a devotee of Kirtan.

PS. The cover artwork is great!

Greatest Hits of the Kali Yuga
Breath of the Heart
Chants Of India: Ravi Shankar; George HarrisonThe Essential Ravi Shankar
The Sounds of India
The Sounds of India
Peter Brook's The MahabharataDVD
Devi
The Bhagavad Gita

Devotional music at its sweetest.......2007-03-15

This 2-CD set is one of the best introductions to contemporary kirtan I've come across (and I own many kirtan CDs). Aside from the wonderful spoken section, where Jai Uttal chats informally about what kirtan is, the selection of songs is truly heartwarming. I love both CDs, but find I listen over and over again particularly to the second one for its variety of moods and styles. Jai's voice really cuts deep and brings out the intensity and authenticity of his own devotion to the path of music and the heart.

In addition, the musicianship of everyone featured on this set is superb and adds so much to the listening experience. It is hard not to sing along and feel the blessings flow, even if you are not a singer...and that is exactly the point.

Kirtan: The Art and Practice of Ecstatic Chant by jai Uttal.......2007-03-09

Wonderful kirtan, by a great artist.

How can I express my joy?.......2007-03-06

I was a big fan of Krishna Das and I still am. A couple of weeks ago, for the first time in my life, I heard Jai Uttal's 'Radha Rani ki Jai, Maha Rani ki Jai' - Track # 4 on Disc 2. Like all good music does to my soul, I was so enchanted that I played the same track again and again till I lost count. I wasted no time in getting both the discs and my favorites are as follows:
Disc 1: Track # 3 'Radha Govinda'
Disc 2: Track # 1 'Durga Pahimam', Track # 3 'Jaya Radha', Track # 4 'Radha Rani'
Originally coming from India and being a big proponent of 'Bhakthi Yoga' (Path of devotion and Divine love for God), I can say from the depths of my heart that Jai Uttal sings with such soulful melody and love, it takes my breath away every single time I listen to the tracks mentioned above. It surprises me so much that while I cannot listen to certain types of music even once leave alone repeating my listening experience, the kind of music that Jai Uttal, Krishna Das and others produce, I can listen for a lifetime and experience that joy again and again.

Average customer rating:

Ella burns up the track as she and these songs become one
There is no one like Ella
great songs and great singing, but not jazz exactly
Ella
Wonderful!

The Best of the Song Books
Ella Fitzgerald
Manufacturer: Verve
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B0000046R2
Release Date: 1993-09-21

Tracks:

Something's Gotta Give
Love Is Here To Stay
Bewitched, Bothered, & Bewildered
I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm
The Lady Is A Tramp
I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good)
Miss Otis Regrets
'S Wonderful
Between The Devil & The Deep Blue Sea
Love For Sale
They Can't Take That Away From Me
Midnight Sun
Hooray For Love
Why Was I Born?
Cotton Tail
Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye

Amazon.com

Trying to cull a single-CD "Best of" from the 16-CD set of The Complete Ella Fitzgerald Song Books may seem like a daunting task, but it's also foolproof. The complete set is a monument to the century's greatest songs and, arguably, its greatest singer, and this selection is a series of gems programmed to simulate a Fitzgerald performance, carefully sequencing joyous uptempo swingers and moving ballads. Recorded between 1956 and 1964, Fitzgerald's finest years, the CD includes arrangements by Nelson Riddle, Billy May, and Buddy Bregman, as well as a superb rendering of "I've Got It Bad" with the Ellington orchestra and Johnny Hodges. Balancing the orchestral settings are some intimate small-group performances, including a witty rendition of Cole Porter's "Miss Otis Regrets" and Rodgers and Hart's "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered." This is an ideal introduction to the "Song Books," a selection so good it will appeal to owners of the box sets. --Stuart Broomer

Customer Reviews:

Ella burns up the track as she and these songs become one.......2007-07-04

Ella Fitzgerald turned out numerous song books at a time when her voice was quite possibly at its peak. This CD attempts to cover the very best of the numbers from all her song books. Although no single CD can truly do that; this CD comes pretty close and every number is a huge hit.

The CD track set starts with "Something's Gotta Give;" and Ella sings this with all her might as she swings brightly. The musical arrangement bolsters Ella's vocals wonderfully for this relentlessly upbeat number. "Something's Gotta Give" provides a strong start for this album. "Our Love Is Here To Stay" features Ella massaging this immortal Gershwin tune. Ella swings gently for this romantic tune and the musicians accompany Ella to perfection. The horns really shine in this Nelson Riddle arrangement, too.

"Bewitched, Bothered And Bewildered" features Ella singing rarely heard additional verses; her voice is rich, warm and vibrant. The slow tempo and piano work well as Ella swings very gently to make "Bewitched, Bothered And Bewildered" a rare gem shining brightly! "The Lady Is A Tramp" gives us a change of pace; Ella sings a beautiful opening verse slow and sweet before this number takes off and Ella takes flight! The vivacious arrangement by Buddy Bregman reflects great judgment that enhances "The Lady Is A Tramp."

"Miss Otis Regrets" showcases Cole Porter's talent; and when Ella sings "Miss Otis Regrets" she infuses it with such understanding that Ella's rendition is THE ultimate interpretation of this melancholy ballad. The piano playing by Paul Smith never misses a note, either. I believe you will appreciate "Miss Otis Regrets." "S'Wonderful" changes the pace once again as Ella sings a relentlessly upbeat song. "S'Wonderful" glows when Ella interprets it with her unique sense of style; and Ella swings very well for this number. In addition, "Love For Sale" has Ella singing extra verses yet again--what a treat that is! "Love For Sale" sports a grand arrangement by Buddy Bregman as Ella sings of a young woman who wants her men to pay her for romantic time alone with her. "Love For Sale" has melancholy lyrics but the beautiful arrangement and interpretation makes this a very special number. The arrangement gradually gets louder for a crescendo effect--love it!

"They Can't Take That Away From Me" receives careful treatment from Ella as she sings this with panache and excellent diction. Nelson Riddle's arrangement does quite the trick, too. "Midnight Sun" uses the percussion well; and Ella massages the lyrics as only she could to sing this romantic ballad so very well. "Cotton Tail" has Ella scatting and jamming her heart out; she puts all her might into this jazzy, breakneck Duke Ellington number. Stuff Smith really does it well on that violin, too!

The CD ends with "Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye" by Cole Porter. Buddy Bregman delivers a heavenly arrangement as Ella sings with great sensitivity, grace and confidence. "Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye" is some strong ending for this album!

The liner notes include a commentary style essay by Geoffrey Mark Fidelman and you get all the song credits with their recording dates as well.

Ella Fitzgerald turned out so many superlative song books that it's not truly possible to create a single CD "best of the song books" album. Too much is omitted; I would have preferred a two CD set for this effort. However, I will give this CD five stars anyway because the high level of quality control impresses me to no end. The quality of the sound is excellent; Phil Schaap did a great job of remastering these songs.

I highly recommend this CD for Ella Fitzgerald fans and for people who want a quick overview of the song book albums Ella recorded in the 1950s and 1960s. People who enjoy classic pop vocals with an occasional jazzy twist would do well to get this album, too.

Thank you forever, Ella Fitzgerald!!!

There is no one like Ella.......2007-01-30

This collection shows, once more, why Ella reigns supreme. As usual, Ella delievrs each song in such an heartfelt, intense, personal way. The accompnaiments on this album are superb as well.

great songs and great singing, but not jazz exactly.......2006-10-11

These Tin Pan Alley songs are the primary source of the jazz standards played by bop instrumentalists; I decided to listen to them in their original settings since I've heard so many improvisations over the chord changes to them. My impression is that the original songs aren't jazz exactly. These cuts do swing at times, but mostly they come off pretty straight, square, and old-fashioned; they belong to that bygone era of American popular culture before rock and roll, to the style of Crosby and Sinatra.

I don't mean to say that these aren't good renditions, only that they aren't what I was expecting. (Connoisseurs of this genre won't find me very helpful, then.) If you like old-time songs from the big band era you will love this album. Fitzgerald was a consummate master of this kind of music, and I really admire her singing here. But if, like me, you hear this disc with hard bop renditions of these tunes in your ears, if you know them because you've heard Clifford Brown and Sonny Rollins playing them, you almost won't even recognize them as presented here. The jazz instrumentalists who improvised over these tunes made them into something very different.

Ella.......2006-03-15

Ella. In this world of 36 Mafia do I have to say more.

Wonderful!.......2005-12-07

Since I discovered Ella & Louis my "musical life" has never been the same. This is the kind of music that makes me wonder how I could have lived so long without. Ella's voice is magic. All of the Best of Verve Songbooks CDs are pure magic. If you like old-fashioned jazz, and you like great voices, you should buy at least 4 or 5 of Ella and/or Louis Armstrong's CDs. Just listen to the audio samples on Amazon.com, and you will find out why, in case you don't know how great they were. These guys were fantastic artists. They should have had 500 more years to live on this planet, and make it a better place with their voices.

Average customer rating:

Great music to de-stress
Transportive and restorative
Absolutely Beautiful
Gentle, contemplative Celtic instrumentals

Celtic Meditation Music

Manufacturer: Sounds True
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Meditation | Alternative Medicine | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

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Celtic Lamentations
Mysts of Time
Mystic Irish Rain
Celtic Lamentations
Celtic Requiem

ASIN: 1591791529
Release Date: 2004-05-11

Tracks:

Blind Mary
Aran Boat Song
Far Beyond Yon Mountain/Bridget Cruise
Were You At The Rock (An Raibh Tu Ag An Gcarraig)
Bruach Na Carraige Bana/At The Edge Of The White Rock
Dark Island
An Bhoutais
Gentle Maiden
Dawning Of The Day
Easter Snow
Limerick's Lamentation (Marbha Na Luimneach)

Album Description

New World. 2004.

Customer Reviews:

Great music to de-stress.......2007-05-09

My husband and I listen to this cd almost every night before going to sleep. The music is calming and reverent. Great way to end a busy day.

Transportive and restorative.......2007-01-25

This is one of the most beautiful, restorative collections of Celtic music I have ever heard. Haunting, sublime harp, cello, guitar, flute, and soundscapes create an atomosphere of serenity for meditation, prayer, or simply unwinding the mind and emotions. The poetry which originated each selection is included and provides a meditation in itself. Highly recommended.

Absolutely Beautiful.......2007-01-05

The music included on the "Celtic Meditation Music" CD is so soothing & hauntingly beautiful to me that I've barely listened to anything else for the last week - it's that good!

The liner notes are great as well. They share information about the various rituals, prayers, and poems that are behind each of the songs - it's really quite interesting!

Overall, I would highly recommend this CD to anyone who enjoys the sounds of celtic music, as well as those who are looking for music to relax to - it's absolutely beautiful!

Gentle, contemplative Celtic instrumentals.......2006-10-01

Based on ancient Celtic prayers, the compositions featured on this album were conceived under the premise "If prayers were music, what would they sound like?" The gentle, familiar tunes, rendered on Minogue's sparkling Irish harp and accompanied by other acoustic and electronic instruments, are drawn from the traditional Celtic repertoire and the liner notes pair each song with the text of a prayer, either pagan/nature-based or Christian. This pairing of unrelated prayers with existing melodies is an interesting approach, especially considering that the tracks here are all instrumental, with none of the prayer words actually being spoken or sung. Minogue's earlier albums feature a lot of vocals, both hers and others', sometimes even done hymn-style in rich choral harmonies. So I'm not sure why the texts of the prayers couldn't have been incorporated somehow into this music. But nonetheless, "Celtic Meditation Music" is, like all of Aine Minogue's work that I'm familiar with, deftly orchestrated, supremely relaxing, and full of quiet beauty. This is good music for massage, resting, deep breathing, or just unwinding at the end of a long day. Then guest instrumentalists are cellist Eugene Friesen, whistle player Joanie Madden, clarinetist Tom Hill, string orchestrator Brad Hatfield, concertina player Brid Meany, guitarist Sheldon Mirowitz and electronic soundscape artist Randy Roos. For more Celtic-inspired instrumentals conducive to meditation, try Minogue's other works, and also the following: "Celtic Inspirations" by guitarist William Patterson, the Narada compilation albums "Celtic Treasure: The Legacy of Turlough O'Carolan" and "Celtic Treasure II: The Living Legacy of Turlough O'Carolan," and anything by Kim Robertson and Lisa Lynne, but particularly their early work.

Average customer rating:

All That Jazz!
When a woman loves a man...

The Very Best of the Song Books
Ella Fitzgerald
Manufacturer: Verve
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Around Midnight
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Pure Ella: The Very Best of Ella Fitzgerald

ASIN: B000JCET9W
Release Date: 2006-12-05

Tracks:

Night And Day
I Get A Kick Out Of You
Begin The Beguine
Love For Sale
My Funny Valentine
The Lady Is A Tramp
Where Or When
Take The 'A' Train
I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good)
It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)
Cheek To Cheek

Tracks:

Blue Skies
'S Wonderful
Embraceable You
I Got Rhythm
The Man I Love
Blues In The Night (My Mama Done Tol' Me)
Over The Rainbow
That Old Black Magic
All The Things You Are
Skylark
Too Marvelous For Words

Customer Reviews:

All That Jazz!.......2007-03-26

This collection is awesome, is has the largest collection of Ella's songs I could find (after looking at Border's, Best Buy, f.y.e., etc.). Only leaving a couple of her big hits out; i.e. "Dream a Little Dream Of Me," which I found on iTunes! None the less, definetly a great gift for her fans or even those only just discovering jazz.

When a woman loves a man..........2007-01-07

The only thing better than singing is more singing. ~ Ella Fizgerald

Dreamy hardly describes this collection and romantic perfection barely unveils the heart beauty. Ella Fizgerald's music soothes the soul and presents a hope of happiness in many of her exquisite music moods.

Her creamy smooth vocals infuse this album with a decadent purity. Sweet, silky and soothing. That is what this album promises and "My Funny Valentine" is a little overwhelming with its message of unconditional love.

Ella's voice can draw out every romantic emotion you have ever felt and spins them into one sweet longing. She invites you into a beautiful world no one else will ever create. Her music feels like you have just received a warm hug and you are happy for the rest of the day.

"You are the promised kiss of springtime
That makes the lonely winter seem long.
You are the breathless hush of evening
That trembles on the brink of a lovely song.
You are the angel glow that lights a star,
The dearest things I know are what you are."
~All the Things You Are

~The Rebecca Review

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

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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.

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.

Albéniz: Iberia; Granados: Goyescas
Average customer rating:

Alicia is Excellent, but Marylene Dosse is the world's master of Granados!

Her most celebrated and reminded album!

The CD I couldn't live without

The Queen of Spanish Music

Best CD I own

Albéniz: Iberia; Granados: Goyescas

Manufacturer: Decca
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Granados, Enrique | ( G ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
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Similar Items:

Granados: Spanish Dances

The Essential Falla

Manuel de Falla: Nights in the Gardens of Spain / Isaac Albeniz: Rapsodia Espanola / Joaquin Turina: Rapsodia Sinfonica - Alicia de Larrocha / London Philharmonic Orchestra / Rafael Fruhbeck de Burgos

Favourite Spanish Encores

Granados: Goyescas No1-6; Valses poéticos H147

ASIN: B0000042DE
Release Date: 1997-06-10

Tracks:

Iberia: I. Evocacion
Iberia: II. El puerto
Iberia: III. El Corpus Christi en Sevilla
Iberia: IV. Rondena
Iberia: V. Almeria
Iberia: VI. Triana
Iberia: VII. El Albaicin
Iberia: VIII. El polo
Iberia: IX. Lavapies
Iberia: X. Malaga

Tracks:

Iberia: XI. Jerez
Iberia: XII. Eritana
Navarra
Goyescas: Part 1 - I. Los requiebros
Goyescas: II. Coloquio en la reja
Goyescas: III. El fandango de candil
Goyescas: IV. Quejas, o La maja y el ruise or
Goyescas: Part 2 - V. El amor y la muerte
Goyescas: VI. Ep logo, o Serenata del espectro

Customer Reviews:

Alicia is Excellent, but Marylene Dosse is the world's master of Granados!.......2006-05-02

Alicia is a wonderful pianist, and I enjoy her renditions of Granados. Her performance of the Goyescas on this CD is world-class. However, I wanted to make you aware of a little-known Franco-American pianist, Marylene Dosse, who has won awards for her complete recordings of Granados's music. It's a little hard to find, a four-CD set. Her playing of the Goyescas is truly magical--well beyond even what Alicia is capable of. Dosse is the grandmaster of Granados and all Spanish classical piano music! What separates her is her absolute clarity and control of tone, and her ability to maintain a driving rhythm regardless of the complexity. Other pianists playing the same passages (including Alicia in certain passages of the Goyescas), will slow down, losing some of the song's vitality. Another distinction: some pianists impress by their virtuosity: Marylene Dosse by her expression. You will be deeply touched, listening to her Goyescas!

Her most celebrated and reminded album!.......2005-08-21

Published in 1906-1909 this is the undeniable composer's masterpiece Iberia exhibits in various degrees all the characteristics of Albeniz's art. The music itself has multiple hues, due its implicit expressive richness, density and kaleidoscopic tunes. Its twelve pieces -distributed in four volumes- are all based on Spanish scenes and landscapes.

Evocación is one the most beloved pieces of the first volume and nobody has been able to reach the Spanish ardor as William Kapell did it. Corpus en Sevilla accuses Liszt's Hungarian rhapsodies influence.

In the second volume are worth to mention both works: Ondeña and Almería are written in free variation form. The third volume is the most perplexing of the set.

Finally the last volume keeps for you the most mature of the set : Jerez, Eritaña and Málaga conform among others a true compilation of the cream of the cream Spanish music ever written.

In Granados ' Goyescas we perceieve La Rocha in very good shape, with a convincing digitation, involvement and sublime rapture requested By Granados.

The CD I couldn't live without.......2005-06-10

The title for my review may sound hyperbolic, but of my entire collection, this is the one. I purchased this CD knowing Alicia de Larrocha's playing from two concerts I had seen, one at the tender age of six and another in my teenage years, at which point I was fascinated with the music of Joaquin Turina. A bit of research on the Albeniz work she performed at that later concert, "La Vega," led me to the name of Iberia. The pairing of Iberia and Goyescas certainly represents one of the most ambitious 2-cd collections of piano music I know, and Ms. de Larrocha not only manages the enormous technical challenges of Albeniz's greatest work, parts of which he himself nearly destroyed as unplayable (Lavapiés, CD1, track 9, according to a biography.) Her interpretation sparkles from the first muted bars of "Evocación" to the last triumphant chords of "Eritaña", as she shows us the rich colors of this music without ever seeming to get bogged down in a mire of notes. I am not sure which deserves greater admiration - Albeniz's compositional genius or de Larrocha's interpretative flair, so I will say that they are inextricable parts of a glorious whole. Admittedly, on first listen, I thought "What's the big deal with Iberia?" Four or five years later, it is still an album I pull out to listen to - in its entirety. Save 85 minutes sometime to listen to all of Alicia's Iberia, but be warned that this can be a pleasantly addictive habit. For the curious, Albeniz's suite was organized into four books of three pieces each - the first two books were written for Blanche Selva and the last two for the more technically gifted Catalan pianist Joaquin Malats. The recording engineers should have left more time to marvel at the achievement of "Eritaña," Debussy's favorite in the collection - Albeniz felt compelled to draw lines between the staves in the score merely to allow the pianist to follow his melodic line through this piece, but as a listener, just sit back and marvel at what one of the greatest living pianists brings to this work.

Regarding "Goyescas," I can't say I know as much, but its lush, rich texture and its careful building upon themes sprinkled throughout the work (unlike separate movements of Iberia) make for a beautiful complement to Iberia. Granados, born seven years after Albeniz and one of his closest friends, wrote one of the most important piano pieces of the twentieth century in "Quejas, o la maja y el ruiseñor" (Laments, or Beauty and the Nightingale), the high point of the Goyescas collection for me. The third piece in Goyescas is a delight as well, and the power and beauty that de Larrocha brings to this entire work is tremendous.

To summarize: Run, don't walk, to buy this CD, one of the greatest in the annals of recorded classical piano.

The Queen of Spanish Music.......2005-02-04

The music of Albeniz and Granados is so good that one wonders why many pianists seem to regard it as mere salon music. I suppose that it has too much color, rhythmn and sheer gorgeousness to be considered truly serious. These composers had the good fortune to be the inheritors of a popular musical tradition that goes back a thousand years and encompasses Byzantines, Moors and Gypsies, among others. Alicia De Laroccha's only rival in this repertoire was Esteban Sanchez. Her playing is nearly perfect. Long may she flourish.

Best CD I own.......2001-07-10

It's kind of weird, my being an 18 year old, to say a classical piano cd is my favorite. But, I'm a classical pianist, and a huge fan of Albeniz (and spanish music in general) and this is the best performance of these two incredible works you will find. Alicia de Larrocha makes this seem easy, never repetitive, and her technique is amazing without losing any of the expressiveness needed to play this music. Wow.

Average customer rating:

Monumental
IN A CLASS ALL BY HERSELF!!
A Bargain at Any Price
Words are utterly useless
Simply Perfect

The Complete Ella Fitzgerald Song Books
Ella Fitzgerald
Manufacturer: Polygram Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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The Complete Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong
The Complete Billie Holiday On Verve, 1945-1959
Lady Day: The Complete Billie Holiday on Columbia (1933-1944)
The Intimate Ella
The Complete Verve Studio Master Takes

ASIN: B0000046RN
Release Date: 1993-11-02

Tracks:

All Through The Night
Anything Goes
Miss Otis Regrets (She's Unable To Lunch Today)
Too Darn Hot
In The Still Of The Night
I Get A Kick Out Of You
Do I Love You?
(I'm) Always True To You In My Fashion
Let's Do It (Let's Fall In Love)
Just One Of Those Things
Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye
All Of You
Begin The Beguine
Get Out Of Town
I Am In Love
From This Moment On

Tracks:

I Love Paris
You Do Something To Me
Ridin' High
Easy To Love
It's All Right With Me
Why Can't You Behave?
What Is This Thing Called Love?
You're The Top
Love For Sale
It's De-lovely
Night And Day
Ace In The Hole
So In Love
I've Got You Under My Skin
I Concentrate On You
Don't Fence Me In
You're The Top
I Concentrate On You
Let's Do It (Let's Fall In Love)

Tracks:

Have You Met Miss Jones?
You Took Advantage Of Me
A Ship WIthout A Sail
To Keep My Love Alive
Dancing On The Ceiling (He Dances On My Ceiling)
The Lady Is A Tramp
With A Song In My Heart
Manhattan
Johnny One Note
I Wish I Were In Love Again
Spring Is Here
It Never Entered My Mind
This Can't Be Love
Thou Swell
My Romance
Where Or When
Little Girl Blue

Tracks:

Give It Back To The Indians
Ten Cents A Dance
There's A Small Hotel
I Didn't Know What Time It Was
Ev'rything I've Got
I Could Write A Book
Blue Room
My Funny Valentine
Bewitched
Mountain Greenery
Wait Till You See Her
Lover
Isn't It Romantic?
Here In My Arms
Blue Moon
My Heart Stood Still
I've Got Five Dollars
Lover

Tracks:

Rockin' In Rhythm
Drop Me Off In Harlem
Day Dream
Caravan
Take The 'A' Train
I Ain't Got Nothing But The Blues
Clementine
I Didn't Know About You
I'm Beginning To See The Light
Lost In Meditation
Perdido
Cotton Tail
Do Nothin' Till You Hear From Me

Tracks:

Just A-Sittin' And A-Rockin'
Solitude
Rocks In My Bed
Satin Doll
Sophisticated Lady
Just Squeeze Me
It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)
Azure
I Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart
In A Sentimental Mood
Don't Get Around Much Any More
Prelude To A Kiss
Mood Indigo
In A Mellow Tone
Love You Madly
Lush Life
Squatty Roo

Tracks:

I'm Just A Lucky So And So
All Too Soon
Everything But You
I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good)
Bli-Blip
Chelsea Bridge
Portrait Of Ella Fitzgerald: First Movement (Royal Ancestry)/Second Movement (All Heart)...
The E And D Blues (E For Ella, D For Duke)
Rehearsal
Chelsea Bridge (Alternate Take)

Tracks:

Let's Face The Music And Dance
You're Laughing At Me
Let Yourself Go
You Can Have Him
Russian Lullaby
Puttin' On The Ritz
Get Thee Behind Me Satan
Alexander's Ragtime Band
Top Hat, White Tie, And Tails
How About Me?
Cheek To Cheek
I Used To Be Color Blind
Lazy
How Deep Is The Ocean?
All By Myself
Remember

Tracks:

Suppertime
How's Chances?
Heat Wave
Isn't This A Lovely Day (To Be Caught In The Rain)
You Keep Coming Back Like A Song
Reaching For The Moon
Slumming On Park Avenue
The Song Is Ended (But The Melody Lingers On)
I'm Putting All My Eggs In One Basket
Now It Can Be Told
Always
It's A Lovely Day Today
Change Partners
No Strings (I'm Fancy Free)
I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm
Blue Skies

Tracks:

Ambulatory Suite
The Preludes: Prelude I/Prelude II/Prelude III
Sam And Delilah
But Not For Me
My One And Only
Let's Call The Whole Thing Off
(I've Got) Beginner's Luck
Oh, Lady Be Good
Nice Work If You Can Get It
Things Are Looking Up
Just Another Rhumba
How Long Has This Thing Been Going On?
'S Wonderful
The Man I Love
That Certain Feeling
By Strauss
Someone To Watch Over Me
The Real American Folk Song
Who Cares?

Tracks:

Looking For A Boy
They All Laughed
My Cousin In Milwaukee
Somebody From Somewhere
A Foggy Day
Clap Yo' Hands
For You, For Me, For Evermore
Stiff Upper Lip
Boy Wanted
Strike Up The Band
Soon
I've Got A Crush On You
Bidin' My Time
Aren't You Kind Of Glad We Did?
Of Thee I Sing (Baby)
'The Half Of It, Dearie' Blues
I Was Doing All Right
He Loves And She Loves

Tracks:

Love Is Sweeping The Country
Treat Me Rough
Our Love Is Here To Stay
Slap That Bass
Isn't It A Pity?
Shall We Dance?
Love Walked In
You've Got What Gets Me
They Can't Take That Away From Me
Embraceable You
I Can't Be Bothered Now
Boy! What Love Has Done To Me!
Fascinating Rhythm
Funny Face
Lorelei
Oh, So Nice
Let's Kiss And Make Up
I Got Rhythm
Somebody Loves Me
Cheerful Little Earlful
Oh, Lady Be Good
But Not For Me

Tracks:

Blues In The Night (My Mama Done Tol' Me)
Let's Fall In Love
Stormy Weather (Keeps Rainin' All The Time)
Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea
My Shining Hour
Hooray For Love
This Time The Dream's On Me
That Old Black Magic
I've Got The World On A String
Let's Take A Walk Around The Block
III Wind (You're Blowin Me No Good)
Ac-cent-tchu-ate The Positive

Tracks:

When The Sun Comes Out
Come Rain Or Come Shine
As Long As I Live
Happiness Is A Thing Called Joe
It's Only A Paper Moon
The Man That Got Away
One For My Baby (And One More For The Road)
It Was Written In The Stars
Get Happy
I Gotta Right To Sing The Blues
Out Of This World
Over The Rainbow
Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead
Sing My Heart
Let's Take A Walk Around The Block
Sing My Heart

Tracks:

Let's Begin
A Fine Romance
All The Things You Are
I'll Be Hard To Handle
You Couldn't Be Cuter
She Didn't Say 'Yes'
I'm Old Fashioned
Remind Me
The Way You Look Tonight
Yesterdays
Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man
Why Was I Born?

Tracks:

Too Marvelous For Words
Early Autumn
Day In-Day Out
Laura
This Time The Dream's On Me
Skylark
Single-O
Something's Gotta Give
Trav'lin' Light
Midnight Sun
Dream (When You're Feeling Blue)
I Remember You
When A Woman Loves A Man

Amazon.com

This 16-CD set collects all of Ella Fitzgerald's Songbooks, a monumental tribute to the American popular song and its greatest composers, recorded for Verve between 1956 and 1964. There is likely no other singer possessed of the mix of talents that Fitzgerald brought to the project, a combination of sheer vocal technique, creativity in phrasing and rhythm, and fidelity to lyrics and intent. The sheer scale of the project contributes to its value, for Fitzgerald went far beyond the standard repertoire, rediscovering little-known gems by many of her subjects: Cole Porter, George Gershwin, Jerome Kern, Harold Arlen, Rodgers and Hart, Johnny Mercer, Irving Berlin, and Duke Ellington. The discs of Ellington material still stand out, illuminated by the presence of Duke and his band. They put Ellington, a master melodist as well as a great composer, in his rightful place in the pantheon of American songwriters. --Stuart Broomer

Customer Reviews:

Monumental.......2006-11-05

It isn't often noted but Ella Fitzgerald's interpretations are uniquely intelligent, beyond her often cited peers Sinatra, Bennett, Vaughan. She never overdoes anything, except for the occasional live skat overkill, when she seems to be putting herself on as well. None of that on these recordings. She mines the humor in these songs as no one else ever did, maybe the payoff for not being a glamour girl like some of her competition. Her only compatriot in this is Martha Raye, who let her singing career lapse in favor of her film work. Teddi King too, who Ella fans will love if they check her out.

One thing, these sets are since been reissued with bonus material not on this box set and you can probably put together this complete collection for similar money or less with the reissues, particularly if you buy them used. The Ellington, Porter, Rodgers and Hart are peerless. The others damn near are as well. Ellington tended to use mediocre female vocalists, and that set could be argued to be his finest vocal recordings. Or even finest period.

IN A CLASS ALL BY HERSELF!!.......2006-07-25

Ella Fitzgerald was, and always will be, the greatest female singer of The Great American Songbook to ever "hit" the scene.
I treasure this boxed set as much as I do my Frank Sinatra boxed
sets. I purchased this marvelous collection almost five years
ago and it just keeps getting better every time I listen!! Back in 1934, Ella sang "Judy" on an amateur night at Harlem's Apollo
Theater -- on a dare, no less!! Like they say, the rest is history. Don't pass the chance to buy this beautiful set, folks!!
It really is incredible music.

A Bargain at Any Price.......2006-06-01

If a better example of pre-rock-and-roll 20th Century popular music exists, I'd like to know about it. But, don't knock yourself out trying to find it, because you'll never convince me that anything comes anywhere near the scope of this collection. Simply put, Norman Granz, the producer/conceiver of these sessions and the owner of Verve Records, realized a concept that is so grandiose, so all-encompassing, so full of overwhelming talent, that it is without peer, both conceptually and in actuality. As hard is it may be for a contemporary (millennial) soul to comprehend, `pop' music once incorporated the musings of Duke Ellington, the Gershwins, Cole Porter and each of the other brilliant, incomparable talents featured in this collection. Anybody who is even marginally interested in the history of music, both `popular' and `artistic', simply cannot claim competence without immersing themselves in this most remarkable of all thematic collections.
Thematic collections? This is an understatement of almost profound proportions, for which Norman Granz deserves his due. After all, it was his love of good music that led him to the point where he could credibly conceive of something so grand. At the time of its creation, Ella Fitzgerald was one of the most respected and well-received vocalists of all time. Her talents were beyond reproach, with a straightforward, pitch-perfect style that made her one of the most un-interpretable vocalists of all time; how do you imitate perfection? The only fault that was even remotely justifiable regarding Ella's vocalese was her lack of overt stylization (except when scatting, of course). At her best, Ella sang a song as if the song was the point, somehow transcending her interpreting abilities. In this collection, Granz conceived of a series of records whereby Ella would sing (the emphasis here is on her singing, not her stylistic interpretations) songs by the most well received songwriters of the classic jazz/pop era. It is not a concept that should be underrated. Song stylists like Louis Armstrong or Billie Holliday (the two most phenomenal song interpreters of their era, perhaps of all time) would have used these songs to their own ends; a brilliant concept, of course, but one that rotates around the interpreter, not the song itself. Ella, first and foremost, allows the songs to speak. Even better, the songwriters' voices transcend any coloration that is imbued on the material. This is, by definition, a collection of recordings that is meant to sound as good in the 31st century as it does today.
I don't want to seem as though I am incapable of criticizing this collection for my awe of it, although that very nearly is the truth. For example, some songwriters are more deserving of the royal treatment than others are. The collections featuring the music of Cole Porter and Duke Ellington are so good, so incredibly potent, that they eclipse expectations and serve as textbook examples of brilliance in interpretation. The Ellington collection is made exhaustively profound because of the presence of the Duke himself as arranger (and composer of new work) on his featured collection. All fans of Ellington (and how could you possibly not be a fan of Ellington, his arranger Billy Strayhorn, and his band?) simply must familiarize themselves with this set of recordings; it is essential. The three CD's that are dedicated to the collective genius of George and Ira Gershwin, with orchestrations arranged by the legendary Nelson Riddle, is the best and most compelling collection of their astounding genius, bar none. Others are merely brilliant, such as the Rodgers/Hart collection, which suffers only from a modern-day inability to grasp the spontaneity enveloping their work, allowing only a percentage of their collective genius ("Where or When", "My Funny Valentine," "It Never Entered My Mind") to filter through. Is every recording definitive? Decidedly not. Sinatra's version of "Lady Is a Tramp" slays Ella's. In my book, Dion and the Belmonts has the interpretable edge on "Where Or When". Any fan of rock and roll will never be able to hear "Blue Moon" without referring to Elvis Presley's astounding version for Sun Records, but that is not the point. You can search out these songs in an infinite number of places and find versions to suit your taste. What matters is that they are gathered here in one place, performed in a style that ranges from admirable to unbelievable. Admit it, the only thing holding you back from buying this is the price tag (usually hovering above $200, for a collection of 16 CD's, not cheap by any means). But do you love good music? Why on earth would you even be reading this review otherwise? Do yourself (and the future of good taste) a favor; spend the money, and settle in for a lifetime of entertainment, education and enlightenment. It'll be the bargain of a lifetime. A+ Tom Ryan

Words are utterly useless.......2006-04-28

First off, Ella was the greatest female voice in Jazz, American Pop (when it was worth anything)ever. This collection is certainly the most important anthology of American standards. Any aspiring jazz musician must have this. Her voice purrs in its coy girlishness and also reaches a depth uncommon in the female voice. Any time I listen to her I love to sing along because, being a baritone, I can stay in her register. What a dream that would be! Anyway, Norman Granz was the jazz impresario who pulled this together, JATP, Verve, Pablo, Norgran, discovering Oscar Peterson. Much is owed to him for his vision for jazz, and the American standard in particular. The price, quite frankly, is a steal. Writer Gerald Early said that thousands of years from now America will be remembered for jazz, baseball, and our Constitution. This collection will be to jazz what Shakespeare is to the study of literature.

Simply Perfect.......2005-11-29

Given the price, one who is not familiar with the music contained herein could be forgiven for not realizing just what a bargain this set really is. Quite simply, this is probably the single best concentration of quality music one will find anywhere. I mean, just look at the various composers represented here. Duke Ellington, Cole Porter, Rodgers and Hart, George and Ira Gershwin, Harold Arlen. That list alone is a whose who of American Popular songwriting. When one then factors in the superior orchestral arrangemetns by the likes of Nelson Riddle and even the Duke himself, you begin to get a feeling for just how magnificent this set is. Oh yeah, as if all of this wasn't enough, you have Ms. Fitzgerald interpreting all of these tunes as only she can. In other words, you have America's greatest female vocalist accompanied by some of America's premier bandleaders, interpreting the work of America's premier popular composers. And you can get all of this for less than $200 dollars from some of the listed vendors? That is just about the greatest deal I've ever heard. Don't procrastinate. Buy this today. If you don't believe me, just listen to some of the samples above. I guarantee you won't regret the purchase for a second.

Average customer rating:

BUY THIS EP!
short but sweet
so i finally like belle and sebastian
B&S do it again
It's In My iPod

Books
Belle & Sebastian
Manufacturer: Rough Trade Us
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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I'm a Cuckoo
Dear Catastrophe Waitress
White Collar Boy
The Blues Are Still Blue
Lazy Line Painter Jane

ASIN: B0007N19F0
Release Date: 2005-01-25

Tracks:

Your Cover's Blown
Wrapped Up in Books
Your Secrets
Cover [Version]
Wrapped Up in Books [Multimedia Track]

Album Description

All 3 Import versions of Books packed into 1 handy & very reasonably priced CD. Featuring "Wrapped up in Books" (from Dear Catastrophe Waitress) + 3 new tracks. Also includes lots of enhanced special features.

Customer Reviews:

BUY THIS EP!.......2006-02-17

I heard "Your cover's blown" on college radio and just had to find out who it was. I was floored by that song. Many, many listens later, I still feel like dancing every time I hear it.

short but sweet.......2005-10-13

This record has great songs, only too few! the video is very enjoyable. i recommend it highly.

so i finally like belle and sebastian.......2005-09-04

i've never been a huge fan of belle and sebastian. i was reading pitchforkmedia's reviews of their eps (and i normally don't agree with pitchforkmedia), and on the offchance, i picked up the 'books' ep. wow. i remember buying 'if you're feeling sinister' and not liking it very much. i may have been too young to appreciate it. i'm not sure since i've not heard it lately. but anyway, 'books.' it's an outstanding ep. this is more like 4-and-a-half stars though. the song 'your cover's blown' gets 5 stars alone, but the ep loses half a point because the other songs (as great as they are) don't come anywhere close to 'your cover's blown.' you will not be disappointed....unless you are. i can't really help that.

B&S do it again.......2005-08-18

If there's one thing you can count on in today's pop-soaked music landscape, it's the fact that Belle and Sebastian can be counted on to reinvigorate the singles format with their brilliant and ecstatic EPs. B&S are children of the Sixties, when groups put effort into releasing quality music not only album-wise but as pop singles as well. And this latest doesn't disappoint.

The opening tune, "Your Cover's Blown", will blow the mind of any B&S fans who've been sleeping under a rock since 2002. Awash in electronic backing and some of Stuart Murdoch's most emotional singing, the song rises and falls through various movements, squeezing a lot into the six minutes of the track listing. Quite simply, this is a continuation of the more experimental "Dear Catastrophe Waitress" LP from two years ago (which has slowly become probably my favorite B&S album, or at least the most played one in my collection).

The third best song on that album, "Wrapped Up In Books" follows, and is also included via the music video (a real treat for anyone unable to get their hands on the "Fans Only" DVD). The tune sounds as fresh as it ever did here, and the video provides a nice snapshot of the band performing in (where else?) a bookstore with some very attractive staff.

The prettiest song on the EP, "Your Secret", is another of the many fine songs about love that the band excels at. It would make for a perfect coda, except that it's followed by "Cover (Version)", an extended instrumental version of "Your Cover's Blown" that is a nice thought. Like "Judy is A Dick Slap" from the Legal Man EP, it makes for a nice diversion and kicks butt as well.

You can always count on Belle and Sebastian to provide something interesting for their fans when it comes to the shorter formats of recorded music, and "Books" does not disappoint. The added bonus of videos for the first two songs (a comic strip montage reminiscent of "Mission Hill" accompanies "Cover's Blown") makes this an extra-special EP. It doesn't hurt that the songs are great, either.

It's In My iPod.......2005-04-22

Before a friend of mine left for Paris, he told me to get my hands on this EP. I had to order it off of Amazon, but it was certainly worth the wait. I have to admit that I was a little preoccupied last week and didn't listen to this album immediately--but when I finally did, I was totally enamored by "You're Cover's Blown."

Before I ordered the CD from Amazon, I tried to find a free download (which I nearly never do) from the internet. I obviously didn't find it for free, but what I did find was page upon page of B&S fans bowing down to the glory of this song, most deemi