2-Large [Explicit Lyrics]

Track Listings

1. Whip It

2. Posse Jam

3. Do Me Right

4. King of Romance

5. Tell Me

6. Nasty Thing

7. Don't Waste Your Time

8. House of Rhythm

9. Thigh Ride

10. Irresistible Bitch

11. Ace Señorita

2-Large,Def Dames,Zoo,Bass Music,Dance Music,Hip-Hop,Party Rap,R&B,Rap,Rap & Hip-Hop,Soul/Reggae/Rhythm & Blues,Southern Rap

2001: A Space Odyssey - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1996 Reissue)

Average customer rating:

great music, great reissue
fantastic
whoa.
Great Music for Halloween, very creepy
Bleakest of Futures...

2001: A Space Odyssey - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1996 Reissue)

Manufacturer: Rhino / Wea
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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2001 - A Space Odyssey
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Psycho: The Complete Original Motion Picture Score

ASIN: B0000033WB
Release Date: 1996-10-29

Tracks:

Overture: Atmospheres - The Sudwesfunk Orchestra, Ernest Bour
Main Title: Also Sprach Zarathustra (Thus Spake Zarathustra) - The Vienna Philharmonic, Herbert Von Karajan
Requiem For Soprano, Mezzo Soprano, Two Mixed Choirs & Orchestra - The Bavarian Radio Orchetra, Francis Travis
The Blue Danube (Excerpt) - The Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Herbert Von Karajan
Lux Aeterna - The Stuttgart Schola Cantorum, Clytus Gottwold
Gayane Ballet Suite (Adagio) - The Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra, Gennadi Rezhdestvensky
Jupiter And Beyond - The Bavarian Radio Orchestra, Francis Travis, The Sudwesfunk Orchestra, Ernest Bour, Internationale.
Also Sprach Zarathustra (Theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey) - Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
The Blue Danube (Reprise) - The Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Herbert Von Karajan
Also Sprach Zarathustra (Theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey) - Sudwesfunk Orchestra
Lux Aeterna - The Stuttgart Schola Cantorum, Clytus Gottwold
Adventures (Unaltered) - Internationale Musikinstitut, Gyorgy Ligeti
HAL 9000 - Dialog Montage

Amazon.com

This commemorative reissue of music from 2001: A Space Odyssey combines the Also sprach Zarathustra theme, various Johann and Richard Strauss segments, and a ballet suite by Aram Khachaturian--all of which prove how much Stanley Kubrick's film attempts to avoid the soundtrack clichés of most science-fiction movies. Instead of the expected sci-fi effects, there is a more ironic application of music that would be otherwise incongruous to the celestial settings. Here, "The Blue Danube" complements scenes involving weightlessness and descending spacecraft, while Gyorgy Ligeti's creepy "monolith" music connotes Armageddon more than interplanetary exploration. The tracks play as they had appeared on the original soundtrack release back in the '60s, but there is also previously unreleased supplemental material and a dialogue montage entitled "HAL 9000." --Joseph Lanza

Customer Reviews:

great music, great reissue.......2007-04-16

This is a great collection of music and I love the great mastering job that was done with this. The inclusion of the tracks from the original MGM soundtrack release are a great bonus. The liner notes include interpretations of the film and the music that are insightful.

I noticed that the music in the movie is mixed in surround sound, it would be great if they could release this on DVD-Audio or SACD surround. I'd buy it again!

fantastic.......2007-03-11

I have the old lp release of this music, what an incredible array of classical music, topped off by my personal favorite piece of music in the world, the blue danube waltz. Let yourself be carried away in deep space by this incredible score.

whoa........2006-09-04

"Atmospheres" was enough to make me buy this album. just try to imagine what eternity might sound like. okay, now you know exactly what Atmospheres is. wow. who else could having captured the feelings that are in this score? this is above talented. this is above genius. this is above avand garde. this is too good to be labeled as anything at all.

Great Music for Halloween, very creepy.......2006-03-17

I bought this CD to use for a haunted house program, the music will creep you out.

Bleakest of Futures..........2005-10-08

The atonal, unsettling atmosphere of much of the music of Ligeti is fitting to the bleak vision of a human future reigned by nothing but cold technology and of humans drained of emotions except for the deepest animalist fear originating from our inner reptilian brainparts which have not changed for over millions of years. The incongruity of Johann Strauss' lovely 'An der schönen blauen Donau' with the cold technicality of spacefaring as depicted here could not be more complete, but what a perfect find on Stanley Kubrick's part! It makes the uneasiness and confusion even greater. And then, to top it of, the complete and flabbergasting irony of using Richard Strauss' Fanfare for the 'rise of Man' in his 'Also Sprach Zarathustra': what a great destiny for 'Man' indeed, this bleakest of bleak visions of the future!
As a soundtrack for '2001: A Space Odyssey' this music together on one album is just great.
And besides, this soundtrack has indeed, like so many others I guess, made me aware of the genius of Ligeti, which otherwise might have gone unnoticed for me.

Average customer rating:

Viking Joy!

Grainger: Works for Chorus & Orchestra

Manufacturer: Chandos
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B00000IYMU
Release Date: 1999-05-18

Tracks:

Fadir og Dottir (Father And Daughter)
Kleine Variationen-Form
A Song Of Varmeland
To A Nordie Princess
The Merry Wedding
Stalt Vesselil (Proud Vesselil)
The Rival Brothers
Dalvisa
The Crew Of The Long Serpent
Under En Bro (Under A Bridge)
Danish Folk-Song Suite: I. The Power Of Love
Danish Folk-Song Suite: II. Lord Peter's Stable-Boy
Danish Folk-Song Suite: III. The Nightingale And The Two Sisters
Danish Folk-Song Suite: IV. Jutish Medley

Customer Reviews:

Viking Joy!.......2007-03-14

This 11th disc of the Grainger Edition is a marvel! It is some of his least known works and it shows Grainger's quality throughout his work. From his childhood, Grainger loved Nordic Sagas and later in life he spend much time in Scandinavia folk-song collecting and became good friends with Edvard Grieg.

Here there are melancholic songs, Romantic songs, and songs of freedom and joy. To a Nordic Princess is a masterpiece and in my mind, has the emotional power of Beethoven's 9th at its climax. The Merry Wedding is also a marital overflow of love and joy. The Danish Folk Song suite has every emotion in it you can imagine and is another masterpiece. I wish more orchestras would perform this as it stands up to (and mostly exceeds) any "popular" classical piece in artistic integrity, imagination, and listener enjoyment. Please buy this disc! you will be enthralled.

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A tempting treasury, but only a few performances are great
Berlioz with immaginative variety

The Berlioz Experience

Manufacturer: Umvd Labels
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B00008RWRJ
Release Date: 2003-10-14

Customer Reviews:

A tempting treasury, but only a few performances are great.......2007-02-03

Ten discs of Berlioz is a sumptuous offering, and temptingly cheap at Amazon Marketplace. DG has used this occasion to repackage some outstanding performances. At the top of the list goes James Levine's electrifying Requiem from Berlin, with playing and singing to match the conductor's inspiration. Also exciting--perhaps surprisingly so--is Abbado's Te Deum, which has rawer edges and sharper focus than Colin Davis's on Philips, long the standard version.

Dropping down a notch in quality, we have an elegantly played Romeo et Juliette by the Boston Symphony, superbly recorded, that has few rivals for refined virtuosity. But after a while Seiji Ozawa's approach seems to lack depth and meaning; he's skating over the surface of the musical drama, however brilliantly. Sharp and brilliant also describes Myung-Whun Chung's contribution, a Symponie fantastique, two overtures, and the Royal Hunt and Storm from Les Troyens, all with his well-trained Bastille Opera orchestra. Chung is to the manner born in Berlioz, but so are greater conductors in these works, including Munch and Markevitch.

At about the same quality level I'd place the Mort de Cleopatre, a dullish early vocal scene sung with plushness by Jessye Norman, and Kiri Te Kanawa's Les Nuits d'Ete, which is ravishing in terms of sheer vocalism but otherwise vacant. Daniel Barenboim's slack conducting does the piece no favors, either, which holds true on a much larger scale for his Damnation of Faust. This is a typical Barenboim product, full of lush sounds, excellent singing, big-scale orchestral work, but leading to a meager artistic payoff. Barenboim's Faust isn't remotely competitive with Markevitch, Chung, Solti, Pretre, and others in this work. It's great to hear Domingo in the title role, but the conducting is so routine that I'm not sure the overall experience is worth it.

We get odds and ends of varying quality: the rarely recorded Tristia done superbly by Boulez, an uneven batch of songs that previously appeared in their own double-CD set (a chore to listen to in its entirety, despite the occasional gem), and a pedestrain Harold in Italy conducted by Lorin Maazel in Berlin, a performance that DG surely could have bettered by looking deeper into their vaults.

In all, I can't see investing in such an uneven collection except at super-budget price. If you do a little searching, all the best things here can be gotten separately, and the lesser recordings pale by comparison with classic Berlioz from Colin Davis, Charles Munch, and Igor Markevitch.

Berlioz with immaginative variety.......2003-10-30

This box makes a nice alternative to the Philips boxes under Colin Davis. Not to take anything away from Davis. His Berlioz cycle certainly ranks up there with the elite for recording achievements. But many will not want to invest in all 3 boxes, so Universal has brought us a great compilation of some of Berlioz' best works from a variety of performers with different styles.
The jewel has to be Ozawa's unsurpassed Romeo and Juliet. This 1976 studio recording had its birth at the Tanglewood Festival and features excellent soloists (Julia Hamari, Jose Van Dam, and Jean Dupouy), a very competent choir, and of course the reliable Boston SO. The recording is of outstanding quality. It seems cleaned up a little from what I remember of the CDs from the mid 80s; much more spacious, less muddy sounding. I especially like the chorus in the hushed night scene.
Barenboim's Damnaton is perdictably Furtwangler-like in tempo, and again features top notch singers in Fischer Dieskau, Jules Bastin, & Placido Domingo; Yvonne Minto is probably not in the same class with the others, but she's more than acceptable.
Levine directs a well recorded and balanced classical-sounding Requiem, and Abbado is more than competent in the Te Deum.
Chung's Fantastique is fun and enjoyable, if not first-class.
The rest of the works are very commendable, if not top-of-the-class.
In short, you can't go wrong for the price, and if you love Berlioz' Romeo, you've got to get this box just for the Ozawa gem.

Average customer rating:

Don't fall for hype: entertaining the first time, clearly deserving 1-star afterward
New Music Can be Fun
Ades lives up to the hype ...

Thomas Adès: America: A Prophecy
Thomas Ades , and City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus
Manufacturer: EMI Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Ades: Asyla, These Premises Are Alarmed, etc. / Rattle, et al
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Adès: Piano Quintet; Schubert: "Trout Quintet"
Osvaldo Golijov: Ainadamar

ASIN: B0000C17Q8
Release Date: 2004-02-24

Tracks:

Part I - City Of Birmingham Symphony Chorus
Part II - City Of Birmingham Symphony Chorus
The Fayrfax - Hugh Webb
Movement I - Christopher Bowers-Broadbent
Movement II - Christopher Bowers-Broadbent
January Writ - Christopher Bowers-Broadbent
Oh Thou, Who Didst With Pitfall And With Gin, Op.3a - Hugh Webb
Iam Nocet Frigus Teneris - Robin Blaze
Nec Limpha Caret Alveus - Robin Blaze
Modo Frigescit Quidquid Est - Robin Blaze
Nutritur Ignis Osculo - Robin Blaze
Life Story, Op.8 - Claron McFadden
Cardiac Arrest - Thomas Ades
Les Baricades Misterieuses - Thomas Ades
Brahms, Op.21 - Christopher Maltman

Customer Reviews:

Don't fall for hype: entertaining the first time, clearly deserving 1-star afterward.......2006-10-29

In the 1990s, Thomas Ades benefitted from one of the largest hype machines the classical music world had ever seen. This young composer, born in 1971, was the great hope of British music, the next great master after Britten (somehow Benjamin, Harvey, and Birtwistle were pushed aside), and just the man to bring classical music to the masses. That's a tall order, and one's disappointment in Ades' music deepens all the more because of the glory one was lead to expect. Some of his earlier work, such as "Asyla" and "These Premises are Alarmed", showed him a decent orchestrator, but the man's work has many weaknesses. These continue in this 2004 EMI disc, collecting ten of his pieces.

"America: A Prophecy" (1999) is the largest work here in terms of length and proportions. It was written for mezzo-soprano, chorus, and orchestra for the New York Philharmonic's "Messages for the Millennium" project. Ades sought to contrast the comfort of New York at the time with the bloody way in which the Americas were conquered, so he paired Mayan prophecies from the Chilam Balam with conquistador songs of bravado. Lines like "They will come from the East" and "They will burn your cities" made the piece especially poignant after September 11, 2001. Though the work is entertaining on the first listen or two, especially due to the odd vibrato-less mezzo-soprano, it gets old real soon. There's no subtlety here, Ades either bangs it out with massive orchestral and choral bombast with no economy, like Sandstrom's awful "High Mass", or keeps it real quiet. At both extremes, we get generally the same sonorities of "Asyla", which were cute before but now just seem sappy. I first heard "America: A Prophecy" over a year ago, it's taken me this long to tame my annoyance enough to review it, it's that bad.

Several chamber works primarily for voice follow, setting ancient or medieval texts. These are all quite lightweight, some of them even lack opus numbers, making one wonder how much work the composer put into them. "January Writ", for chorus and organ, seems fairly easy and might prove a hit with regional choruses. The others, however, are dull. "Life Story", here in an arrangement for soprano and a chamber ensemble of string bass and two bass clarinets, is just as unimpressive as the first time it appeared on disc for soprano and piano: if all you do is have your soprano sing like Billy Holliday, it's not all that exciting.

One reason "Asyla" got so much attention was because of its third movement, titled "Ecstasio". In 4/4 time, it evoked the bass/hi-hat alteration of house music and imitated the trippy synths of trace with woodwinds. Trying to follow in that success, this disc contains Ades' chamber setting of a 1982 ska rock hit by Madness, "Cardiac Arrest". Unlike Olga Neuwirth's "Hommage a Klaus Nomi" which supplements the arrangement with a strong dramatic spectacle, Ades' arrangement of "Cardiac Arrest" just sounds gimmicky. So an ensemble can imitate a rock song, so what? This is followed by Ades' arrangement of a Couperin harpsichord piece, where yet again any insight is lacking.

If you're interested in contemporary music from Britain, look for anything by George Benjamin or Julian Anderson, two composers whose music has some substance behind the surface glitter. Considering how far Ades' career had moved along by the last works here, it's appalling that he still hasn't shown anything underivative and rigourous.

New Music Can be Fun.......2006-10-06

The two-year-old review by Mr. Hamilton describes the contents of this disk very amply and cogently. No two pieces resemble each other in any but technical matters of harmony. Ades is at times as spiritual as Arvo Part, at times as whimsical as Ives or Couperin, whose "Mysterious Barricades" he recomposes. These little pieces are, for me, more enjoyable than the larger compositions of Ades that I've heard. Perhaps there is room in contemporary music for a brilliant miniaturist. I rather hope so.

Ades lives up to the hype ..........2004-08-08

After hearing the recording of Asyla, which I consider one of the most exciting works on the modern classical scene, I have tended to give at least some initial respect to anything with the name Thomas Ades printed on it. Perhaps only this respect could persuade me to purchase a CD which juxtaposes Mayan texts, a sermon of John Donne, a poem by Omar Khayyam, and arrangements of a ska classic and a Rameau harpsichord piece. As it turns out, I was not wrong in my hopes that Ades would be able to pull off such a feat of eclecticism.

Of course, the main attraction here is the title work, America: A Prophecy. This big piece for orchestra, soloist, and chorus was written in 1999 as part of the New York Philharmonic's millenium commision. With lines like "They will come from the east ... they will burn all the land ... your cities will fall," the piece gained a rather terrifying new meaning after the September 11th attacks. It is possible that in light of this, the CD was slapped together quickly, blanks filled in by random unreleased Ades juvenilia. I doubt it, since the CD was released a full three years after 9/11; at any rate, Ades is such a diverse composer that an eclectic collection of his music actually makes perfect sense. His very unusual harmonies are audible in all the pieces, even the very early ones; thus the disc is musically unified, even if the themes are quite disparate.

America: A Prophecy is the second-newest work recorded here, and it falls easily into the same category as Asyla. The same utterly unique, very dense orchestrations (from a composer with ambivalence toward Brahms!) are all there. The alternation of this style with a ghostly, vibrato-less mezzo, however, is a new thing, and I find it quite effective -- though the odd singing style took a few listens to grow on me. The climax of the first movement is arresting in the same way Asyla's fourth movement is: the glorious diatonic chords manage to be at once genuinely triumphant but also wry and self-conscious; after all, this sort of outburst has been essentially illegal since the death of Gustav Mahler. I find the piece very effective.

Following this are a few choral works, all different but coming out of the same basic sound-world. The Fayrfax Carol is probably the most traditional, "archaic" sounding of them, a somewhat medieval sound complementing the passion-play-style lyrics. Fool's Rhymes contains some excellent percussive effects that just echo the work of Gallic moderns like Messiaen and Boulez. Ades, however, always remains closer to the diatonic scale. January Writ and O Thou, who didst with pitfall and with gin are just as effective as the preceeding works.

The Lover in Winter, a song-cycle for piano and countertenor, is the earliest work on the CD, but you wouldn't be able to tell for sure just by listening. It is perhaps less distinctive than the newer works, but not less well-crafted. I also hear some echoes of French modern works in the piano writing. As a Latinist, I was thrilled to find some good Latin lyrics also! I wish I could have written music like this when I was seventeen ...

Next up is a much talked-about Ades work, Life Story. It was released a few years ago in a piano-voice arrangement, and famously insructs the soprano to imitate the vocal style of jazz singer Billie Holiday. I've never heard the piano version, but I find it hard to imagine arranging the accompaniment for piano alone; here it is played by two bass clarinets and string bass. I'm not sure that I like the piece especially well; the accompaniment is somewhat Stravinskian and detached, and seems not to fit in with the jazzy vocalizations. Perhaps I would just expect something a little warmer and more sultry for a setting of this Tennessee Williams poem; the whole thing seems a trifle cold. Not bad by any means, just less effective than many other works from Ades.

Two wildly disparate transcriptions follow: the first is of a "ska rock classic" by Christopher Foreman and Cathal Smyth called Cardiac Arrest. It is an odd little piece, very energetic and well-orchestrated. A pleasant surprise for me. Second is Les Barricades misterieuses by Couperin, originally for harpsichord. Rather innocuous, this is also given a good -- and somehwat "mysterious" -- arrangement.

The last piece on the CD, "Brahms," is also the latest-written. It sets a German poem by eminent pianist Alfred Brendel and was written for his birthday. It would seem that neither Ades (judging by previous statements) nor Brendel are terribly enthusiastic about Brahms' work, but at least Ades seems to be more paying an homage to the late-romantic patriarch than anything; the music is certainly not a pastiche, but it does come dangerously close to quotation a couple times -- though I believe the themes are all original. It is recognizeable as the work of Thomas Ades, but his usual frenetic orchestrations, with their percussive effects and extreme contrasts between low and high instruments are replaced with a very Brahmsian low-lying and homogeneous density. The German poem is set extremely well, making for an absolutely wonderful album close, at once humorous and serious.

It is a rare thing for a young, modern-classical composer to rise to swift stardom and become a household name before the age of thirty-five, and surely it would be easy for Mr Ades to get lost in all the hype. Yes, many people will probably buy this recording simply because of the eerie timing and message of the title work, or because Ades is a "hip" composer. But I think there is far more to this recording, and to Thomas Ades, than mere trendiness. He is a remarkable young composer with amazing technique and bursting with (sometimes too many!) ideas. He may not have fully found his voice yet, but his music can hardly fail to be recognized as his own. America: A Prophecy rates five stars, and comes highly recommended.

Average customer rating:

Not Boulez at his recent greatest, but technically inventive and a bold step in his musical evolution
Great Third,and First; less so Second

Boulez: The Three Piano Sonatas

Manufacturer: Deutsche Grammophon
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Boulez: Pli selon Pli

ASIN: B0006TN8IQ
Release Date: 2005-02-08

Tracks:

Lent
Assez Large
Extremement Rapide
Lent
Modere, Presque Vif
Tres Librement, avec De Brusques Oppositions De Mouvement Et De Nuances
Parethese. Nettement Au - Dessous De Lent - Attacca
Glose. Lent - Attacca
Commentaire. Nettement Moins Lent - Attacca
Texte. Presque Lent
Melange Points Et Blocs. Modere/Vif
Points 3. Suspendu
Blocs II. Lent
Points 2. Suspendu
Blocs I. Vif
Points 1. Suspendu

Amazon.com

Boulez the composer isn't for everyone, his music's appeal often confined to avant-garde enthusiasts and to those nostalgic for the days when serialism was the dominant style. But many of his works are accessible to the open-minded willing to meet him on his own ground, which is to say that melody, tonal allure and easily understandable structure are not part of a musical vocabulary that seeks to create new forms while detonating old ones. The first two piano sonatas were written when Boulez was a musical revolutionary in his early twenties; yet the results are polished and stimulating. Jumppanen, a young Finn handpicked by Boulez to record this disc, is completely idiomatic, with the technique to do justice to these works. Pollini may reign unchallenged in the Sonata No. 2 and Idel Biret's fine recording of all three works on Naxos is budget priced, tempting novices to give them a hearing. But having all three sonatas easily available in such fine performances makes this disc a must for Boulez's admirers. --Dan Davis

Customer Reviews:

Not Boulez at his recent greatest, but technically inventive and a bold step in his musical evolution.......2006-08-03

Pierre Boulez's three piano sonatas are early works indeed. The first two were written in his early 20s, while the third came not long after. Here the young Finnish pianist Paavali Jumppanen gives a reading which, if not outright called definitive by the composer, still seems to carry his approval.

Even for those familiar with much serial music, even if you've heard everything else Boulez composed, the piano sonatas can be difficult listening. In fact, in the beginning one might think it merely a series of bleeps and bloops without order. Gaining insight into these takes time, and in the beginning one should focus on the simple succession of individual gestures even if the musical development on a large scale can't be perceived. Over time, however, the sonatas unlock their secrets, and one begins to notice motifs and clever form.

The first two sonatas are not Boulez's first pieces--they were preceded by the recently rehabilitated "Notations" for piano (1945)--but they are Boulez's first individual achievement. In the "Piano Sonata No. 1" (1946) the sonorities of Webern (especially the "Symphonie" op. 21), coexist with an interest in dynamic and attack which is pure Boulez. The first movement is developed out of merely four opening gestures: a rising minor sixth, an appoggiatura, an isolated note, and a brusqe arpeggio. The second movement opens with cells all over the keyboard, and the dashing between octaves hints at Boulez's later solo piano work "Incises".

For much of his career has sought to take serialism beyond mere miniatures, like Webern, to grand designs. The four-movement "Piano Sonata No. 2" (1948) is, at nearly a half an hour long, an important venture in this direction. Popular opinions about Boulez as entirely detached from tradition will be amazed at the work's clear debt to Beethoven's "Hammerklavier" and "Waldstein" sonatas, and it even uses a B-A-C-H motif throughout. Its first movement is marked "extremement vif"--right off we find a violence and virtuosity never before heard in Boulez--and it posseses the elegant dramatic arc of classical sonata form, exposition--development--recapitulation. The second, slow movement is lyrical and melodic, while the brief (three-minute) third minute combines variation and scherzo form. The fourth movement, however, is extremely rich, made up of an introduction, a fugue, a rondo, and a coda. A twelve-tone fugue makes for exciting listening.

The "Piano Sonata No. 3" (1955-57) was written during Boulez's interest in quasi-aleatoric writing where the performer was free to decide the order of the piece's sections. Inspired by Mallarme and the possibility of a book in perpetual expansion, this quality can be found also in Boulez's "Eclat" and "Pli selon pli", though Boulez ultimately fixed the ordering of the latter. This sonata has remained uncompleted for almost fifty years, and of the five "formants" (not "movements", since they don't move forward) which are to make up the piece, only the second and third have been published. The Third Sonata is by far the most abstract of the three, and understanding its structure involves close listening, ideally with score at hand. While based on an interesting concept, it offers fewer possibilities for mere entertainment than the first two.

I'm loathe to criticize Jumppanen's performance, since Boulez sure thinks highly of it. So far I've only heard the recordings with Jumppanen and Idil Biret (on Naxos), and while the lighter touch of Biret is good listening, she flubs a few parts of the second that Jumppanen handles flawlessly. Jumppanen's use of pedal is much heavier, but it seems in keeping with the score. This recording has fine liner notes by Paul Griffiths, but for best understanding the sonatas I'd recommend getting a copy of Dominique Jameux's PIERRE BOULEZ (English translation Harvard University Press, 1991 ISBN 0-674-66740-9).

For me, Boulez really hit his stride after "Eclat", when he produced a number of works full of brilliant colour and elegant construction such as "Sur Incises", "...explosante-fixe..." and "Repons". I'd recommend those first to anyone curious about Boulez's music. Still, the piano sonatas are an interesting step in Boulez's musical development, as well as some of the most rigorous and adventurous serial writing of the generation after the Second Viennese School.

Great Third,and First; less so Second.......2005-03-13

The 'Second Sonata' of Boulez seems to get everyone confused,or stymied,afraid of its "abyss" it was his most violent gratuitous and brutal work, most exposed to the extremities of its own timbre. Pollini plays it like an automaton coldly,like he's a "phanthom" playing and not there, only Yvonne Loriod comprehends the times,the gestures of this piece if you contemplate it as a document certainly the Occupation of Paris in WW2 had some effect/affect on the young Pierre,riding the Metro with Messiaen and that culture was undergoing some form of demise or the transgressive.
His icons were of course those in literature;Rene Char and Mallarme who he really did not know well enough in the mid Forties to utilize in a work's concept, but certainly the theatre of cruelty of Artaud and much later the chiseled word games(plays) of Beckett. Loriod brings this incredible sense of endlessness to the timbre,abandoned to the narrative and deeply resonant, ringing continuously seemingly,and the premise of the work is "transgression" of the intervallic materials. The concept of the Sonata was chosen only to disintegrate its architecture; Jumppanen doesn't get this fully he was very timid,tenuous, and he seldom "took off"where tones became "noises" exceedingly polite at times; you never sense the timbral extremities of the work, that "other" realm that Boulez was interested in and continued to be with subsequent works. The first movement rhythmic cells,D-A-D#-G#,C# F-G should be charged with high combustible energy where the phrases foment and accrete toward greater crashes,"bottlenecks" of violence. The work should be thought through in this way, for then the relative calms within the four movements as the second movement is should not be too too calm and restained needlessly.The "surreal-like" second movement should be suggestive, not simply sustained intervals without direction. I felt this a bit. There is no momentum at all then so the work simply dissipates into an anti-aesthetic of nothingness.
These timid sensibilities gently skills however work quite well in the "First Sonata", Jumppanen goes for the discreetly beautiful,the sustained the tinckle of the opening,F#-D,F-Eb-E these threadbare exposed materials are gently compelling, then the more noise like arpeggiations are really interruptions of this beauty.Aimard you may find somewhere in between where he never sacrifices the overall brutal premise of the work's aesthetic. But then we get to Jumppanen and the 'Third Sonata', the mobile indeterminisms at work, work quite well. This now is a real piece of modernity,with a high conceptual premise, with exposed lines that can only depend upon themselves not an on=going intervallic narrative,or accreting contrasting movements, as we found in the other two Sonatas. Here each anti-movement (not movements for nothing really moves anywheres) but gestures, points, moments depend upon themselves, and in the 'Formant 3' the alternating contrasts of 'Points' to 'Blocs' is indeed engaging. You fall in with the 'Blocs' movements the more brutal suspended gestures,greater richness of piano timbre,with harmonics to "trail" the gesture into the next to the more threadbare private single tones in the 'Points'.There are also a wider pallette of timbre in the 'Third Sonata' here with a differing array of attacks to the piano keys, the use of all three pedals and harmonics, where you silently depressed tones then striking others to produce an eeery resonance, that really is barely auduble on this recoding and in a concert hall perhaps not at all.Jumppanen is wonderful here in the Third with a detached demeanor simply allowing the piece to fall off, and he seems much more willing to engage now the more brutal moments.

Average customer rating:

Music from the Once Festival 1961-1966

Manufacturer: New World Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B0000C7PVT
Release Date: 2003-09-23

Tracks:

Sonata - Robert Ashley
Groups For Piano - Robert Ashley
String Trio - Edith Perrow
Epigram And Evolution - Robert Ashley
Sinfonia For 12 Instruments And Magnetic Tape - Once Chamber Orchestra
In The Autum Mountains - Shirley Zaft
Two Pieces For Piano And Chamber Group - Bruce Wise
The Fourth Of July - Robert Ashley

Tracks:

Matrix For Clarinetist - John Morgan
Wedge - Once Chamber Orchestra
Meanwhile, A Twopiece - Robert Ashley
Sounds For Eleven - Once Chamber Orchestra
Gestures II - Robert Ashley
Bestiary I: Eingang - Once Chamber Orchestra
Details (2b) - Robert Ashley
Ballad - Philip Krumm

Tracks:

Large Size Mograph - Larry Leitch
Fives - David Maves
A Quarter Of Fourpiece - Hartt Chamber Players
Two Worlds - Bob James
Mosaic - Bob James
Pianopiece I - Donald Bohlen
Cassiopeia - Donald Bohlen
Pianopieces II - Donald Bohlen
A Portrait For Vanzetti - David Maves
Greys - Gordon Mumma

Tracks:

Music For Clocks - Philip Krumm
Diotima - Anne Aitchison
7PTPC - Larry Leitch
Landscape Journey - John Morgan
Advance Of The Fungi - William Albright
In Memoriam...Crazy Horse - ONCE Festival Orchestra

Tracks:

Music For Three - Robert Ashley
Time On Time In Miracles - ONCE Chamber Players
Track - ONCE Chamber Ensemble
Apple Box Concerto - Pauline Oliveros
Quartet - William Albright

Album Description

Ann Arbor, Michigan, seems an unlikely site for the establishment of a major avant-garde festival that would shake the new-music community. Tucked away in America's heartland, the city is equally removed from the Eastern metropolises whose artists pride themselves on sensing the pulse of the times, and from the nonconformist West Coast. Yet during the 1960s Ann Arbor played host to one of the most extraordinary adventures in American music history: the annual ONCE Festival and its nexus of related activities.

The primary aim of ONCE's founders--Robert Ashley, Gordon Mumma, George Cacioppo, Roger Reynolds, and Donald Scavarda--was to create a forum for the presentation of cutting-edge music. To this end they were phenomenally successful. Performers and composers--whether little-known or renowned--embraced the endeavor, demanding almost nothing in return. Perhaps most important, however, ONCE acted as a creative stimulus for its organizers. Scavarda describes the adventure as an explosion of pent-up energy: "Suddenly we could write anything we wanted and have it heard." And they did. The ONCE composers--and many guest artists--wrote a host of new works, some experimental, others more traditional.

What united the ONCE composers was their exploration of sound, whether through the medium of extended techniques on traditional instruments, electronic (or electronically modified) timbres, or the intersection of musical sounds with those of the environment.

A major slice of ONCE's rich musical legacy--35 works constituting six hours of music--is presented here, almost all for the first time. These pieces are as diverse in style as they are compelling in expression. This landmark set, the most comprehensive document ever released of this legendary event, is an opportunity for anyone interested in contemporary music to hear history in the making. Included in the set is a 140-page booklet with a lengthy scholarly essay by musicologist and biographer Leta Miller and numerous rare photos of ONCE personages and performances.

Steve Reich: Octet; Music for a Large Ensemble; Violin Phase
Average customer rating:

Some of Reich's best works

Classic Reich...

...and they told Mozart he used too many notes!

Reich's Peak Period

Minimilism at its best

Steve Reich: Octet; Music for a Large Ensemble; Violin Phase

Manufacturer: Ecm Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Steve Reich: Music for 18 Musicians

Drumming

Reich: Different Trains, Electric Counterpoint / Kronos Quartet, Pat Metheny

Sextet/Six Marimbas

Music for 18 Musicians

ASIN: B0000261I7
Release Date: 2000-04-18

Tracks:

Music for a Large Ensemble
Violin Phase
Octet

Customer Reviews:

Some of Reich's best works.......2005-07-30

Octet and Music for a Large Ensemble are two of my favorite Steve reich works. Octet has lots of low winds and piano, giving it a lot of charm and textural warmth. Music for a Large Ensemble has more of an urgent feel, more of a piercing texture at times, and is also a beautiful piece (one of his best, I think). If you like Reich's earlier style, along the lines of Music for Eighteen Musicians, you will probably like these - Violin Phase is more of a novelty to me, as I am more drawn to Steve's pieces that have more harmonic motion (like the other two I just mentioned). If you've never heard Steve Reich, this disk would be a fine start, offering great recordings of two complex, somewhat epic pieces, and a sample of his earliest style (phasing by manipulating tape speeds)

Classic Reich..........2004-05-20

Different Trains? Nah, this is the groundbreaking work that has given Reich such a cutting edge in the world of 20th century music. The pure tonal palette that he achieves with the 30 plus ensemble in the self titled is incredible, and the complexity and busyness of the 4 part phase shifting of Violin Phase is not to be missed. Octet was a step forward showing his growing interest in complex melodies, and was certainly another evolution in his writing style. If you ever want to collect some beautiful music, this would be a good starting point.

...and they told Mozart he used too many notes!.......2002-03-26

Upon starting the journey into this volume of work, keep in mind that there is a lot to listen for and all of it is soothing yet extremely busy. "Music For A Lage Ensemble" is in four sections, each of which is marked by a key change. The interwoven contrapuntal lines never cease until the music suddenly stops. "Violin Phase" is a great multi-faceted phase piece, unlike his 2-part phases of the previous years, and exploits the remarkable talents of Shem Guibbory. However, it is the "Octet" that takes the prize on this collection, or any other for that matter. You are immediately immersed in a cascading waterfall of pianos over a still stream of sustained strings. The virtuosity needed for the pianists to perform this work is astounding. You only need to look at the cover to see that. The cover of this album is the final ten bars of "Octet." The tempo is MM=204. Then try to play it that speed. The pianists Edmund Niemann and Nurit Tilles endure similar patterns continuously for the entire 17:30 of the piece. The piece ends with a web of pianos, flute and piccolo lines over still sustained strings that leaves the listener very satisfied. All of the music on this record makes you feel happy with your life for the time being. Listen and you will know for yourself.

Reich's Peak Period.......2002-01-18

There are 3 tracks on this CD. Forget "Violin Phase" which really is just filler, and from an earlier era in Reich's development. The other two tracks are what you want to hear. "Octet" and "Music for a Large Ensemble" are Steve Reich at his very finest. He had developed his sound, but was still relatively young and hungry for success. You will listen to this music in complete amazement that these are classic acoustic instruments. The trick in making them sound so unique is in brilliant compositions heard here.

Minimilism at its best.......2000-06-14

This cd was the first cd to introduce me to Reich's compositional style. Little did I know how minimalism could be so exciting. The Music for a Large Ensemble uses a great pallete of tone color to pull the listener in. The Violin Phase is one of my favorites. The different harmonic and melodic patterns that are created through the phasing of the instruments is amazing. The only reason I give it four starts is because the versions of the recordings are somewhat short. To really get a feel for the music and to better experience what Reich is trying to do, I would suggest listening to longer recordings. Music for a Large Ensemble is available in much longer versions. Octet and Violin Phase are much harder to find, so I would definitely recommend this cd for those works.

Reich: Triple Quartet, Music for a Large Ensemble, Electric Guitar Phase

Average customer rating:

Good stuff..
Reich for those who don't necessarily like Reich
Worth it for Electric Guitar Phase.
wow!
Great recycle and new materials

Reich: Triple Quartet, Music for a Large Ensemble, Electric Guitar Phase
Steve Reich , Kronos Quartet , and Alan Pierson
Manufacturer: Nonesuch
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B00005NSQT
Release Date: 2001-10-16

Tracks:

Triple Quartet: First Movement
Triple Quartet: Second Movement
Triple Quartet: Third Movement
Electric Guitar Phase - Dominic Frasca
Music For Large Ensemble - Alarm Will Sound/Ossia/Alan Pierson
Tokyo/Vermont Counterpoint - Mike Yoshida

Customer Reviews:

Good stuff.........2004-06-10

From the sharp, discerning Triple Quartet, to Tokyo-Vermont Counterpoint, this CD is worth hearing to see an insight into Reich's later works, (starting with Triple Quartet), and it was brilliant to hear a revision of Music for a Large Ensemble, although I cannot really say that it tops the original in terms of colour and rhythm. Tokyo-Vermont Counterpoint shows the musical processes in a more precise way than the flutes, although the natural timbre of the flutes can be more pleasing. Electric Guitar Phase is worth hearing for a re-interpretation of Violin Phase, because the resulting patterns sound so interesting with such a different light shone on them. Overall a very successful CD.

Reich for those who don't necessarily like Reich.......2003-11-26

This disc contains one new work by Steve Reich, one old work and two arrangements of old works. Accordingly, it is not going to be stunningly attractive to old hands, but in my opinion it could win new converts to the composer.

Triple Quartet is the new work. Written for the Kronos Quartet and in this recording performed by them using overdubbing, this work contains an unusual level of dissonant harmony and of lyrical melody. The composer explains this by observing that he was introduced to the string quartets of Alfred Schnittke just as he began work on the music, and certainly it sounds to me as if the Mesto from Schnittke's second quartet is being constantly refracted and re-examined in the three movements of this work. This is a strong work, though not quite of the calibre of Reich's previous Kronos piece, the outstanding Different Trains.

Electric Guitar Phase goes back to one of Reich's seminal classics, Violin Phase, written in 1967 when minimalism was pure and uncluttered. The current recording is of an arrangement of that work for four multi-tracking guitars. I don't feel it adds anything to the original--one of Reich's most extreme essays but also one of his most important works--nor that it is as effective as Electric Counterpoint. Nonetheless, for a new listener coming to Reich for the first time, it might be more palatable than the violin version.

More accessible is the 1977 piece Music for Large Ensemble, which has always sounded to me like a pendant--a good pendant, though--to Music for Eighteen Musicians from the previous year. The version here is different from the one on the old ECM recording, taking as it does the 1977 original version instead of the 1979 revised version, with Alan Pierson, the conductor on this performance, editing some of the parts. I don't have a strong preference between the two recordings--the present recording has a more generally beautiful sound, but the ECM recording is more tense rhythmically.

This disc ends with Tokyo/Vermont Counterpoint, an arrangement for MIDI marimbas of the multi-flute Vermont Counterpoint. It's good-humoured, but once again not as sonically interesting as the original piece.

This isn't an essential Reich disc (if I had to own only one Reich disc, it would be the Different Trains/Electric Counterpoint recording), but the Triple Quartet may well attract even listeners not particularly partial to the minimalist aesthetic.

Worth it for Electric Guitar Phase........2003-05-22

The rest of it is actually pretty boring. not boring like the desert music though so it's okay.

wow!.......2003-03-13

Steve Reich is such a great creative genius. The title piece, Triple Quartet, is very new music for Steve Reich. One factor in this was that just before & during composition of this piece he heard Schnittke for this first time. It's different from other music by Reich, but it's also quintissentially Reich. To me it kind of feels like a caravan, camels & sands & silks & all. It's the Kronos Quartet playing over 2 tapes of themselves.

Electric Guitar Phase is a rescoring of Violin Phase, & it sounds very different from the original. The electric guitar, with some distortion, is certainly a change.

The Music for a Large Ensemble on this cd is a revised version of the original piece, & it does sound very different. Good work, Reich, I do prefer the new version on this cd.

Tokyo/Vermont Counterpoint is crazy music. This & Electric Guitar Phase are the 2 pieces on this great cd that feel extremely futuristic in different ways. After numerous times people tried to perform it, this is the only one to satisfy Steve Reich.

I wouldn't recommend this cd as an introduction to Steve Reich's music, but for established fans it's very exciting new music from a protean composer.

Great recycle and new materials.......2002-06-05

Here you get a lot of Reich minimalist styles over the years.

Kronos play -as usual- well on this one in Bartok style and they taped themself and overdubbed it with a stunning result.

about the guitar piece... well I prefer Jeff Beck do stuff like this but it grows and... why nt? but for me it this albums weak point so I, because of this guitar track, was consider give this record a four star insted of five.

The best is the two last splendid minimalist pices for large orchestra and that midiplayed Japanese/Vermont piece.

Tracks:

Sinfonietta - Simon Rattle
El Combat Del Somni - Victoria De Los Angeles
Piano Concerto - Sviatoslav Richter
Don Giovanni - Carlo Maria Giulini
Eroica - Otto Klemperer
Gymnopedies - Aldo Ciccolini
Don Carlo - Placido Domingo
24 Caprices - Itzhak Perlman
Liederkreis Op.39 - Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
Cello Concerto - Sir John Barbirolli
Alborada Del Gracioso - Dinu Lipatti
'Peter Grimes' - Andre Previn
Das Lied Von Der Erde - Otto Klemperer
Violin Concerto No.1 - David Oistrakh
Boris Godunov - Boris Christoff
Piano Concerto No.22 - Annie Fischer
La Boheme - Jussi Bjorling
Symphony No.2 'Resurection' - Otto Klemperer

Tracks:

Bachianas Brasileiras - Heitor Villa-Lobos
Die Zauberflote - Herbert Von Karajan
Preludes II - Walter Gieseking
Symphonie Fantastique - Sir Thomas Beecham
Il Trovatore - Maria Callas
String Quartet - Alban Berg Quartett
Wesendonck-Lieder - Elisabeth Schwarzkopf
Horn Concerto No.3 - Dennis Brain
Fidelio - Otto Klemperer
Piano Concerto In G - Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli
Kindertotenlieder - Bruno Walter
Dialogues Des Carmelites - Pierre Dervaux
Violin Concerto - Yehudi Menuhin
Salome - Herbert Von Karajan
Tout Un Monde Lointain... - Mstislav Rostropovich
Il Barbiere Di Siviglia - Vittorio Gui
Fantasia On 'Greensleeves' - Sir John Barbirolli
Die Lustige Witwe - Nicolai Gedda
Symphony No.9 'Choral' - Wilhelm Furtwangler

Customer Reviews:

Interesting, and so cheap!.......2005-03-17

In response to the reviewer below, yes, some of the recordings do not have the best sound quality. But that's not what this is about, it's about great recordings of the century.
There are two discs, each with about 18 tracks, averaging about 4 minutes each, of excerpts and individual movements of the some of the most famous of the 150 "GROCs."

In the booklet it has a few interesting (sometimes not that interesting) facts about each of the 150 performances.

If you don't mind excerpts of pieces or isolated movements, this would be a worthwhile purchase, especially for the bizarrely reasonable price.

Not that great.......2004-11-19

If this is supposed to be an album of "the greatest" -- I wasn't too impressed. The quality didn't seem that good and the selections, well, not all that popular to my mind.

Cyril Scott: Symphony No. 3 "The Muses"; Piano Concerto No. 2; Neptune

Average customer rating:

Wow!
A jewel amid the junk
This brought me out of 'retirement'!

Cyril Scott: Symphony No. 3 "The Muses"; Piano Concerto No. 2; Neptune
Cyril Scott , Shelley , Brabbins , and BBC Philharmonic
Manufacturer: Chandos
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B0001XLVXQ
Release Date: 2004-05-25

Tracks:

I Melpomene: Muse Of Epic Petry And Tragedy. Andante Sostenuto-Molto Maestos-Tempo Tranquillo-Molto Maestoso-Tranquillo-Andante
II Thalia:Muse Of Comedy And Merry Verse. Allegro Con Spirito
III Erato: Muse Of Love And Poetry. Molto Tranquillo-Adagio Con Gran Espressione
IV Terpsichore: Muse Of Dance And Song. Molto Moderato E Ritmico
I Con Moto-Meno Mosso- Vigoroso-Tempo I-Andante Non Troppo-Mobilemente Tranquillo-Maestoso
II Tranquillo Pastoral - Adagio- Tempo I Quasi Tempo II-Poco Plu Mosso
III Energico- Grazioso-Moderato-Tempo I
Andante-Molto Maestoso
Con Moto-Largo-
Tempo Di Valse-Molto Cantabile-Wistfully-Molto Cantabile E Sonoro-Plu Tranquillo- Doppio Movimento-
Allegro Agitato
Adagio Molto-Tristamente- Molto Idealmente-Tranquillo Poco A Poco

Customer Reviews:

Wow!.......2007-06-03

The "Muses" symphony is written on a huge canvas, and is hugely effective. It's the best work on this disk. I'm not as enamored with the "Nautilus" -- almost wish the program notes hadn't told us about the original story line (the sinking of the Titanic). In any case, Martyn Brabbins and his orchestra are stupendous. Kudos to them and to Chandos for beginning their Cyril Scott series with this release. (BTW, the next two in the series have been released as of June 2007, and they are equally good. The Piano Concerto #1 with Howard Shelley on Volume 2 is particularly arresting.) You won't be disappointed in this CD ... and if you like composers like Szymanowski, Scriabin, Charles Griffes or Sorabji, you owe it to yourself to get to know the sound-world of Cyril Scott as well.

A jewel amid the junk.......2004-11-11

Cyril Scott (1879-1970) had the misfortune of too easy success early in his career and mounting neglect for the rest of his life. From as early as 1930 he was being written off as an imitator of Debussy who had nothing more worth saying. Does this adventurous CD confirm or refute this view? Though a lifelong lover of his music, I have to confess that `The Muses', Scott's first mature symphony, is like the curate's egg, good in parts but unacceptable as a whole. It starts well with a sinister and brooding opening movement, but the middle movements are underdeveloped and the choral finale is a watered down version of the General Dance at the end of Ravel's Daphnis and Chloe.
The Second Piano Concerto of 1958 is representative of the far more individual idiom that Scott developed when he returned to composing in the late 1940s. The harmony has an acrid complexity, the phrases are brief, and there is none of the effortless note-spinning that led Colin Matthews to dismiss his earlier music as `vapid'. Unfortunately, the work never establishes a convincing relationship between the soloist and the orchestra, and is full of striking gestures that lead nowhere. The recently recorded Second String Quartet (played by Archaeus Quartet on the Dutton label) is a far more attractive example of his late style.
That leaves `Neptune', which is a revised version of `Disaster at Sea', a long tone poem depicting the sinking of the Titanic that was written in the late 1910s. There was a tardy first performance in 1933, when the critics panned the work as mere film music. Scott responded by removing the more crudely programmatic parts of the score in a revised and renamed version of the work, which was published in 1935 but has gone unperformed till now. I am happy to hail it as a masterpiece. The tragic atmosphere is sustained throughout, and the writing is beautifully diaphanous and full of highly original orchestral effects, which evoke the surge and the spray and the careering bulk of the doomed ship with uncanny vividness; there is nothing finer in Scott than the bleak epilogue depicting the bare and icy ocean as night sets in. In the wake of the famous film, and with the original title restored, could not this work achieve a belated popularity? Certainly this skilfully crafted and richly sonorous recording makes the strongest possible case. It joins John Ogdon and the LPO's version of the First Piano Concerto (sadly unavailable on CD) and the recent Dutton recording of his first two string quartets as the most important Scott recordings to date.

This brought me out of 'retirement'!.......2004-10-21

I have not written a review of a CD for a few years now, largely due to work commitments but also due to the fact that I have not felt moved to say anything about any new CDs coming on stream. However, this CD deserves a strong recommendation to anyone who appreciates the English Musical Renaissance or who has an intesest in 20th century musical developments. The Symphony No 3 is a wonderful work, extremely hard to bring off, I should imagine, with its huge demands on technique and balance on the players, conductor and sound engineers. Chandos as ever does not fail and gives us over an hour of sound magic. There are sounds here that I have never heard before except from synthesizers and modern electronic devices. There is a dash of Ravel of Dapnis et Chloe with the whirling textures BUT it is a nocturnal depiction, the wordless chorus provides some Scriabinesque flavoring but the air of mystery is totally unlike the Russian master. The second piano concerto is very welcome but lower key than the rest; I do my customary moan at this point (what chuzpah!) that I would love to see Scott's masterpiece, the First Piano Concerto in a CD form. The music is adventurous and dynamic and worth the biggest recommendation I can give. Totally brilliant stuff.

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