classical music: canons

classical music: canons - top sellers

classical music:

The Willis Organ at Salisbury Cathedral

Johannes Brahms, Frank Bridge, ...

Telarc, 1990

Fanfares a blaze...
This is a wonderful CD. The Salisbury Organ is in the very capable hands of Organist, Michael Murray. Not only does the CD demonstrate for us the great qualities of the Tuba Mirabilis and 32' Ophicleide, but also the soft string sounds of the organ. A definite must ...

Brahms: Complete Piano Music

Johannes Brahms, Martin Jones

Nimbus Records, 1995

Worthwhile, especially if you like Brahms
Johannes Brahms was one of the key figures in Romantic Piano Music. His output for the instrument was varied and large, and this four-disc set is ample testament to that output. As it was with their complete Beethoven Sonatas set (by Bernard Roberts), so it it here: ...

Grieg: Lyric Pieces (Performed on Grieg's Piano)

Edvard Grieg, Leif Ove Andsnes

EMI Classics, 2002

Sensitive modern pianism
Borrowing a phrase from the contemporary political philosopher Fukuyama a case can be made that the world of classical piano music has reached "the end of history". This notion is based on the often heard idea that it only takes two clicks to get superior performances ...

Nancarrow: Studies for Player Piano

Conlon Nancarrow

Wergo Germany, 2000

Dizzying experiments by a brilliant maverick
A true compositional original, Conlon Nancarrow is best known for these mind-blowing pieces for player piano. Why this particular instrument? Because most of these short works are utterly unplayable by human beings, unless you are capable of say, depressing all 88 ...

Bach Edition: Complete Works (155 CD Box Set)

Johann Sebastian Bach, Andrew Manze, ...

Brilliant Classics, 2006

so far, definitely so good
I have listened to, thus far, 111 discs and have enjoyed all but three of the performances, especially the Mass in B Minor, Magnificat, Christmas Oratorio, Goldberg Variations, The Art of Fugue, and to my surprise in spite of unfavourable reviews elsewhere, the Sacred ...

Virgil Fox Encores

Johann Sebastian Bach, William Boyce, ...

RCA, 1993

Riverside Organ Is Stretched to Its Limits in This One - - -
If you like flamboyant, this CD will blow your skirt right up there! The dynamic range of the music in this CD will test your stereo system to the limits. Every part of the organ is used, from the shyest Kleine Erzähler to what must be a Double Bombarde. The songs ...

Schumann: The Complete Piano Works (Box Set)

Robert Schumann, Jörg Demus

Nuova Era, 2001

Mystery meat
I don't think I've ever before experienced such frustration in trying to assess a product. Here a well-regarded and fairly well-known pianist sits down and records all (even that's up for grabs) the piano music of a pretty well-known and well-regarded composer and ...

Nancarrow: Pieces Nos. 1 & 2; ¿Tango?; String Quartet No. 1

Celeste Marie Roy, David Krakauer, ...

Naxos American, 2005

Nancarrow without the player piano: an essential addition to our knowledge of the composer
This is the reissue of a recording made in 1989 and first released in 1991 by Musicmasters. See my lengthy review under the original release (Continuum Performs Nancarrow). It is an essential addition to our knowledge and understanding of Nancarrow, as it documents ...

The Complete Piano Music of Sergei Rachmaninov

Sergey Rachmaninov, Howard Shelley

Hyperion UK, 1993

Endless pleasure
Fortunately for my pocketbook, I listen to these recordings now mostly from my iTunes library or on my iPod. I say fortunately because I would have long since worn them out. Few of my hundreds of CDs have given me as much pleasure over many years as these. I don't ...

Schumann: Complete Organ Works
Robert Schumann, Rudolf Innig

MD&G Records, 1996

Bach: A Musical Offering BWV 1079 133/ Canons BMV 1072-78

Kirstin Von Der Goltz, Johann Sebastian Bach, ...

Hanssler Classics, 2000

A Bach gem-let!
"A Musical Offering" is the name of an early morning radio program here in the Bay Area [KPFA], on which Mary Berg blesses those who listen each Sunday with beautifully chosen Bachian music. She played this CD last week and I went out and bought it. I've listened ...

Sound Forms For Piano

John Cage, Henry Cowell, ...

New World Records, 1995

Highly recommended
This is, without doubt, one of the finest recordings of American experimental music ever issued, performed with loving care by the late, great Robert Miller except for Nancarrow's studies. The excellent notes by Charles Hamm should prepare listeners unfamiliar with ...

Player Piano 5: Conlon Nancarrow Vol. 3 - Studies 33-41c
Nancarrow

MD&G Records, 2008

Muzio Clementi: Piano Works, Box 2, Vols. 10-18 (Box Set)

Muzio Clementi, George Darden, ...

Arts Music, 2003

A Lot of Charming Clementi
These days, Clementi seems best known for his six Op. 36 sonatinas, which are included in this collection (as disc 12). Long-forgotten is his role as virtually THE first keyboardist who composed exclusively for piano, as well as his later piano-building enterprise. ...