Customer Reviews

Idiots Guide to Classical Music

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Take it for what it is, a clever and useful GUIDE to classical music. No, it is NOT an uncut rendition of Beethoven's 9th symphony. It IS a cd that will jog your memory. You have heard many of the tunes presented here, but not always knowing what the work was. This is your chance to catch up with all the great classical music you have been exposed to. Cheap too.

I have to conflict with the previous reviewer. This is a guide CD. Each track is the 'familiar tune' that you have probably heard on TV or int he movies. When you hear your favorite snippit, go to the track listing and find the composer and title and then buy a CD that contains the entire work.

I found the CD incredibly helpful to identify tones of classical snippits!

Yes, this CD really does have 99 tracks. How do they do it? Each is about a minuet long. Some are longer, some are shorter, but you get the micro-essential moments of the music.

If you like burning your own CDs, then this is a great source for intra-track fillers, along the lines of They Might Be Giants' "Apollo 18" album, which has all of those short tracks on the end. The idea is to put your CD player on shuffle, so the short tracks get mixed in with the bona fide songs. The result being a very unusual album.

The booklet gives an explanation of the track, where you heard it (i.e. the Warner Brother's Cartoons, or on famous films), and where you can get the full piece of music. So it's a mega sampler CD.

I can honestly say that this CD is a great gift for the friend who has everything.

The Idiot's Guide to Calssical Music is an awesome Cd for those people who want to have a tiny sample of all the great classical compositions. Track 61 and 63 are my favorite.

For the beginner. You will be surprised at how many of the 99 themes you recognize here. It is an easy introduction to classical music. Nice booklet too.

Excellent way to get started. I love the 90 second excerpts because it is constantly fresh. It's literally invigorating to listen to. And you absolutely can't beat the price. I play it all day long at work (Talking Book World) and the customers keep coming up saying, "Is that for sale?" But we carry only audiobooks. That last reviewer is an idiot. Buy it today and you won't be disapointed.

We used this with my little boy (aged 2-3), and he has LOVED it. We play "name that tune" in the car. It's really great that way.

For adults, well, I'm not sure how useful it would be. I mean, to get familiar with a few snippets of tunes like this isn't the same as getting familiar with classical music. At best it would whet your appetite for a lightweight introduction. It doesn't even count as a lightweight introduction itself.

Great for toddlers though.

My family likes to put this disc in on shuffle and play name that tune. I wish they made more discs like this, only with more obscure works.

good reference material for those liking to get familiar with the most popular pieces of classical music, and additionally it contains info about where one might have heard the tunes.

A useful if abbreviated guide to many well-known classical tunes so that the less photographically-memoried of us can find the name of a tune easily (as long as it's one of the many featured!) Of course its scope is necessarily limited and it only covers items recorded under the album's parent label, but a pleasing diversion and a useful aide-memoire anyhow. Given away now so I regret I cannot be more specific with the details!