Customer Reviews

I Love the 80s, Vol. 1 (1880s)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Using the NAXOS website, I've determined the Orchestra that performed each Symphony. The artist in the tag is actually the conductor.

Symphony no. 3 in F Major: Johannes Brahms - London Philharmonia Orchestra - Marin Alsop
Symphony no. 1 in D Major (Titan): Gustav Mahler - Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra - Michael Halasz
Symphony no. 5 in e minor, op 64: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra - Antoni Wit
Symphony no. 6 in D Major op. 60: Antonin Dvorak - Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra - Stephen Gunzenhauser
Symphony no. 3 in a minor (unfinished): Alexander Porfir'yevich Borodin - Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra - Stephen Gunzenhauser
Symphony no. 3 in c minor "Organ": Camille Saint-Saens - Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra - Imrich Szabo
Symphony no. 9 in d minor WAB 109: Anton Bruckner - Royal Scottish National Orchestra - Georg Tintner

Symphony no. 3 in F Major: Johannes Brahms
Symphony no. 1 in D Major (Titan): Gustav Mahler
Symphony no. 5 in e minor, op 64: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Symphony no. 6 in D Major op. 60: Antonin Dvorak
Symphony no. 3 in a minor (unfinished): Alexander Porfir'yevich Borodin
Symphony no. 3 in c minor "Organ": Camille Saint-Saens
Symphony no. 9 in d minor WAB 109: Anton Bruckner

As of October 7th, 2009, this album is totally free from Amazon. The selection of music is fantastic and the MP3s work with iTunes and is compatible with any MP3 player.

The bit rate on most to all of the tracks are above 200kpbs, joint stereo, and sample rate of 44hz.

Very soothing.

True, Amazon doesn't list the composers on the item page and that makes it difficult to know who composed each symphony. The price makes up for this however and you can see all the composers on the album cover artwork. The MP3s themselves are properly tagged (or at least the ones I've downloaded so far are) so you do get the composer info with the files themselves.

This Mp3 set from Amazon and Naxos is Seven Symphonies from Seven great composers.

First up the Brahms Symphony no. 3 with
Second the Mahler Symphony no. 1 with the Blumine Mvmt., included.
Third the Tchaikovsky Symphony no. 5
Fourth the Dvorak Symphony no. 6
Fifth the Borodin Symphony no. 3(Unfinished)
Sixth the Saint-Saens Symphony no. 3(Organ)
and last, but not least the
Bruckner Symphony no. 9 (Unfinished)
Five Hours Plus of Great Symphonic works all for free! All done in 256kbps. Mp3
Stereo Sound. All perfectly good performances from the Naxos Label. These are not merely samples from the works, they are complete performances of them. As they say free is good! These performances are good too!
Now how about a Volume 2??

Regarding the missing composers: The composer of each work is clearly recorded in the "Composer" ID3 tag, just where it belongs. Amazon is tagging them correctly, though with classical that can be a little confusing.

Love this music!

Also there is a very easy way to view the composer of each piece - and other information. Open the music in I-Tunes, then hit Ctrl-J. This brings up a box where you can check what information you want displayed in I-Tunes. Just check the 'Composer' box -- and there are the composers listed in your I-Tunes.

This collection consists of a set of fine performances of major orchestral works that debuted (if the title is to be trusted) in the 1880s. The 1880s fall in the late Romantic period, which means that these pieces are generally quite close to the mental picture most Americans have of classical music. The included pieces are complex and interesting enough for close listening, but also sufficiently well-behaved (no 20th Century atonality here!) to play in the background. I don't see how any classical music fan could be displeased with this collection.

Really, what more could you ask for? You like classical music and want some random titles listen to, just get this. It won't cost you a penny. The only thing you might not like would be to have to download the Amazon download manager, but don't worry. It's nothing like itunes. It'll help you download the music as mp3 format, so it's very flexible as to what music player it can play on.

Wonderful selection of fine music, peaceful and calming, restful and lovely. A beautiful gift from Amazon.

If you're using iTunes and would like to add the composer's name to the title of each selection:

Download music from Amazon
Open iTunes on your computer
Under Playlists, open your "Classical Music" folder
Under "Composers" on the left, click the name of one of the composers of this collection
(Brahms, Mahler, Tchaikovsky, Dvorak, Borodin, Saint-Saens, Bruckner)
Under "Names" to the right, highlight one selection
right-click the selection
select "Get Info" and left-click on it
choose the "Sorting" tab
In the "Name" box, type your preferred name for the selection
(I simply added the name of the composer before the name supplied)
Click 'OK'
Repeat for each selection by that composer
Move to the next composer and repeat the steps above

When each selection plays, you will see the name of the composer and the name of the piece (or whatever you chose to call it) on your iPod, iPhone, or computer.