World Anthems

John [Film Composer] Williams (Composer), Spanish Traditional (Composer), Peter Dodds McCormick (Composer), Polish Traditional (Composer), Francisco Silva y Valdes (Composer), Friedrich Kuhlau (Composer), Kenyan Traditional (Composer), Calixa Lavallee (Composer), Anonymous (Composer), Nie Erh (Composer), Francois Van Campenhout (Composer), Austrian Anonymous (Composer), Ferenc Erkel (Composer), Rikard Nordraak (Composer), August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben (Composer), John [04] Stafford Smith (Composer), Nicolaos Mantzaros (Composer), Dutch Anonymous (Composer), Hiromori Hayashi (Composer), Samuel Cohen (Composer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Composer: John [Film Composer] Williams, Spanish Traditional, Peter Dodds McCormick, Polish Traditional, Francisco Silva y Valdes, et al.
• Audio CD (June 16, 1998)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: RCA
• ASIN: B000007QGU
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #81,301 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #87 in Music > Classical > Opera & Vocal > Vocal Non-Opera > Anthems

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Some excellent tracks., August 12, 2000

By 

Mr Robert N Hayes (DARWEN, Lancashire, United Kingdom) - See all my reviews

This review is from: World Anthems (Audio CD)

With twenty-nine national anthems and John Williams' "Olympic Theme", this album offers a reasonable variety of anthems. (Curiously, there is nothing from the USSR/CIS/Russia!) The recording quality is excellent. The interpretation of the anthems seems to attempt to give an 'appropriate' national flavour to each one. This does not always seem to work. For example, China's "Ch'i Lai!" sounds more like incidental music than a national anthem. There is an interesting rendition of France's "La Marseillaise". While it lacks the 'big' sound usually associated with this anthem, it is distinctive - and is probably a quite good representation of how it might have sounded back in 1792. If, however, you prefer the 'big' sound this version will be a disappointment. Argentina's "Sean eternos los laurales", Canada's "O! Canada" and John Williams' "Olympic Theme" are excellent, but Belgium's "La Brabanconne/Het Belgisch Volkslied" is disappointing and dirge-like. The anthems are performed by a chamber orchestra and consequently have neither the 'big' sound of a full orchestra, nor the martial sound of a military band. The album takes a distinctive approach to the anthems. Whether this approach works is ultimately a matter of personal taste. If you enjoy the more intimate sound of a chamber orchestra, this album will probably be to your taste.