Classical Music for People Who Hate Classical Music [BOX SET]

Johann Sebastian Bach (Composer), Samuel Barber (Composer), Ludwig van Beethoven (Composer), Georges Bizet (Composer), Alexander Borodin (Composer), Jeremiah Clarke (Composer), Claude Debussy (Composer), Antonin Dvorak (Composer), George Gershwin (Composer), Edvard Grieg (Composer), George Frederick Handel (Composer), Franz Joseph Haydn (Composer), Aram Khachaturian (Composer), Felix Mendelssohn (Composer), Jean-Joseph Mouret (Composer), Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Composer), Jacques Offenbach (Composer), Carl Orff (Composer), Johann Pachelbel (Composer), Sergey Prokofiev (Composer)

Product Details

• Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach, Samuel Barber, Ludwig van Beethoven, Georges Bizet, Alexander Borodin, et al.
• Audio CD (June 9, 1994)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 4
• Format: Box set
• Note on Boxed Sets: During shipping, discs in boxed sets occasionally become dislodged without damage. Please examine and play these discs. If you are not completely satisfied, we'll refund or replace your purchase.
• Label: Compendia
• ASIN: B000003QWH
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (45 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #56,553 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #5 in	Music > Classical > Featured Performers, A-Z > ( H ) > Houston Symphony Orchestra
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  #29 in	Music > Classical > Featured Performers, A-Z > ( A ) > Atlanta Symphony Orchestra

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous set!, December 6, 1999

By A Customer

I am a musician and I generally dislike classical compilation CD's, but my friend brought this in to work one day and I was hooked. It covers many different styles of classical music with a wonderful combination of pieces. The only negative for me was that some of the longer pieces had to be cut down to fit them on, but that was minor when compared with all of the good things in this set. I recommend it for musicians and non-musicians alike.

33 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Ear-Candy and good introduction to Classical Music, January 17, 2004

By	C. Chu - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This compilation offers the most popular themes and familiar tunes in small doses, in a sampler. Unless you've lived under a rock, you can't have helped but have heard of some of these tunes, whether at a wedding, or as background music to some action scene in a movie. You get 4 CDs for the price of 1, so it's a great value, and who cares if they are not the most famous orchestras or performers. The only thing is that the pieces are somewhat abridged, and are designed to please the uninitiated, hence ear-candy. Good enough to whet your appetite for something more substantial and a start a music appreciation.

273 of 345 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Why not just listen to the real stuff?, February 7, 2003

By	John Grabowski (USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

It frightens me that so many musicians and aspiring musicians below me (and no doubt, by now above me too) are praising this CD. If you want to learn about this music, as they claim they do, here's a radical thought: why not go out and get the actual recordings? The ones here are just excerpts, from no-name performers and orchestras. If you were interested in Shakespeare would you read one soliloquy from Hamlet? If you were interested in Dickens, would one chapter from Copperfield do? Part of studying music is understanding how sections relate to one another, how they develop and evolve and progress over time. Just "knowing the melody" to Eine Kleine Nachtmusik tells you no more about Mozart than knowing the line "We All Live In A Yellow Submarine" tells you anything worth a damn about the Beatles. Music students--even beginners--who think they are getting an education from this rubbish are fooling themselves.

Some will oppose this view and say everyone needs an eezie introduction to classical music. That's fine. There are plenty of them--and I've reviewed and endorsed a number of them. But some introductions are so "easy" that they've literally had all the content removed, but want to give you the illusion you are learning so you feel good about forking over your bucks.

But my complaints will probably fall on deaf ears, and soon the top of this review will say something like "0 of 96 people found this review helpful." Sad. People like the easy, no-effort way in everthing, be it dieting, "spirituality" or music appreciation. So fear not if you order this: you won't have to stretch yourself in any way, but you'll be led to believe you have learned something in the end. God bless us all.