Dvorák: Orchestral Works

Advantages: Beautiful and original arrangements
Disadvantages: Can seem pretentious

...1967 was a first for many things... concept albums, lyrics on the sleeve, new and exciting production techniques, and of course, the first symphonic rock album. After a line-up change from their original RnB band, The Moody Blues were commissioned to record a rock version of Dvorak's New World Symphony. Quite understandably, they scrapped the idea and commenced with one on a scale just as grand: Days Of Future Passed. A concept album about a day, from dawn through to dusk, Days Of Future Passed's most noteable feature is the presence of the London Festival Orchestra, which wasn't scrapped with the Dvorak idea. The eight songs on the album are joined together by orchestral sections, arranged and conducted by Peter Knight. Some of the sections are entirely new, but many of them reprise melodies from the band's songs on the album, giving... Read review

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Advantages: Great performances of popular favourites and some rare gems
Disadvantages: Barely none, with perhaps slight issues with sound.

...Compilation albums of classical music are often a somewhat hit and miss affair. Great for the beginner, not so much for a seasoned collector. Therefore finding compilations that step outside of the norm in offering something else from the evergreens like Eine kleine Nachtmusik, Vivaldi's Four Seasons, or Beethoven's Fifth Symphony and include some rarer gems is a thing that is ever so more interesting. Such was the sensation when I chanced upon this album, entitled "Colours of the Orchestra", a collection of orchestral treats that in various ways showcase the versatility and richness of a symphony orchestra. There is a number of composers included, all sequenced alphabetically, this set containing people from A to G. This album was then followed by a second collection that continued from where the first one ended, but personally I haven... Read review

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Advantages: It is simply one of the finest pieces of music ever written
Disadvantages: How dare you ask of any disadvantges!?!

...THE MAN: SIR EDWARD ELGAR It's probably futile for me to tell you who is Edward Elgar. To the British readers here he holds about the same position as Sibelius does for me as a Finn, being THE composer whose musical language captures the ideologies of the country, working as a kind of stereotypical signature for the people. Elgar was born in 1857 as the son of a music shop owner and through a course of self-instruction became a masterful orchestrator and soon found himself as a reknowned choral composer with a great deal of choral works and other religiously titled pieces to his credit. However, it was not until 1899 that his reputation was sealed as a truly great composer when he wrote the masterful "Variations on an Original Theme 'Enigma'", which contained musical portraits of friends of Elgar and became an instant success. After... Read review

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