~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Simply The Best Classical Anthems is a compilation album of ‘36 of the most powerful Anthems on Earth’. But, it is also said to be something else. It is said to be a gateway. A gateway to another world. A world where our imagination can run free without being shackled down by any borders or boundaries or rules or limits. A world that we have all seen or perhaps more accurately have all heard of but for many of us a world that we have never dared to enter. Never dared to enter because of fear. The fear of being ostracised and shunned by our community. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
THE MYTH ‘Classical Music!’, I can hear some of you cry. ‘That isn’t another world. That’s just music for the upperclass, the high-brow, and the pompous.’ Surprisingly, I too felt this way for a long time until I accepted the invitation made to me by Simply The Best Classical Anthems. I always felt that Classical Music was nice to listen to as background music for a Levis ad or a Car ad but I would consider people strange if they chose to hear it on its own. However, after having listened to this album I realised how wrong I was in my assumptions.
THE TRUTH Music as with all forms of amusement helps to take you away from where you are now. It helps to relax you when you are stressed with anger; it helps to give you strength when you are vulnerable; it helps to keep your spirits up when you have faced tragedy or loss. It helps. And, for me the type of music that best conjures up the most passionate emotions (love, hate, courage and anger) at our most testing times is Classical Music. How? I don’t know. Why? I don’t know. I can only promise you that in my experience it does.
THE CHEST The album, in visual terms, is very difficult to overlook amongst the plethora of records that may surround it. This is because the album has a very distinct purple sleeve cover. Not any kind of purple mind you but the Cadbury’s kind of purple. The kind of purple that carries with it an invitation. An invitation that if accepted promises you a treasure inside. And since, I have always enjoyed the treasure within the purple Cadbury’s Dairy Milk wrapper, I asked myself why would an album carrying the same invitation promise to be anything different? Thus, I parted with my tuppence worth and went back home to open this purple chest of promised treasures.
THE PROMISED TREASURE As you may have guessed, the contents of the album are somewhat different to the contents of a Cadbury’s bar. When I opened the album, I was presented with two compact discs. At first glance, there did not seem to be anything special about them. They were just your average, everyday, run of the mill compact discs. To tell you the truth, I was a bit disappointed because I suppose I had hoped for something more. However, looks can be deceptive. (Afterall, a Cadbury’s Dairy Milk does not seem very appetising until you taste it!) And, also come November each year, I am always bemused and surprised at how the shabby contents of a cardboard box can both light up the sky and light up the faces of the neighbourhood. Thus, I pushed aside my assumptions and I ignited the discs (not literally of course, I just pressed the play button on the CD player). And, I let the fireworks begin.
THE KEY From the very beginning, you will feel like you have unlocked the doorway to something special. And, after a full two hours of listening to both discs, you will feel like you have been taken out of this world and transported to another. Welcome to the world of Classical Music.
GUIDANCE In the beginning, continue to listen to both discs in one go (i.e. one after the other). After a while, you will know which tracks you enjoy listening to the most. For those tracks you enjoyed the most make a promise to yourself that you will listen to the whole of the piece from which that track came from. Good Luck on your quest if you choose to accept it. Ride amongst the Valkyries, listen to the Flight of the Bumblebees, and use The Planets to keep you on the path.
I am not a good reviewer because as with all of my reviews I refuse to comment too much about what is inside the product but rather more about what effect the product has had on me. (Me, me, me. Vain & Egotistic, I know, so my friends and family keep telling me). But, I just want to cause a raucous about the product, enough not to spoil but enough of a raucous to let you experience it for yourself.
So my final words are: Simply The Best Classical Anthems is an invitation. An invitation to the world of classical music. A world where you can begin a never-ending quest of curiosity. A curiosity that will always be rewarded with fulfilment.
Do you accept such an invitation?
Simply The Best Classical Anthems Classical Music Compilation Album Approx. Running Time 2:06:44 ASIN B00002MXR4
SCALAY (Stay Cool And Look After Yourself) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CD 1
1. Dies Irae (from Requiem) by Verdi 2. O Fortuna (from Carmina Burana) by Orff 3. Mars (from The Planets) by Holst 4. The Ride Of The Valkyries (from Die Walkure) by Wagner 5. Chorus Of The Hebrew Slaves (from Nabucco) by Verdi 6. Fanfare For The Common Man by Copland 7. Pomp And Circumstance March – No. 1 by Elgar 8. Grand March (from Aida) by Verdi 9. Presto (from Summer – Four Seasons) by Vivaldi 10. Prelude (from Te Deum) by Charpentier 11. The Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra by Britten 12. Tocatta And Fugue in D Minor by Bach 13. First Movement (from Symphony No. 5) by Beethoven 14. Adagio (from Spartacus) by Khachaturian 15. Sabre Dance (from Gayaneh) by Khachaturian 16. First Movement (from Symphony No. 40) by Mozart 17. Zadok The Priest by Handel 18. Nessun Dorma (from Turandot) by Puccini
CD 2 1. Also Sprach Zarahoustra by Strauss 2. Dance Of The Knights (from Romeo And Juliet) by Prokofiev 3. Dies Irae (from Requiem) by Mozart 4. 1812 Overture by Tchaikovsky 5. Piano Concerto by Grieg 6. Allegro (from Spring – Four Seasons) by Vivaldi 7. Hallelujah Chorus (from Messiah) by Handel 8. La Réjouissance From Music (from The Royal Fireworks) by Handel 9. Flight Of The Bumble Bee by Rimsky-Korsakov 10. March To The Scaffold from Symphonie Fantastique by Berlioz 11. Overture (from Carmen) by Bizet 12. Eine Kleine Nachtmusik by Mozart 13. Jerusalem by Parry 14. Jupiter (from The Planets) – Holst 15. Symphony No. 9 'Ode To Joy' by Beethoven 16. Scene (from Swan Lake) by Tchaikovsky 17. Nimrod (from Enigma Variations) by Elgar 18. Rhapsody On A Theme Of Paganini (Variation 18) by Rachmaninov 19. Promenade (from Pictures At An Exhibition) by Mussorgsky 20. Finale: Symphony For Organ No. 3 by Saint-Saens
*(Apologies for the abscence of film titles. But, on further discussion, I realised that this may have the opposite effect of what I wanted to achieve)*
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