(The) Masters of the French Harpsichord

Advantages: fantastic music
Disadvantages: Very rare recording, Very expensive

...directed by Philip Picket. This is dance music, taken from Terpischore published by Michael Praetorius [c.1571-1621] in 1612. He stated in the frontice piece to the work that these dances are as the French dancing Masters play them, to entertain and delight Princely tables and banquets. Whilst the French normally used string instruments for their instruction in Dance, there was a whole wealth of other instruments available and Praetorius included bass line in some of the tunes. Other Courts used other instruments and many of these tunes would be well known through out Europe. Dance played an important role in the Renaissance court. It was a way for people to meet for one thing. Here a man could show to advantage and perhaps gain a Noble Patron. The music could be played as an accompaniment to a banquet, and whilst the chief persons were... Read review

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Advantages: One of Queens Greatest Albums
Disadvantages: May not be to everyones taste at first

...Mercury. This is a great guitar song about, obviously, a battle between Ogres. Much of Queens early work had reference to mythical and fantasy creatures like fairies, ogres and royalty / queens. (9/10) 7) Fairy Fellers Master Stroke : An amazing display of versatility by Queen showing they can play songs in different styles. Loads of Harpsichord, unusual lyrics, great guitar & harmony. (10/10) 8) Nevermore : A short song which I enjoy playing on piano myself. It is a simple song consisting of 2 verses, piano, vocal harmony and Freddie. (9/10) 9) The March of the Black Queen : All I can say is Wow! Where did Queen get their ideas for songs? This song could only have been written by Queen. The lyrics are unusual, musically the song has the most unusual chords I have seen and the song just seems to work so well. (10/10) 10) Funny How Love... Read review

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Advantages: Two outstanding peices of chamber music for an unusual combination of instruments
Disadvantages: On the surface quite contrasting works, listener must be openminded

...The work of Ligeti has been at the forefront of Western avant-garde since his escape from the oppressive communist regime of Hungary in 1956, and he is widely appreciated as one of the most outstanding contemporary composers. The Trio for Violin, Horn and Piano because it was born out of a three-year period of illness and writer's block after the completion of Le Grand Macabre in which time he laboured over a piano concerto but completed only two short harpsichord pieces (Continuum and Hungarian Rock), yet the result in 1982 was the Trio, one of the finest and most complex pieces written so far. His career up to this point had included such sucesses as his Requiem, Atmosphères and the soundtrack for Stanley Kubrick's film 2001. Tiring of his own cluster-textural techniques and the avant-garde, Ligeti refreshed his compositional... Read review

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