The Dancing Master (first edition: The English Dancing Master) is a dancing manual containing the music and instructions for English Country Dances. It was published in several editions by John Playford and his successors from 1651 until c1728. The first edition contained 105 dances with single line melodies; subsequent editions introduced new songs and dances, while dropping others, and the work eventually encompassed three volumes. Dances from The Dancing Master were re-published in arrangements by Cecil Sharp in the early 20th century, and in these reconstructed forms remain popular among dancers today.
This is a St Matthew Passion which should please many readers. Bruggen’s interpretation is eloquent, thoughtful in matters of style and expressive content, and it benefits from a textural clarity which few competitors can rival. All aspects of Bach’s miraculous score are taken into account.
Böhm was reported to have told the Wiener Philharmoniker towards the end of his life "I loved you as one can only love a woman". Listening to this boxset, capturing the Concertgebouworkest at the peak of its powers (between 1935 and June 1941), still at a commendable level (between July 1941 and 1944) before having to rebuild from the ashes of war (1945 to 1947) to finally come back to the highest level (1949-1950), the careful auditor has history in the making unfolding with its drama, its joys, but essentially its incommensurable beauty.
The piece consists of several cuts that, except for the introduction and the end, are the repetition of a single musical phrase interpreted - with just a few very subtle changes - with different instruments. Very interesting and, as always Sakamoto in his calm facet, very evocative.
Assembled with the cooperation of the band, Styx's entry in Universal's 20th Century Masters – The Millennium Collection series of discount-priced best-of's, surveys the group's tenure at A&M Records, where they scored most of their popular success. Of course, the early hit "Lady," recorded for RCA-distributed Wooden Nickel Records (and thus in the vaults of rival major label BMG), is not included. Neither are the Top Ten hit "Don't Let It End," or the Top 20 hit "Renegade" (mistakenly called a Top Ten hit in the liner notes). But the rest of Styx's big A&M hits – "Too Much Time on My Hands," "Come Sail Away," "Mr. Roboto," "The Best of Times," "Babe," "Show Me the Way" – are on the disc, along with several Top 40 entries and the popular album track "Boat on the River," from 1979's Cornerstone LP. Now, fans reluctant to put out the money for Styx's two volumes of Greatest Hits can have the bulk of their radio hits on one inexpensive album.
20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection - Chuck Mangione gathers ten of the jazz-pop maestro's best-known performances, including "Land of Make Believe," "Feels So Good," "Chase the Clouds Away," and "Children of Sanchez." As with the other Mangione compilations available, 20th Century Masters focuses on his '70s heyday, and while this collection doesn't offer anything particularly different, it's also a good starting point for anyone interested in one of crossover jazz's pioneering, and most successful, artists.
As Robert Fripp had done with King Crimson's first live LP, Earthbound (1972), USA is a single-disc concert package documenting the quartet during its 1974 swing through North America. As with its predecessor, USA was also issued as a sonic cenotaph of the concurrently defunct Krim. So insistent that the band would not be resurrected, Fripp concluded the LP's liner notes at the time with another three-letter epitaph: "R.I.P." The 1973/1974 King Crimson included the collective efforts of Fripp (guitar/Mellotron), David Cross (violin), John Wetton (bass/vocals), and Bill Bruford (drums/percussion).