Goofy TV Ad

[MasterCylinder]

Three or four years ago I saw an ad on TV for "the most relaxing Classical album in the world...ever !"

I never respond to such things but I decided to order this one to play in the desktop at work where something relaxing would be of significant change.

I play it once a month or so and I have really grown to like this arrangement of Classical works...............36 selections (2 CDs).


Anybody else buy this ?

[teej]

what's on it?

I suppose "relax" is a relative term: having my heart and soul absorbed in music IS relaxing. If I can kick back and passively enjoy it, that may be more relaxing than say, concentrating like mad trying to count out the measures in some Portnoy induced madness of alternating time signatures (rest assured I fail miserably). But I would say both activities are relaxing endeavors.


There are too many intricacies going on in most classical music that my head tries to figure out. I had some Christopher Parkening playing Vivaldi concertos on the other day and a coworker walked by wondering how I wasn't falling asleep with such relaxing music. I had to laugh as I was responding to the music with far too much attention trying to visualize how he was creating such tone and emotions out of his guitar. It got a bit too distracting so I had to switch to some metal prog for white noise...of course that didn't work either.

I do remember a goofy TV ad that begins with the theme from the Polovetsian Dances by Borodin with some guy saying, "remember this wonderful melody? Most people know it as 'A Stranger in Paradise" but did you know it originally is the Polovetsian Dances from the opera Prince Igor?" or something like that. One day when I had the Borodin piece cranked on my dorm stereo (The Telarc pressing with the flip side having the killer Firebird Suite) someone popped his head in my room quoting the ad: "remember this wonderful melody?" Of course, this would have been 27 years ago....my God, and to think I can remember the ad AND the incident in my dorm! Sheesh.

And for the record, the Telarc recording of the Firebird Suite/Plovetsian Dances would never make anyone's top 10 most relaxing albums.

cheerios,
tj

[Auricauricle]

I think you head the nail on the head...Good music, no matter what genre, is never relaxing: it is absorbing and involves every ounce and fibre of your being.

Relaxing?

Ha!!

[MasterCylinder]

Track list :

Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D major, BWV 1068 Air 'on the G string'
Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach
Performed by Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields
Conducted by Neville Marriner


Peer Gynt, incidental music, Op. 23 Morning
Composed by Edvard Grieg
with Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields
Conducted by Neville Marriner


Canon and gigue, for 3 violins & continuo in D major, T. 337 Canon
Composed by Johann Pachelbel
Performed by Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields
Conducted by Neville Marriner


Cantata No. 147, "Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben," BWV 147 (BC A174) Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring
Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach
Performed by Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields
Conducted by David Willcocks


Gymnopedie for piano No.1
Composed by Erik Satie
Conducted by Louis Fremaux


Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major ("Elvira Madigan") K. 467 Andante
Composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
with Stephen Hough
Conducted by Bryden Thomson


Lakmé, opera Viens, Mallika
Composed by Leo Delibes
with Mady Mesple, Danielle Millet
Conducted by Alain Lombard


Requiem, for 2 solo voices, chorus, organ & orchestra, Op. 48 In Paradisum
Composed by Gabriel Faure
Conducted by David Willcocks


Clair de lune, for piano (Suite Bergamasque No. 3), L. 75/3
Composed by Claude Debussy
with Dame Moura Lympany


Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64 Andante
Composed by Felix Mendelssohn
with Yehudi Menuhin
Conducted by Efrem Kurtz


The Swan (from "Carnival of the Animals"), original (for 2 pianos & ensemble) and arrangements
Composed by Camille Saint-Saens
with Osian Ellis, Jacqueline du Pre


Symphony No. 3, Op. 36 ("Symphony of Sorrowful Songs") Lento e largo - Tranquillissimo
Composed by Henryk Gorecki
with Osian Ellis, Jacqueline du Pre


Concerto for flute, harp & orchestra in C major, K. 299 (K. 297c) Andantino
Composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
with James Galway, Fritz Helmis
Conducted by Herbert von Karajan


Violin Concerto, for violin, strings & continuo in F minor ("L'inverno," The Four Seasons; "Il cimento" No. 4), Op. 8/4, RV 297 Unspecified excerpt
Composed by Antonio Vivaldi
with Yehudi Menuhin, Lysy Gstaad
Conducted by Alberto Lysy


Enigma Variations, for orchestra, Op. 36 Nimrod
Composed by Edward Elgar
Conducted by Sir Adrian Boult


Blow the Wind--Pie Jesu
Composed by Jocelyn Pook
with Melanie Pappenheim, Jocelyn Pook, Kathleen Ferrier


Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini (Introduction and 24 Variations), in A minor for piano & orchestra, Op. 43 Variation 18
Composed by Sergey Rachmaninov
with Cecile Ousset
Conducted by Simon Rattle


Pavane, for orchestra & chorus ad lib in F sharp minor, Op. 50
Composed by Gabriel Faure
with Gareth Morris
Conducted by David Willcocks


Cantata No. 140, "Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme," BWV 140 (BC A166) Zion hört die Wächter singen (Sleepers, wake!)
Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach
with Consortium Musicum
Conducted by Wolfgang Gonnenwein


Adagio, for violin, strings & organ in G minor, T. Mi 26 (composed by Remo Giazotto; not by Albinoni)
Composed by Tomaso Albinoni
Performed by Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields
Conducted by Neville Marriner


Minuet in A major, arrangements (after String Quintet in E major, Op.11/5 [aka Op. 13/5], G. 275)
Composed by Luigi Boccherini
Performed by Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields
Conducted by Neville Marriner


Concerto for harpsichord, strings & continuo No. 5 in F minor, BWV 1056 Largo
Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach
Performed by Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields
with Andrei Gavrilov
Conducted by Neville Marriner


Méditation, violin & orchestra version and various arrangements (from opera "Thäis")
Composed by Jules Massenet
with Hans Kalafusz
Conducted by Neville Marriner


Piano Sonata No. 14 in C sharp minor ("Moonlight"), Op. 27/2 Adagio sostenuto
Composed by Ludwig van Beethoven
with Dame Moura Lympany


Les contes d'Hoffmann, opera in 4 acts Belle nuit, ô nuit d'amour (Barcacarolle)
Composed by Jacques Offenbach
with Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Jeannine Collard
Conducted by Andre Cluytens


Double Mandolin Concerto, for 2 mandolins, strings & continuo in G major, RV 532 Andante
Composed by Antonio Vivaldi
with Barrington Pheloung, Nigel North


Clarinet Concerto in A major, K. 622 Adagio (excerpt)
Composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
with Jack Brymer
Conducted by Sir Thomas Beecham


Cavalleria rusticana, opera (melodramma) in 1 act Intermezzo
Composed by Pietro Mascagni
Conducted by Riccardo Muti


Serenade for string orchestra in E major, B. 52 (Op. 22) Moderato
Composed by Antonin Dvorak
Conducted by Christopher Warren-Green


Gianni Schicchi, opera O mio babbino caro
Composed by Giacomo Puccini
with Montserrat Caballe
Conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras


Fantasia on Greensleeves, for harp, flute & strings (arranged by R. Greaves; from the opera "Sir John In Love")
Composed by Ralph Vaughan Williams
with The City of London Sinfonia
Conducted by Sir John Barbirolli


Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18 Adagio sostenuto
Composed by Sergey Rachmaninov
with Cecile Ousset
Conducted by Simon Rattle


Nocturne for string orchestra (arranged by Malcolm Sargent from String Quartet No. 2)
Composed by Alexander Borodin
Performed by Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields
Conducted by Neville Marriner


Concierto de Aranjuez for guitar & orchestra Adagio
Composed by Joaquin Rodrigo
with Julian Bream


Adagio for strings (or string quartet; arr. from 2nd mvt. of String Quartet), Op. 11
Composed by Samuel Barber
Conducted by Eugene Ormandy


Carmen, opera, overtures & intermezzi for orchestra Entr'acte to Act III
Composed by Georges Bizet
Conducted by Seiji Ozawa

[02audionoob]

Maybe I'm misunderstanding the term 'relaxing' but to me, it seems like any music you enjoy is relaxing. Thrash metal could be relaxing if that's what you like.

[teej]

[QUOTE=MasterCylinder]Track list :

Peer Gynt, incidental music, Op. 23 Morning
Composed by Edvard Grieg
with Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields
Conducted by Neville Marriner

---agreed...a lot of light fluffy clouds in Peer Gynt, but a guy will wake up by the time he reaches the Hall of the Mountain King.

The Pachabel Canon and Satie's Gymnopedie are definately of the now-I-lay-me-down-to-sleep sort of the thing. I think both of these pieces are overplayed...even non-classical music fans will recognize this stuff thinking, "haven't I heard this before just the other day?" One of Satie's Gymnopedie even appeard on the Blood Sweat and Tears album that everyone has. And if you don't own that BS&T album, it's the one that you see at every other garage sale in town.


Concierto de Aranjuez for guitar & orchestra Adagio
Composed by Joaquin Rodrigo
with Julian Bream

I'm shocked here....Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez to relax a person? It must be the guitarist in me coz this piece is a riveting gut wrencher. I know it's just the adagio section here and I gotta confess I can't bring up that section in my memory right now...but you really gotta hear this piece in its entirety. If you like this, try Rodrigo's Concierto para Gentilhombre. My fav....it's based on a theme by Gaspar Sanz (hardcore ELP fans will recognize this as the instrumental tune on Love Beach)

tj

[MasterCylinder]

One of Satie's Gymnopedie even appeard on the Blood Sweat and Tears album that everyone has. And if you don't own that BS&T album, it's the one that you see at every other garage sale in town.
tj

I really like Gymnopedie.............It is difficult to not like it............good bedroom music, if you know what I mean.


BTW, I've seen Parkening play here with our local symphony twice.........good stuff.