[Bigguy]

I picked it up on the first day. It is not available now for some unknown reason. I had a problem during the download and track #8 is corrupted but all the others seem fine. It has a total of 10.9 hours of nice music. Well worth $5.99 to me.

 

[Bryan T]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Philimon /img/forum/go_quote.gif I really wanted something that was a collection of the most popular pieces... And if these really are just four minute excerpts, then I think it would have been easier/faster for me to get an understanding of what I may like and then I could buy more from there.

They aren't four minute excerpts. For longer pieces, they chose movements. Some of the tracks are nearly 18 minutes long.

Bryan

 

[bigshot]

One movement from a symphony or concerto might as well be a four minute bleeding chunk. Classical music isn't the same as "songs". The best way to find out what you like is to ask someone with knowledge of that area of music for advice, then take a trip to your local public library.

See ya
Steve

 

[RedBeanPaste]

6 cents a song. Only if they had my type of music

 

[analogbox]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bigguy /img/forum/go_quote.gif I picked it up on the first day. It is not available now for some unknown reason. I had a problem during the download and track #8 is corrupted but all the others seem fine. It has a total of 10.9 hours of nice music. Well worth $5.99 to me.

I just checked it too and can't seem to find it now. Following the original link says that it's not available in US. Maybe it wasn't meant to be released in US but accidentally did? Or they are having some problems with record companies over shares? It'd be such a shame for this deal to disappear.

 

[Bryan T]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigshot /img/forum/go_quote.gif One movement from a symphony or concerto might as well be a four minute bleeding chunk. Classical music isn't the same as "songs". The best way to find out what you like is to ask someone with knowledge of that area of music for advice, then take a trip to your local public library. See ya Steve

You don't think that sections of pieces can stand on their own? I hear lots of preludes performed as standalone pieces, particularly Bach. I also regularly hear sections of Mozart's Requiem, Vivaldi's Four Seasons, and other works used on their own. I prefer to hear the entire piece, but it is typically movements that an unfamiliar listener will have heard, typically from a film. A collection like this is great for a person to identify things that they've heard before and liked, but didn't know the name of. Then they can dig deeper.

Bryan

 

[bigshot]

Listening to classical music in bits and chunks is like watching just the shower sequence in Psycho, or reading just the first chapter and last chapter of Tale of Two Cities. You might get some idea of what the music is about, but you certainly haven't listened to it.

Architecture is very important in classical music. It's the structure of the piece that makes it great, not just the filagrees around the door mouldings.

It isn't difficult to get out on the right step in classical music on the cheap. All you need to do is ask someone who knows for a few tips and then go to your local public library.

See ya
Steve

 

[Bryan T]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigshot /img/forum/go_quote.gif Listening to classical music in bits and chunks is like watching just the shower sequence in Psycho, or reading just the first chapter and last chapter of Tale of Two Cities. You might get some idea of what the music is about, but you certainly haven't listened to it.

Exactly, but it is enough to whet your appetite, isn't it? Or perhaps enough to remind you that you've heard it before and inform you of the composer/title?

I'm not suggesting that downloading the "100 Most Popular Movements in Classical Music" is the way to build a classical music library. Rather, it is a great way to get your feet wet and see what you recognize or like and then you can dig from there.

Bryan

 

[tim_the_gamer]

As someone with a modestly small classical collection (~150 cds), I found it a nice purchase especially at 5.99 as it reminded me of the names of a few pieces that I know I have sitting around somewhere. Sometimes when I purchase a classical cd, I buy it for a specific piece on there and usually there are some additional pieces that I might not pay as much attention to so this is a nice little reminder.

It's also on my wife's ipod so when it's the only thing available, it's nice for on the go or in the car where I won't be doing any critical listening. I have yet to rip any of my personal collection so until that happens this allows me to get a small fix when away from my main system.

The library idea is a good one. It would sure save me a lot of money

 

[Miffopro]

It's back up again on iTunes!

Seems to be available all over the world, at least the ten-or-so Western countries I looked up.

 

[analogbox]

It is indeed. Although, I'm afraid some of the tracks might've been replaced, it's still a nice list. I guess they were having some license issues. Oh, well.

 

[Philimon]

Thanks for the heads up!

DOWNLOADING NOW!

 

[yelo]

Unfortunately, this seems deal seems to be gone.

There is another 100 song/$5.99 deal going now, though. Just search for "Classical Relaxation Collection - the Greatest Tunes On Earth". By my (very rough) estimation, you only get about 5 hours for your $5.99 instead of the 10 hours of the original deal. Still, 5 hours for $5.99 isn't all bad, right?

Edit: Link to classical relaxation collection

 

[bigshot]

You can get twenty CD sets of bad classical performances at Costco for ten or twelve bucks. Honestly, with lousy performances from small orchestras from obscure European countries isn't going to introduce anyone to anything, much less act as a gateway to Classical music. There are thousands of big label 70+ minute CDs for $7 to $9 that have amazingly great performances of wonderful works. Why waste time just to save a few bucks? All you end up with is 10 hours of music that sits unplayed in your cue.

See ya
Steve

 

[zumaro]

You know sometimes I go back to classic books and movies just to relook at parts that particularly moved or interested me. Admittedly I tend to already know the work well enough to do this, but I see no problem with snippets being used to entice me in further as well. And if I never get beyond a classic movie excerpt, in inferior quality on youtube, or the odd paragraph from great literature quoted somewhere, then its definitely my considerable loss, but I am still better off than if I had never seen them.

I have no problems with these kind of greatest hits collections, even though probably 90% of my listening is to whole classical works - rarely would I listen to a single movement...