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Composers' Letters
- Narrated by: Jeremy Nicholas, Daniel Philpott, Edward de Souza
- Length: 2 hrs and 28 mins
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Composers' Letters
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Editorial reviews
In a perfect and perfectly delightful use of the audio format, this offering pairs accomplished and well-cast actors with letters written by famous composers. The letters are given chronologically, from J.S. Bach's writing about career and money difficulties in the seventeenth century through the letters of Hayden, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, and others up to Tchaikovsky and Stravinsky in the twentieth. A brief and helpful historical note precedes each composer's section, and, best of all, the music he's writing about accompanies and illuminates the words. Age-appropriate actors voice composers writing in old age while lighter, boyish voices bring us young Mozart or Chopin as a determined and very broke youth writing home from Paris.
Publisher's summary
In Composers' Letters, the voices of the great figures of classical music come alive through their correspondence. Set against the music we know and love, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Wagner, Tchaikovsky, and many more talk openly about their music, their hopes and fears, their lives, their sadness, and their struggles in realizing their artistic hopes in a commercial world. Poignant, funny, revealing, informative and so often direct and honest, these letters offer a fascinating insight into the personalities that created our Western musical tradition.
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What listeners say about Composers' Letters
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- J. Grablowski
- 09-02-18
A Charming Little Collection.
Loving all the great composers I was pleasantly surprised Naxos has made this delightful collection. For any lover of classical musoc, I would highly recommend. For others, it will probably not mean much. Listen to the masters’ work then come back to this little book.
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Terry Huud
- 01-07-20
Music overpowers the narrative
Whose idea was it to mix the music so loud that you can’t hear the narrative? It’s also very inconsistent from track to track.
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