Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky was the author of some of the most popular themes in all of classical music. He founded no school, struck out no new paths or compositional methods, and sought few innovations in his works. Yet the power and communicative sweep of his best music elevates it to classic status, even if it lacks the formal boldness and harmonic sophistication heard in the compositions of his contemporaries, Wagner and Bruckner. It was Tchaikovsky's unique melodic charm that could, whether in his Piano Concerto No. 1 or in his ballet The Nutcracker or in his tragic last symphony, make the music sound familiar on first hearing.

Wagram Music Presents Christmas Noel Essentials: Celebrate with Joy Thanks to Crooners and Divas Classics! album original hits and the original artists genre Jazz, Blues. Includes tracks by Bobby Helms, Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby and more.

Blind Lemon Jefferson was one of the most important, influential and successful of the early bluesmen, a singer, songwriter and guitarist who has been called The Father Of Texas Blues, and he was one of the earliest and most prominent figures in the blues movement that developed in the Deep Ellum area of Dallas. He was one of the first solo guitarist/vocalists in the commercial recording world, being invited to Chicago in early 1926 to do his first sessions for Paramount. His high-pitched voice and unusual guitar style made him a distinctive performer, writing songs about everyday life and experiences, and his skilful guitar playing and impressive vocal range created opportunities for other solo performers like Charley Patton and Furry Lewis. This substantial and excellent-value 87-track 4-CD collection comprises, as far as we are aware, every recording he made which was commercially released, primarily comprising his releases on Paramount, but also featuring titles he made in a brief foray to the Okeh label, and including a couple of titles he made as a member of the Paramount All Stars. He wrote and recorded many classics of the genre, all of which are featured here, and the collection is a comprehensive and definitive showcase for an innovative blues pioneer.

The most beautiful country & folk songs by Brent Cobb, The Byrds, Poco, Bonnie Raitt and many more on one compilation!

Legendary Cuban guitarist Compay Segundo was born in 1907; collaborating with the likes of Sindo Garay, Miguel Matamoros and Benny Moré, he emerged as one of the most respected musicians of the pre-revolution era, and in the late '20s invented the armónico, a guitar customized with a double third string to fuse the tonal qualities of the traditional Cuban tres guitar and its Spanish counterpart. Following Fidel Castro's rise to power, Segundo worked as a cigar roller before returning to music during the late '80s; in his early nineties he attracted worldwide attention in 1998 for his contributions to Ry Cooder's wildly successful Buena Vista Social Club album, issuing the solo Calle Salud the following year. Buena Vista Connection was issued in fall 2000. Flores de la Vida followed later that same year; Trova Cubana surfaced in early 2001. The torrent of releases, both new and reissues of classic pre-fame Segundo sessions, continued throughout 2001 with Yo Vengo Aqui, Que Lio Compay Andres and into 2002 with Yo Soy del Monte and Dos Leyendas de Cuba. On July 13 of the following year Compay Segundo died of kidney failure at his home in Havana. ~ Jason Ankeny

French songs and World music.Frémeaux & Associés had published more than 1200 records in 2010.
Releases on Frémeaux & Associés are generally well documented, and well remastered. The booklets (in both French and English) include erudite historical texts as well as a thorough discography and a few pictures. Several were co-published by national museums.

This new release from LAWO Classics features recordings of works by contemporary composers Rolf Wallin, Klaus Lang and Richard Barrett, performed here by Norweigan contemporary music ensemble Cikada.Seven Disobediences is my answer to the tradition of character pieces for piano, such as Debussy's Preludes and Grieg's Lyric Pieces; short, relatively simple but conciseminiatures with a motto, and usually withone prevalent sentiment–like a musicalshort story. The title of each of the sevenpieces is an imperative consisting of fourletters: Seek! Push! Lean! Etc. - Rolf Wallin

Pianist Zlata Chochieva was a student of Mikhail Pletnev and specializes in the music of Chopin and Rachmaninov. A modern-day representative of the grand Russian school, she records for the Naïve label. Chochieva was born on March 1, 1985, in Moscow. She is of Ossetian background, and in 2005, she became the youngest artist ever to win the Honored Artist of the Republic of North Ossetia - Alania award. Chochieva took up the piano at age four at the Flier Children's Music School in Moscow. Within a year, she was giving recitals and sight-reading Chopin's waltzes, and at eight, she played a Mozart concerto in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory.

The French word ‘noël’ is closely associated with the organ, and this new recording from the Breton organist Christian Lambour introduces the listener to works from the 17th to the 20th century. Noëls provided organists with the opportunity to introduce variations on popular tunes, often making use of Christmas carols and shepherd songs. The evocative sound of these traditional melodies – sung around the fire during advent – are assured to get you in l’esprit de Noël!

In 2015, composer Michael Zev Gordon took up the idea of writing musical diary entries, which subsequently spawned this ongoing series of small pieces for solo piano. With most written in a single day, with only minor subsequent refinements, Gordon beautifully captures a feeling, a nuance, an image and, as is the nature of a diary, often with personal associations. Cellist Joseph Houston beautifully captures Gordon’s reoccurring themes of the bitter-sweet waltz, unwavering stillness, elegiac simplicity, folk-like dances and fleeting brilliance.

Sir David Attenborough presents Planet Earth III, a brand new Natural History series for BBC One and iPlayer. Journeying to the far reaches of our planet, this eight part series follows some of the world's most amazing species, telling extraordinary stories that are dramatic, thrilling, funny and sometimes heart-breaking, but always full of hope.

Since releasing their self-titled 1972 Columbia debut, Blue Öyster Cult have been called everything from "the thinking man's heavy metal group" to an "occult rock band" to "the first pop/heavy metal act." They have sold more than 25 million records, and they released a handful of singles during the '70s that became classic rock radio standards, among them "Don't Fear the Reaper," "Burning' for You," and "Godzilla." Lyrics that crisscross science fiction, the occult, and horror films, their layered, three-guitar attack, expansive vocal harmonies, and almost-inimitable balance between crunchy riffs and infectious hooks resulted in the most listenable metal of the '70s.

The most beautiful country & western songs by Slim Whitman, Eddy Arnold, Ernest Tubb Red Foley, Hank Snow Rainbow Ranch Boys and many more on one compilation!

Donovan Leitch is widely regarded as one of the most influential songwriters and recording artists working today. At his induction into the R & R Hall of Fame it was stated, “Donovan singlehandedly initiated the Psychedelic Revolution with his album SUNSHINE SUPERMAN”. This masterwork album he created late 1965 at 19 years of age influencing his new friends The Beatles to experiment one year later on their Sgt Pepper album, Donovan’s influence also leading the way forward for many other artists. And yet Donovan is much more than the creator of the first Psychedelic Album, Sunshine Superman announced Flower Power for the first time. Presented to the world the first successful World Music fusions and most importantly, he is chiefly responsible for introducing TM Meditation and Eastern Philosophy into Modern Lifestyle and songwriting.

To celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of when Donovan exploded onto the British folk scene, Sanctuary's excellent two-disc set collects together all of the man's recordings on the Pye recording label from 1965.