Publisher, Naxos Audiobooks (January 2002)

Classics Explained is a series exploring, in words and music, the major classical works of the concert hall. In an accessible and lively manner, Jeremy Siepmann looks at the history and the form of the great masterpieces of western music.

Ever since the advent of the LP in the 1950s with its expanded capacity, the six Brandenburg Concertos have been Bach's runaway hit. They were not written as a set but form a collection. Nos. 4 and 5 are the brightest, the most buoyantly happy and the danciest, but in some ways they are also the most complex. By putting these concertos under the musical microscope we can discover how their many ingredients combine to make two of the most irresistible works in the repertoire.

This package contains 2 CDs of incredibly detailed, insightful and enlightening explanation accompanied by a booklet packed full of supplementary material. To actually hear the music as it is described would seem vital to a proper understanding, and yet this is largely unexplored territory. Here, the benefits are clear. As Siepmann tells us, 'the music is in the music'!

Classics Explained

"The series aims to provide an informed analysis of the great masterpieces of Western music and I imagine that secondary and high school teachers will find this disc a useful resource. Adult listeners who want an explanation of the music given by a knowledgeable musicologist will also welcome it." --The Strad

We listen to and enjoy music, with its melodies, rhythms, colour, excitement, and rich emotions. But how and why did the composer imagine the music as he wrote it? This enlightening series unravels the mysteries of Western music's greatest masterpieces. In each recording, musical extracts and lively narration are skillfully interwoven to explore the circumstances of composition and how the various ideas and themes are combined to make the enduring whole.