"This 2 cd set consists of, as the title indicates, various 20c pieces or movements from the Naxos catalog. Sound quality is uniformly high, although for some such as Stockhausen's it's not clear if that's good or bad. What is excellent is the variety of the collection--some familiar (Debussy), others not, some pretty, others intentionally weird. Few will find every piece to his or her taste, but many listeners who do not spend much time on 20c music will find something to like. Overall, a great introduction to a period of much off-putting, yes, but also much compelling music."
Excellent overview of contemporaneous classic music
J. Gerarts | Antwerp,Belgium | 03/21/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"excellent overview of contemporaneous classic music.
Should be continued, plenty more 20th-century composers to be discovered."
More than i bargained for
J. Zarate | deer park, texas United States | 07/02/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"i purchased the compilation because i adore the work of Bela Bartok and there were a few other names whose work i was familiar with. when it arrived, imagine my surprise to find this double disc treat chock full of wonderful stuff ... and a fantastically informative booklet with a timeline!
i highly recommend this. great stuff, great price, great musical gems."
Interesting but much emphasizes avant garde
Anton Karidian | Tennessee | 02/02/2010
(4 out of 5 stars)
"For me, DISCOVER MUSIC OF THE 20TH CENTURY is an interesting collection, with several pieces and composers I had not heard before, even though I have several hundred CDs of "classical" music. Also, the included booklet is a terrific description running over 150 pages both of composers included in the collection as well as others, and includes a timeline, recommendations for further listening, a glossary, and more. In addition, the performances on the discs are all at least competent, and often better than that.
On the other hand, there is much prominent music missing on these discs. Of course, an entire century cannot be covered on 2 CDs, so I don't expect that. But no Jean Sibelius? No Aaron Copland? No Gustav Holst? Also, some major composers like Prokofiev and Shostakovich who ARE included are each represented by one selection that runs about 4 to 5 minutes, while obscure composers such as Tavener, Varese, and Stockhausen get as much or more time, some over twice as much time, on these discs. At first I was taken aback by all this, but I came to realize that the producers of this set clearly chose to emphasize unusual and sometimes even bizarre music, and favored those composers of the 20th century who were avant garde and experimental, while composers who wrote music that was more traditional, usually meaning the Romantic style, are under-represented here. (Actually, Aaron Copland wrote a good deal of avant garde music in addition to his famous Americana pieces, yet he's still not included.)
The result is that this collection would probably be interesting and different to most people who have heard a considerable amount of "classical" music, though not extensively that of the 20th century avant garde. Yet this collection is NOT a very good overview for those who want to be introduced to 20th century "classical" music. There are just too many major pieces missing here for this to be very helpful to people of the latter category. Of course, the "Further Listening" list in the booklet would fill in the gaps, IF everyone were motivated enough to explore that far."