# Compilation CDs



## Pat Fairlea (Dec 9, 2015)

Here's a question, but first some background.

Quite a few years ago, an elderly friend died and left me her music CD collection, which was eclectic to say the least. Among the CDs were a lot of 'compilations', CDs with 10-20 short snatches of music, the odd concerto movement, part of a quartet etc. Quite a few of them had been given away with music magazines. From time to time, I pick one at random to play as background.

And the question. What do you think of such compilations? Are they a useful sample of what's being recorded, a gateway drug to entice the young and pliant into a lifetime of CM, or an abomination?


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## Judith (Nov 11, 2015)

Like them in the car as when Hubby drives (I don't drive) I can't hear them that well so no good for whole pieces.

Don't like them just for sitting and listening.


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## Annied (Apr 27, 2017)

I can't really speak for orchestral music, but it was opera compilations that first introduced me to opera. I'd probably still have been struggling had it not been that they pinpointed the singers and composers that best suited my particular ear. So I'm a fan.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

I bought a few dozen for 25 cents each at a thrift shop - perfect background music in the gallery.


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## Botschaft (Aug 4, 2017)

Such anthologies are basically for the uninitiated, but it would be bit pretentious to call them abominable, wouldn't it? Besides, unless I'm mistaken, performing movements of larger works separately used to be more common in the good old days of music.


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## David Phillips (Jun 26, 2017)

They seem to consist mainly of hackneyed pieces of CM, but I did listen to one which had Stanford's 'The Bluebird' on it and that made me sit up.


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## Nereffid (Feb 6, 2013)

I've said here before that _The Classic Experience_ was my major entry point into classical music, and other similar compilations stood me in good stead in the first few years. 
Then there were magazine sampler discs as used to be provided by the likes of _Gramophone_, which were also a great way of making discoveries and helping guide CD purchases. Spotify et al have superceded those cover discs now, though just the other day I was delighted (for nostalgic reasons mostly) to pick up four discs from the long-gone _Classic CD_ at a charity shop.

So yes, I'm a fan.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

For the most part I find compilation disks to be near worthless jumbles. I like complete works.


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

Compilations are a great introduction for newbies. Without them many of us wouldn't be here. I'm for them.


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## Taplow (Aug 13, 2017)

Not to my taste. Have to agree with *Florestan* on that one.

However, they are a useful gateway drug for some, as previous posters have said. A long-term partner of mine who was deeply into classical music started out with a few samplers, moved onto poor (yet cheap) recordings of some of the great, popular works, then gradually developed more sophisticated tastes over the years. So you can't knock them completely.


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## T Son of Ander (Aug 25, 2015)

For me, now that I have a huge collection, I'm not a fan. But for someone new to CM, it's a great way to sample a lot of stuff and find what you like and don't like without killing your bank account. I had some compilations when I was younger, and they led me to some great music.


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## bharbeke (Mar 4, 2013)

They have a useful purpose. For new listeners, they can hear a wider range of classical music than if they just had 1-4 symphonies or concertos jammed onto the disc. For older listeners, they can be sort of "Greatest Hits" collections.

More and more listeners are going to digital-only, so with disc space not an issue, I would steer new listeners to YouTube and the Bach Guild collections.


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## Pat Fairlea (Dec 9, 2015)

Improbus said:


> Such anthologies are basically for the uninitiated, but it would be bit pretentious to call them abominable, wouldn't it? Besides, unless I'm mistaken, performing movements of larger works separately used to be more common in the good old days of music.


Indeed. I used the word 'abomination' as a deliberate over-statement. And I think you're right about individual movements having been performed back in the day.


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## Pat Fairlea (Dec 9, 2015)

Mrs Pat points out to me that the compilation disc can also be a good way of hearing samples of recordings of the same familiar work and deciding whether this or that performer is worth the purchase. Very thrifty, that one.


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## Antiquarian (Apr 29, 2014)

Depends on the compilation. When I first got into listening to CDs, (as opposed to vinyl) compilations were invaluable before the advent of Youtube. Among my most prized cds are the thematic Telarc Erich Kunzel compilations. _Round-Up_, _Happy Trails_, really introduced me to Western film scores by the likes of Franz Waxman, Dimiti Tiomkin and Alfred Newman. Great performances, and great pieces. On the other side of the spectrum are the ones put out yearly by established labels showcasing snipets from their catalogue. Before Youtube, they were great, now not so much. I probably have four linear feet of this sort of thing that I haven't listened to in a decade, and probably never will. But they will have to pry the copy of _The Great Fantasy Adventure Album_ (Telarc CD-80342) out of my cold dead hands.


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## 20centrfuge (Apr 13, 2007)

I think they are fine as introductory instruments. Some years ago, if I were relatively new to a composer, I would listen to one of those for a sort of overview. My favorite of them was "The Essential Bach"


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

I used to haunt the cutout bins in record stores since I had no money. One of my favorite finds was an Archiv LP sampler of pre-baroque music, where I first hear excepts from the Terpsichore Dances of Praetorius. What weird instruments, and what fun music! Great pressing also. 99 cents and the music is still with me.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

It all depends on the compilation, most of the have one or two track I was looking for, others will be used in the car.


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

Merl said:


> Compilations are a great introduction for newbies. Without them many of us wouldn't be here. I'm for them.


True. I heard the Tchaikovsky _Capriccio Italien_, the work which lit my fire for classical music, on a compilation disc with snippets of classical "classics" in my junior high Music Appreciation class as a kid. Whatever the value of any other compilation discs, _that _one to me proves priceless!


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## Holden4th (Jul 14, 2017)

Then of course there are the compilation CDs/MP3s/digital uploads you make to share certain performances with CM friends. I've got to know some unheralded but great artists/performances this way. Leibowitz LvB and Sergio Fiorentino are just two examples. The only issue is tagging them when you save them onto a hard drive.


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