tunequest

In 1996, LucasFilm embarked on a multi-channel marketing project in an effort to make more money off the aging Star Wars franchise. The result was Shadows of the Empire, a venture that involved all the machinations of a movie marketing and tie-in campaign, without the production of an actual movie. In total, the endeavor included a novel, comic books, video games, trading cards, toys (of ...

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Len Vorster & Robert Chamberlain took holst's seminal work, the planets and arranged it for two pianos, with results that exceed any sense of excellence. try their rendition of venus or jupiter

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Jerry Goldsmith's music for Star Trek: Insurrection is genuinely some of the most beautiful (and powerful) music i've ever heard in my entire life, particularly the thematic elements running throughout New Sight. It certainly is among the top contender for my favorite film scores of all time.

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The classical bug is biting me again, so today i picked up my old habit, treating myself to an excellent ballet: Stravinsky's Petrushka. to be honest, I never realized how exceptional this piece of music truly is until this morning. In fact, until about a year ago, I had tended to avoid ballets all together, in favor of more abstract symphonies. But lately, I've discovered that ...

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It's official: Tchaikovsky's No 5 is now my favorite symphonies of his. It had been running neck and neck with No 6 for a very long time, but a recent Berlin Philharmonic listening has pushed it to the head of the pack. In addition to those melodies that you just can't get out of your head, there's this one passage about 8.5 minutes into the fourth movement ...

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At times, i really resent owning a car. Yeah they're convenient necessary for getting around, but with the fueling and maintenance and cleaning and well, effort that goes into having one, there are times when I'd just as soon not have one. (Oh, for a more vibrant public transportation system in metro Atlanta.) Don't get me wrong. I've got a '99 saturn sc2 (aka "the cherry bomb"–it's ...

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Today's I-285 adventure was sponsored by Philip Glass' 1996 "Heroes" Symphony (or Glass' Symphony No 4), a fantastic orchestral suite in 6 parts that's based on but not an orchestral transcription of the Bowie/Eno album of the same name. Unlike some of glass compositions, which can be inaccessable at times, this symphony is very compelling. Yeah, it's full of his trademark cyclicality, but because it is ...

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i heard tchaikovsky's 5th sympony on the way into work this morning and i can't stop humming it. this particular recording is by the leningrad philharmonic and was recorded in 1960. the 5th symphony has a number of very catchy themes that quickly burrow into your head and just get stuck there. every time i hear this symphony, i love it more. it has even eclipsed ...

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You know, Tchaikovsky wasn’t all that pleased with his Nutcracker and I’m sure he would be both surprised and concerned about its modern-day popularity, particularly in America. Regardless of his feelings however, it is, in this writer's opinion, indisputable, that the ballet (and especially the concert suite) is a fine, enjoyable composition. Maybe it’s because the pieces are simple, but clever. And if there’s something that ...

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