Various Artists - Denon New Releases Classical Sampler 1985/1986 (1985)

I can't explain my recent fascination with early demonstration/sampler CDs, but lately I just can't resist buying them whenever I see them, particularly when they're dirt cheap and come in the original smooth sided jewel case like this one did. 

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart

Tracks: Sure, they're all excerpts of larger works but I guess that's to be expected as the whole point of a sampler disc is to sell copies of the full CDs. My beef with this sampler is that they don't identify the work by movement, just vague references to titles such as "Suite VI." For my personal edification, I'll try to fill in their blanks below. Click on each track for more information regarding artist and release information from the CD's liner notes.

1. Gustav Mahler (1860-1911)
   Symphony No. 1 in D (4th movement, excerpt) - 4:17
2. Gustav Mahler (1860-1911)
   Symphony No. 2 in C minor, "Resurrection" (5th movement, excerpt) - 7:51
3. Wolfgang Mozart (1756-1791)
   Violin Concerto No. 5 in A Major, "Turkish", K. 219 (3rd movement, excerpt) - 3:03
4. Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
   Partita for keyboard No. 4 in D Major, BWV 828 (First movement "Ouvertüre," excerpt) - 2:45
5. Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
   Partita in A minor for solo flute, BWV 1013 (First movement, excerpt) - 2:45
6. Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
   Concerto in B minor for 4 Violins, RV 580 (First movement, excerpt) - 2:38
7. Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
   Cello Sonata, L. 135 (First movement, excerpt) - 3:12
8. Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
   Children's Corner, L. 113 (Sixth movement "Golliwog's Cake Walk") - 2:50
9. Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
   Symphony No 8(9)* in C Major, D 944, "The Great" (First movement, excerpt) - 3:37
10. Carl Maria von Weber (1786-1826)
    Der Freischütz, J. 277, Op. 77 (Number 10 - Finale, Act I, excerpt) - 4:10
11. Richard Strauss (1864-1949)
    Der Rosenkavalier, Op. 59 (Act II, excerpt) - 5:55
12. Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
    Solo Violin Partita No. 3 in E Major, BWV 1006 (First movement) - 3:39
13. Jerome Kern (1885-1945)
    Smoke Gets In Your Eyes, from the 1933 musical comedy Roberta - 3:51
14. Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
    Suite No. 6 in D Major, BWV 1012 (First movement, excerpt) - 3:15
15. Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
    Trumpet Concerto in E-flat Major (First movement, excerpt) - 3:15
16. Manuel de Falla (1876-1946)
    Siete Canciones Populares Españolas (No. 5 "Nana") - 1:34
17. Wolfgang Mozart (1756-1791)
    Horn Concerto No. 4 in E-flat Major, K. 495 (Second movement, excerpt) - 2:33
18. Nicolaus Bruhns (1665-1697)
    Chorale Fantasy on "Nun Komm der Heiden Heiland" (excerpt) - 3:06

*blame the numbering confusion on musicologists (and, yes, "musicologist" is an actual profession in the academic world).

Because I'm only familiar with a few of the 18 tracks, filling in the blanks with relative ease makes me wish we'd had access to all this information on the Internet when I was pursuing a music degree. I'm happy students today have it all at their fingertips - I should think such access would make the study of music history and repertoire that much richer, not to mention easier.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: It's a rather loose association, but I learned the Haydn Trumpet Concerto (track 15) around 1985 or '86 - I even wrote my own cadenza! My trumpet professor was unimpressed but that was his usual demeanor (think Statler or Waldorf minus the sense of humor).