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Life and Works (Naxos)
Fascinating listening ... These are superbly vivid biographies and there is so much in them that one could listen again and again.
Gramophone, January 2003
These works are enormous achievements and do Siepmann great credit. . . . fantastically researched. … Particularly impressive is the fact that whether you are a musical beginner, armchair enthusiast or scholar, there is something for everyone … will give the listener years of pleasure.
Classical Music, March 2003
These sets are a powerful learning resource for any inquisitive listener, for ears both innocent and already informed, in school, college or simply by the fireside.
BBC Music Magazine, March 2003
This series from Naxos is destined to be the benchmark by which others will be judged.
Ad-Lib magazine
A terrific idea this, and very well done ... both rewarding and entertaining … Siepmann deserves the highest praise for the imaginative content, thorough research and lively writing. His summary of the achievements of the 19th century is masterly.
Classic FM Magazine
I survived 24 discs without tiring of Jeremy Siepmann's engaging presentation - his relaxed, conversational style alternating with first-class actors. … Such accessibility doesn't compromise scholarly accuracy. Siepmann's selections from journals and diaries (notably of Chopin, Tchaikovsky and Beethoven), and letters (Mozart), paint striking portraits. The sensational stuff … is balanced by a wealth of perceptive ideas. Although the starting point is biographical - the 'Life...' - Siepmann throws in revealing commentary on the music: . . . He [also] throws in some memorable asides.
BBC Music Magazine
Narrated and written by the erudite musical scholar Jeremy Siepmann, this four-CD set is full of the color, beauty, and the awesome genius of Bach's compositions while giving a fuller picture of him as a man. … The most rounded portrait yet of "the greatest composer ever" and a welcome addition to Siepmann's expanding Life and Works series.
AudioFile magazine
A formidable undertaking … difficult to find fault with … Wonderful for music students and autodidacts alike, also great entertainment … a superb job of bringing to life one of the greatest stories in human history.
Music Web, November 2002
A detailed and engrossing account … Highly recommended! … clearly told and warmly narrated. The superb accompanying booklet is full of details about Bach's career and contemporaries along with a very useful graded listening programme that takes an intelligent approach to building up your own library of works. This set will have you rushing to hear more Bach and your listening pleasure will be greatly enhanced.
Ad Lib magazine, May 2002
Siepmann gives a balanced overview of Tchaikovsky's music. The famous major works are covered, but he manages to shed light on just as interesting but lesser-known parts of Tchaikovsky's output. . . . I know Tchaikovsky's life and music inside out, and I still enjoyed this set a great deal.
American Record Guide, January/February 2003
In this fine production by Naxos … the remarkable Jeremy Siepmann, who not only wrote the 158-page text but narrates it, is excellent throughout. . . . The many virtues and few faults are generally the same as in the other volumes on Liszt and Chopin.
Classical Guitar, March 2002
This splendid series is unreservedly recommended, both for educational bodies and those interested in enhancing their knowledge of the composer, his life and works, and putting each into its context. The comprehensive booklet, complete with full notes on the music, is excellent. This set can only add to the enjoyment of listening to the music.
Ad-Lib magazine
Top of pageThe Instruments of the Orchestra (Naxos)
A brilliant, insightful, and frequently humorous study. … A constant delight for the ears, this should surely be a fixture in every musically curious household.
AudioFile
Clear and entertaining, the set is a resource that would be ideal for schools. It is also a very informative reference for music lovers who would like to know more about the instruments they are listening to. … a valuable addition to any music lover's collection. . . . To pack so much information into a small box is quite an achievement.
Gramophone
Very well done … extremely useful for teachers, parents and those seeking presents for musical nieces and nephews.
Early Music Review
Top of pageClassics Explained (Naxos)
This is some of the finest educational material that I have seen on the market in years. Not since [Leonard] Bernstein and his Young Person's Concerts have we had such detail, care and quality in a series of recordings intended to broaden our appreciation of music. . . . a truly winning product.
Music Web, August 2002
Siepmann conveys his love of music in an informal, chatty style which is pleasant to listen to and not at all intimidating for a beginner; he not only puts the music into a historical context but in a cultural context which includes literary comparisons. I was impressed by both the range and the depth achieved … a smooth style which is easy to listen to, with just enough description for the listener to be able to absorb each point before hearing the example.
Early Music Review, September 2002
The most perfect effort along these lines yet. … Sorting out the complex relationships between the instruments in the Bach pieces is a particularly knotty proposition, but it is neatly handled by Mr. Siepmann in a most entertaining way. His explanation of Beethoven's innovations in the "Pastoral" analysis is just as masterful.
Frank Behrens
(syndicated in Entertainment Times, Showcase Magazine, Brattleboro
Reformer, Art Times, Keene Sentinel, Amazon.com, BarnesAndNoble.com.)
Written and narrated by Jeremy Siepmann, this series draws the listener instantly into the emotional world of the music as he explains the interaction between piano and orchestra in this powerful and complex concerto [Brahm's B flat] ... A drama that never fails to move, it is a delight to hear it brought to life with Siepmann's authoritative yet approachable style. . . . This Naxos collection should build into an invaluable music library for anyone hungry to learn more about the music they love.
Classic FM Magazine
Siepmann gives us elaborate examinations ("under a microscope", as he says) that combine very perceptive observations with highly personal impressions. . . . Everything is done without patronizing, and even listeners thoroughly familiar with the works discussed cannot fail to find many of Siepmann's observations stimulating and illuminating.
American Record Guide
In his prose and his narration, Siepmann manages to be both erudite and avuncular. He clearly understands theory and composition, but the listener needs only a basic knowledge of these to enjoy his informal commentary. . . . It's remarkable how much Siepmann has mined from Boléro and The Four Seasons, two works that, for all their popularity, are awfully repetitive. . . . these recordings are an entertaining complement to the music.
AudioFile
Not until hearing Siepmann's analysis of the work did I ever quite understand just how Dvorak made this work [the 'New World' Symphony] so enjoyable. And no amount of uninformed listening would have let me know how originally he treats the old fashioned "sonata" format so as to make something entirely new out of it.
Frank Behrens, Ibid.
Mr. Siepmann is an extremely capable musician who has a complete command of his subject, and is moreover an interesting and often humorous guide to it. I know this symphony [Beethoven's Pastoral] very well, and I have reviewed countless performances of it. Jeremy Siepmann knows much more than I do about its inner workings, and I've learned a lot from him.
American Record Guide
Top of pageChopin: The Reluctant Romantic (Gollancz, 1995)
I have read a good many books about Chopin, but this is far and away the best.
Dr. Anthony Storr
Siepmann succeeds admirably, never letting the music stray too far out of reach. ... It is the virtue of this biography that [he] has so woven the story of Chopin's life into his estimation of the music that one emerges with a much clearer understanding of the music within its own time, as well as its influence over subsequent composers.
Patrick O'Connor, Literary Review (London)
The best biography of Chopin I have ever read.
Peter Feuchtwanger, Classical Piano
A masterly book which should have a wide appeal. ... Siepmann rivets the attention with his lively, almost conversational prose, interspersed with memorable witticisms. ... The description of [Chopin's] first music teacher is hilarious. ... but Siepmann's obvious delight in amusing us is matched by his power to shock and sadden us as the tragedy of Chopin's life unfolds.
Joseph Cooper, The Observer
Siepmann reveals a deep sympathy with the musician. He takes us through Chopin's musical progress with the use of a number of short chapters, or "interludes". ... It is an original approach which gives one a strong sense of the composer's evolution.
Adam Zamoyski, The Times, August 1995
A clear-eyed survey of the composer's life and work that gives a far more fascinating insight into Chopin than the traditional picture of the pale-faced Romantic coughing up his heart at the keyboard. "Like a spy," Siepmann remarks in the first of many happy phrases, "he was not what he seemed". ... The big problem in writing the life of a composer is how to deal with the music. Siepmann solves it very neatly. Chapters recounting the life are interspersed with sections that analyse the music composed to date. We therefore get a logically developing picture of both the man and his music.
James Harding, Music Review (BBC World Service)
A very good read. What makes it so is its imaginative recreation of a sense of time and place, drawing selectively from the social and political histories of Warsaw, Vienna and Paris. ... We are spoilt for choice with Chopin biographies. Given that none of the recent ones attains the scholarly stature of Niecks's magisterial study, Siepmann's stands up very well.
Professor Jim Samson, BBC Music Magazine
Top of pageThe Piano (Everyman/EMI, 1997)
He writes brilliantly, with a turn of phrase and wit that leaves Schonberg's Great Pianists at the starting post. ... A vintage study, rich in period knowledge and musical wisdom. Pianists and pianophiles mustn't miss it.
The Literary Review
Every one of Siepmann's chapters is of absorbing interest . . . On finishing the book I felt ready to start all over again.
The Oldie
A particularly engaging study ... [by] this well-known writer, teacher, broadcaster, and biographer of Chopin.
Classical Music
Top of pageBrahms (Everyman/EMI, 1998)
A joy, superbly written and beautifully produced. ... a book to treasure...
The Irish Times
A vital portrayal of one of musical history's most absorbing characters. ... The tremendous flow of prose is complemented by deft and concise organisation of material and analysis ... illuminating the subject with extraordinary skill.
Classical Music
Top of pageListener Response to Various Programmes
These programmes [Arranged for the Piano] are nothing less than thrilling.
Hans Keller, The Listener, London
I thought it a quite stupendous achievement, almost as searching and exciting as the work itself. [After a talk on Beethoven's Appassionata Sonata]
Professor Arthur Goidel, York, England
Your programme was both compelling and profound.
A. Annmühler, Berlin, Germany
I am rather at a loss for words. I am in my late eighties, but listening tonight has given me an uplift which will ever remain.
B. Burnell, Bristol, England
Your portrait of this fascinating man [the pianist Glenn Gould] was an inspired piece of broadcasting which surely would have delighted the artist himself.
B. Griffin, London, England
Top of pageThe Elements of Music
Jeremy Siepmann considers musical theory in such a fresh and exciting way that even those without any musical interest whatsoever find themselves part of this man's enthusiastic adventure. Suddenly a scale is no longer a scale but a fascinating ladder, its every rung a fresh excursion into the nature of sound.
G. Slamon, Paris, France
The most enjoyable and most informative programmes I have heard in my long life.
B. Maycock, London, England
Absolutely superb. These talks explain the subject so clearly and objectively that as a musician myself I have never heard their equal.
G. Collins, Alicante, Spain
These programmes are something of a miracle - lucid, exact, entertaining; they really explain how music is. It is a rarity to hear any art explained so well. Bravo!
Polly Hope, Rhodes, Greece
The most lucid and compelling exposition of music I have ever heard.
E. Marconi, Cleveland, Ohio
Your recent World Service series told me more about the mysteries of music than anything I have heard for decades.
J. Wanklyn, Oxford, England
I have been absolutely fascinated by Mr. Jeremy Siepmann's The Elements of Music.
P. Jacoby, Antwerp, Belgium
The Elements of Music is a jewel. I am not a musician but a professor of Yoruba language, and it is the pedagogical approach that so thrilled me. To listen to the scale and feel the energy in it and not a succession of full-tones and half-tones has been literally "an experience". These talks were not lectures, nor expositions of knowledge but a lovely invitation to make the listener discover that there is a musician in him. This is pedagogy at its very best!
J. Sibidion, Ile-Ife, Nigeria
I listened to every repeat, either staying awake by reading until 2 A.M. or setting an alarm clock to wake me.
H. Legge, London, UK
I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed The Elements of Music. Thank you for making me HEAR!
B. Leclair, Caen, France