Schubert Symphony No. 5, Symphony No. 8 "Unfinished"

Includes Symphony No. 5, Symphony No. 8 "Unfinished," and German Dances. The music of Franz Schubert is cherished for its beautiful flow of melody, melody that runs through the composer's songs and instrumental compositions like a clear and inexhaustible stream. His compositions are firmly rooted in the Classical period. Endowed with extraordinary skill and lyric genius, Schubert poured forth music at an astonishing rate for most of his brief career. But he received only scant recognition during his lifetime and subsisted in near-poverty throughout his adult years.

Each CD package includes two CDs. The first, a Musical Performance Disk, features the top performers and symphony orchestras in the world, performing the best-loved music from the classical music Greats.

Accompanying the Musical Performance Disc is a Conductor's Guide on a separate CD. Here, Maestro Gerard Schwarz discusses the musical performances in depth--movement by movement, section by section--using examples from the recorded performances. There's no better, more enjoyable way to get a basic education in classical music.

You'll also receive a 16-page printed copy of Concert Notes, featuring the unique Music Disc Timeline, which is written to synchronize with the elapsed time display of your CD player. As you play the music on the Performance Disc, you can see exactly where the things that Maestro Schwarz discussed take place in the music. It's like looking into the score--but you don't have to know how to read music!  more