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List Price: $7.99 | | Label: Sony
Salesrank: 197284
Released: October 29, 1996 |
| Our Price: $5.33 |
| Used Price: $1.18 |
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| Media: Audio CD |
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Pachelbel Greatest Hits Track Listing:
1. Canon in D major, instrumental arrangement
2. Chorale Variations on 'Alle Menschen müssen sterben' for organ (Sterbensgedancken 2), T. 82
3. Adagio, for violin, strings & organ in G minor, T. Mi 26 (composed by Remo Giazotto; not by Albinoni)
4. Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F major, BWV 1047: III. Allegro assai
5. Water Music Suites Nos 1-3 for orchestra, HWV 348-350: 4. (Menuet)
6. Water Music Suites Nos 1-3 for orchestra, HWV 348-350: 11. Alla Hornpipe
7. Cantata No. 147, 'Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben,' BWV 147 (BC A174): Jesu,Joy of Man's Desiring
8. Violin Concerto, for violin, strings & continuo in F major ('L'autunno,' The Four Seasons; 'Il cimento' No. 3), Op.8/3, RV 293: I. A
9. Suite for keyboard (Suite de piece), Vol.1, No.5 in E major ('The Harmonious Blacksmith'), HWV 430: Harmonious Blacksmith
10. Magnificat, for brass quintet
11. Chorale Variations on 'Werde Munter, mein Gemüte' for organ, T. 86
12. Goldberg Variations, for keyboard (Clavier-Übung IV), BWV 988 (BC L9): Aria da capo
13. Work(s): Trumpet Tune and Ayre
14. Work(s)
15. Music for the Royal Fireworks, for orchestra, HWV 351: La Rejouissance
16. Magnificat Fugue, for organ in tone 6, No. 10. T. 174
17. Lute (Chamber) Concerto, for lute (or guitar), 2 violins & continuo in D major, RV 93: I. Allegro giusto
18. Magnificat Fugue, for organ in tone 8, No. 13, T. 195
19. Work(s): Te Deum: Introduction
20. Cantata No. 29, 'Wir danken dir, Gott, wir danken dir,' BWV 29 (BC B8): Sinfonia
21. Chorale Prelude 'Vom Himmel hoch da komm ich her' (I), for organ (Choräle 6), T. 6
22. Cantata No. 140, 'Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme,' BWV 140 (BC A166): Chorale Sleepers Awake
23. Messiah, oratorio, HWV 56: Hallelujah
Pachelbel Greatest Hits Reviews:
Doesn't quite live up to its title 
2009-09-13 - The title of this CD, Pachelbel - Greatest Hits, is a misnomer. First, less than a third of the selections are by Johann Pachelbel, the German organist and composer of about a generation-and-a-half before J.S. Bach, whose Canon for strings and continuo was a mega runaway hit when it was reintroduced to the world in the early 1970s in the recording made by the Paillard Chamber Orchestra (still the reference performance in my opinion). The album might be better called Pachelbel and His Successors, as it contains works by Bach, Vivaldi, and Handel, among others. Most of the works are baroque chestnuts that are familiar to anyone previously exposed to classical music. Many are excerpts from larger works, which begs the question: Why this compilation? Frankly, I cannot give you an answer. This collection, while including selections from such well-known works as Bach's Brandenburg Concertos, Vivaldi's The Four Seasons and the Fireworks Music, Water Music and Messiah of Handel, also contains a lot of music that is as obscure as the composers who wrote it. What's more, the versions presented here aren't orthodox: Pachelbel's now famous Canon is performed not by a string ensemble but the Canadian Brass; the Hallelujah Chorus is sung in German, rather than in the English of the original Messiah. These quirks render this assemblage of interest only to those who are already familiar with these pieces and won't mind listening to them again but in different clothing. For the uninitiated, there are better collections of baroque hits. For those interested in the masterworks from which excerpts are packaged here, they would be best advised to seek recordings of the complete Brandenburgs or Goldberg Variations or Four Seasons. As for poor Pachelbel, his greatest hits really boil down to just one work: that Canon. Not that his music isn't worth investigating, but he is, in the final analysis, a minor figure, known to us today (aside from professional organists) only because of the accident of the Paillard recording and the music's use in the film Ordinary People. I bought this CD in a rush because I needed it for a podcast [...] in which I wanted to include Bach's Sinfonia to Cantata No. 29. For my own interest, if I had not been in such a panic, I would have preferred to have bought a recording of the entire cantata. With those caveats, Pachelbel - Greatest Hits is pleasant if unusual listening. The performances, all taken from the Columbia/Sony Classical archives, are good and the recorded sound decent. I would recommend this CD only to those who are already very familiar with the more famous among these works and wouldn't mind listening to different versions during, say, Sunday brunch.
Baroque Hits Missed 
2008-07-13 - I was very disappointed with this CD because most all of the pieces are strange arrangements of the pieces and not the "normal" renditions. I say "normal" because most of these pieces are known by versions played on modern instruments. The disk should have been labeled "arrangements" and the Amazon description should have included that information. Add to this annoyance the fact that the arrangements themselves were bizarre. I was certainly not expecting many of these chestnuts to be adapted to a brass ensemble. So don't get this if you want a compilation of Baroque chestnuts played as we normally hear them.
great collection 
2005-03-15 - This is a great collection of classics that are wonderfully executed. A nice addition to any classical library.
Pachebel in Taco Bell 
2002-03-28 - You know what would be funnier than Pachabel in the woods, or Pachabel with whale noises, or Pachabel with the sounds of the rainforest in a snowstorm on a July day with a couple camels giving birth? Pachabel in Taco Bell. I would buy that CD.
I'd just like to point out the fact that Pachebel is far and away the worst, most overrated, most boring classical piece ever written. And if it wasn't before, it has been played so much, on so many occasions, with so many stupid accompaniments (yes, this includes with whale noises) that it is now. You want a beautiful piece? I give you Barbar's Adagio for Strings. I give you Meditation from Thais. I'll even give you sentimental, sappy garbage like Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet. Just please, for the sake of good taste everywhere, put down that Pachebel CD.
A great assortment of classical masterpieces. 
2001-06-27 - This is definitely a fabulous cd to add to one's classical collection, especially due to the fact that it contains one of the best versions of Pachelbel's well-known "Canon" in addition to some of his other works. Various historic composers of classical music are well represented here, from Bach and his Brandenburg Concerto to Antonio Vivaldi's "Autumn" from the Four Seasons. Many of the pieces are played by string instruments, such as the "Canon," which is professionally performed by a string quartet. Overall, the Baroque period of classical period tends to be the main concentration of this cd. This cd offers listeners the valuable opportunity to be introduced to classical music that has been played for centuries throughout the world.
