CD Odyssey Disc 9: Tchaikovsky

Our next random roll brings us to another abrupt u-turn - although perhaps not as abrupt as some might thing. We travel today from metal to classical.

Disc 9 is...Tchaikovsky Box Set, Disc 1 (of 5)

Artist: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Year of Release: These recordings were done in 1980 and 1965 originally, but Tchaikovsky lived from 1840-1893, so somewhere in there.

How I Came To Know It: It was university in about 1989 and I wanted to expand my musical horizons. I loved the 1812 Overture, and I found a Tchaikovsky boxed set - 5 discs worth of music for $25.

How It Stacks Up: As a boxed set, this follows the "best of" rules, so can't really be stacked up. I will say that as classical composers go, Tchaikovsky was my first love, and remains my favourite years later.

Rating: 4 stars. It would be 5, but there is a song on here that is just a movement of a larger piece ("Andante cantabile" from String Quartet No. 1 in D Major, Op. 11) You simply can't abbreviate a piece like that and expect 5 stars for your album.

I am not a huge classical music fan but I do enjoy it from time to time. As I noted above, of all classical composers I put Tchaikovsky #1, and I have probably 5 times as much of his stuff (note 5 disc set) as any other composer. OK - I think I have 2 Mozarts.

Tchaikovsky is sort of the heavy metal composer of his day. It has often been said that metal captures in modern music some of the grandiosity of classical music. I certainly think that is true, particularly if you listen to bands like Iron Maiden or Dimmu Borgir (he said, thrusting another mortal blade into the rib cage of musical snobs the world over).

The sad thing about classical music is that today we think of it as a score for something else, like a movie, or we treat it as inoffensive background music. It is totally malappreciated as a result.

Classical music is meant to be heard at high volume, so you can pick out the nuanced quieter parts of the piece, but also be blown away by the bombast of the kettle drums and trumpets when they lay on. It is meant to be heard in silence as well - not with people talking over it, not with some movie fight scene. It is meant for a darkened room or at the very least, a solitary man in a car.

Fortunately, the CD Odyssey has rules that ensure this will happen (see sidebar).

As a result, I appreciate this disc in its full glory, and was once again moved by Tchaikovsky's brilliance. His music is meticulously planned in its construction, and yet emotionally resonant throughout. Also the waltz section of Serenade in C Major is so good it will make you like waltzes. Hey - there's a reason he's my favourite classical composer.

So if you want to get into classical music, I heartily recommend a little of the old Pyotr Ilyich. It will make your gulliver quite happy.

Best tracks: In addition to the piece of music I noted above, this disc basically only has two tracks - the full versions of "Serenade in C major, Op. 48" and "Symphony No. 4 in F minor, Op. 36". Both are awesome, but for best, I've got to go Serenade in C major. It is incredible, and you've probably heard it so many times you'll recognize it instantly and say "oh yeah! I love that one!"