Night Music 8, later reissued by Naxos under a different cover as Pastorale, is predominantly a collection of quiet music for late-night relaxation. If this disc is played for that purpose, then the bold horns in the Pastorale from Bizet's L'Arlésienne Suite No. 2 are perhaps too loud and may call for a softer volume. After this fairly robust opening track, the album assumes a much milder tone and passes through a number of Baroque and Classical slow movements, inducing a mood of reverie that is largely unbroken. Beyond its ...
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Night Music 8, later reissued by Naxos under a different cover as Pastorale, is predominantly a collection of quiet music for late-night relaxation. If this disc is played for that purpose, then the bold horns in the Pastorale from Bizet's L'Arlésienne Suite No. 2 are perhaps too loud and may call for a softer volume. After this fairly robust opening track, the album assumes a much milder tone and passes through a number of Baroque and Classical slow movements, inducing a mood of reverie that is largely unbroken. Beyond its use as aural wallpaper, though, this collection is rather innocuous and may not satisfy serious listeners. As is often the case with such placid collections, sublime pieces are mixed with a few middling selections, leaving an impression of unevenness and aesthetic confusion that may not invite repeated listening. While the Andante con moto from Schubert's Symphony No. 5, the movement from Haydn's Seven Last Words of Christ, and the Largo from Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3 are the...
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