Music on Naxos AudioBooks

The Naxos Classical music label has transformed the world of classical recording. Since its launch in 1987, it has proved immensely popular and is now the world’s leading independent classical budget company offering new recordings.

The success of Naxos lies in its commitment to offering the beginner and serious collector a full range of classical music in new, state-of-the-art digital recordings with CD-length playing times, and performances comparable to the best that the major record companies have to offer – but at a budget price.

This is acknowledged by the numerous glowing reviews from leading critics in magazines such as Gramophone, BBC Music Magazine, Classic CD, and Fanfare.

In 1997, Naxos celebrated its tenth anniversary. In that first decade, the catalogue has grown to over 1,000 recordings, covering the major works of the Western classical repertoire recorded often by established orchestras and performers. Increasingly, the label is also being recognised for its contribution to less familiar works, whether it is in the field of early music, forgotten Romantic music, or the twentieth century, from Shostakovich to Boulez.

The Naxos music catalogue, and its sister-label Marco Polo, have played a key role in the development of Naxos AudioBooks. The use of music to add atmosphere, a period presence and emotional support to the text was part of the original concept of the label. At its simplest, it helps to bring a work to life – as cinema-goers know only to well.

Music from different periods is ideal to help punctuate the changes of time in Virginia Woolf’s Orlando; it is vital in Joyce’s Ulysses, where Mozart’s Don Giovanni is such a central thread. Feeney’s music for the ballet Dracula gives an extra chill to the Naxos AudioBooks’ dramatisation, while the harpsichord puts Tristram Shandy firmly in its 18th century place and time. Equally so does the French chamber music in the trail-blazing Proust cycle.

Music is particularly important in the Junior Classics series. Schumann evokes the sea in The Adventures of Odysseus, Elgar and others underpin the Englishness of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, and Prokofiev’s Suites affectionately complement the sparky naughtiness of Pinocchio.

The epics too are well served with music. Curiously, grand 19th century works – such as Schumann’s Julius Caesar Overture – are perfect companions for the majestic words of Gibbon in The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, while 17th century anthems echo the literary character of the Authorized Version of the Bible.

We believe that this conjunction of words and music enables Naxos AudioBooks to present the classics in an uniquely vital manner, bringing the finest literary works to life more vividly than ever.

Naxos, Marco Polo, and White Cloud are all on the internet at www.naxos.com.