Guillaume de Machaut (c. 1300 – April 1377) was a medieval French poet and composer. He is regarded by many musicologists as the greatest and most important composer of the 14th century. Machaut is one of the earliest composers on whom substantial biographical information is available, and Daniel Leech-Wilkinson called him "the last great poet who was also a composer".[This quote needs a citation] Well into the 15th century, Machaut's poetry was greatly admired and imitated by other poets, including Geoffrey Chaucer.

There is no shortage of good Bach violin concerto recordings, nor even of those played by historical-performance groups, yet this one has several distinct attractions. First, is simply the presence of violinist Kati Debretzeni, long a violin section leader of Gardiner's English Baroque Soloists but rarely heard as a soloist in her own right. She's one of the few historical-performance specialists to have emerged from Eastern Europe, and she deserves wider exposure.

By the time of Emperor Joseph II’s death in 1790 Beethoven was a member of the court musical establishment in Bonn. To mark the occasion, Beethoven was commissioned to write two cantatas, one to mourn Joseph’s death and the other to celebrate the accession to the throne of Emperor Leopold II. Although Beethoven was only 19 years old at the time, both works show the embryonic marks of his greatness: intense expression and control of structure in one, and an almost operatic panache in the other. Neither piece was performed during Beethoven’s lifetime.

What I Did on My Vacation is an official compilation album from Ian Gillan, released in 1986 in UK by 10 Records. The album covers Gillan's recordings between 1977 and 1982 and was released in three formats (2LP, CD, MC). All songs from the album had been previously released. Although not credited on the cover, "Scarabus" is preceded by an instrumental piece by Colin Towns, which was used as the intro to "On The Rocks" (from the Glory Road album).

Cookin’ at the Queens: Live in Las Vegas (1984 & 1988) is the first release in 33 years from the unsung jazz guitar great Emily Remler, and it’s a previously unreleased collection of performances that were broadcast on KNPR Las Vegas as part of Alan Grant's "4 Queens Jazz Night from Las Vegas” weekly radio program in 1984 and 1988. Released in cooperation with the Emily Remler Estate and features quartet performances with pianist Cocho Arbe, bassist Carson Smith and drummer Tom Montgomery (1984), and trio performances with bassist Carson Smith and drummer John Pisci (1988). The deluxe package will include liner notes by acclaimed author Bill Milkowski, plus interviews and statements from many other artists who knew or were inspired by Emily Remler, such as Sheryl Bailey, Russell Malone, David Benoit, Mike Stern, Rodney Jones, Mimi Fox, Jocelyn Gould, Amanda Monaco and many, many others. Available as a 2-CD set, digital on December 6. Also available as a 3-LP set exclusively at indie record stores for RSD Black Friday, November 29.

Artfully hiding in the shadows of Australian folklore under shrouds of the gum trees, The Dropbear (Thylarctos Plummetus) are typically solitary hunters who move in secrecy with the oblivious, the ignorant, and, of course, the psychoactive Eucalyptus being their primary sources of food. In the face of mass deforestation, political ineptitude, and preventable disasters, the leaves that pacify the species' bloodthirsty tendencies are in short supply.

Looking For The Words: Live at the U of H Coffee House features Guy Clark performing solo acoustic versions of early originals and illuminating covers Let’s travel back to October 30, 1970: A week before his 29th birthday, Guy Clark is performing on the University of Houston campus. Back in his home state after a short stint in California, Clark is still a couple years away from moving to Nashville, where his career as a songwriter would flourish. On this night, he delights a small coffeehouse audience with 12 original songs plus a half-dozen covers. And, as it happens, a reel-to-reel tape recorder is running. The tape was lost until 2021 when the opening act for that night, John Kunz, found the tape stuck in a cavity behind a storage tray.

German conductor Otto Klemperer attended the Hoch Conservatorium in Frankfurt-am-Main, studied violin and piano at the Klindworth-Scharwenka and Stern Conservatories in Berlin, and composition with the German composer Pfitzner. He made his début in Berlin in 1905, where he conducted fifty performances of Offenbach's Orpheus in the Underworld, not a work that would now be identified with Klemperer's serious and profoundly personal approach to music. Shortly afterwards, he visited Gustav Mahler in Vienna and impressed the composer by playing a scherzo from a Mahler symphony by memory at the piano. With Mahler's personal recommendation, Klemperer was appointed choirmaster and conductor at the German Opera in Prague.

Daniel Barenboim is a conductor and pianist of top international stature, known for an extraordinarily large orchestral and operatic repertoire. He is the general music director and chief conductor for life of the Staatsoper Berlin in Germany. Barenboim was born in Buenos Aires on November 15, 1942, into a family of Ukrainian Jewish descent. His mother was his first piano teacher. He later studied with his father, Enrique Barenboim, who was an eminent music professor. After playing for the noted violinist Adolf Busch, who was impressed by his talent, Daniel made his debut recital at the age of seven. In 1951, he played at the Mozarteum in Salzburg and observed Igor Markevitch's conducting class.

The Gramophone Award-winning Silesian Quartet present a double-album of the complete works for string quartet by compatriot Henryk Gorecki. All three of his numbered string quartets were written late in life – the first in 1988 – and all three were commissioned by the Kronos Quartet. The First Quartet is a single-movement work, based on a sixteenth-century song by Wacław of Szamotuły. The Second, double the length of the First, is subtitled ‘quasi una fantasia’ and follows a classical four-movement form, subtly referencing Beethoven. Gorecki completed the Third Quartet (double the length of the Second!) after the Symphony of Sorrowful Songs had catapulted his music to much wider acclaim. It extends to five movements and is considered by many to be one of his greatest compositions. In the 1980s and 1990s, Gorecki composed several collections of choral songs. Five Kurpian Songs is based on folksongs from Kurpie, a region north-west of Warsaw. The composer himself suggested that these works would be effective when performed by a string quartet, and here the Silesian Quartet gives us the world premiere recording of that version.

Slade Alive, Vol. 2, like all live Slade, is searing. Unfortunately, it was released into a void in 1978. Now well past having a U.S. record deal, and with no one in England really interested, Vol. 2 came out on Barn, not exactly a major player in the record business. The album is excellent, both in terms of performance and sound quality. They also did a great job of selecting material for this disc. A nice balance of classics (all Top Three singles in their day) and newer material that hadn't really been heard before. The album kicks off with a devastating version of "Get on Up" from Nobody's Fools. This version not only smokes its predecessor, it is the epitome of the Serious Heaviness. Slade has by this point developed into a full-fledged heavy metal band while retaining everything that made them great in the first place.

Survival is Grand Funk Railroad's fourth studio album and was released in April 1971 by Capitol Records. It was produced by Terry Knight. The bonus tracks on the 2002 reissue labeled "Original Version" have extended sections and extra lyrics compared to the tracks as released on the original LP. "Feelin' Alright" is a different take of the song, as heard by the different inflections in the lead vocal, placement of the instruments in the stereo mix, and musical differences in the playing. Additionally, a third verse is included that is not in the LP version.

Sir Neville Marriner thins out the usual ASMF textures and leads vigorous, stately accounts of both the Water Music Suites and the Music for the Royal Fireworks. The playing is snappy, the feeling of dance-inspired animation just right. This is the ideal compilation, presenting both scores complete; and the sound is open, well balanced, and extremely well defined.

Giulio Cesare in Egitto (Julius Caesar in Egypt, HWV 17), commonly known simply as Giulio Cesare, is an Italian opera in three acts written for the Royal Academy of Music by George Frideric Handel in 1724. The libretto was written by Nicola Francesco Haym who used an earlier libretto by Giacomo Francesco Bussani, which had been set to music by Antonio Sartorio.

Bela Bartok was indisputably one of the 20th century's greatest composers; and his very modern approach, leavened with the rhythms of his native Hungary's folk music, are to be found on this recording that pairs his complete 1924 ballet "The Miraculous Mandarin" with his 1936 "Music For Strings, Percussion, & Celesta."