The Funk and Wagnalls Family Library of Great Music #17

The Funk and Wagnalls Family Library of Great Music #17 is a compilation of some of the greatest music ever written. This library is a great way to get your family into music.

Introduction

The Funk and Wagnalls Family Library of Great Music #17 was a 54-album set issued by Funk & Wagnalls in 1974. It contained a wide variety of music, from classical to pop to country to jazz. The set was divided into four parts: Part 1 contained Classical Music, Part 2 contained Jazz, Part 3 contained Country & Western, and Part 4 contained Popular Music. The set was released on both LPs and 8-track tapes.

The set was discontinued in the early 1980s, but some of the albums were later reissued on CD by K-tel.

About the Funk and Wagnalls Family Library of Great Music

The Funk and Wagnalls Family Library of Great Music was a series of 78 rpm phonograph records issued by the Funk & Wagnalls Company, beginning in the 1920s.

The line was inaugurated by Alan Lomax’s recordings of American folk songs, which were released on 12 discs in 1924 under the title Folk Songs of North America. These were followed by a second series of 12 discs, also recorded by Lomax, entitled Folk Songs from Virginia and Kentucky.

In 1926, the label issued two discographies of violinists: One featuring Fritz Kreisler and the other Jacques Thibaud. The following year saw the release of a set devoted to Italian opera singers, including Enrico Caruso, Beniamino Gigli, Maria Caniglia, and others. A set of records documenting African-American music was issued in 1928; it included tracks by Manuel Neri’s Louisiana Jazz Band and recordings of Negro spirituals sung by the Fisk Jubilee Singers.

The Funk and Wagnalls Family Library of Great Music was continued into the 1930s with such sets as The Story of Hiawatha Told Through Indian Legends and Love Songs (featuring soprano Gladys Swarthout),before being discontinued in 1932.

The Funk and Wagnalls Family Library of Great Music #17

The Funk and Wagnalls Family Library of Great Music #17 is a 4-LP set of “popular and light classical music” released in 1966 on the RCA Victor Red Seal label.

The set features performances by the Boston Pops Orchestra conducted by Arthur Fiedler, the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Eugene Ormandy, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Karl Böhm, the New York Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Leonard Bernstein, and others.

The set includes a booklet with an introduction to each piece by musicologist Bernard Gavoty.

Conclusion

It is with great pleasure that we present to you the seventeenth volume in The Funk and Wagnalls Family Library of Great Music. This collection of music from around the world represents some of the best musicianship available, and we are confident that you will enjoy every selection.

We would like to extend our thanks to all of the artists who have contributed their time and talents to this compilation, and we hope that you will take the opportunity to explore their other work. We also want to thank our loyal subscribers for their support, and we look forward to bringing you more great music in the future.