Meet the Great Composers question

[Mom to Aly]

I purchased Meet The Great Composers, the first set, on half.com. I received the book, but no cd. Although it is supposed to come with a cd, and the sellers that have no cd said so in their description, this seller said he would have said if there was one and will not give me a refund.

My ques is this--would I be OK going to a site with free music from the composer, or do I really need to have the specific excerpts on the cd? It would be really hard for me to afford another copy at this point.

Thank you!

[JaneGrey]

I really don't think you need the CD.

First of all, the tracks are all listed in the book. So you can definitely look them up. However, the book also lists other works by the composer (in case you can't find the exact tracks).

Second, they're just suggested listening (that's what the book calls them, too). Personally, I wasn't that thrilled with the tracks (from what I recall). There is only one composition per composer. It didn't seem to be a particularly famous one, either. I wanted a greater variety with shorter snippets.

Third, I'm pretty sure that the tracks are referenced in the written material, so you don't have to feel like you're missing out on the text.

We had much more fun listening to the Beethoven's Wig CDs (recommended by Bauer).

--Sorry you had such a bad experience buying the book.

[VaKim]

Nope, you don't need the cd. I use both books without the cd's, and just look up music online, or listen to cd's we already have for each of the composers as we study them.

[Mom to Aly]

Thank you both! Feel much better now :)