Monday, November 16, 2009

Fall playLiszt





This post is all about autumn in Paris and what I was listening to at this time last year on my ipod on the metro rides from Maisons Lafitte- the musty, antique equestrian town, to Montmartre with its gray, sloping streets. It’s about patinas of decaying leaves covering everything, and spooky silhouettes of horses being walked like dogs down the street after sundown. It’s about walking in golden glow through the rows of trees in Jardin de Tuilleries, Debussy playing in my earbuds, and laughing at the cheesiness and perfection of the moment.

The only thing that can compete with Fall in Paris is Fall in Minnesota. So click on the link below and you can listen via Youtube, one selection at a time or as a continuous “playlist”- I like to open it up in a new tab so I can listen while I do other stuff on my computer.
I’ve been listening to a lot of string quartets. Something about the warm resonance of strings evokes autumnal tones for me. A lot of these works have a melancholy feel too; wistful and a little haunting like fall, which is all about death but also very romantic.












LISTEN TO FALL PLAYLIST HERE

1. Erik Satie - Trois Gymnopédie No.1 ( lonesome, lovely piano piece)

2. Alexander Borodin - Polovtsian Dances (from the slavic opera Prince Igor)

3. Antonio Vivaldi - Concerto for Two Mandolins, Strings & Basso Continuo
(warm/golden/harvest-y :)

4. Bach - Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major (played by Yo-Yo Ma..exquisite!)

5. Le Mystere des Voix Bulgares - Zhenala e dyulber Yana
(Bulgarian peasant songs- choral music)

6. Maurice Ravel- String Quartet in F Major
(this piece will brighten your gloomy day- TRUST me! It's my absolut favorite!)

7. Antonio Vivaldi - Four Seasons: Autumn ( mandatory, I guess...)

8. Claude Debussy - String Quartet in G Minor, Op. 10
(my favorite work by my favorite composer- sweeping, romantic, heart-breaking, ecstatic...everything one is supposed to feel when one is in Paris!)

9. Puccini - Senzo Mamma, from the opera Suor Angelica
(lament for a dead child from the cloisters in Florence... sends shivers down my spine, especially when sung so purely, as in this version featuring Veronika Dzhioeva live from the Proms)

10. and last but not least...
watch this beautiful film someone made to Debussy's lush Reverie...



Now let's hear what you would add to the list!


* Sorry there wasn't any actual Liszt included ;)

1 comment:

Laura Smith said...

My godmother Alice, who passed away in 2001, used to take me to Orchestra Hall often. I miss it. I don't know if this is possible or not, but can you make an iTunes playlist/album of your this Fall list of music? I've seen iTunes playlists from celebrities - and am almost sure you can purchase them. It would be fun to just purchase and download your list of special tunes. Thanks for this wonderful blog.