My favourite pieces that I performed:
This is the second movement, titled Tunis - Nefta, from Ibert's piece Escales (Ports of Call). Each movement from the piece is inspired by exotic places (In this case Tunisia). I LOVE the oboist in this recording. I can't figure out who it is, but it's probably my favourite interpretation!
Ok, ok technically I didn't perform this movement. (It's all string players) BUT I did perform the rest of the piece and this is one of the most beautiful movements in all creation. Some of you may recognize it from various soundtracks (and some of you might recognize it specifically from Boys Over Flowers...this was pretty much the only redeeming thing in that anime). This is a slow burning movement, and I love my music the way I love my book relationships. I know a lot of people don't have patience for classical music, but PLEASE listen to this to at least around the 3:00 mark!! It literally brings tears to my eyes literally every time I hear this. And if you like this, check out the last movement to Mahler 9 (or really, all of Mahler 9, but at 1 hr and a half, I understand your hesitance on that front haha)
My new music obsession:
Bluegrass. Yep. That happened. I finally succumbed to Chris's influences (he's the friend who recommended The Dresden Files to me too). I CAN'T STOP LISTENING TO IT. Alison Krauss has a beautiful voice - (if you like this, you should check out her song Daylight) and the musicians are just phenomenal. I've gone through some weird obsessions (like that time I only listened to Clannad and Loreena McKennitt for a month. Or Gregorian chant/motets/etc.) so I guess this isn't that weird in comparison.
Artist I discovered this month:
Song I listened to on repeat:
Favourite book reviewed:
I'd have to say it's a tie between:
A Cat Called Dog and Lock and Key
Most anticipated book released in October:
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| Book 3 in the Birthright trilogy |
On a more serious note, October is a really tough month for me. Outside of all the performance stress that comes up, it's an emotionally draining month for me. A few years ago, I went through some personal tragedies, and this month is the anniversary of many of them. I want to thank each and every one of you who has read the blog, but particularly those of you who have commented. You've made these past couple of weeks so much more manageable, and it's just wonderful to come home on one of those anniversaries and see a new comment to brighten my day! So sincerely, from the bottom of my heart, thank you! Here's a complimentary adorable picture of my brother!
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I have more where that comes from *snickers*...other than listening to music my favourite way to improve my mood is to flip through highly entertaining pictures of my brother when he was a kid. There are just so many of them...
And that's it for my month! Anything good happen for yours?
Lovely post Elizabeth and good for you making it through a tough month. December is a bit like that for me so I think I understand. I especially enjoyed the Mahler - he's a composer I haven't paid enough attention to obviously. Are there certain composers you enjoy listening to versus playing and vice versa?
ReplyDeleteDefinitely! Mahler sometimes falls into that category, as does Strauss and Wagner. They are great to listen to...but MAN is it sometimes physically painful to play! On the flip side, I rarely listen to 20th century composers - particularly the later ones. When I'm forced to play them, I usually end up liking them (about 70% of the time anyway) because it's very mentally engaging (just not fun a first time listen).
ReplyDeleteThe one thing I hate about Disqus is that it never links me to the blogger! Do you have a blog I can check out (or do I already read your blog? I'm terrible with names haha)