Classical music and then some

Good music is music that moves us. Be it any genre, a music piece that stirs a certain emotion (or more than one) is something that we listen to over and over again.

A friend recommended the book An Equal music by Vikram Seth. It is a story about a love affair between two successful musicians who meet after a decade of separation.
The writing style is in first person, so it took me a lot of effort to get into the mode of reading the story as spoken directly from the author's point of view.
What I do like about the book is the description of the music pieces and references to the classical compositions. The first piece described in the book is Beethoven's C Minor Trio. So along with reading about the music, listening to it and actually understanding what the author describes adds to the effect.

I love the way the lady plays the piano so beautifully and effortlessly.



These are the other classical/based pieces that I've been playing in a loop recently:

Italian composer Ludovico Einaudi's Divenire. Listening to this piece as well as watching the musicians play it is a treat.



David Lanz's Christofori's Dream. There is something very subtle at the same time very intense about this tune.



And it is time to note that the CDs with the works of Beethoven and Mozart received as a gift eons ago are being put to good use :)

Victor Wooten

Bass, played on a lower key, generally provides a harmonic/rhythmic support.
When Victor Wooten is playing, bass gets a whole new meaning. It does not support, it IS the music.

Today's Victor Wooten trip includes:
The Lesson
Joe's Journey
Sacred Silence
Yin Yang
The Vision
What you won't do for love
On and On

More music streaming here: http://www.victorwooten.com/music.html

A post for: Music of the Heart and Bach

Yesterday I watched the movie Music of the Heart. This falls in the categories music and inspiration. The movie is a sure #win for several reasons - the main ones being Meryl Streep, the music, the true storyline. Meryl Streep is a versatile actress. Be it her role in Devil wears Prada, Julie and Julia or this one, so very different - yet so well adapted.

The movie is about Roberta Guaspari. When her husband leaves her, Roberta's mom and friend push her into pursuing her passion - teaching music. Roberta teaches in a school at Harlem and life is a struggle. When the music program at school is cut due to budget constraints she fights back and wins.
Roberta later went on to found Opus 118 - Harlem centre for Strings.

At the very end of the movie, a charity show to be hosted by Roberta is almost scrapped due to non-availability of venue. That is when her friend arranges for musical greats like Itzhak Perlman and Isaac Stern help conduct the concert at Carnegie Hall. The finale gave me goosebumps when these musicians along with the children play Bach's double concerto. Such beautiful music.

Since last evening, I have been listening to classical music specially Bach's. These are in my current playlist:
Double concerto
Prelude - Cello Suite No. 1
Toccata and Fugue in D minor
Brandenburg concerto No. 3 (Allegro)
Cantata No. 29 Sinfonia

First Impression

The last day of my life - Jim Moret

(Long time overdue post)

I was reading this book during my trip earlier this year and remember tweeting one quote from the book that caught on with friends:
"Who are the few people you can really count as your friend? Have you made sure they know how you feel about them?"

Last day of my life is one of those books that as you read through - you nod, you smile, you are saddened, but at the end of every chapter you are inspired to think and act differently.
Jim Moret, the author is a TV correspondent who has hosted/anchored shows on CNN, Fox, MSNBC. Most popular of his work is his coverage of the OJ Simpson trial.

Jim starts the book by saying all his life he has been telling other peoples' stories and he reached a point in life where he stopped to think about his own life.
"I issued myself an unusual challenge: to imagine that I had been told in no uncertain terms, that I had only 24 hours left to live. What would I do? Who would I want to see? where would I choose to spend my last hew hours? Would I make apologies or offer forgiveness? Would I use it as a time to seek out one last great adventure?"

Jim breaks up the book into chapters with titles like Friendship, Gratitude, Love, Sacrifice, Commitment...
Below are some interesting quotes from the book, each followed by a story from Jim's personal experiences:
~True friendship is like sound health, the value of it is seldom known until it is lost - Charles Caleb Colton
~Sometimes when you sacrifice something precious, you're not really losing it. You're just passing it on to someone else - Mitch Albom
~Never apologize for showing feeling. When you do apologize, you apologize for truth - Benjamin Disraeli
~How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant of the weak and the strong - because some day you will have been all these - George Washington Carver
~If at first you don't succeed, before you try again, stop to figure out what you did wrong - Leo Rosten
~After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music - Aldous Huxley
~Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face - Victor Hugo
~The most wasted of all days is one without laughter - E.E.Cummings

Agnee

Accidentally landed on the official website of Agnee, while searching for Agni (an older Indian band that a friend had mentioned about)
Each song is a world apart in theme, tune and the final presentation. It's been long since I heard so many good songs from a single band (may be I'm not listening to the right kind of music?). Anyway, felt the need, so jotting down what I feel about the songs currently playing in a loop.

Sadho Re: The initial strumming of the guitar is interesting, but the vocals make all the difference. The video may be disturbing to some, but the theme of the song isn't a very pleasant one either. Overall, very powerful music.

Splitsvilla theme: "Edgiest TV show in India"? or so the website calls it. Forget the show, focus on the music. Simple guitar strumming in the background and some humming in the foreground, throw in a few violins and the result is a brilliant melody which leaves you with a warm fuzzy feeling. Definitely deserves an #ilike tag

Shaam Tanha: At first, the starting of the song seemed a bit artificial. Don't ask me how music can seem artificial, it just does, at times. But listening to it completely, a couple of times made me change my mind. This is a very light, simple song. Perfect for an evening (or does the name already suggest that).

Raanjhan Yaar Di / Keh Lene Do: The guitar, the voice, the tune - oh what a combination
Plus point for RYD: The chords
Plus point for KLD: The voice modulation

Karvan: The minor chords/notes that the tune touches from time to time, give it it's intensity

Music inspired by movies

Today's theme is music. Well, the day began with music (that's a whole different story and it's best to not talk about it).
Anyway, watched the trailer of Black Swan. Seems to be an intense movie, but the music is equally compelling. Then went on to listen to a whole lot of good music from Vitaliy Zavadskyy's MySpace page.

2012
Inception
District 9
Avatar

Also including here some music from OSTs by Clint Mansell, which were playing in a continuous loop some time back. Music has such power!

The Fountain
Requiem for a dream
Smoking Aces