The music in our lives

[MooseMom]

Iolaire, thanks for telling us more about the concert!  I can visualize it, and it makes me smile.  I bet you all had a great time.  It sounds like so much fun.  What made you go to her concert?  Have you been a longtime fan of hers, or did you see the concert advertised and attended just on a lark?

About Rachel Barton Pine...maybe some of you found this story if you googled her, but if not, here is something that makes her even more compelling.

She was a child prodigy.  She was studying and playing professionally here in the Chicago area in her teens, and one day she was getting on a train with her (expensive and historic) violin strapped in a special case on her back.  It was crowded on the platform, and somehow she got positioned in such a way that when the doors closed, her violin was inside the train but her body was on the outside, and she was dragged along the tracks.  One leg was severed and she had other truly horrific injuries that I won't go into here.  My husband is an attorney, and when this happened years ago, he had access to the testimony that her doctors gave in court when the Chicago Transit Authority was being sued (at the time, there were no CTA guards who were specifically supposed to look up and down the platform before the doors were closed).

When she testified, she said that "no man will ever want me", and with descriptions of her injuries and the years of rehab (which will never end) she has in front of her, she was awarded a multi-million dollar settlement and the CTA now has personnel making sure that the doors don't close on passengers.

We have been attending her concerts for well over a decade.  When we first saw her, she came out on crutches and was in obvious discomfort, and this almost a decade after the accident.  Each time we saw her, she was just that little bit more mobile.  Finally, she was able to walk out on stage with no crutches and able to carry her instrument by herself. 

The last time we saw her was in a small, intimate setting; she was playing in this beautiful small church out in the country to help raise funds for the town's renovation of their historic train station.  She had been married for a couple of years by then,and her agent let slip to us that she was pregnant!!!!  She now has a beautiful little girl.

Her career has now finally really taken off because now that she is physically in better shape (relatively), she is able to travel and perform abroad.

One amusing thing...she is also quite a rock chick.  She is part of a heavy metal band called "Earthen Grave".  We attended one of those concerts, and she was decked out in studded black leather playing her electric violin!

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/23/arts/music/years-after-a-calamity-rachel-barton-pine-prospers.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

[iolaire]

Iolaire, thanks for telling us more about the concert!  I can visualize it, and it makes me smile.  I bet you all had a great time.  It sounds like so much fun.  What made you go to her concert?  Have you been a longtime fan of hers, or did you see the concert advertised and attended just on a lark?

My wife :-)  But I'm listening to more and more pop music these days.  I used to not really listen to music much at all but now I use it to drown out background noise at work and at the center. 

I've been downloading the iTunes free song/s of the week for YEARS and have built up quite a collection of popular songs.  Add Google's free music offerings and occasional Amazon free music and I find that I'm now listing to a lot of popular songs.

Also I find myself listing to a lot of dance/electronic/techno since its easy to zone out to without thinking about the lyrics.

[Pod99966]

Ed Sheeran - I See Fire

http://youtu.be/2fngvQS_PmQ

Another singer my daughter has turned me on to.

[MooseMom]

On my walk today, I listened to several tracks from "Dances from Terpsichore" by the German musician Michael Praetorius (c. 1571-1621).  I love music from this time period.  I've had this CD for quite some years.

But here's the funny thing.  Did anyone see the HBO production "The Tudors"?  Steamy but silly fun.  Anyway, during many of the festival and/or dance scenes, imagine my surprise when I recognized much of the music playing in the background.  Much of is was from this particular CD!  I'd jump us and yell, "I know that music!"  The unfortunate thing, though, is that Anne Boleyn was dead before Praetorius was even born, so someone didn't do their due diligence regarding the music.  However, it was effective, anyway.

If you did see "The Tudors", you may know that Anne was played by Natalie Dormer.  If you are a Game of Thrones fan, you might recognize her as Margery Tyrell.  Just a bit of trivia for ya!

After Praetorius, I listed to some Lady Gaga.

[kristina]

I also love the music of Michael Praetorius and the music of some of his comtemporaries like Heinrich Schuetz, Dietrich Buxtehude and Erasmus Widmann...
Their melodies have such a wonderful touch of a "happy innocence" ... I always think that J.S. Bach did well to study them all...

[willowtreewren]

"Listen to my Heart" by Nancy Lamott from our iTunes.

She had a great voice, but died quite young.

[MooseMom]

Last night, I was watching The Colbert Report and heard Jon Batiste and Stay Human, and I thought it was just brilliant.  I'm not really a jazz fan, but I loved this!

http://thecolbertreport.cc.com/videos/1ymccn/jon-batiste-and-stay-human----express-yourself-

I just smiled and smiled and smiled!  Such joyous music!

[kristina]

I was listening to the Flute concertos by Francois Devienne, Jaques-Christophe Naudet and Jacques Loeillet
and it is fascinating to notice the difference, how music was composed before the French Revolution (Naudet and Loeillet) and after (Devienne).
It is interesting that the French Revolution did not come about as a full-blown sudden expression, but as a result of the ideals of "Enlightment"...
... and it is fascinating to hear the huge difference expressed by composers of that particular time...

[kristina]

During breakfast I was listening to "Treasures of the Baroque Era" played by the National Iranian Radio and Television Chamber Orchestra,
conducted by Emil Tchakarov from Bulgaria in 1978. The orchestra was a result of the cultural initiative of the former Shah of Persia (Iran) and his family.
It is a wonderful LP with wonderfully played Baroque music and I wonder what these musicians are doing now...
... and whether or not they are still "allowed" to play Baroque music in Iran under the new regime ?

[renalwife]

One of my favorites is a CD "Memory" wind beneath my wings played by James Galway.  He plays the flute and is backed up by the Galway symphonic orchestra.  (From Ireland, of course, you already knew that).

[kristina]

I have just listened (on youtube) to Johnny Halliday performing "Allumez le feu"
("light the fire"...Sometimes ... all it takes is one little spark to ignite the fire of perseverance...)

[talker]

When my gal was in the hospital,(giving birth to one of our children) I had called the local radio station to play: "Memories Are Made Of This" by Dean Martin
The actual details are fuzzy, but not the event. (Was 57 years ago)
Did set up everything so that there was a radio playing by her bed.
So she heard the announcer mention her name, and from 'whom', and played the song.
She loved it.
Sweet gal was tricky back in those days. She disliked hospitals almost as much as I disliked doctors.
So, she generally stalled me getting her to the hospital, until she would 'laugh' and say 'too late, Hon, now get busy', or words to that extent.
She pulled that on me for three (3) more birth events.
Guess, I'm a slow learner. Ha.
Used to actually listen to an opera platter. Am tone deaf , and  music illiterate, yet found pleasure in
listening this type of music.  Ran across names and some music from:
Antonio Vivaldi (1678 – 1741)
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 – 1750)
George Frideric Handel (1685 – 1759)
Claudio Monteverdi (1567 – 1643)
Arcangelo Corelli (1653 – 1713).
Johann Pachelbel (1653 – 1706)
Henry Purcell (1659 – 1695).
Tomasso Giovanni Albinoni (1671 – 1751
Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683 – 1764)
Giuseppe Domenico Scarlatti (1685 – 1757)
Faranelli (1705 – 1782)
Antonio Stradivarius (1644 – 1737) Pretty good violin maker whose instruments today all have their own names and sell for gazillions.
Lost that opera platter some where, along the years, due to the major moves made over the years.
Ah me, better close it off, as I'm off on a ramble here, again.  Ha     

[kristina]

Thank you talker, for mentioning some of my favourite composers and musicians...
Mind you, I don’t know a lot about Monteverdi and Faranelli.
I have listened to some of Monteverdi's religious choirs and I was not very much taken... so I might have to give it more time...
...and I saw the portrait of Faranelli in the Royal College of Music. I felt I had to find out more about him, because during a concert at the Museum
I also studied his portrait with his very sad eyes and melancholic expression of his face and I wondered what it was all about...
...I am not too sure yet, what to make of “male sopranos” and I might have to give it a little bit more time as well...

[kristina]

Today I have listened to the wonderful double-LP by Paul Jordan and his interpretation of Bach's "Orgelbuechlein"
played on the organ of the United Church on the Green, New Haven CT...
I mention this, because these days some "modern" non-believing organ players play Bach's wonderful compositions, 
as if the players "want to sabotage" or "distort" Bach's humble and genuine Christin thoughts,
which Bach always displays in all his compositions without any fail....

Sometimes I get the feeling that some organ/piano players do not chose to share Bach's humble, genuine believes
and because of that, they seem to try and make fun of Bach's music by "distorting" his compositions one way or another...

... It is so refreshing and  good to come across and listen to genuine organ players like Paul Jordan,
who play Bach in such a meditative way,that the listener feels very much uplifted...
... which is - by the  way - exactly how Bach's compositions are meant to be understood...

... I very much admire the compositions by Bach and Haendel...
... Both composers can't really be compared, because they are  both "on the same level":
... the only difference being that Bach's compositions are very meditative and introvert,
whereas Haendel's compositions are very much outgoing and extrovert...

[Sugarlump]

Ed Sheeran - I See Fire

http://youtu.be/2fngvQS_PmQ

Another singer my daughter has turned me on to.

My son went to school with Ed Sheeran (he comes from my hometown!)
I really like his music too have you heard Thinking out loud? I love this song 

[Ang]

In the living years (mike and the mechanics)

Listen to the lyrics- very powerful

[PrimeTimer]

In the living years (mike and the mechanics)

Listen to the lyrics- very powerful

Love the song, I loved the video when it first came out on MTV. For some reason tho, now I have Peter Gabriel's "Sledgehammer" in my head. Go figure. 

[kristina]

He is one of my favourite singers with an extraordinary vocal range of four and a half octaves,
ranging from the soprano to bass registers and here he can be heard on youtube:

Иван Ребров - Очи черные.Ivan Rebroff - Dark Eyes (Live)

... and my favourite song which always cheers me up on a "rainy day" :

Ivan Rebroff - Poljuschko Polje (Cossack Patrol)

[MooseMom]

Kristina, I'll look those up on YouTube!

Have you all been hearing that music that accompanies the commercial for Jeep Cherokee?  That melody has been stuck in my brain for days now, and I've finally found out what it is.  It's "Renegade" by XAmbassadors.

[PaulBC]

For no particular reason except that I just listened to it in the car, and it's my favorite 10000 Maniacs song: The Painted Desert from In My Tribe (1987)

Note: I tend to focus more on lyrics than music. My favorite pop artist is probably Paul Simon. 10000 Maniacs is hit or miss for me, but I like this song a lot.

I like the narrative structure (impressions of received postcards, reminiscent of a one-sided phone call), the desert imagery (from the perspective of someone who isn't there but wants to be), the recurring question "Is/was a cactus blooming there?", and the plaintive tone captured in Natalie Merchant's singing. I'm left concluding that the singer is more deeply affected by the trip to the painted desert that she'll never make than the traveler, who has sent his abruptly ending trail of postcards and moved on with his life.

I just checked YouTube and did not like any of the live performances, so I would stick with the one from the album.

[PaulBC]

I heard "Time in a bottle" by Jim Croce....

I sung a version of this with "slightly modified" lyrics when doing 24 hour collection as part of donor workup a few months back. (True story! I can't be the only one, right?)

[PaulBC]

Here's one I did not listen to today, but I used to put it on repeat in my car during the weeks when I was still trying to absorb my daughter's diagnosis.

It's Willie Nelson's cover of Blue Skies (an Irving Berlin standard). Here's a Youtube link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGZDwxnjG1g

I think Willie Nelson puts an unusual poignancy into a simple song with ostensibly happy lyrics. Particular when he sings "Blue days, all of them gone" you sense he's still feeling the pain of those days.

[Gerald Lively]

Anything by George Thorogood.

[kristina]

Kristina, I'll look those up on YouTube!

Have you all been hearing that music that accompanies the commercial for Jeep Cherokee?  That melody has been stuck in my brain for days now, and I've finally found out what it is.  It's "Renegade" by XAmbassadors.

Hello MooseMom,
I have just listened to "Renegade" by XAmbassadors on youtube
and it sounds quite inspiring :

... "Long live the pioneers
Rebels and mutineers
Go forth and have no fear..."

... that's just the spirit... !

Thanks for pointing it out to me...
Kristina.

[MooseMom]

I was watching The Graham Norton Show last night on BBCAmerica, and one of the guests was Kylie Minogue.  Now, I have to admit that I did watch Neighbors back in the time when she was on, so she has a kind of special place in my heart.  So, I've been listening to "I Just Can't Get You Out of My Head", or whatever that song was called.