inspiration
My assignment this week for composition lessons is to make a list of the 5 pieces that have most inspired me... this has proved quite a difficult task, for many obvious reasons. I spent the week making a list of first all the composers/musicians/bands who really inspire me, then I broke that down to my favorite piece... then came the hard part of cutting that down to five, which I must confess I haven't fully done yet. I have to present my list and my reasons in our next composition forum, as well as play one of the pieces, and I have a bit less than 10 minutes to do it in. I'm thinking that I'll burn a cd with all the pieces on it so that people from forum can borrow it if they wish.
Dvorak cello concerto mvt 1 - Jacqueline du Pre... this was an easy one. I went to a Yo-Yo Ma concert when I was in 8th grade and he played this piece. My parents gave me the du Pre concerto collection about 6 months later and the Dvorak instantly became my favorite piece for the cello. I've heard it many times now, played by many different people, but this version will always be the most inspirational to me.
Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis - Ralph Vaughan Williams... this was the first Vaughan Williams piece I ever heard, and most likely one of the most gorgeous pieces I've ever heard. While his symphonies now move me more than his fantasia's, sometimes you've gotta stick with where you started :)
Shaker Loops I: Shaking and Trembling - John Adams... this has a two-fold meaning for me. It was the first minimalist piece I ever heard, which began a very great love of that movement. Also, the recording of this piece that I own is conducted by Marin Alsop, my all-time favorite conductor. She conducted the Colorado Symphony Orchestra for several years while I lived there, and now directs the Baltimore Symphony.
Loreena McKennitt ... now here's where it starts getting tricky. I know I want Loreena on this list; she does what I want to do. The problem is, which piece do I chose? I've never been able to chose a favorite, ever. I know that I want a piece that will show her talent at weaving a story, but I also want one that shows the glorious instrumentation of her more recent recordings. I'm not sure if I want to use one from the live recording, though I suppose I could. I also want to put one on that has liner notes that I can read at forum, since part of what I love so much about Loreena are her amazing liner notes (this cuts out Stolen Child, which I was seriously considering). Old Ways is a possibility, as is The English Ladye and the Knight (viol ensemble!!!), or Beneath a Phrygian Sky.
Azam Ali or A Filetta ... another tough choice. I want to put something in about my favorite world music discoveries over the last few years.
Azam Ali (she has a few myspace pages, for her and for her various bands)... video- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPg9XGgic8o http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hb8_l62GhWc
A Filetta (they also have a myspace)... video- http://youtube.com/watch?v=MHPsdM1gckI
some clips of them on bbc radio (how I discovered them, they're in part 1)- http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/worldmusic/onlocation/corsica.shtml
If you had to chose your top 5 most inspirational songs, what would they be? They don't necessarily have to be classical, two of mine won't be, and I had Nightwish and The Cranberries way up there too...
Dvorak cello concerto mvt 1 - Jacqueline du Pre... this was an easy one. I went to a Yo-Yo Ma concert when I was in 8th grade and he played this piece. My parents gave me the du Pre concerto collection about 6 months later and the Dvorak instantly became my favorite piece for the cello. I've heard it many times now, played by many different people, but this version will always be the most inspirational to me.
Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis - Ralph Vaughan Williams... this was the first Vaughan Williams piece I ever heard, and most likely one of the most gorgeous pieces I've ever heard. While his symphonies now move me more than his fantasia's, sometimes you've gotta stick with where you started :)
Shaker Loops I: Shaking and Trembling - John Adams... this has a two-fold meaning for me. It was the first minimalist piece I ever heard, which began a very great love of that movement. Also, the recording of this piece that I own is conducted by Marin Alsop, my all-time favorite conductor. She conducted the Colorado Symphony Orchestra for several years while I lived there, and now directs the Baltimore Symphony.
Loreena McKennitt ... now here's where it starts getting tricky. I know I want Loreena on this list; she does what I want to do. The problem is, which piece do I chose? I've never been able to chose a favorite, ever. I know that I want a piece that will show her talent at weaving a story, but I also want one that shows the glorious instrumentation of her more recent recordings. I'm not sure if I want to use one from the live recording, though I suppose I could. I also want to put one on that has liner notes that I can read at forum, since part of what I love so much about Loreena are her amazing liner notes (this cuts out Stolen Child, which I was seriously considering). Old Ways is a possibility, as is The English Ladye and the Knight (viol ensemble!!!), or Beneath a Phrygian Sky.
Azam Ali or A Filetta ... another tough choice. I want to put something in about my favorite world music discoveries over the last few years.
Azam Ali (she has a few myspace pages, for her and for her various bands)... video- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPg9XGgic8o http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hb8_l62GhWc
A Filetta (they also have a myspace)... video- http://youtube.com/watch?v=MHPsdM1gckI
some clips of them on bbc radio (how I discovered them, they're in part 1)- http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/worldmusic/onlocation/corsica.shtml
If you had to chose your top 5 most inspirational songs, what would they be? They don't necessarily have to be classical, two of mine won't be, and I had Nightwish and The Cranberries way up there too...