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I'm creating a post to put all of the music that I mention in my Sherlock series. I will put them in order mentioned, including the artists and genre. If you listen to nothing else, listen to The Cold Song by Purcel. Followed by Glass and Part. You probably won't like everything, but there is something here for everyone.
Why do I have a thing for Benjamin Britten? Apart from the music which speaks for itself, he slashed the fuck out of everything. Homoerotica everywhere. In Billy Budd the evil Claggart loves Billy and wants him destroyed because of it. Turn of the Screw? Gay references galore. Look up the meaning behind the latin lesson and the boy's Malo, Malo song. Britten slashed himself in the 1950's, no less. Him and his tenor, sir Peter Pears were getting it on crazy like, practically in public because they were famous enough to get away with it.
Act II Scene II from Peter Grimes by Benjamin Britten, opera, performed by Jon Vickers
Fratres by Arvo Part, modern classical for violin and piano, performed by Repin and Lugansky. God I love Part.
Largo Al Factotum from Rossini's Barber of Seville, opera, performed by Dmitri Hvorostovsky
Within This Frail Crucible of Light, from Rape of Lucretia by Benjamin Britten, opera, performed by a seriously hot Christopher Maltman. Seriously. Look at him. Then want him even more when you realize that he read biochemistry at Warwick before becoming an opera star. Looks, smarts, voice, abs...I think I hate him a little, too.
Sonata for Violin and Piano by Philip Glass, modern classical for violin and piano, performed by Bachmann and Klibonoff. I love, love, love Glass. LOVE.
Caprice No. 24 by Paganini, classical violin, performed by Jascha Heifetz.
Cantus In Memorium Benjamin Britten by Arvo Part, modern classical performed by (I think this is the Stuttgart Orchestra, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong). This is one of the most haunting pieces I've ever heard. Part was living in Soviet controlled Estonia when Britten died-- he never got to meet his hero. So he composed this to honor and mourn Britten. This was the start of what is known as his tintinnabuli style. A devout Catholic, Part also composes religious music.
Act III Scene II from Wozzeck by Alban Berg, modern opera performed by Dale Duesing and Kristine Ciesinski. Creepy, gorgeous stuff. I have the Jan Lenica poster for this opera hanging in my house. The look of the thing is very vagina dentata, which explains some of the opera too.
Descent into the Inferno by Jim Thirlwell, early industrial. The voice of an angel...a fallen one. This entire album is fantastic and raw.
Dearly Departed by Devotcka, gypsy rock. This can make me cry.
This one is the song Sherlock listens to as he trashes 221b. There are two versions, the cleaned up Pigface remix of two songs. Sickaspfuck is a mix of Asphole by Skinny Puppy with Ogre's cool delivery, and Sick Culture by The Evil Mothers and the sexy horror that is Curse Mackey. That remix still has those goddamn evil vocals by Curse that come in at about 1:55. There is also just the Evil Mother's original, Sick Culture, but I waffle over what I prefer. I am including both, because, gah! Curse.
Claggart's Aria from Billy Budd by Benjamin Britten. Claggart is an evil, evil fucker who wants Billy and wants him destroyed because of it.
The Pearl Fisher's Duet from Bizet's The Pearl Fishers performed by Alagna and Terfel. Superb!
Nixon In China, by John Adams. The Houston premiere performance.
Act II Scene I from The Turn of the Screw by Benjamin Britten, ensemble cast directed by Jakub Hrůša, featuring the London Philharmonic.
Partita for Solo Violin by Philip Glass. Violinist Tim Fain. This is recent and I can't get enough of it. In my head this is Sherlock's personal theme music. Hot, hot HOT video.
Winter Concerto from Vivaldi's Four Seasons. Performed by I Musici. If you only know this from car commercials, shame on you.
Metallica, Master of Puppets. Trust me, there are a lot of links between this stuff and classical music.
String Quartet N. 2, Shostakovich, Borodin Quartet.
Britten's Billy Budd again: Look Through The Port performed by Dwayne Croft
Purcel, King Arthur, The Cold Song. THIS IS MY FAVORITE ARIA EVER. If you listen to anything on this list, let it be The Cold Song. Seriously. It was written for Bass Baritone (Bass actually, but back then bass wasn't quite so bass-y), but the famous countertenor Klaus Nomi performed it so well that it is usually performed by countertenors now. I still love the bass baritone but examples are elusive and Nomi's really is That Good. Live in awe of his talent, and feel the chill when you finally understand that he was literally dying during this performance.
Britten, Peter Grimes, Act III. For fic purposes start around 7:00.
Lou Reed, Metal Machine Music. Lol, Lou. This is considered his unlistenable album. He's tried to say that it was visionary proto-industrial, but really, it lacks the artistry and cohesion of real early industrial groups like Throbbing Gristle and Whitehouse. It was really just a big fuck you to everybody. You want early industrial, get TG's 20 Jazz Funk Greats, or even better, Horse Rotorvator by Coil, or anything by Einsturzende Neubauten.
And because she is so significant in the fic, I give you Maria Callas. Suffer, because you will never be as cool at this bitch. I included O Mio Babbino Caro from the famous Puccini opera Gianni Schicchi, because most of you know it even if you don't realise it.
Re
What was that? You want to know where the Kenny G is? Get out of here. Really. I don't want to know you. There is good reason that many famous jazz musicians have publically ridiculed him with songs featuring lines like,"I agree with Pat Metheny, Kenny's talent's way too teeny." For some entertaining reading that includes the phrase 'musical necrophilia', read Pat Metheny's response when asked about his dislike of Kenny G, here.
Requiem Aeternem from Benjamin Britten's War Requiem.
Shriekback: Faded Flowers.
Leonard Cohen: Suzanne
John Coltrane: Psalm from A Love Supreme
Kraftwerk: Trans Europe Express
Respighi - Pines of Rome - Chicago Symphony
Bach: Chaconne from Partita no.2 for Solo Violin, Itzhak Perlman being a badass...
Bach: Tocatta and Fugue in D minor. Everyone knows this piece. Everyone.
If I posted all of Wagner's Ring Cycle you'd still be watching 18 hours later, so check out Ride of the Valkyries from the Met performance of Die Walkure. You all know this one as well.
The first part of Hindemith's Mathis der Maler preformed by the Berlin Philharmonic. I'm too lazy to find the other parts, so please look up the rest if you like it.
Stravinsky's Rite of Spring performed by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.
Overture from The Marriage of Figaro, performed by the English Baroque Soloists. You must know this.
Debussey, La Mer, performed by the London Symphony Orchestra.
Have I mentioned how much I love Glass? Well, it bears repetition. Here is his Einstein on the Beach.
Handel's Messiah, the Hallelujah Chorus. Performed by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.
Bach, St. Matthew's Passion. Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra.
Beethoven, Symphony No. 9. London Symphony Orchestra. If you must be tedious and want to fast forward to Ode To Joy, well, don't.
Verdi. Otello. Ave maria. Renee Fleming. I think I like this even more than Callas'.
Bach. Goldberg Variations. Glenn Gould.
Gershwin. Rhapsody In Blue. From Disney's Fantasia 2000.
Miles Davis. Bitches Brew. I like this only slightly less than Coltrane's A Love Supreme.
Henry Purcell's King Arthur. The aria The Cold Song comes from this. If you listen and pay attention there is a slight spoiler alert for my story.
Coil - Paranoid Inlay, from Musick to Play in the Dark, vol. 1&2. These are the greatest albums to be released within my lifetime. I am not joking. I do not kid. I've never known another band to have as much passion, intelligence, poetry and soul. Ever. Period. They have so many different styles explored in their music that if you dislike the stuff on these albums you would probably like some of their other stuff. My next favorite album of theirs is Horse Rotorvator. Singles-wise, Love's Secret Domain and Widowpane are dancier and more accessible, while retaining their hideously penetrating gift for allusion. I waffled over which song to include. I thought about Ether or Are You Shivering, but settled on Paranoid Inlay.
Same band, their greatest song. Batwings(A Liminal Hymn). You can hear Jhon Balance speak to God. Don't believe me? Listen till the end when he starts singing in tongues and it becomes so transcendently beautiful that I cry. It played at Jhon's funeral, and it will play at mine.
Why do I have a thing for Benjamin Britten? Apart from the music which speaks for itself, he slashed the fuck out of everything. Homoerotica everywhere. In Billy Budd the evil Claggart loves Billy and wants him destroyed because of it. Turn of the Screw? Gay references galore. Look up the meaning behind the latin lesson and the boy's Malo, Malo song. Britten slashed himself in the 1950's, no less. Him and his tenor, sir Peter Pears were getting it on crazy like, practically in public because they were famous enough to get away with it.
Act II Scene II from Peter Grimes by Benjamin Britten, opera, performed by Jon Vickers
Click to viewFratres by Arvo Part, modern classical for violin and piano, performed by Repin and Lugansky. God I love Part.
Largo Al Factotum from Rossini's Barber of Seville, opera, performed by Dmitri Hvorostovsky
Within This Frail Crucible of Light, from Rape of Lucretia by Benjamin Britten, opera, performed by a seriously hot Christopher Maltman. Seriously. Look at him. Then want him even more when you realize that he read biochemistry at Warwick before becoming an opera star. Looks, smarts, voice, abs...I think I hate him a little, too.
Sonata for Violin and Piano by Philip Glass, modern classical for violin and piano, performed by Bachmann and Klibonoff. I love, love, love Glass. LOVE.
Caprice No. 24 by Paganini, classical violin, performed by Jascha Heifetz.
Cantus In Memorium Benjamin Britten by Arvo Part, modern classical performed by (I think this is the Stuttgart Orchestra, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong). This is one of the most haunting pieces I've ever heard. Part was living in Soviet controlled Estonia when Britten died-- he never got to meet his hero. So he composed this to honor and mourn Britten. This was the start of what is known as his tintinnabuli style. A devout Catholic, Part also composes religious music.
Act III Scene II from Wozzeck by Alban Berg, modern opera performed by Dale Duesing and Kristine Ciesinski. Creepy, gorgeous stuff. I have the Jan Lenica poster for this opera hanging in my house. The look of the thing is very vagina dentata, which explains some of the opera too.
Descent into the Inferno by Jim Thirlwell, early industrial. The voice of an angel...a fallen one. This entire album is fantastic and raw.
Dearly Departed by Devotcka, gypsy rock. This can make me cry.
This one is the song Sherlock listens to as he trashes 221b. There are two versions, the cleaned up Pigface remix of two songs. Sickaspfuck is a mix of Asphole by Skinny Puppy with Ogre's cool delivery, and Sick Culture by The Evil Mothers and the sexy horror that is Curse Mackey. That remix still has those goddamn evil vocals by Curse that come in at about 1:55. There is also just the Evil Mother's original, Sick Culture, but I waffle over what I prefer. I am including both, because, gah! Curse.
Claggart's Aria from Billy Budd by Benjamin Britten. Claggart is an evil, evil fucker who wants Billy and wants him destroyed because of it.
The Pearl Fisher's Duet from Bizet's The Pearl Fishers performed by Alagna and Terfel. Superb!
Nixon In China, by John Adams. The Houston premiere performance.
Act II Scene I from The Turn of the Screw by Benjamin Britten, ensemble cast directed by Jakub Hrůša, featuring the London Philharmonic.
Partita for Solo Violin by Philip Glass. Violinist Tim Fain. This is recent and I can't get enough of it. In my head this is Sherlock's personal theme music. Hot, hot HOT video.
Winter Concerto from Vivaldi's Four Seasons. Performed by I Musici. If you only know this from car commercials, shame on you.
Metallica, Master of Puppets. Trust me, there are a lot of links between this stuff and classical music.
String Quartet N. 2, Shostakovich, Borodin Quartet.
Britten's Billy Budd again: Look Through The Port performed by Dwayne Croft
Purcel, King Arthur, The Cold Song. THIS IS MY FAVORITE ARIA EVER. If you listen to anything on this list, let it be The Cold Song. Seriously. It was written for Bass Baritone (Bass actually, but back then bass wasn't quite so bass-y), but the famous countertenor Klaus Nomi performed it so well that it is usually performed by countertenors now. I still love the bass baritone but examples are elusive and Nomi's really is That Good. Live in awe of his talent, and feel the chill when you finally understand that he was literally dying during this performance.
Britten, Peter Grimes, Act III. For fic purposes start around 7:00.
Lou Reed, Metal Machine Music. Lol, Lou. This is considered his unlistenable album. He's tried to say that it was visionary proto-industrial, but really, it lacks the artistry and cohesion of real early industrial groups like Throbbing Gristle and Whitehouse. It was really just a big fuck you to everybody. You want early industrial, get TG's 20 Jazz Funk Greats, or even better, Horse Rotorvator by Coil, or anything by Einsturzende Neubauten.
And because she is so significant in the fic, I give you Maria Callas. Suffer, because you will never be as cool at this bitch. I included O Mio Babbino Caro from the famous Puccini opera Gianni Schicchi, because most of you know it even if you don't realise it.
Re
What was that? You want to know where the Kenny G is? Get out of here. Really. I don't want to know you. There is good reason that many famous jazz musicians have publically ridiculed him with songs featuring lines like,"I agree with Pat Metheny, Kenny's talent's way too teeny." For some entertaining reading that includes the phrase 'musical necrophilia', read Pat Metheny's response when asked about his dislike of Kenny G, here.
Requiem Aeternem from Benjamin Britten's War Requiem.
Shriekback: Faded Flowers.
Leonard Cohen: Suzanne
John Coltrane: Psalm from A Love Supreme
Kraftwerk: Trans Europe Express
Respighi - Pines of Rome - Chicago Symphony
Bach: Chaconne from Partita no.2 for Solo Violin, Itzhak Perlman being a badass...
Bach: Tocatta and Fugue in D minor. Everyone knows this piece. Everyone.
If I posted all of Wagner's Ring Cycle you'd still be watching 18 hours later, so check out Ride of the Valkyries from the Met performance of Die Walkure. You all know this one as well.
The first part of Hindemith's Mathis der Maler preformed by the Berlin Philharmonic. I'm too lazy to find the other parts, so please look up the rest if you like it.
Stravinsky's Rite of Spring performed by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.
Overture from The Marriage of Figaro, performed by the English Baroque Soloists. You must know this.
Debussey, La Mer, performed by the London Symphony Orchestra.
Have I mentioned how much I love Glass? Well, it bears repetition. Here is his Einstein on the Beach.
Handel's Messiah, the Hallelujah Chorus. Performed by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.
Bach, St. Matthew's Passion. Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra.
Beethoven, Symphony No. 9. London Symphony Orchestra. If you must be tedious and want to fast forward to Ode To Joy, well, don't.
Verdi. Otello. Ave maria. Renee Fleming. I think I like this even more than Callas'.
Bach. Goldberg Variations. Glenn Gould.
Gershwin. Rhapsody In Blue. From Disney's Fantasia 2000.
Miles Davis. Bitches Brew. I like this only slightly less than Coltrane's A Love Supreme.
Henry Purcell's King Arthur. The aria The Cold Song comes from this. If you listen and pay attention there is a slight spoiler alert for my story.
Coil - Paranoid Inlay, from Musick to Play in the Dark, vol. 1&2. These are the greatest albums to be released within my lifetime. I am not joking. I do not kid. I've never known another band to have as much passion, intelligence, poetry and soul. Ever. Period. They have so many different styles explored in their music that if you dislike the stuff on these albums you would probably like some of their other stuff. My next favorite album of theirs is Horse Rotorvator. Singles-wise, Love's Secret Domain and Widowpane are dancier and more accessible, while retaining their hideously penetrating gift for allusion. I waffled over which song to include. I thought about Ether or Are You Shivering, but settled on Paranoid Inlay.
Same band, their greatest song. Batwings(A Liminal Hymn). You can hear Jhon Balance speak to God. Don't believe me? Listen till the end when he starts singing in tongues and it becomes so transcendently beautiful that I cry. It played at Jhon's funeral, and it will play at mine.