Davey did this already today. I am completely copying him.
Morton Feldman: For Philip Guston
Meditative and transcendent. A long, slow piece for a small group of piccolo, flute, piano, celesta, glockenspiel, vibraphone, marimba, and chimes--it lasts well over 4-1/2 hours (this is just a ten-minute clip near the end, but the whole thing is on YouTube in 32 parts, if you feel like it). This is the final section, which is even more moving after 4 hours of this stuff. It's music of peace, acceptance, and its light is gentle and suffused. Listen to the entire piece outside on a summer evening while the sun sets and the stars come out. Your life may change.
Also love the choice of Pikachu imagery for this music on the YouTube video.
Secret of Kells: Aisling's Song
I loved this movie and this song. It's sung by a mysterious forest-fairy-child as she makes a cat become a floating spiritual being. If you haven't seen the movie, see it. If you have, see it again. If you've already seen it again, you're free to do whatever you want.
Mozart in Egypt: Requiem/Dhikr
I'm also not a big fan of remix stuff. But this CD was a lot of fun for me. In Mozart's day, Egyptian and Turkish stuff was in fashion (see Mozart's famous "Rondo alla Turca"). So this album combines Mozart pieces with traditional Egyptian music. The results are delightful, and surprisingly moving at times.This song is a movement from Mozart's Requiem combined with traditional Egyptian mourning music.
Rautavaara: Angel of Light: "Like A Dream..."
Visionary, meditative, and inspiring music from a contemporary Finnish composer. This is from his Angel of Light Symphony, written in 1997. It's beautiful and might make your life become magical.
Finale of Janacek's "The Cunning Little Vixen"
One of my favorite works of art is Janacek's "The Cunning Little Vixen." Eliza has a cool animated movie of it that we both like. The opera is based on a Czech comic strip for children, and is about the escapades of a tricky fox and her nemesis, the forester. In the final scene, the vixen has died, and the aging forester takes a rest in the woods. The YouTube summary of what's going on is pretty good, so I'll just quote it:
"He feels old and tired, he has missed out on life his marriage has lost the sparkle of first love. He is in the same place where he met the vixen; just as in the first scene he spies a little vixen, he guesses she is the vixen's own cub because she has the same ears. Just then another frog jumps into his lap, as one had in the first scene of the opera, and he realizes that the very beauty of nature lies in this cycle of life and death, his heart is filled with joy and wonder and the life of the forest surrounding him.
The parallel lives of the animals, who get on with the business of living (and dying), and the humans, who seem to live in a permanent state of regret and paralysis, unfolds in a rich tapestry of musical invention where Janáček uses musical material notated from nature to create a forest of sounds. Many of the climatic moments of the opera are orchestral rather than vocal and the opera is an inviting challenge for directors, singers and choreographer. The final message of the opera is, of course, optimistic, as is always the case with Janáček, celebrating the renewal of life in nature: the final words are given to a frog who says to the Forester "No, I'm not the one you think, that was my granddad, he spoke a lot about you". "
This scene gives me chills every time. Janacek had it performed at his funeral. And if you like children dressed in animal costumes frolicking about, then I suppose this is a thing you'll like. If you don't like that (I don't particularly), this is still wonderful.
I've also been loving Elliott Carter lately, but I'm not sure I recommend his music as I'm not sure anyone else would like it much.
