Icarus at the Edge of Time

  Title: Icarus at the Edge of Time [Live Performance] Artist: Baltimore Symphony Orchestra / Marin Alsop, Conductor Date: January 16, 2011 Style: Classical, film music Mood: Inspiring, imaginative This was a great concert for anyone who loves sci fi, space travel, and science in general. My favorite was Icarus at the Edge of Time [...]

Read Full Post »

Hallelujah Chorus

Title: Hallelujah Chorus / Christmas Food Court Flash Mob Artist: Handel / Chorus Niagara Date: November 2010 Since this blog is about how music serves as a ladder for the soul, I felt this was a really good example of this. As a Baha’i, I believe that all religions come from the same divine source, [...]

Read Full Post »

Schumann-Brahms Piano Quintets

Title: Schumann-Brahms Piano Quintets Composers: Robert Schumann, Johannes Brahms Artist: Artemis Quartet with Leif Ove Andsnes, Piano Date: 2007 Style: Romantic Mood: Intense, pensive, joyous, happy-sad Good for: Getting in the mood to work/write I just love the coloring of these quintets. 2 violins, viola, cello, piano. Schumann and Brahms paint their music with rich chords [...]

Read Full Post »

The Essential Canadian Brass

Title: The Essential Canadian Brass Artist: The Canadian Brass Date: 1991 Style — Classical crossover Mood — happy, jovial, quirky Good for — relaxing, chilling out in an energetic sort of way A fun mixture of classical, pop, and jazz elements. I was very impressed with Canadian Brass’s Zarathustra Fanfare which almost fooled me into [...]

Read Full Post »

Goldberg Variations

Title: Goldberg Variations Original title: Aria mit verschiedenen Veranderungen (‘Aria with Diverse Variations’) BWV 988 Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) Artist: Glenn Gould Date:1982 Style: Baroque Mood: Turbulent, calm, distracted Good for: Writing, working, catharsis, staying awake Supposedly Bach wrote this piece for a Russian ambassador who had trouble falling asleep at night. If you [...]

Read Full Post »

Goldberg Variations

Title: Goldberg Variations Original title: Aria mit verschiedenen Veranderungen (‘Aria with Diverse Variations’) BWV 988 Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) Artist: Angela Hewitt Date:1999 Style: Baroque Mood: Calming, peaceful, brilliant, an anchor in a sea of peace Good for: Reading, writing, working, relaxing, catharsis I needed something to work to again. So I decided to [...]

Read Full Post »

7th Symphony

Title: 7th Symphony Artist: Apocalyptica Date: 2010 Style:cello metal, heavy metal, classical Mood: angry, loud, soft, mellow, soulful Good for: catharsis If you are classical music person looking to transition into heavy metal, this is your album. I say that somewhat tongue-in-cheek, but if you’re looking for an introduction, this is it. Apocalyptica is a [...]

Read Full Post »

Piano Quartets

Title: Piano Quartets / Die Klavierquartette Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Artist: Beaux Arts Trio with Bruno Giuranna, viola Date: 1984 Style: Classical Mood: bittersweet, intense, brooding, moody, brilliant, playful Good for: writing, editing, researching Loved this album. I listened to it at least a dozen times while doing research for a paper. There is just [...]

Read Full Post »

Haydn/Hummel Trumpet Concertos

Title: Haydn/Hummel Trumpet Concertos Artist: Alison Balsom, trumpet; Die Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen Date: 2008 Style – Classical, Baroque Mood – bright, cheerful, happy Good for – studying, writing, background, relaxing, entertaining This is one of those albums which I liked okay on first listen, but once I learned a bit more about how this recording [...]

Read Full Post »

Tchaikovsky-Rachmaninov Piano Trios

Title: Tchaikovsky-Rachmaninov Piano Trios Composers: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Sergei Rachmaninov Performers: Lang Lang, piano; Vadim Repin, violin; Mischa Maisky, cello Three great performers, two great Russian composers, and two elegies. In this album, Lang Lang approaches chamber music for the first time with violinist Vadim Repin and cellist Mischa Maisky. I very much enjoyed this [...]

Read Full Post »