Four more of my desert island discs, as in the tracks you'd have with you if you were on a desert island and could only listen to these ten songs for ever more.
I'm not very good at classical music, which given I spent so much of my life in choirs and orchestras is a bit weird. I guess it's because I feel I ought to like complex, challenging music, but in reality I prefer Beethoven, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, interesting popular tracks. I love the power of music to play with your emotions, particularly key changes (Westlife use this to great effect, it's the stool moment, you know, where they get up off their stools and stand for another chorus).
Mozart-wise, I like Don Giovanni, the final section where the spirit of Don Giovanni's father comes to collect him (I saw it at the ENO the words are ludicrous: "Don Giovanni you invited me to supper and I've accepted", but in the context, with the music it is unbelievably sinister http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeZgxTWp9YI&feature=related ). But I couldn't have that as my only music forever.
Beethoven wrote beautiful Symphonies (the opening of the fifth is so dramatic), and I thought about having the Ode to Joy from the ninth, as we had that at our wedding, but it's pretty full on and I get frustrated too by music I used to play in orchestra if I don't have my flute or a piano to hand.
So Tchaikovsky it is. I love the Nutcracker, but it's Swan Lake that I loved. When I was little, I wanted to be one of the white tutued ballerinas in the chorus almost as much as I wanted to be Giselle or Coppelia. but seeing Matthew Bourne's version with Adam cooper in the Odette/Odile role, that was amazing. This is the finale, with the fantastic change from minor to major which is at once sad and uplifting. sorry the music quality on the clip's not fantastic but it was the only version I could find of that production.
Queen, next. If the Beatles are my early childhood, Queen and the Moody Blues are my late teens (remember this wasn't the 70s but the early 90s, the acid house era!) Again so many songs I'd have if I could, but Bohemian Rhapsody just annoys me after a while. So I've chosen one that reminds me of my mini-18th birthday party. My friends came round for a party at my house on the theme of myths and legends. While some of us were in tartan and leather waistcoats as celtic warriors (it's amazing what you can pick up in charity shops), four of my friends arrived as Queen (rock legend, obviously) dressed in a rough approximation of the "I want to break free" video. Sarah's binliner skirt sticks in my mind in particular, for some reason. So that's why this video's here - my 18th was the beginning of the summer the year we got our A-levels before we all headed off to different places across the country for university.
And for the Moody Blues, you really need a full album rather than a track. Days of Future Passed, In Search of the Lost Chord, concept albums with pretentious poetry and great sweeping orchestral and guitar jangling tunes. Only one track possible really... Nights in White Satin. Summarised my view of what romantic love should sound like as a teenager. Hopeless romantic. The boyfriends I had were more into Carter USM...
This is the song that was the first dance at our wedding. We didn't get in as much practice as we wanted, just one lot of bobbing around the coffee table, which both of us remember far more than the actual first dance. We wanted something easy to dance to, and had had a Robbie Williams CD "Swing when you're winning" in the car while driving around France in the rain and loved singing along to "Beyond the Sea". Besides "Angels" and "She's the One" felt such cliches...
Posted by rose22 on 2008-07-19 16:52:32 | Rating: | Views: 98
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