It's 3 am and I'm in bed listening to Norah Jones. And as usual I can't seem to be able to fall asleep...
So as my mind was drifting away to many places a question popped into my head (yet again). Some time ago, a friend asked me this: "Is love ever enough?". I gave it some thought, but couldn't really decide on an answer. And I don't have a proper one tonight. But maybe it can be. Why? Because everyday something happens which makes me sad and believing in things like this make me smile. I'm well aware that most of the time love isn't enough, whether it's because of people being miles apart, someone having a moment of doubt or whatever. But once in a while it seems to be possible. Somehow, somewhere, love is enough. All I can say is that I want to believe it is.
A while ago I decided to treat myself with a long bubbly bath, a glass (or two) of red wine and some classical music. That was probably the most relaxing evening I've had this whole year. And it was mostly due to the music. So now I want to share my favourite pieces of relaxing classical music with you. Enjoy!
1. Canon in D - Johann Pachelbel (Academy of St. Martin in the Fields)
2. Suite No. 3 In D Major, BWV 1068: Air - Johann Sebastian Bach (Academy of St. Martin in the Fields)
3. Peer Gynt: Prelude (Morning) - Edvard Grieg (Academy of St. Martin in the Fields)
4. Sheep May Safely Graze from Cantata No. 208 (Arr. Marriner) - Johann Sebastian Bach (Academy of St. Martin in the Fields)
5. Piano Concerto No. 2 In C Minor, Op. 18: II Adagio Sostenuto - Sergei Rachmaninov (Cecile Ousset)
6. Rhapsody On a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43: Variation XVIII - Sergei Rachmaninov (City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra)
7. Gabriel's Oboe - Ennio Morricone
8. Concierto de Aranjuez: Adagio - Opening - Joaquín Rodrigo (Julian Bream)
9. Variations On an Original Theme, 'Enigma', Op. 36: IX. Nimrod - Edward Elgar (London Symphony Orchestra & Sir Adrian Boult)
10. Cavatina - Stanley Myers (Manuel Barrueco & Steve Morse)
11. Piano Concerto No. 1 In E Minor, Op. 11: II. Romance: Larghetto - Frédéric Franciszek Chopin (Martha Argerich)
12. Piano Sonata No. 14 In C-Sharp Minor 'Moonlight', Op. 27, No. 2: I. Adagio Sostenuto - Ludwig van Beethoven (Moura Lympany)
13. Suite Bergamasque: Clair de Lune - Claude Debussy (Moura Lympany)
14. Cavalleria Rusticana: Intermezzo from Cavalleria Rusticana - Pietro Mascagni (Philharmonia Orchestra)
15. Cinema Paradiso Love Theme - Ennio Morricone (Royal Philharmonic Orchestra)
16. Romance from the Gadfly - Dmitri Shostakovich (Tasmin Little)
17. Double Violin Concerto In D Minor, BWV 1043: II. Largo Ma non Tanto (Opening) - Johann Sebastian Bach (Yehudi Menuhin)
18. Concerto for Violin and Orchestra No. 1 In G Minor, Op. 26: II. Adagio (Opening) - Max Bruch (Yehudi Menuhin)
19. Suite for Solo Cello No. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007: I. Prélude - Johann Sebastian Bach (Yo Yo Ma)
20. Brahms: Waltz In A Flat, Op. 39/15 - Johannes Brahms (Katia & Marielle Labèque)
There's no particular order to the list, but I do have a favourite! Unfortunately it's not the same version as the one in the list, but there you go. Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
Pink Floyd were an English rock band who achieved worldwide success with their psychedelic and progressive rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful rock music groups of all time. It is estimated that they have sold over 200 million albums worldwide.
The band originally consisted of university students Roger Waters, Nick Mason, Richard Wright and Syd Barrett. Founded in 1965, they first became popular playing in London's underground music scene in the late 1960s. Guitarist and vocalist David Gilmour joined Pink Floyd several months prior to Barrett's departure from the group due to deteriorating mental health in 1968. Following the loss of their principal songwriter, Pink Floyd bassist and vocalist Roger Waters became the band's lyricist and conceptual leader, with Gilmour assuming lead guitar and sharing lead vocals. With this lineup Pink Floyd achieved worldwide critical and commercial success with The Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, Animals and The Wall.
Numerous artists have been influenced by Pink Floyd's work. David Bowie has called Syd Barrett a major inspiration. A teenage The Edge (of U2 fame) bought his first delay pedal after hearing the opening to Animals, and the Pet Shop Boys paid homage to The Wall during a performance in Boston. Marillion guitarist Steve Rothery has cited Wish You Were Here as a major inspiration. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on 17 January 1996 and the UK Music Hall of Fame on 16 November 2005. (Wikipedia)
There's a hell of a lot more to say about them, but you can google that yourself. In the mean time, here's a suggestion. Instead of wasting your evening on Facebook or watching random TV download 'Dark Side of the Moon', turn the lights off and listen to the album from beginning to end. It's really worth it. And it's my all time favourite album.
'Comfortably Numb' is actually a track from Pink Floyd's album 'The Wall'. I thought I'd post it as it has the best guitar solo I've ever heard. And you should listen to the whole of 'Dark Side of the Moon', not just one track. Otherwise, it just ruins the experience.
It's winter in London. And it's cold. But it's the kind of cold that makes me want to go out for a walk. So I did just that and discovered that London looks like it's been taken out of a fairytale around the holidays.
Anyway, as I was walking towards Oxford Circus on my way home I overheard a short conversation:
She said: "It's cold. Can I put my hand in your pocket?"
He replied: "Of course dear."
For some reason this stuck with me. I found it really sweet and it made me smile when I heard it. I love winter, because there's always an 'excuse' to get closer. "It's cold!" :)
'The Book of Love" is Peter Gabriel's cover of The Magnetic Fields' song. It was also a song from the movie "Shall We Dance?" and from the TV series "Scrubs". Peter Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English singer, musician and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist, flautist and founding member of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, he went on to have a very successful solo career. Gabriel was also awarded the Polar Music Prize in 2009 and inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Genesis in 2010.
It’s passion for something you love so much. It’s dedication to seeing it through to the end. It’s waiting for it a whole year and being truly sad when it ends. But then, it’s something that never ends. It’s getting so annoyed sometimes you just want to give up. Yet you never do. It’s having the best day and the worst day of your life all at once. It’s about making new friends and rediscovering old ones. It’s waking up after half an hours sleep. It’s being full of energy even though you’re exhausted. It’s what makes you cry when it’s over. It’s having coffee day and night. It’s running around until you forget you have to sit down. It’s going our for a cigarette at 4 a.m. It’s talking on the phone so much that you have to recharge it twice a day. It’s hearing someone thank you sincerely. It’s having a bottle of red wine when you should be working in Photoshop. It’s Diddy. It’s having endless meetings that seem to go nowhere. It’s the thrill of seeing everyone standing at the closing ceremony. It’s about wishing it doesn’t end. It’s about train stations. It’s having that one night off where you go wild. It’s writing DVD’s throughout the closing ceremony because there’s never enough time. It’s ‘somewhere only we know’. It’s something that gets better each year with your help. It’s hearing people say they can’t wait to come back. It’s hugging someone, wishing they didn’t have to leave. It’s drama and visual arts. It’s theatre for teenagers. It’s manifesting yourself. It’s this and much, much more. And it’s part of us…
There's a thought that's been nagging me the whole day. Sometimes, we ask ourselves or other people questions we don't want to be answered. Or do we want to know? Say for example,"Do you still love me?". Sure, logic dictates that we should know the answer in order to figure out our next move. We want to know, we need to know. The insecurity drives us up the walls.
But if you think about it, do you really want to know? Whatever the question may be, there's always the possibility that the answer is not the one we want. You think that after the question has been asked and the answer given, you'll be able to deal with it. Because now you know. I beg to differ. It's not the wait we fear the most, the helpless state of not knowing. It's the answer. And the reason for this is quite simple. When you have such a question that eats away at you, chances are you already know the answer to it. It's been there all the time. You just chose to ignore it.
So instead of sleepless nights and endless conversations with yourself, just ask. Ask that question, whatever it may be. And with a little luck, you might get the answer you're looking for.
The song came to my mind while I was writing. It may not have much to do with what I wrote, but it felt right. Carla Bruni released her debut album in 2002 called "Quelqu'un m'a dit". It had success in Europe and sold 1.2 million copies in France.
"Everybody misses falling in love". A friend told me that this evening and I can't really get it out of my head. Sure, the way you feel when you're falling in love with someone is indescribable. It's like a daze, like the world is your oyster. But is it really that simple?
You meet someone, you start talking, go out for drinks, maybe see a film. And you start fancying that someone. And then it gets complicated. Why? I don't know and I've been asking myself for years. In a world where romance has pretty much disappeared, do we have time for all this? Do we have time to play the game of flirting? Life goes by whether we want to or not and it's not gonna stop just because we want it to. We spend our days running from place to place, with barely anytime for ourselves. Thus, we're inclined to skip that whole phase and replace it with a straight answer: Yes or No? We eliminate the risk of getting hurt because we never had the time to start caring for someone. And that I believe, is one of the saddest things in the world.
There's nothing like falling in love. No other thing can replace that feeling. So maybe, just maybe, we can risk falling in love. And maybe that someone will fall in love too...
The song that got me to thinking is "The Fear You Won't Fall" by Joshua Radin.
Today was a day filled with music. A day filled with beautiful songs that made my heart skip a beat. I went to the Queen's Theatre London to see Les Miserables. It was... breathtaking. The story is a sad one and you can't help yourself from wishing it will end well, somehow. And the songs just touch your soul. One especially, almost made me cry. "On My Own" is sung by Eponine, who is deeply in love with Marius even if he does not know it. The best performance of this piece is by Frances Ruffelle from the original London cast. Another moving song is "I Dreamed A Dream". Patti Lupone of the original London cast sings it as part of her character Fantine.
It really is an amazing experience.
The musical produced by Cameron Mackintosh is based on the 1862 French novel by author Victor Hugo which is widely considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. It follows the lives of several French characters over a twenty-year period in the early 19th century, starting in 1815 and culminating in the 1832 June Rebellion. The focus is on Jean Valjean, an ex-convict, and of his struggles. It brings to light a number of issues, such as the nature of law, politics, moral philosophy, justice and the nature of love.
Last but not least I'd like to thanks James for suggesting we go and see it. So, thank you!
It's 3 a.m. and I can't seem to be able to sleep. Grey's Anatomy season 7 just started and whenever I watch that show it gets me thinking. Thinking about a million things. Thinking until my head hurts and the sheets on my bed are on the floor. And tonight the recurring thought is 'loneliness'. Eventually, I'll fall asleep all those thoughts will make their way into my dreams.
There's no particular reason for choosing this song, it just popped into my head. Kinda fits I guess. Good night and may you have the sweetest dreams of all!
The warm summer nights are gone and the autumn wind is creepin' in. For the past three years it's been my cue to leave. And sure enough it's time to go. The past couple of days I've been thinking a lot about leaving. Thing is, I never seem to be going anywhere; I always leave from somewhere. The second I start loving a particular place and start feeling like myself, I have to leave. And that one thought keeps following me: "Oh how I wish I could stay a bit more...". Sure enough, the same applies to the people in my life. As soon as I meet someone amazing, they leave. Everyone keeps leaving. Does anyone get to stay behind?
Yesterday evening, I was in a hurry and I picked up the first album I found: Lost Highway by Bon Jovi. I get into my car, push play and leave. Track 4 starts playing as I'm stuck in traffic - Whole Lot Of Leavin'. I'd forgotten how much I love that tune and as soon as I hear the first chords everything else disappears. So I close my eyes and picture your hand in mine. I picture the whole summer. Everyone I met, and everyone who left. I picture the past year. And it's been a long year. I picture everything and smile. I'm leaving with a smile on my face because somehow this day, this summer, this year, has a nice ending.
"Whole Lot Of Leavin'" is off Bon Jovi's album Lost Highway, released in 2007. It's their tenth studio album, mixing the band's rock sound with that of country music. The result? It debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.
So I finally made up my mind. The result being this blog, as you can see. Took a while, even though I've been meaning to do it for about a year now. Anyway, enough about that.
The idea is to share my music, my thoughts, with you. Music is an essential part of my life and in some ways, of me. I can't really go through a day without it. It brings me joy and smiles, it makes me cry, it makes me lonely and it keeps me company. It gets me through the rough times and makes me love the good ones even more. It's the sole thing in my life that I can be sure of. There's always a particular song that will suit my state of mind. And it never fails.
I want to share that with you, if you're willing. I'll play my music and you can sit back and enjoy. I might write something about each song and about how it makes me feel. And maybe you feel the same way. Or you don't. Either way, I hope that each and everyone of you can find what you're looking for. Whether it be in music, or not...
I leave for the moment with one of my favourite songs and hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
