Tag: #classical music

Music

The Only Exercise Playlist You’ll Ever Need

Aubrey Leaman

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WARNING: THIS MUSIC MAY CAUSE RECURRING NIGHTMARES, PARANOIA, AND/OR SHIN SPLINTS. LISTEN AT YOUR OWN RISK.

 1) Short Ride in a Fast Machine by John Adams

First, you need some motivation and optimism for the long trial ahead…you shall win the Olympics of exercise! You shall conquer!!! Endurance, strength, power: you have it all.

 
2) The Rite of Spring by Igor Stravinsky

So much for the babying. This is about a girl who is chosen to die as a sacrifice to the gods. And though it may start out a little slow, you can tell. So you can either start listening right when it gets crazy or take advantage of that nice, slow intro.

 
 3) The Planets, Op. 32: Mars, the Bringer of War by Gustav Holst

WAAAAAAARRRR. PREPARE YOURSELF FOR BATTLE.

 
4) …To Die For by Hans Zimmer (from The Lion King)

Kind of an outlier in this list, I know, but this piece will always be terrifying. ALWAYS.


RUN, SIMBA, RUN!!!!!!!!!

(These next three are particularly effective if it’s kind of dark or foggy out:) Continue reading “The Only Exercise Playlist You’ll Ever Need” →

Music

Music as Writing Inspiration

Aubrey Leaman

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I was honored to be featured as a guest blogger on author Shannon A. Thompson’s blog! Here is a snippet of my post:

Ah, yes, that terrifying word: inspiration.  How do we find it? And if we find it, how do we turn it into something worthwhile?

For those of you like me who bump (or crash) into writer’s block, perhaps the muse may speak to you through music.  Here are some specific ways to help get those creative juices flowing:

1) Pop/Rock: Listen to your favorite song, shuffle a playlist, or find new music…there is always a story behind the song.

For example: “Someone Like You” by Adele: who is Adele’s character? Why did she and her lover separate? What prompted her to show up at his door in the first place?

For example: “Mr. Roboto” by Styx: Is the character an actual robot/cyborg? Or is this symbolism for something else? Why does he need to hide, and why is his life in danger?

Read more

What are your favorite ways to find inspiration from music?

Books, Music

A Colorful Symphony

Aubrey Leaman

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“The last colors slowly faded from the western sky, and, as they did, one by one the instruments stopped, until only the bass fiddles, in their somber slow movement, were left to play the night and a single set of silver bells brightened the constellations. The conductor let his arms fall limply at his sides and stood quite still as darkness claimed the forest.” –The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster

I love how Norton Juster makes music the source of color in his children’s book, “The Phantom Tollbooth.” (For those of you who aren’t familiar with the book, it’s very Alice-in-Wonderland-esque with puns and other wordplay.)

He really hit the nail on the head here: different subtleties of sounds are as beautiful as all the different shades of color! And without music, how colorless would our lives be?

This passage also made me think about synesthesia, the state when a person sees actual, physical colors when they hear music among other things (I knew a band director who had this). It got me thinking: what color would my favorite songs be? Would each song by the same artist have the same basic hue with different nuances, or would there be an entire spectrum in every album? Do all synesthetes see the same colors for the same sounds, or is each person different?

On a related note (ha! Pun not intended), Continue reading “A Colorful Symphony” →

Classical Music Stories

Classical Music Stories: The Hobbit

Aubrey Leaman

Hobbit robot

(SPOILERS)

Hungarian Rock by György Ligeti

Imagine if Bilbo and the dwarves were robots.

Off they go on their adventure! As robots they can’t feel the hardships of inclement weather or food shortages, so they’re basically happy and oblivious for the entire length of their journey.

(3:01) Suddenly, they find Smaug and things grind to a screeching halt…the dwarves now mourn the deaths of Thorin, Fili and Kili.

Despite their overwhelming loss, the music ends on a somewhat happy note.  After all, the hobbit and dwarves did fulfill their quest…albeit at a steep cost.

 

Classical Music Stories

Classical Music Stories: Sherlock Holmes

Aubrey Leaman

Imagine that Sherlock is playing the violin while pondering a particularly thorny case. Although tantalizingly close to solving it, he knows he’s still missing something important…

His excitement starts to poke through as he gets closer and closer to untangling the mystery, but he tries to remain cautious in case he’s wrong (even though he feels he must be right).

With the final flourishing notes, it is time to find the proof…


What can you hear?

Music

Free and Legal Music Downloads Through Your Library

Aubrey Leaman

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If you thought there was no way to legally download free music, think again! Many public libraries have this amazing resource called Freegal.

Basically if you have a library card you can download 6 songs each and every week—for free! They never expire and every Monday you get 6 more songs. No strings attached, and it’s perfectly legal. Continue reading “Free and Legal Music Downloads Through Your Library” →

Classical Music Stories

Classical Music Stories #2: Jane Eyre

Aubrey Leaman

BEWARE OF SPOILERS

The Banshee by Henry Cowell

Jane wakes up in the middle of the night to a sense of foreboding…
And then she hears the groaning, shrieks and creepy laughter of Mrs. Rochester as she sets her husband on fire.

Classical Music Stories

Classical Music Stories #1: Anna Karenina (Part 5)

Aubrey Leaman

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At last we come to the final movement. But first, let’s indulge in a quick recap:

  1. Anna arrives by train to help mend Dolly’s and her brother’s marriage after the brother was unfaithful.
  2. Anna falls desperately in love with Vronsky.
  3. While among highbrow, sophisticated society, they try to contain their emotions.
  4. But then Anna is dying and Vronsky doesn’t matter anymore—she only wants her husband. Unfortunately for that husband, those feelings don’t last long.

So now we come to the fifth and final movement. What is Grieg going to leave us with? Continue reading “Classical Music Stories #1: Anna Karenina (Part 5)” →

Classical Music Stories

Classical Music Stories #1: Anna Karenina (Part 4)

Aubrey Leaman

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Holberg Suite, Op. 40: IV. Air (Andante religoso) by Edvard Grieg

Hold onto your hats, kids, because the hint of tragedy that was in the second movement is in full force now. We hear a pervasive hopelessness and what sounds like a struggle against something unchangeable (…hence the hopelessness). Plus, when the music comes back to repeat, it’s even sadder and more disillusioned, just like Anna after she gives birth to Vronsky’s child and thinks she’s dying.

(2:55) But then things become much more tender and hopeful (definitely a welcome surprise after all of this depressing music). It’s like when her husband, Alexei Alexandrovitch comes to visit her. Now that she’s sick he’s the only one Anna wants—the only one who can break her out of her own misery and self-pity (a.k.a. all the music up to this point).

(3:27) All of which leads quite Continue reading “Classical Music Stories #1: Anna Karenina (Part 4)” →