Speaking of Music...

I seem to be more often in need of some winding down at night. I've always been a night owl and struggle with ever getting anywhere near the recommended 8 hours per night. Sometimes, music will do the trick, but I have to be very careful of the selection, as the wrong choices will just serve to further entice and trigger a little musical-fest domino effect.

So, I've put together a "beddy-bye" playlist o iTunes that I resort to and which seems to be doing the trick so far.

There's the inevitable: Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata

The epitome of calm, languid serenity.

Though it's not at all really for sleeping, many years ago I developed a certain charm for Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique, specifically The March which is either the 4th or 5th movement. I can never remember which. It's silly, but that singular note from the oboe almost to the end makes me hold my breath.


But my forever favorite is Smetana's Die Moldau. I just love its clarity. Really beautiful, flowing music that depicts exactly what it sets out to: the flow of water.


On a more modern note, just thinking of Vangelis's theme to Chariots of Fire makes me smile. There's an anecdote that goes along with this that I can't pass up the chance to share. If you're family, you've probably already heard this, but bear with me. The movie was all the rage, up for tons of awards, and winning four, so off we went to see it. It was so packed that we (mom, dad, brother and I) had to split up and find seats where we could. It was the first time we had ever done that kind of thing but mom found a seat across the aisle from 10-year-old me and we sort of lost where the other two managed to run off to. Half way through the movie I heard a distinct snore. Not like a muffled snort. No, this was a dragged out snooooooore, like it was 2am on a warm summer night. I turned to look at mom and we had that look that said we'd both identified the sound. It's impossible to give someone an elbow nudge when you don't know where amidst the sea of movie goers in the theater he might be. I was mortified for the people who had to sit around him. It doesn't come up too often anymore, but we didn't let Dad live that one down for quite some time.


Lastly, though I didn't like the movie when I saw it and can't even recall what it was about now, Clint Mansell's Requiem for a Dream is one of those I can listen to over and over. It's fantastic.