Musical moments and creativity

Warning! Awooga! Awooga! Heavily Heavily YouTube embedded. But I linked as much as I could to make it easier for those with slower connections.

This has been making the blog rounds since the Academy Awards. So I dug up a YouTube link. It is good.

I began thinking about music. I haven't been sewing much since I've got the - ICK flu - and have been curled up in bed with the iPod (I love my iPod!). Music is as much apart of my creative process as drawing, sewing, and painting are. Not making it, I leave that to the other talented members of my family, but listening to it. If given an ultimatum to pick between sight and hearing, I'd be truly hard pressed, because one is as important as the other to me. I can't imagine a world where I couldn't see and create in a visual language and I can't imagine a world where I wouldn't be able to hear music. I believe in something rather airy fairy called a lyric thread (dumb name, but...); that there are pieces of music where you can find a thread within and follow it. It will lead you to creativity, peace, enlightenment, healing - anything. I think it is different for every person. What works for me may not work for you.

Here is some of the music that releases my creative spirit. All the links lead to free or legal stuff (well insofar as YouTube is legal :)) And many of the sites play samples and ::cough:: download the mp3 into your internet cache... what you do with it is entirely up to you though! I have mundane, weird and ecclectic musical tastes - I can be listening to POP and then just as easily switch over to gregorian chant. I've only listed the the pieces that are time honoured for me - those that I can listen to over and over and over again without getting sick and tired of them (and I have..listened.. often for years, some going on decades!). Go explore and if you have any suggestions of something you'd think I might like - leave a comment!

• First off, I'm a soundtrack junkie - serious Hollywood stuff. It's an addiction that I'm admiting to publicly for the first time. I love Ennio Morricone (Mission), Harry Gregson-William (Kingdom of Heaven, Narnia), Klaus Badelt (Pirates - the original), Jean-Yves Thibaudet (Pride & Prejudice), Howard Shore (Lord of the Rings), Zbigniew Preisner (Secret Garden).

• Everything by Loreena Mckennitt . A debut video on YouTube can be found here.

• Eclipse by Adi Sappir from a few years back but available free at Download.com

• 25 Years by Blackmore's Night also downloadable at Download.com

• Hothouse Flowers website. No music - but YUM for Liam's O'Maonlai voice which makes me cry - everytime. I first heard him on the Rankin Family's Grey Dusk of Eve. Portobello Road is the song that causes the sniffles! Not on their site, but they have others.

• Angelicus by Delerium featuring Isabel Baryakdarian. Download on their site apparently. But you can also listen on Facebook.

• 10,000 Miles by Mark Isham from Fly Away Home (it's really really hard to find!)

• Walking in the Air by Aled Jones - seriously an oldie, but lovely.

• Sacred Treasures (especially the Russian Choral) I, II, III, IV, V, VI - Downloadable mp3s to get you addicted as well.

• Soundtrack to Water by A.R. Rahman - Piya Ho - I love this movie but I love the song more.

• Anything and everything choral by Gabriel Faure

• Alegria by Cirque du Soleil

• Aria by Medieval Babes and Delerium

Scandalize My Name by Jessye Norman and Kathleen Battle

• I've Got the whole world in my hands by Jessye Norman and Kathleen Battle - (the whole CD of Spirituals in Concert is GRAND!)
• A Christmas Celebration by Kathleen Battle (I wish she didn't have such a b*tch reputation - because her voice is a gift from God, and it's hard to listen to her knowing the rotten things she's done)
• Shall we Dance sountrack by Gabriel Yared et al. I dance to it in my head!
• Mostly everything old by George Winston for when I'm stressed
• James Taylor - River is linked here . The man has more websites then you can shake a stick at here and here too.
• Allison Crowe (tons of free mp3s!) and Sarah McLachlan both do River well too, and I like their music as well.
• Indigo Girls - I'm transported back to my mid-20's, bumming through Europe!

Mercedes Sosa - Gracias a la Vida

She is utterly marvelous! I will forever kick myself for not shelling out the plane ticket money to go and see her in concert when I had the chance.

• Mon Amour is the song Mercedes Sosa adored and sung with Nilda Fernandez in Argentina. The choreography is performed by Julio Bocca.

Other sites with tons of links and free downloads are:

Native Village - Music and Dance Library - The more I live north, the more I'm drawn to traditional music.
Not sure if this will work - but it's a video of Mathew Nuqingaq at the Great Northern Arts Festival last summer. Another voice that makes me cry....
Gregorian Chant on the Net
Classic Cat - Free classical music on the web
More gregorian chant
Early Music - Jon Sayles (100's of hours of listening and mp3s)
Hear the choirs sing - Free and clips of 100s of choirs
Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music aka The Vatican

And now you have an inkling of why I happen to have 37 days worth of music on my iPod (and that doesn't include podcasts)! Enjoy!