A few blog posts ago, I gave a list of a few of the songs I enjoy listening to during quarantine. I do hope anyone who listened found it relaxing and a nice way to take your mind off of things. I found that I was given reprieve of current events of the quarantine for a blissful 45 minutes, and I think I need that today as well. So, for your listening pleasure (and my own), here are some more songs that I always enjoy listening to.
No list is complete without Grainger, I think. An old favorite of mine is Lincolnshire Posy, a 15 minute piece with six movements. Each movement is so unique and different, but what’s fascinating is that they all complement one another despite their different moods. My favorite movement would have to be the second, where Grainger writes about a local tragedy—I never fail to get chills listening to it. (I wrote my college essay about the second movement—take that how you will, I suppose.) It starts unassuming, but leads gracefully into the trumpet solo, which is always underpinned by dissonant, low notes. It’s a very moving part of an altogether masterpiece.
I’m a horn player primarily. But I did used to be in a jazz band—I played trumpet. One song that never failed to make me emotional is Goodbye Pork Pie Hat by Charles Mingus. It’s written about the death of one of his close friends, who always wore a pork pie hat. The song isn’t “sad,” per se. It begins dirty and gritty, lamenting, but almost joyously. The best way I could describe it is that it is a celebration of man’s life rather than a mourning of his death. The song is tinged with sadness, but it has a nighttime city vibe, something you could slowly sway to, captured by the music and also your own emotion.
I suppose no list of my own is also complete without Gustav Holst. I’ve played his First Suite in Eb both on trumpet and on horn: it is a masterpiece and essential for wind study. The first movement, Chaconne, holds a delicate melody throughout, but grows to be bold, with powerful low brass and woodwind runs that decorate a lot of the piece. At one point, the melody is inverted; it goes from bright and heroic, transforming into something darker and more contemplative. The theme from Chaconne, as well as the theme from the second movement, Intermezzo, both appear in the climax of the final movement, the March. It’s wonderful composition and difficult, but rewarding music.
Now, as you’ve seen with the jazz earlier, I do like modern songs. But this one is a classic onto itself, of course. I, along with many others, can’t help but sing along to Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody. I recently listened to a cover of it by the London Horn Sound, and… wow. I might be nerding out here a little bit, but Queen, played by professional horn players? That wave of glorious sound knocked me off of my feet. I’d give it a listen.
I’ll end this list with a chill, contemplative song. If you’re in the mood just to zone out, or have some light jazz behind whatever you’re doing, I’d recommend Footprints by Wayne Shorter. I don’t have any great big backstory for this song. I just find it relaxing. In high school, this was one of my go-to songs to do homework to. It’s interesting enough as to where I can tap along with my pencil and enjoy the saxophone player, but it won’t throw me into the deep, unescapable grip of nostalgia, or make me overly sad like some songs in the first list did. And sometimes, that’s important too. Just being able to chill to a song, letting your mind wander peacefully and taking it in.
I sincerely hoped you enjoyed this list—I enjoyed making it. We all deserve something to take our minds off of the depressing situation around us. Hopefully, at least one of the songs on this list did that for you.