Music |
In times of trouble, reach for music that’s comfort food for the soul: Danit Treubig, Beethoven, Víkingur Ólafsson, Cesaria Evora, Miles Davis, and more
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Published: Apr 26, 2022
Category:
World
It’s almost May, but it feels like March here: gray, windy, chilly, with rare gorgeous days. The news is no help — it delivers a steady message of stupid and cruel. What does help? The kindness of friends and loved ones. Long walks. And music. Not bouncy or upbeat or angry music. When the world is too much and I’m not enough, I want music that’s comfort food for the soul. Like these…
Danit Treubig
“My music is above all inspired by Nature. These songs are an expression of love and gratitude for mother earth, all the magical plants and animals that live within her beauty, and the elements that make life possible. The music is an invitation to connect with that mysterious place of prayer, where the chaotic movements of thought settle into simple gratitude for life and this ever-present moment.”
Listen.
Richard Goode plays Beethoven
The 32 piano sonatas are the darlings of music critics; they show the enormous growth of Beethoven’s composition over the course of his working life. Goode has recorded them all, and he’s absorbed them so fully that, when he plays, it almost feels as if he’s composing or improvising.
Listen.
J.J. Cale
“Cale always wanted the voice mixed down. We’d be sitting at the board and both of us were trying to get our hands on the faders. He was always pulling back the fader on the vocal. He’d mix his voice back in the bed. He said it made you want to lean into the music instead of leaning back from it. It would pull people in. He had definite ideas about mixes.” Interesting: that’s exactly what Chopin did. And you do lean in and lap up every note — of which, because Cale was very very smart, there are very very few.
Listen.
Víkingur Ólafsson
Víkingur Ólafsson has been described as “Iceland’s Glenn Gould,” which is both accurate and critical shorthand. But it’s not hype.
Reader review: “My 10-day-old newborn is sleeping in my arms, Vikingur Olafsson’s interpretation of Philip Glass’ ‘Opening’ is playing in my headphones, and for all of seven minutes and forty-four seconds the world is standing still but for the music and the colors of autumn at the window and the comforting warmth in my lap and my flowing tears.”
Here he plays Glass.
And here he plays Bach.
Cesaria Evora
It was Cesaria Evora’s fate to be born on an archipelago 350 miles off the coast of Senegal. Geography was destiny for her — her voice was the living soul of Cape Verde. But Cape Verde is also the reason that one of the greatest singers on the planet died without being widely known in our country.
Listen.
Jacqueline du Pre
Her career lasted only 12 years, but if had been only half as long, she’d be considered one of the greatest cellists of the century — her playing was that pure, her personality was that compelling, her story is that intriguing.
Listen.
Miles Davis: Ascenseur Pour L’Echafaud
This is one of the greatest jazz soundtracks in film — some say the greatest. The trumpet couldn’t be more evocative: mostly slow and breathy, thoughtful and tender, lonely and okay about it.
Listen.
