Best escape from the furor: music to lighten the soul
The last two news weeks have been saddening, maddening, frightening, sobering, and frustrating for those of a politically liberal or civil rights bent, or those simply with an inclination toward common decency.
After hearing of the Anthony Kennedy resignation from the Supreme Court, and hearing the reliably hypocritical Mitch McConnell promise to get Kennedy’s replacement installed before the November elections, I found myself bristling—all the more so to hear Democrats speaking at odds with each other.
I really needed an escape. You too?
It then occurred to me how to calm the bristling mid-brain: music of a light, sunny, or soothing sort. But I wanted to add a twist to my customary Pandora stations, and found two in particular, the first thanks to NPR and the second thanks to my recollection of the most sunny of Beethoven’s sonatas. . . .
Guitarist Yasmin Williams: “I like my music to be more . . . calming”
Today (June 30) on NPR’s Weekend Edition, Scott Simon interviewed Yasmin Williams, a standout in NPR’s “Tiny Desk” contest. I took the quote above from that cheerful interview, during which she also played bits of her stuff that sounded like just what the doctor ordered. I recommend the following YouTube video from “Culpepper Has Talent”(where she was Grand Champion) although it lacks the cello bow that was heard on the Weekend Edition segment.
Advice: it’s fun to watch Williams play, but I think you get the more calming effect if you lean back, close your eyes, and let it soak in. You get a really good soaking-in effect with headphones.
A sunny serving of Beethoven
What first sprang to mind, as I thought of a sunny classical piano piece, was Beethoven’s Waldstein sonata (named for a friend and patron). It’s written in C major, which may the most plain-spoken of all keys, but this composition, while minimizing passages in minor keys and sticking largely to a joyful mood,* should be complex enough for any classical music fan. (In fact,most classical music fans have already heard the Waldstein, but it wears well.) Warning: if you are NOT a classical music fan, this piece is 26+ minutes long—so you might want to use the little red slider ball to skip around. Who knows, you might get hooked.
BUT, if you’re not up to 26 minutes of classical piano, here’s just 6 lighthearted minutes of Beethovenian fun played with effervescence by Valentina Lisitsa:
For the Waldstein, I once again favor a performance by Valentina Lisitsa from what’s available on YouTube. She totally gets Beethoven! 🙂 There are also interpretations by piano greats Walter Gieseking, Claudio Arrau, and Daniel Barenboim on The Tube, but for me Gieseking lacks the crispness of Lisitsa, Arrau’s tempo in the first movement is too slow, and Barenboim’s touch is a tad too heavy by comparison with Lisitsa’s. This piece calls for quickness and lightness, and Lisitsa delivers. (Her flowing blond hair also expresses the bright and flowing mood; the men lack such a visual accent. [The Tube “cover art” glamorizes Lisitsa in a somewhat ridiculous manner—she’s a musician, not a movie star!—but her playing is far from ridiculous.])
Lisitsa plays the Waldstein:
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* The short second movement is pensive, but not grave, and serves as an intro to the third, and when it segues into the third movement at 15:55. . . well, you be the judge. In the third, even when there are passages that sound like a morose relative trundling a heavy minor key into the party, merry-makers are soon dancing around him—”hey, dude, this is a C major scene!” (That’s an oversimplification: A-flat major, F minor, and D-flat major all put in appearances, but for the most part C major holds the floor)
Don’t give me credit for identifying those keys that are not C major! I don’t have the ear and I don’t have the score. I do have Wikipedia.