|
MUSIC TO STARGAZE BY…
A personal collection
For the longest time I was a classics snob.
The Observatories musical repertoire consisted primarily of heavy hitters such as Beethoven and Mozart with a few minor players like Handel and Holst,
throw in a New Age artist like Enya, some Gregorian chant and the list was complete.
But then, thanks to a much younger colleague overhearing one of my emotional rants regarding the colorless and stodgy NPR classics catalog
not to mention the rather dubious sound quality and endless succession of drop-outs, I was introduced to PANDORA-ONE radio and my musical preferences changed forever.
Names I had never heard before such as Kevin Kern, Dan Gibson, Lori Line, Anthony Burger, 2002 and Liquid Mind along with so many imaginative and seductive album titles
including The Emerald Way, In the Enchanted Garden, Stargazing, Solitudes, Mystical America and Dark Night of the Soul.
Almost immediately I was on line with Amazon and in a few short days the Observatory’s CD collection had a brand new category and over a dozen new entries.
I thought I would share a few of my favorites and a musical anecdote or two that might make listening to these wonderful new (to me) artists just a bit more interesting and enjoyable.
NON-CLASSICAL
- 2002, The Emerald Way
- 2002, The Best of 2002, The Sacred Well
- Kevin Kern, In the Enchanted Garden.
Track three is simply beautiful.
- Phillip Wesley, The Dark Night of the Soul
- Laura Sullivan, Mystical America
- Liquid Mind, Spirit.
As ethereal as they get, a wonderful journey.
- Enya, Anything she has done.
There is a new CD called “The Very Best of Enya” definitely worth adding to the catalog and it comes with a DVD as well.
- Dan Gibson, Solitudes – Appalachian Mountain Suite
This CD not only includes some of the most beautiful music but also sounds of nature including bird songs. I found it to be one of the albums that I listen to when I may not be observing at all but just relaxing in GRO with the shutters open to the sky. If it is in the evening I enjoy it with a nice snifter of brandy or a glass of wine.
After listening to his “Appalachian Mountain Suite” which is a selection in his “SOLITUDES” collection I also purchased
“Rocky Mountain Suite” “Southwest Suite” and my personal favorite “The English Country Garden”
Like the “Appalachian Mountain Suite” these additional pieces are more for listening on a cloudy evening in the Observatory
with a favorite beverage rather than star gazing. The combination of birdsong, rushing streams, rain and wind in the trees
plus absolutely lovely music are simply a delight and a feast for the senses. If I happen to be in the house and Mother
Nature decides it’s time for a good old Rocky Mountain thunder storm, I almost cannot resist going out to GRO, putting Dan
Gibson on the stereo, running the red lights down to a gentle glow and just enjoy sitting back and listening to the rain
falling on the dome along with the sounds of nature coming from the CD.
I have found many delightful solo piano artists that I thoroughly enjoy, perhaps too many to review singularly but easier as a collection.
- David Nevue, Whisperings
- David Tolk, Summer Solace
For an unknown reason this particular CD has a cost on Amazon that is quite frankly completely
out of my reach. I have enjoyed listening to it on Pandora but I can simply cannot afford to buy it.
- David Tolk, In Reverence
Beautiful and quite affordable.
- Thad Fiscella, Vast
Another delightful experience.
- Dean Evenson, Touching Infinity
One of my favorite star gazing CD’s
- Joe Bongiorno, Somewhere Within
This next collection was stumbled upon quite accidently while listening to Pandora. From the first note it nearly brought
tears to my eyes it was simply so beautiful. It turned out to be the sound track from a film called “Saving Sarah Cane” by
Mark McKinzie. Since that discovery I have also added “Lost child” “Ultimate Life and “The Last Sin Eater” all by the same
artist. These pieces are all movie sound tracks, orchestrations and full of raw emotion. “Saving Sarah Cane” is a personal
journey into a musical experience that just pulls at my heart and stirs something within that is almost visceral.
Perhaps not everyone’s cup-of-tea and maybe not the best selections for star gazing but to each his or her own and this
collection can be enjoyed with or without the shutters (or roof) open.
But then you might ask, why listen to any music in the observatory at all if the roof or shutters are not open, is it not
then just a closed room? Quite frankly my friends, if you truly have to ask yourself that question perhaps it’s time to
wonder why the romance of listening to music in a cathedral of science in the shadow of a telescope does not stir something
in your soul or tug at your heart.
“And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music” . . . Nietzsche
- Dan Gibson, Stargazing.
I believe the title speaks for itself.
- The Taliesin Orchestra, The Music of Enya.
All of your favorite Enya tunes but with full orchestration and no vocals. Some really wonderful arrangements, “Watermark” is outstanding.
- The Cambridge Singers, “The Lark in Clear Air”. “Brother Sun, Sister Moon”
- Anthony Burger, Hymns Collection.
We have all heard these Hymns in church and possibly even sung them in Choir, but here they are set to a solo piano with absolutely lovely results.
- George Winston, almost anything he has done,
but “December” and “Plains” are my favorites with “All the Seasons of George Winston” a very close second.
- John Serrie, Flight Path
A near perfect Planetarium sound track but equally at home in the Observatory. Ethereal.
- Elegy, Immortal Memory
Voices that appear to just float in the darkness.
- Non-classical, special. Gothic Voices, The Service of Venus and Mars, Music for the Knights of the Garter
To quote ARKIV Music “It is a mixed collection of vocal and instrumental pieces possibly heard at the households of various noble members of the Knighthood, ranging from Edward III himself to his great grandson
Henry V.” This is some wonderful Medieval music 1340 – 1440 with a richness and clarity that can only be enjoyed with a “proper” stereo system.
See my notes on fidelity in the “About” page.
“Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent”
― Victor Hugo
CLASSICAL
- Alexander Borodin “In the Steppes of Central Asia”
Carreras, Domingo and Pavarotti, aka: The Three Tenors in Concert with Zubin Mehta.
Vocals were never my usual choice under the dome but while watching a Science Fiction movie called “Deep Impact” I
recognized the interior of the 100” dome on Mt. Wilson and the very familiar shape of the 100” telescope. The music playing
in the background was Puccini’s La Boheme sung by Mario Serini and Nicolai Geoda.
The actor playing the astronomer then sits down at his desk and helps himself to a slice of pizza. I thought to myself,
“now if he just had a glass of red wine” that would be the icing on the cake. So, for whatever reason I have not been able
to shake that whole scene from my mind. The wonderful music, the pizza, being in the dome and under the telescope.
Consequently, there are nights in GRO when a glass of red wine seems entirely appropriate, with a slice of pizza and The
Three Tenors.
What joy! Powerful! Splendid! And of course there is Puccini! Tosca, Recondita Armonia from act 1 and E Lucevan Le Stelle
from act 3. But the ne plus ultra of the CD is Pavarotti’s tour de force from Turandot, Nessun Dorma.
- Ralph Von Williams, “The Lark Ascending”
This incredible piece of music is simply timeless and outstandingly beautiful. It is a musical tour de force that must be heard and felt to be believed.
“Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything.”
― Plato
- Ralph Von Williams, Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus
- Ralph Von Williams, In the Fen Country and Serenade to Music
- Hovhaness, Mysterious Mountain
To some the Mysterious Mountain may be the Phantom Peak, unmeasured, thought to be higher than Everest as seen from great distances by flyers in Tibet or simply a sweeping, harmonic melody that evokes an atmosphere of spirituality like almost no other piece of music, in any case you simply can’t help but be moved. A marvelous tone poem.
“After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music.”
― Aldous Huxley
- Holst, The Planets
No classical observing catalog can possibly be complete without The Planets. We have all heard them from Mars, the Bringer of War to Neptune, the Mystic. But here is a bit of history (perhaps trivia) that may or may not be something everyone knows. No doubt the best known work in The Planets is Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity. At approximately half-way into the piece there is a pause and a quite obvious shift in tempo. The melody then becomes an anthem and rightly so. In 1921 Sir Cecil Spring-Rice wrote a British patriotic song called “I Vow to Thee My Country”. Later in 1921 after hearing the song recited Holst set it to music by incorporating it into a section of Jupiter but at the same time made a version as a “Unison” song with orchestra. It became so beloved that Diana, Princess of Wales requested that it be sung at her wedding to Prince Charles and because she loved it so, it was sung again in 1997 at her funeral.
Ironically, it also became the School Hymn of St. Paul’s Girls School where Gustav Holst was the Director of Music.
Ironically, another Holst favorite in the Classical catalog is “St. Paul’s Suite”. When the dots all connect it is quite wonderful don’t you think?
To truly get a sense of how they really both play together, secure a copy of “The Planets” (if you don’t have one already) and then secure a CD by a wonderful, stunningly beautiful Mezzo-Soprano named Katherine Jenkins.
The CD is called “The Ultimate Collection” and track 4 is probably the most popular version of “I Vow to Thee My Country” I have ever heard.
Now, if you can pry your eyes away from the CD cover photo take a breath and play Jupiter all the way through the anthem and stop it as soon as it’s over.
Then switch to the Katherine Jenkins CD and listen to her rendition. You will immediately see why Holst just had to create two versions, one to incorporate into The Planets and the other as a stand alone hymn.
It is a wonderful comparison that few people have ever heard, even fewer with them back-to-back, listening to them this way may cause you to never hear Jupiter the same way again.
Enjoy.
“Ah, music," he said, wiping his eyes. "A magic beyond all we do here!”
― J.K. Rowling
- CHANT, The Benedictine Monks of Santo Domingo De Silos
Of all the Observatory music that exists, Gregorian chant seems to have been created purposely for this application. My stereo speakers are tucked away nearly out of sight and allow the music to rise in the darkness.
The dome provides a very subtle echo to the voices and the entire experience is one of peace and tranquility.
I remember one night with this CD playing I turned the Holland to Alcor and Mizar.
The sight of these three stars surrounded by all that dark sky, perfectly imaged by the big refractor with exquisite resolution and contrast is just a visual delight.
Then, in the same field there is little Sidus Ludovicianum. “Discovered” by Johann Georg Liebknecht in 1723 he erroneously believed it to be a “new” planet and named it after his King, Ludwig of Hessen-Darmstadt.
Unfortunately for poor Johann it turned out not to be anything more than a previously observed “star” causing the King considerable embarrassment.
Alcor and Mizar also have the distinction of being the very first double star ever discovered.
The year was 1650 but there is still some question as to who actually made the discovery, some say it was Riccioli, others contend it was Castelli or even Galileo himself, we may never know.
What we do know is that Alcor and Mizar were also the first stars to be photographed by G.P.Bond in 1857 at Harvard College and finally, the first binary system to be detected spectroscopically by Pickering.
Perhaps listening to Chant and pondering these wonderful bits of history while drinking in the beauty of the images in the eyepiece
is why I resist the sterility of imaging and embrace the gentle, quiet satisfaction of actually seeing these things with my own eyes.
“Music touches us emotionally, where words alone can't.”
― Johnny Depp
- Debussy for daydreaming.
This wonderful CD contains all of the quiet, peaceful Debussy musical delights we have come to know and love such as “Maid with the Flaxen Hair”, “Clair de Lune”, “Arabesque” and more.
The first track is not quite my favorite so I typically start the CD with track two, but once started the rest of the disc is pure pleasure.
“Music is the wine that fills the cup of silence.”
― Robert Fripp
On a much lighter note, as you can see from the photographs I have attempted to adopt a retro look and feel to my humble
observatory with its classical white telescopes “battleship” grey mounting and pier, brass accessories and hardware,
Tiffany lighting fixtures and my collection of brass analog weather instruments.
So it is only fitting that on occasion the music should be a little retro as well. Here then is a list of my favorite music
from the 30’s and 40’s.
- “Stage Door Canteen” volumes 1 and 2
A really wonderful catalog of songs and Big Band orchestrations from WWII.
- “The Best of the Big Bands” volumes 1, 2, 3 and 4 including:
- Glen Miller
- Benny Goodman
- Harry James
- Artie Shaw
- Tommy Dorsey
- Les Brown and many more.
And my favorite female vocalist from that era, Helen Forrest, The voice of the Big Bands.
A voice as fresh and beautiful now as it surely must have been back in the 1940’s.
I think my mother must have listened to this music when I was still in the womb because they hold such a special place for
me. I was born in 1945 so there is no doubt that I was exposed to this kind of music in my very early years as well.
The time this music seems most appropriate is when I am actually working in GRO. Polishing brass, wiping things down,
tweaking the balance of the Holland, lubricating the dome casters or just puttering around.
I sometimes feel that I ought to be wearing pants with a pleated front, suspenders, a long sleeve white shirt with the
sleeves rolled up and a Fedora.
Hi dad.
|
| |
