Songs 22 – 29
22. Birches – Bill Morrissey
23. Cavatina â by Stanley Myers, as performed by John Williams
I still have to stop everything and just listen when this song is playing.
24. Nanci â Adrian Legg
Adrian Legg wrote this for Nanci Griffith while they were touring together. This is one of those “gut” songs; I can’t explain why the music does what it does to me, but the melody is a mental intoxicant.
Can’t find a version to embed, but you can download the MP3 here:
Adrian Legg – Guitar for Mortals
25. Cuban Connections â Outback
You go here to listen to the song; I canât find a version to embed.
26. Tamacunâ Rodrigo y Gabriela
27. Claire de Lune â Debussy
I fear that a quick review of classical music that makes my list will reveal very plebian tastes. Exhibit 1:
28. Shannon Girl â from John Tartagliaâs LP âGood Morning Sunshineâ
This MUST be the instrumental version. I heard it with words, decades after first hearing the instrumental, and was appalled. I found one sung version I could have embedded, but if I did so youâd have thought Iâd lost my mind.
29. Romance– from âThe Gadfly Suiteâ , by Dmitri Shostakovich
Plebian taste in classical music, exhibit 2:
You got all hot and flamenco-Latin-y on us there for a minute. I used to date a guy who would sit on the apartment balcony with me and play me beautiful flamenco music on his guitar.
Your classical music tastes are no more plebian than mine, I’m afraid. I like Debussy and will probably include one of his pieces in my list. The Shostakovich reminds me of another piece I plan to include which is strange because the composer was Italian and probably from a hundred years before ol’ Dmitri. It’s the soaring strings, I think. One interesting thing about the recording you attached, or maybe it’s Shostakovich’s skill with instrumentation, but I can actually hear the second flutes. I don’t think I’ve ever heard the second flutes in any recording of any orchestral or band piece before, LOL. It’s like they’re usually just there for show.
I’m taking tentative steps towards learning "Clair de Lune". It’s a lovely piece, but very much at (or slightly over) the edge of my modest capabilities.