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On a Desert Island

Every so often someone will ask me that question. If you were on a desert island what book would you take, what movie would you save, what music would you want? As if somehow these answers will define me once and for all. But it's a good exercise and I enjoy seeing where I am at this particular point in time. My movie hasn't changed for many many years. Children of Paradise - Les Enfant Du Paradis. I love this movie for so many reasons. Its history, its artistry, its story all appeal to the deepest romantic in me. Book - has to be the works of William Shakespeare. That will come as no surprise to those who know me.

Music is much more difficult for me. The recent request told me I had to limit my list to 10-15 pieces - just enough to fit on a CD.

There are some pieces of music that I simply adore and would have to have on my desert isle...

Rhapsody in Blue - G. Gershwin - Oscar Levant
Lacrimosa - Mozart's Requiem Mass
Violin Concerto in D - Beethoven - So many interpretations - but I think I'd prefer Pinkas Zucherman
They Can't Take That Away From Me - Gershwin again - but sung by Fred Astaire
Fields of Gold - Sting - but I'd want Eva Cassidy's version
San Diego Serenade - Tom Waits
Song About the Midway - Bonnie Raitt
Yesterday - The Beatles
Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen
Leaving/Wee Small Hours - Kurt Elling
If I Had A Boat - Lyle Lovett
Texas Flood - Stevie Ray Vaughn
Don't Smoke in Bed - Nina Simone
Trouble....from Music Man with the inimitable Robert Preston
Not While I'm Around - Sondheim - by Babs

I was the first to respond to this question and as other people began to answer I found myself realizing the gaps in my list. No Dylan. No Stones. No Porter or Rogers and Hammerstein, Lerner and Loewe. So today I expand a bit.

My 10 MUSICAL cuts (Broadway and movie - which is painful enough.)

Night and Day - Cole Porter - The Gay Divorcee
Brush Up Your Shakespeare - Cole Porter - Kiss Me, Kate
What I Did For Love - Marvin Hamlish - A Chorus Line
If I Loved You - Rogers and Hammerstein - Carousel
Dancing in the Dark - Schwartz and Dietz - The Bandwagon
I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face - Lerner and Loewe - My Fair Lady
Finishing the Hat - Sondheim - Sunday in the Park with George
I'm Not that Girl - Stephen Schwartz - Wicked
Singin' in the Rain - Freed and Brown - Singin' in the Rain
They Can't Take That Away From Me - Gershwin and Gershwin - The Barkleys of Broadway

Top 10 Classical Pieces

All of the Requiem Mass - not just Lacrimosa - Mozart
Violin Concerto in D - Beethoven (Pincas Zucherman)
Goldberg Variations - Bach (Glenn Gould)
Concierto de Aranjuez - Rodrigo (Christopher Parkening)
Symphony No. 2 in C Minor - Mahler - especially the final two movements
Sonata No. 3 for Cello & Piano - J. S. Bach
Sonata No. 2 in B Flat Minor - Chopin
Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67 - Beethoven
Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 27, No. 2 ("Moonlight") - Beeethoven
Piano Concerto in E Flat - Mozart

That's enough for today. I can't even start with popular music. I'd have to do 10 jazz, 10 rock, 10 blues, and on and on....

Comments

Bridgete said…
Ira and I like to "quiz" each other with these types of things. We did book already, we haven't done movie or music. I like the top 15 music, as just a general overview, and then I like splitting it up by genre. It's true, I'd need a 10 song play list for every type of mood. But that might be a very long survey for an online conversation... maybe I'll suggest it anyway. Thanks for the idea!
December 17, 2007 at 12:33 PM
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