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The Marvelous Mystery of Music

By James A. Haught

As a hard-nosed realist, I try to look at life scientifically. Everything is understandable, if examined long enough and intelligently enough, I think. Even puzzling human emotions — from selfless love for children to nationalistic urges to war — seem comprehendible, in light of mammal and primate instincts.

However, music boggles logic. Its enchantment seems a mystery beyond grasp. It’s merely sound waves in the air — tones of steady frequency, varying through sequences, sometimes mixed in harmonies — yet it has amazing power to stir the soul, even evoke tears.

Some music is tedious, annoying, making you reach for the “off” switch. But other beloved melodies transfix you, taking your breath away. Since it’s all sound waves, why do some note sequences seize your heart, while others don’t?

People have different responses. When I was young, I wanted crashing, thundering symphonies. Now, many years later, I crave tender, haunting, exquisite, poignant, heartbreaking melodies, usually in a minor key. As “Peanuts” characters say, happiness is a sad song.

Your taste may not match mine. Still, I’d like to offer my list of favorites, my personal choices for the absolutely best music ever written. See how many of my treasures coincide with your own:

CLASSICS

“Leyenda” guitar piece by Isaac Albeniz (1860–1909)

“Nessun dorma” aria from “Turandot” by Giacomo Puccini (1858–1924)

“Un bel di” aria from “Madame Butterfly” by Puccini

“E lucevan le stelle” aria from “Tosca” by Puccini

“The Harmonious Blacksmith” by George Frederic Handel (1685–1759)

“Hallelujah Chorus” from “The Messiah” by Handel

“Little Fugue in G Minor” by J.S. Bach (1685–1750)

“Ave Maria” by Bach (Gounod augmentation)

Minuet (“How Gentle is the Rain” theme) by Bach

“Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” by Bach

Chaconne in D Minor by Bach

Horn theme from “Don Juan” by Richard Strauss (1864–1949)

Quintet from “La Forza del Destino” by Giuseppe Verdi (1813–1901)

Sextet from “Lucia di Lammermoor,” by Gaetano Donizetti (1797–1848)

“The Trout” movement from piano quintet by Franz Schubert (1797–1828)

First movement of Schubert’s “Unfinished Symphony”

Impromptu in G-flat Major by Schubert

“Martha” aria from opera of that name by Friedrich von Flotow (1812–1883)

Meditation from “Thais” opera by Jules Massenet (1842–1912)

Rat-a-tat finale of Fourth Horn Concerto by W.A. Mozart (1756–1791)

“Dies Irae” from Mozart’s Requiem

Countess lament aria from “The Marriage of Figaro” by Mozart

“Non piu andrai” from same opera by Mozart

Slow movement of Piano Concerto №21 by Mozart (“Elvira Madigan” movie)

“Ride of the Valkeries” from “Die Walkure” by Richard Wagner (1813–1883)

“The Moldau” by Bedrich Smetana (1824–1884)

“Adagio in G Minor” by Tomaso Albinoni (1671–1750)

Second movement of “Pathetique Sonata” by Ludwig Beethoven (1770–1827)

“Spring Sonata” for piano and violin by Beethoven

Entire Fifth Symphony of Beethoven (pure dynamite)

Second movement of Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto (dying swans?)

Exultant third movement of Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto.

Etude in C Minor by Aleksandr Scriabin (1872–1915)

Waltz in C-sharp Minor by Frederic Chopin (1810–1849)

Exquisite nocturne, opus 9, no. 2, by Chopin

Etude, opus 10, no. 3 (“No Other Love” theme) by Chopin

Prelude in D flat Major by Chopin (pound-pound)

Prelude in A Minor by Chopin

18th in “Variations on a Theme by Paganini” by Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873–1943)

Hungarian Dance №5 by Johannes Brahms (1833–1892)

Mighty, thundering First Symphony of Brahms

The Celebrated Canon of Johann Pachelbel (1633–1706)

“Spartacus” ballet theme by Aram Khachaturian (1903–1978)

“Traumerei” (Dreaming) by Robert Schumann (1810–1856)

“My Heart at Thy Sweet Voice” aria from “Samson & Delilah” by Camille Saint-Saens (1835–1921)

“The Swan” movement from “Carnival of the Animals” by Saint-Saens.

Andalusia, by Enrique Granados (1867–1916)

Adagio from Concierto de Aranjuez, by Joaquin Rodrigo (1901–1999)

Final movement of Symphonie Fantastique by Hector Berlioz (1803–1869) (using “Dies Irae” wrath of God Gregorian chant)

Intermezzo of Cavalleria Rusticana by Pietro Mascagni (1863–1945)

POPS

“Londonderry Air,” by voice or violin (tragic)

“Greensleeves,” ancient English folk song

“Dark Eyes,” Russian Gypsy folk song

“The Sun and I” and “Sing a Merry Madrigal” from “The Mikado” by Gilbert & Sullivan

“Memory” from “Cats” Broadway show by Andrew Lloyd Webber

“Love Story” movie theme by Francis Lai

“Sunrise, Sunset” from “Fiddler on the Roof” by Jerry Bock

Now you know what twangs my heartstrings. Maybe you’ll feel inclined to prepare your own list.

(Haught, the Charleston Gazette-Mail’s editor emeritus, can be reached by e-mail at haught@wvgazettemail.com. He has written 12 books and hundreds of magazine pieces. As a blogger at a dozen websites, he’s author of 1,200 essays on the Internet. This is from his newspaper on June 18, 2006.)

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