Melancholic serenity

The title pretty much nails it. I usually associate Morricone soundtracks with the visceral, near-terror body sensations that their accompanying films try to achieve. Of course, the movies have the advantage of huge screens, while the maestro did it all with well-placed dissonance amid the hooks and momentum. This one is an outlier, with its breezy beat and sultry melody. Which actually seems to give it more tension. I haven't seen Il Mostro, but I suspect this track was used in a moment of calm before a murder or as an interlude of contemplation in which a terrible truth is glimpsed. Or maybe just during some sunset driving. I suppose it's worth finding out.

Ennio Morricone — Malinconica serenitá (Part 1)

A ballet for leisure

You know you've entered proper vacation mode when the days lose their meaning, and it's all just time that you pick up and play with or drop on the ground on your meandering way toward something else. That nice little interlude is now behind me, and aside from losing myself at the piano for a bunch of hours, I'm surprised that I didn't end up with a couple songs on repeat in my head (except for "Itsy Bitsy Spider", which is my baby daughter's feel good jam of the young summer). Having said that, this one came on one afternoon in a bit  of semi-siesta lethargy. Never thought Stravinsky would pair well with a food coma, but there you go. 

Igor Stravinsky — Apotheosis (Apollon Musagete)