Desert Island Discs - sort of.

[bilbobaggins]

Here's the question.... Someone you know is planning a solo sailboat trip that may take several weeks, and considering the quite important matter of communication, companionship and morale, you are asked to provide a short tape of a couple of your favourite pieces of music - and what they mean to you - after the fashion of Desert Island Discs.

S/he has asked several friends to do the same, so that s/he has something to look forward to, on several evenings during the passage .......like a succession of Friday mornings on R4. So how's about it? What would you include, and why? Oh, and you are free to mention a book and a luxury item, if you so wish......

Here are my suggestions....

Chopin's 'Nocturne No 1' with Daniel Barenboim - for those quiet nights, well offshore, when the full moon illuminates all around, the stars seem fat and close, the day's tribulations are past, and the boat just quietly carries on and on, regardless......

Vaughan Williams 'The Lark Ascending' from his Symphony No 5 recording by Telarc, with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra - recalling a time of childhood when I'd lie on my back in the field above our house, listening to the larks around me while wondering what the future would hold.

Book? 'High Endeavours' by Miles Clark, about the extraordinary life of his parents Miles and Beryl Smeeton. The right stuff....

Luxury? A supply of shaving oil and a good cut-throat razor. Standards....


Your turn.

/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Bajansailor]

Excellent choices of music, and a brilliant book to accompany them! I would happily go along with your selection, but I should try to come up with something different.

Music - so many favourites..... I would have to try and choose a couple from :
Vaughan Williams' Sea Symphony - 'Behold, the Sea!', or
Ocean Fantasia (part of the Tall Ships Suite by Dave Roylance and Bob Galvin), or
Holst's The Planets - Mars I think, or
'The Whispering Sea', and 'Mariner', by Tony O'Connor,
or some fine opera - eg Mozart's Laudate Dominum, or
Beethoven's 9th - the triumphal Ode to Joy (of course!),
or for something a bit different,
'Bohemian Raphsody' by Queen, or 'Wonderful World' by Louis Armstrong,
all chosen to suit the prevailing moods of Aeolus, Neptune and the crew at the time.

Books..... ummm, I would like to take a small library, but again this is being rather greedy...... a few of my favourites are 'A Steady Trade' by Tristan Jones, 'Clean Sweet Wind' by Douglas Pyle, and for a novel, 'Night Sky' by Claire Francis is quite gripping.

But I might have to be practical instead and take along a book like Nigel Calder's bible to help me cope with what limited resources are available on this island.

Re luxuries, have probably used up my quota on books and music above, but if not, could I perhaps choose a few (being greedy again!) bars of Green & Blacks finest dark chocolate as my luxury item?

I wouldn't worry about the shaving oil and razor - chocolate would take precedence - much easier to grow a beard and become a scruffy old sea dog instead!

PS - BTW Bill, I think the Smeetons were Miles Clark's god-parents - his Dad is Wallace Clark.

 

[claymore]

OK
Song
The Freedom Come All ye - written by Hamish Henderson and sung by Dick Gaughan

Book
The Monkey Wrench Gang

Luxury
Solar powered computer with satellite internet connection

 

[Achillesheel]

Excellent choices of music, but i would include some modern pieces:-

Van Morrison - Live album, Its Too Late to Stop Now
Beach Boys - Good Vibrations
A Cafe del Mar album for night watches
and
Beethovens 9th
Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto

Luxury:-
Endless supply of Hoogarden

 

[Twister_Ken]

>The Monkey Wrench Gang<

Migod man, you've just gone up in my estimation!

 

[claymore]

Bilbo me ageing short one
I've noticed you treading the edge of reason with the Avatar for some time now - what exactly did you put up to be awarded the no entry sign?

 

[beancounter]

Ok - several pieces to suit different occasions -

- "The Ashokan Farewell" by Jay Ungar - for those melancholy moments when land and company has been left behind and the next landfall seems a log way away.

- "Siegrieds Funeral March" - some ominious Wagner for when skies are darkening.

- "Nimrod" from Elgar's Enigma variations - for those magic moments when the boat is tramping along in a good breeze, under sunny skies.

- "Hoedown" from Aaron Copeland's "Rodeo" - 'cos it's feelgood music.

Book? - so many to choose from. P'raps the complete Sherlock Holmes stories.

 

[Spuddy]

Errm - well I'm taking it down demographic and a bit ethnic as well, Went to trific gig with No. 1 son which had Ba Cissoko on; It was these Kora things played through a wah wah and sounded like Hendrix on harpsichord backed by monster grooves.
Right then, back to the Third Program.....
Book would be Sword of Honour trilogy - Apthorpe's thunderbox, Richie-hooke and other old friends.
Luxury would be turkish delight.

 

[claymore]

Wid ye mind re-writin tha' in English - ah cannae unnerston a waird o't

 

[bilbobaggins]

I'm grateful to all so far, and I will be researching everyone's suggestions. The notion is not quite as mad as might appear......

Here's a wee bit of background..... some years ago, when I finally managed to put together a suitable trip that I could 'nav' on my own terms, a friend and I took a boat from Liverpool, outside Ireland and down to La Corunna, using only traditional nav techniques. Now, there are three of four wee stories embedded therein, but the way we worked out the watches, he always was ON from midnight till four. The cat we took - a 37' Antigua - had a cassette player fitted into the steps/access to the port hull in which I slept, and for some reason we had only one cassette......

My 'friend' played Neil Diamond's Greatest Hits night-after-night for several hundred miles. Right by my nearly-sleeping ear.

If you think that Guantanamo Bay knows a thing or two about psy-war, you should try 'Cracklin' Rosie for the forty-seventh time! It's still a wonder to me that he didn't become involuntary fish-food by the 50th Parallel.....

So, if I ever go to sea again, I want some better music with me, for those long watches when I'm below, and 'dick'ed' in the cockpit needs some neural stimulant to keep awake. Single-handed or not!

So, please keep 'em coming. I *will* use 'em.....!


/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[Bajansailor]

Did your Neil Diamond fan not ever consider the use of headphones with a walkman to listen to Rosie crackling??

I am impressed by the tolerance of his long suffering shipmate!

Communal stereo playing is fine at eg mealtimes, or in the afternoon on deck, when everyone is awake, but only with mutual agreement of choice, and should be banned when any of the off-watch are sleeping (IMHO).

 

[Sybarite]

Long long list (I cheated)

I copied this from a much longer list. The music here represents music of different types (but mainly classical) which I particularly like. It was in table form when I entered it.

Nuit d'Ivresse - Les Troyens Roberto Alagna & Angela Gheorghiu Berlioz
Pie Jesu Aled Jones & Sarah Brightman Lloyd Weber
In The Steppes Of Central Asia Borodin
The Scarlet Tide Alison Krauss
Down In The River to Pray Alison Krauss
The Smile on your Face Alison Krauss
Go to sleep little baby Alison Krauss, etc
Con Te Partiro Andrea Bocelli
Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini Artur Rubenstein Rachmaninoff
St. Mathew's Passion Bach
Moonlight Sonata Beethoven
Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-Flat major, Op. 73, Emperor Beethoven
Che gelida manina (La Boheme) Beniamino Gigli Puccini
Wind Beneath My Wings Bette Middler
Someone to Watch Over Me Billie Holiday
The Very Thought Of You Billie Holliday
Donna Non Vidi Mai -Manon Lescaut Carlo Bergonzi Puccini
Bella figlia dell'amore Rigoletto Carlo Bergonzi, Joan Sutherland and Renata
Tebaldi Verdi
Roisin Dubh Cathie Ryan
Lascia ch'io pianga Rinaldo Cecilia Bartoli Handel.
Tell Him Celine Dion
Fellini in New York Chava Alberstein
Nancy Spain Christy Moore
Carrickfergus Clancy Brothers & Tommy Make
Spancil Hill The Corrs
Goodbye Earl Dixie Chicks
Are You Strong Enough To Be My Man Dixie Chicks & Sheryl Crow
Peggy Gordon The Dubliners
Milord Edith Piaf
Dove sono Elizabeth Schwarzkopf Mozart
Everytime We Say Goodbye Ella Fitzgerald
Someone To Watch Over Me Ella Fitzgerald
Baby Its Cold Outside Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong
Mozart / Laudate Dominum Emma Kirkby
Gymnopedies Eric Satie
The Lark Evgeny Kissin Balakirev - Glinka
Requiem Fauré
Goldberg Variations Glenn Gould Bach
Russlan and Ludmilla Glinke
In the Hall of the Mountain King Grieg
Carolan's Concerto O'Carolan
Ave Maria Hayley Westenra Caccini
Benedictus Hayley Westenra Jenkins
She Moves Through The Fair Hayley Westenra
Violin Concerto No1 in G minor Itzhak Perlman Bruch
Kalinka Malinka Ivan Rebroff
Cello Concerto in E minor Jacqueline du Pre Elgar
Une Valse à 1000 Temps Jacques Brel
Ne Me Quitte Pas Jacques Brel
Flute and Harp Concerto in C James Galway Khachaturian
Brian Boru's March James Galway
Casta diva Norma Joan Sutherland Bellini
Ingemisco (Verdi’s requiem) Joan Sutherland/Marilyn Horne/
Luciano Pavarotti/Martti Talvela/ Verdi
Aux Champs Elysees Joe Dassin
The Pearl Fishers Jussi Bjoerling- Robert Merrill Bizet
Soave sia il vento - Cosi fan tutte Karita Mattila Mozart
Evening Prayer from Hansel und Gretel Kathleen Battle-Frederica von Stade-
Wynton Marsalis-Andre Previn Humperdinck
Bachianas Brasilieras No. 5 - 1 Kathleen Battle Villa-Lobos
Porgi amor - Marriage of Figaro: Kiri Te Kanawa Mozart
Chi il bel sogno di Doretta La Rondine Leontyne Price Puccini
Vissi D'arte Leontyne Price Puccini
Au fur et a mesure Liane Foly
Lakme - Bell Song Lily Pons Delibes
Song to the Moon {From "Rusalka"} Lucia Popp Dvorak
Casanova-Nonnenkoor Lucia Popp Johann Strauss
Ah,mes amis - La Fille Du Regiment Luciano Pavarotti Donizetti
Parigi, o cara - La Traviata Luciano Pavarotti, Joan Sutherland,
Placido Domingo, Kiri Te Kanawa Verdi
Mon coeur s'ouvre à ta voix
(Samson and Delilah Marilyn Horne Saint-Saëns
Drink, Drink, Drink Mario Lanza, Donnelly/Rombert
Fields of gold Mary Black
Suliram Miriam Makeba
Malaika Miriam Makeba & Harry Belafonte
Serenade For Winds Mozart
O Soave Fanciulla (1907) - La Boheme Nellie Melba with Enrico Caruso Puccini
Meditation - Thais Nigel Kennedy Massenet
Don't Cry For Me Argentina Olivia Newton John Lloyd-Webber
Canon in D major Pachelbel
Deep River Paul Robeson
Sweet Thames Flow Softly Planxty 1 Ewan MacColl
Fairytale of New York The Pogues with Kirsty MacColl Ronan Keating
Ernani - Surta e la notte Renata Scotto, Thomas Fulton Verdi
Ebben? ... Ne Andro Lontana La Wally Renata Tebaldi Catalani
Vier Letzte Lieder - Renee Fleming Richard Strauss
Nuit d'Ivresse - Les Troyens Roberto Alagna & Angela Gheorghiu Berlioz
Tornami a dir (Don Pasquale) Roberto Alagna + Angela Gheorghiu Donizetti
La Vergine Degl'Angeli –
(La Forza Del Destino - 1928) Rosa Ponselle & Ezio Pinza, bass Verdi
The Entertainer Scott Joplin
Lord Franklin Sinead O Connor
The Bartered Bride - Overture Smetana
Mein Herr Marquis (Fledermaus) Sumi Jo Johann Strauss
The Queen of the Night Aria Sumi Jo Mozart
Doumka Tchaikovsky
Les Contes D'Hoffmann - Barcarolle Teresa Berganza + Monserrat Caballe Offenbach
Va, pensiero (Nabucco ) Verdi
Night and Day Victor Borge
Die Walkure (Ride Of The Valkyries) Wagner
Concerto In A Major For Clarinet Mozart
Ti Amo Zucchero

 

[Bajansailor]

Re: Long long list (I cheated)

Is there anything else left to mention I wonder, after Sybarite's list above.....?
You could open a Desert Island Discs megastore on your island with this lot! /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

Has anybody else got any favourites? Books, music, luxuries?