Author: Talos (---.comcast.net)
Date: 06-09-2002 14:14
Here are some pieces of music that I have used:
Arvö Pärt: I am not the only person to recommend this composer. His choral music is quite beautiful, and it can justly be called otherworldly. Avoid his intrumental music, as it is repetitive and gets boring--although for BG music, this is not as much of a problem. I don't have an extensive collection of his music, but some good discs are entitled Te Deum, De Profundis, and Arbos.
Benjamin Britten: A British composer. I've only recently become interested in his stuff, but his Four Sea Interludes (from his opera Peter Grimes, but available separately) are very useful and a good length (3-5 min each). They are entitled Dawn, Sunday Morning, Moonlight and Storm, which gives a good idea of what they are useful for. Some of hs choral music would be useful if the lyrics weren't in English.
Giya Kancheli: I only own one disc by this composer, entitled Magnum Ignotum. It conveys a mood of desolation well, and has some segments that are potentially useful for combat. Unfortunately, the two pieces on it, which are 28 and 22 minutes long, have no internal track divisions.
Richard Wagner: Chances are you know this guy already. Orchestral versions are best for BG music, and Georg Solti has made some good CDs of them. You will want to avoid ultra-famous scenes (such as the Ride of the Valkyries) that your players will recognize.
Ralph Vaughan Williams: If your campaign includes a setting that could be described as "pastoral," then you definitely want some music by this composer, probably his Third and Fifth Symphonies. For an entirely different mood, try his Sinfonia Antarctica (Sym. no. 7) for an icy or otherwise desolate place. Adrian Boult is generally viewed as the best conductor of Vaughan Williams.
Leos Janacek: A very strange Czech composer. For sheer drama, you can't do much better than his Sinfonietta or Taras Bulba. Give his chamber music a listen as well.
Bela Bartok: His ballet "The Miraculous Mandarin" contains some of the most frightening music ever written. It's heavily chromatic and rough-edged in Bartok's usual manner. If you want combat music, look here.
Arnold Schoenberg: A famous avant-garde composer who isn't as inaccessible as some say. His Verklarte Nacht (Transfigured Night) is beautiful, dramatic, and emotional--and there is a very good, and cheap, recording out on the Naxos label. Also try his loud and dramatic Gurrelieder (which Seiji Ozama has made a good recording of) and his disturbing Pierrot Lunaire (you want the soloist Jan DeGaetani for that).
George Crumb: A mosern composer who really is inaccessible. His Black Angels, which Kronos Quartet has recorded, is one of the most frightening things you'll ever hear; it's almost painful to listen to.
The Dorian label has released many good medieval and Renaissance CDs that would be useful for a campaign set in Europe or something like it. Especially noteworthy is The Way of the Pilgrim: Medieval Songs of Travel, recorded by the Toronto Consort.
|
|
