Pedro Almadovar picks some great music to populate his movies, which I think are one large extended conversation about conversation in what is a dysotpian (i.e., nearly real) world. This being so, "Hable con Ella" (Talk To Her), in my opinion, is certainly his finest movie. And Alberto Iglesias, his composer of choice for his movies, certainly adds quite a bit to the mood of this movie that essentially is an interrogation of the nature of love. Here are some tracks from this movie:

A section of the title track Hable con Ella
Cucurrucucu Paloma
Por Toda A Minha Vida

....

I have previously written about Arvo Pärt, and my discovery of his powerful music. His music is intensely spiritual, with parallels drawn to J.S. Bach, and seems to lead the listener into a kind of silence that follows a late night rainstorm. You can listen to one of his signature albums Fratres over at Rhapsody. For a taste, these are some clips from his other important work, Tabula Rasa:

Tabula Rasa: I. Ludus - Con Moto Tabula Rasa: II. Silentium - Senza Moto

This seems to be an intro to an Arvo's concert.

There are few musicians who can't be approached, i.e., described, via words. Bob Dylan is one of them. And lord only knows how many pages have been devoted to the Man, and the music (or should we better call all of it prophesy?) he has unleashed upon the world. Besides Dylan himself has begun writing, in a superb idiosyncratic fashion, about his life in what is supposed to be many part autobiography titled "Chronicles". I have already raved about this first part of these "Chronicles", especially his love of trains.

However I was unware of Dylan's exsistance, much less his music, until I received a recieved a letter for my 22nd birthday from this girl I know (she made me turn to writing fiction, for the first tiime; this I tired by very thinly disgusing her - it turned out that her younger sister had precisely the same name as the disguise I chose for her!) with the lyrics of the following song written out. I was hunting for that letter this evening as I was feeling a bit down and out, and came up empty in the whirlwind of paper this room has become. Anyways, the more important thing is this song, and the neural operations it can perform on my soul; so here is "Forever Young":

Also this is an interesting article on photographing Dylan published in Granta.

It is said that if the statement "God doesn't exsist" is true, J.S. Bach's music alone would disprove it.

I woke up with a minor hangover this morning. Yes, I was drinking tequlia anejo (simply the best, senors and senoras!) last evening, and then later couldn't fall asleep because of this disturbing discussion I had sitting in a car. Two of my good friends here are, apparently, having severe problems in/ with their marriage, and perhaps (I hope not!) are headed towards Splitsville. Thus I woke up at 10.00 am, groggy and dehydrated.

Given this, Bach with breakfast seemed to be a capital idea. I began with his Cantatas - the gentleman turned out these masterpieces (yes, masterpieces even if they beseech the Lord to come and save dark skinned heathens like me) in a clock work fashion, one brand new one every Sabbath Sunday. Superb, like this honey on my cornflakes.

Yet, Bach's music for me is associated with the violin close on the heels of cello, however much I enjoy his great choral music (Jesu, Joy of a Man's Desiring is a piece that makes my hair rise every time I hear it) or his beautiful piano work, Goldberg Variations, as performed by the Canadian savant Glenn Gould. Perhaps this is because Bach and his essential motifs came to me via the music of Illayaraja, who infused Indian film music with really beautiful orchestral arrangements using banks of violins. So here is some Vitamin Bach Violin for you:

First Yehudi Mehunin playing "Chaconne from Partita No.2"

In this, Nathan Milstein plays a blazing fast "Partita No. 3 in E"

And finally, this one has all the violin greats, both young and old, on the same stage performing Bach's "Concerto in D Minor for Two Violins":

Too bad, I could find any of Heifetz playing Bach. He kills Bach let me tell ya.