At work, I've decided to listen to more music while I work, in an effort to muffle the noises from my co-workers. I love the guys I sit by, but we can get chatty sometimes, and that doesn't make for a productive day. They'll start talking about something (NFL fumble rates, rate of change of daylight, deepest point in the ocean, how far you can jump a snowmobile, the size of the Chinese navy, weather in Sweden, etc.*) and suddenly you're sucked into their conversation. For some reason, I'm the guy who always just has to google it in an effort to settle the matter.
Anyway, I'm combating this with music. Specifically, classical music. You can find just about anything on youtube, so I'm asking you: what should I be listening to? Composers are nice, but specific pieces are better. I prefer long pieces (>20 minutes), other wise I listen to a song for 5 minutes and spend the next 5 trying to pick the next piece; that's not much of a productivity boost.
*Yes, those are all real topics we've discussed. At length. I'd say I would keep track for a month and report back on the results, but would probably be ashamed at the length of the list.
3 comments:
As one who has participated in these discussions in the past - I know how it can go - and how easy it is to get sucked into!
I don't have specific classical music for you - but try listening to the soundtrack from Les Mis, or Phantom of the Opera, to name a few. A few others - Man from Snowy River, Last of the Mohicans, Braveheart, Dances with wolves - all great instrumental songs, for the most part.
I have been going to the symphony monthly the past few months, so you'd think I'd have a great recommendation. Unfortunately, I can't remember the names of pieces, just the composers and I am pretty sure you've heard of people like Bach, Tchaikovsky, Brahams, etc. One thing I do recommend is Mendelsohn's Elijah oratorio. It's really awesome. The pieces are short, but there are a lot of them so I am betting you could look one up and as soon it's over there would be another you click right on without having to do more searching. I'd love to hear if you have any good recommendations.
I listen to concertos and symphonies, mostly. My favorites are Beethoven and Mendelssohn, which just goes to show that Romantic stuff is better than frilly Rococo music like Mozart. :)
So, to answer your question - Beethoven "Emperor" piano concerto, all 9 Beethoven symphonies, any Beethoven piano concerto, really....
Rhapsody in Blue. Rachmaninoff piano concerto #4 (or 1 or 2 or 3). The Hebrides by Mendelssohn. Mendelssohn violin concerto. Mendelssohn symphony #4.
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