Soothing the Savage Breast
Did that catch your attention? (wicked cackle).
What music turns you on or inspires your writing?
I like to write to opera, so Saturday afternoons, when the Met broadcast is on, are a very important time for me. Operas are about passion and over the top emotions and dying twice in a sack, so they seem a natural pairing with erotic romance. And there's something powerful and transcendent about the sheer athleticism and strength of the trained operatic voice, so Handel's Messiah is another biggie for me.
I also like the crossover recording For The Stars by mezzo-soprano Ann Sofie von Otter (who can sing in just about any way she wants) and Elvis Costello (who can sing like Elvis Costello).
In instrumental music I love Krystian Zimerman's recording of the Rachmaninov and Chopin piano concertos, passionate, melancholy, dramatic music. And there's a Duke Ellington recording I'm very fond of that my daughter seems to have spirited away.
How about you?
6 comments:
I can't listen to music with words in-they start getting into my text! I prefer peace and quiet when I write although the general background of teenage boys eating or arguing is kind of music to my motherly ears too!
I love to watch opera but I'm a big emotional slob and embarrass myself and Mr Kate by crying!
I have my own playlists for writing, usually from musical theatre -- for the emotion from it, plus I don't have to dip into translations to understand the words.
Chopin features a lot.
I can't use Messiah because I can sing along to the choruses having been in a choir that did it once.
La Boheme is my all time favorite opera. I'm usually in tears by the second act and Mimi isn't even dead/seriously ill yet.
Movie soundtracks do it for me. They have emotion, usually according to a definite theme.
Right now, I'm listening to the soundtrack of DANCES WITH WOLVES. Very open and expansive, with a hint of nobility and the Old West.
I tend to write without music (unless American Idol in the background counts). I once wrote a half an edgy YA novel while listening to Steve Miller's Space Cowboy over and over. I found one song would inspire me for a story, then I'd be hooked on that song, and I'd have to hear it again and again.
I guess I don't do that now in case the family judges me as certifiable.
AH Sharon!
I am sooo like that. I have a play list that is VERY short with songs that inspire me for a specific story I am writing... I play it OVER and OVER until I really don't even notice it is there. By playing this list... I slide into “the zone” so fast when I sit down.
I don't do opera though or classical. My inspiration tends to be country and rock (some of it really hard).
Recently that has included
Elvis Costello's I Want You (love the line "Your finger nails go dragging down the wall. Be careful darling or you might fall." that song is twisted and wonderful)
Saliva's Ladies and Gentleman
Perfect Circle's Passive, (sometimes I find myself listening to Passive over and over and over… especially when I am writing a paranormal.)
Metallica’s Sad But True (this song puts me in an entire altered state) lol
FooFighter's Everlong ("The only thing I'll ever ask of you. You've got to promise not to stop when I say when." Yummmmmmmy)
David Byrne's Everyone's in love with you,
SuperTramp's Living in a fantasy.
Well those are just a few of my favs.
Hugs,
Lacy.
Great post, Jane. I'm with you on the opera. Maria Callas is perfect for passionate scenes. Astor Piazzola's tangos are quite inspiring as well. And Duke Ellington is perfect for everything in between. I remember stealing my mother's Rhapsody in Blue record. My current contemporary favorite is Nina Nastasia.
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