The many musical moods of Edvard Grieg

Oh, the many moods and stories Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg conjures in my mind, my heart. There’s the transcendent “Morning Mood” from his Peer Gynt Suite, the haunting yet hopeful “Last Spring.” I’ve sat in my car and wept to the wintry longing in his “Nocturne.” There’s the “March of the Dwarves” that evokes a … Read more

Music for Grace — a Top 10 playlist for dying

For a gorgeous, non-classical, ambient 12-hour recording that’s amazing for sitting beside the dying, scroll to the bottom of this post… I thought my friend Grace had died already. This past week I was away on a five-day personal retreat without internet, so I had to go with the old-fashioned news source: one’s instincts. In … Read more

10 Somber Classical Tunes for a Pandemic

In my last blog I offered you, dear reader, 10 Happy Classical Tunes for a Pandemic. But what if you don’t feeling like listening to “happy” music right about now? You’re in too much pain. Understandable. Been there. It’s that weird state that commonly follows the death of a loved one, or something huge like … Read more

10 Happy Classical Tunes for a Pandemic

It’s a tall order these days to command oneself to be happy and productive. I myself have started and stopped this blog over a dozen times in the past few weeks. Something in me is frozen, distraught, in shock over the same thing everyone else is feeling discomfort and/or trauma over, and even though that … Read more