So I am sitting here listening to Ralph Vaughan Williams [u]A Sea Symphony[/u] thinking I am going to sit my players down and have them listen to it before we start. Such fantastic music, and a copmpletely appropriate text and context.
"Away O Soul! Hoist instantly the anchor!
Cut the hawsers - haul out - shake out every sail!
Reckless O Soul, exploring, I with thee, and thou with me,
Sail forth, steer for the deep waters only,
for we are bound where mariner has not yet dared to go,
And we will risk the ship, ourselves and all.
O my brave Soul!
O farther, farther sail!"
Words by Walt Whitman from Leaves of Grass
Completely and totally sublime music by Ralph Vaughan Williams
Thanks for sharing a suggestion, Chris--there are other classical music lovers on these boards, and I for one really dig Ralph Vaughan Williams' music. I'll have to go CD shopping. Do you have a recommended recording?
[url=http://www.amazon.com/Vaughan-Williams-Symphony-Leonard-Slatkin/dp/B000003F9S/sr=1-10/qid=1161364539/ref=sr_1_10/002-3160456-0657660?ie=UTF8&s=music]This is the one I have[/u]. It is a good recording. I haven't heard other recordings so I can't say if this is better or worse than any other, but it is definitely not a bad recording.
This is the one I have. It is a good recording. I haven't heard other recordings so I can't say if this is better or worse than any other, but it is definitely not a bad recording.
Oops, you left out two letters on your HTML code. I've fixed it in the reply, just in case anyone else is interested in the link. Thanks!
Thanks for the tip, Chris--I ordered it online and it showed up today. Very nice!
Another short piece that might be useful as sound effects--Sibelius "Incidental Music for the Tempest. Not sure about a commercial recording, but WCNY Syracuse recently aired it, in a program about theatre music that is available by podcast. Of course there's always Debussy's "La Mer" and Wagner's "Flying Dutchman" as well.