Writing Music

Lately I have been doing a lot of writing in my office. Two selections that I return to often have helped quite a bit. I did have some Bach pieces on modern piano that I used (the French and English Suites, the Two and Three Part Inventions, the Goldberg Variations, etc.) but I found them so compelling that I couldn't concentrate. I return to the following:

• Keith Jarrett: Shostakovich Preludes & Fugues
• Joachim Held: Lute Music from the Schele Ms. (1619)

In addition to being fantastic compositions, these are also masterful performances. I don't think Jarrett's efforts can be overpraised on the Shostakovich recording, but this reviewer comes close:

Repackaged to mark the 100th Anniversary of the birth of Dmitri Shostakovich, this is one of the most important collections of recordings from the Godlike Keith Jarrett collecting Dmitri Shostakovich’s 24 Preludes and Fugues, and is one of the finest meetings of composer and performer I can bring to mind. Shostakovich’s work has been rendered thousands of times, yet nobody quite manages to capture it like Jarrett, transcending the jazz playing he might be better known for and performing these pieces utterly remarkably. Jarrett claims that when he plays Shostakovich it doesn’t feel like he is playing someone else’s music, that’s how close he feels to the source – and this feeling manifests itself totally in the music, giving the pieces subtlety, depth and gravitas. For those of you not unfamiliar with the work of Shostakovich this is about the best starting point you could possibly have – the finest pieces from a great composer, played by one of the most important musicians of our time. Essential.

Jarrett is amazing here, even if the gushing above seems a bit over the top. I've listened to a few other recordings of these pieces, and they are odd, angular, and unconnected by comparison. I suppose one might argue that these Modernist piano compositions could properly be played in a manner that made those three adjectives descriptions of praise. But to hear Jarrett's interpretation is to connect these pieces back to the composer who inspired them--J.S. Bach.

I have grown to love these two recordings as I quietly work on my 100-page document. I walked out of the office so transfixed by the Shostakovich that I was unconsciously humming as I exited the office; got a little chuckle from the work study student in the hall. I need to keep that stuff in my head.

Perhaps I should try writing listening to something like this.