Order of the Bath

At the end of a particularly good meal on Saturday, the talk drifted to concerts we had been to recently and then onto favourite pieces of music. The Brother-in-law said that he had been to (or had organised?) events where a few guests were invited to put their favourite five pieces of music onto a CD and talk up to them in the manner of Desert Island Discs. When asked what my favourites would be I quickly rattled off

• Melanie—The Saddest Thing: from “The Good Book”, Buddah, 1971.
• Robert Wyatt—Song for Ché: from “Ruth is Stranger than Richard“, Virgin, 1975
• Elton John—Song for Guy: from “A Single Man”, Rocket, 1979.
• Fauré’s Requiem (Pié Jesu): The Choir of King’s College Cambridge, solo: Robert Chillcot, EMI, 1968.
• Missa Luba (Sanctus and Benedictus): Les Troubadours du Roi Baudouin, Philips, 1965.

Later I realised that these would not do at all. They were chosen because they are the most beautiful pieces of music I know—but I couldn’t give any other good reason for choosing them. They don’t hold any special memories for me so I will have to think again if I am ever to do this. In practice, if stranded on an island, I would prefer a book like the Guinness: British Hit Singles and Albums because, for the older ones at least, I can sing them in my head for days, whistle or hum them and it would require no power. I am not so good at remembering words.

This entry was posted on 14 Apr 2008 at 13:01 by Rick and is filed under Hi-Fi & Music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.