Tag Archives: Haruki Murakami

Classical, Haruki Murakami music

Bach – Brandenburg Concertos

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Brandenburg Concertos
The Brandenburg Concertos are a series of six instrumental works of the Baroque period. I am not a big classical music fan, but find this a good album to work to. Universities like Standford have done studies of people’s brains while listening to baroque music and noted the increase in brain activity and concentration. With that said a lot of the music of this type makes me want to rip my ears off. This will be a familiar sounding album, as it is one of those classics you’ve heard in the background of movies, and performances a million times before. It is also name checked in Haruki Murakami’s novel Hard Boiled Wonderland and the end of the world.

Bach composed these pieces over a long period of time while working as the Kapellmeister (person in charge of music in a chapel) of Kothen. Bach uses around 17 instruments, because this was the number of musicians he had at his disposal in his job as Kapellmeister. There is a real mix of strings, brass, woodwind, you name it lots of harpsichord etc. This mixture of instruments was one of the reasons it was send out on the holder record which is a phonograph record containing a broad sample of the sounds, language and music of the planet, as sent into space with the two voyager probes.

Baroque music is said to work on your brain in a different way to other classical music. The tempo various instruments working in different tempos is said to stimulate both sides of your brain. As soon as I heard this I went on the hunt for some. I can’t say I really love classical music, so this is at times akin to eating food you hate because you’ve been told it’s good for you. However I find this is an enjoyable piece of music to listen to.

These concertos innovated with the traditional forms of the period, and in line with the name baroque ornamented the sound. This and other baroque works made music more complex than it had ever been before.

Baroque music such as this has a tempo of 50 to 80 beats per minute. Researchers at John Hopkins University say this leads listeners into intense focus in the alpha brain wave state. They note that listening to this kind of music improves learning vocabulary, memorisation, and reading. They note that different kinds of music help with different feelings you may want to engender.

Another source I found says that rhythms of around 60 beats per minute is similar to a resting heart rate.

Released
1721

Lyrics
No lyrics, all instrumental.

Mood
The mood is very ye olde advertisement for mead with some freaks in smocks with bowl haircuts wandering across the screen. It flows along and despite all the connotations that usually cause me to switch off, successfully bypass that fuse in my head and keeps moving till soon I’ve forgotten it’s on in the background.

Good to work to
Good for anything that requires concentration. This is a good one to concentrate to. The fact it isn’t like any of the other music I listen to or like helps a lot.

Like
There are many other artists of the Baroque era, but I have no real background in this type of music. However, I would recommend other classical music like Lizst might work for you.

The Artist/s
Johann Sebastian Bach is one of the big guys of classical music. You name it he did it.

This work was commissioned for Christian Ludwig, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt. This music was from an era where artists worked under the patronage of a rich, usually royal protector. You name it they did it from playwrights like Shakespeare, painters like Leonardo, and of course the musicians. Classical musicians were contemporary musicians at the time and many like Bach moved around with work, but at least his role as a musician could get him jobs.

Other works
Hell yes, Bach was a working musician. Mentally I can’t put myself through listening to a plethora of classical music. This is a goody though.

Where Can I buy it, and in what formats
You should be able to pick this up in multiple formats, by multiple orchestras. I think they are all going to be fairly good vaue, so I wouldn’t worry too much which one you get your hands on.

The Verdict
Yes a simple an easy pick. If you just want a bread and butter album that will be able to deliver you some concentration this is the one to go for.

Classical

Leos Janacek – Sinfonietta

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Leos Janacek’s – Sinfonietta is another great album if you want to  focus. It takes me to a slightly weird, brassy, happy place. From the opening bars of symphonic brass, this album hooked me. It fluctuates from peaceful and sweet, to confrontational and loud. I found that the somewhat erratic styles of this music don’t throw me at all. It is definitely not the kind of music I ever imagined liking.

This album has garnered a lot of attention in light of it being mentioned throughout IQ84, a magical realist novel by popular Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami. The picture above is surprise surprise, from the novel. I have listened to a lot of the music name checked in Murakami’s novels, but this is the only one I consistently use to write to. The Sinfionetta is definitely dramatic, and if nothing else makes reading IQ84 a much more emotional experience. Murakami (full disclosure one of my favourite authors) taps into is the emotional journey that Janacek’s Sinfionetta takes you on.

It seems more like music that would be used on ads for the winter olympics than anything you would work to. After I wrote this I discovered it had indeed been used as a theme song in a seventies/eighties tv show, and was partly covered in a rock style by Emerson Lake and Palmer. The motifs and themes push me to write faster and then gives me some respite to slow down.

Released
First performed in 1926. This is a composition that I like, rather than any specific recording of it (I have not heard any I did not enjoy). It has been recorded by many artists and to my untrained ear none of the performances are different enough to be inconsistent. I’ve decided not to point you in the direction of any one version. The great thing is like most classical music there is a definite range of styles and ongoing life in performance. If you’re lucky you might actually get the chance to see this performed live.

Lyrics
A few lyrics

Mood
The Sinfionetta is powerful and contemplative in turn. It heats up then calms down. It is certainly a bold piece that sweeps me along. I can’t keep up super bold feelings, but it allows me to try out a few different moods.

Good to work to
I find this is great for contemplative work. From the opening moments of brass, it sends me to a different place to the norm. The byways, drama, and digressions of the piece add power to my words, and stops my mind from wandering too far.

Like
Not being a massive Classical music fan I find it hard to compare. It is orchestral, thematic, west, bold, brassy, and ominous at different times. Murakami has just come out with a new novel where he features Liszt’s Years of Pilgrimage that is different but definitely worth a listen.

The Artist/s
Leos Janacek was a Czech composer, theorist and folklore researcher. Born in 1854 and dieing in 1928 he was a very important Czech composer, most know for operas such as the The Cunning Little Vixen. He was a contemporary of Schoenberg, and was influenced strongly by Dvorak and Puccini.

After a long career with little success. He worked as an academic and folklorist, and had a long term role working in an school teaching organ. Janacek’s in depth understanding of folk music deeply informed his music. He was known as the first minimalist composer.

The Sinfionetta was composed when Janacek was 72 and had technically retired. It was one of his most acclaimed works. Janacek created the majority of his best known works in the last ten years of his life.

Other works
Janacek has many other works such as Taras Bulba a rhapsody, Glagolitic Mass, and The Cunning Little Vixen

Where Can I buy it, and in what formats
You shouldn’t have too much trouble finding this album on CD or digitally. If you want a copy on vinyl you will probably have to find it second hand, but even there you should have the choice of multiple versions either packaged with some of his other works, or with other artists.

The Verdict
This works for me every time. I’d say go for it if you can handle classical and brass. This is not the kind of think I thought I would like. It is quite dramatic and bold, but somehow it takes me into a different world and allows me to concentrate.