Saturn, the Bringer of Old Age

This piece by Gustav Holst was very comforting to me as my father was dying. You might not think so, because most of it depicts a long, slogging inexorable march to death. But at about 6:56, the atmosphere changes. To me, it portrays the moment of 'crossing over'; the soundscape opens up and there's a sense of vastness, of peacefulness, of wonder.

Charles Dutoit and the Montreal Symphony perform one of the best versions -- enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sbnsLmwlbc

Smile, Smiley Smile, and Love and Mercy

We watched the film "Love and Mercy" last night; as veteran Brian Wilson/Beach Boys fans, there wasn't much new information for us. Brian wants to experiment and record the music he hears in his head, Mike Love wants to stick to the formula, Murry Wilson was a bully, and Dr. Eugene Landy was too. It is fascinating to see scenes based on actual recordings of studio sessions, Brian coaching the musicians, and how unlikely instrumental combinations (basses playing in different keys?) resulted in the Beach Boys classics we know and love.

Besides the Beach Boys, the soundtrack bits by Atticus Ross offer a glimpse into the melodies swirling through Brian's head. Both "Good Vibrations", and to a greater extent, "Smile" were assembled from bits and pieces of music Brian had recorded in hours of studio sessions. Over the years, parts of "Smile" were polished up and released on later Beach Boys albums (most prominently on "Smiley Smile"), but the official release of "Smile" makes clear that Brian could have assembled dozens of different variations on what was eventually released. For me, that makes listening to "Smile" difficult at times, because I realized it was still an unfinished album -- it's just the version Brian ended up with.

The agony of too many choices plagued the completion of many great albums ("Tusk", "The River", for example), and it's no wonder that the maelstrom of melody Ross portrays in the film as the contents of Brian's brain drove him batty.