Posted on 03/15/2014 8:10:20 PM PDT by lee martell
I'm a night person, and I like music inspired by the night. The biggest void that we know of is the darkness of the night. The darkness surrounds our part of the earth, like a soft heavy comforter filled with down. The night is without shape, and cannot be measured. This unknowable nature of the dark night allows us to easily imagine what is or what should be there. We imagine what is desired or what is dreaded. The night has long served as a catalyst or a muse for creativity. Look to the french composer Claude Debussy, who wrote his signature piece; Clair de Lune in 1890, publishing the final version in 1905. The piano is spare and elegant. The measures allude to the slow drift of cumulus clouds floating at night, translucent with moonlight. This is the third movement from Debussy's Suite Bergamasque, which was based on poems of Paul Verlaine.
Moonlight Serenade by Glenn Miller was released in 1939 on Bluebird Records. The recording used a clarinet led saxophone section, which is widely considered classic Glenn Miller style. The song evolved from a 1935 version of another Miller song; "Now I Lay Me Down To Weep". Jazz critic Gary Giddins wrote about the song's impact and legacy. "Miller exudes little warmth on or off the bandstand, but once the band struck up this theme, audiences were done for; throats clutched, eyes softened. No other record of it's time could match 'Moonlight Serenade' for it's ability to induce a Pavlovian slobber in so many for so long".
A lot of songs by Phil Collins were technically very good, but somewhat formulaic. There is one exception, although this was recorded when he was still with Genesis. The song Tonight Tonight Tonight was released in 1986 on the album Invisible Touch. The music video has an atmosphere reminiscent of the film Blade Runner, which was a source of inspiration for the video. Supposedly, Collins wrote this song after divorcing his first wife Andrea in 1979. He was upset enough to have left Genesis for a couple of months. There is something about this song that is both invigorating, because of the incessant percussion which varies in force and in tempo, and there is also a soothing effect that is imposed on the listener because of the cello like chords that become a dirge, that dirge is your only path away from the chaos. This is not a night song, but listen to the first three minutes of Shaft, by Issac Hayes, those are the kind of 'cello like chords' I'm speaking of, where you are prodded onto your journey, like it or not. **Nights in White Satin is a beautiful, lyrical piece of work, by the Moody Blues. Night Moves, by Seeger worth a mention. **Are You Lonesome Tonight?, by Elvis captures an intimate moment, listen you his voice, which seems to resonate or softly echo. That feels like a though within the head. What other night music is there?
With Roy Orbison, what the world of opera lost, the culture of American pop music gained. Roy was a fantastic writer and performer of his songs. Pity that he had become blind by the end of his life. Whoever was producing and directing the music from Orbison’s early hits displayed a full mastery of essential skills.
roy is a **big** fave of mine...not only for the gifts he gave musically, but for his sweet, humble, vulnerable spirit. love mystery girl written by bono for him.
darkness falls and she will take me by the hand...
...take me to some twilight land
Chopin, Debussy, Rachmaninov and Ravel for me...Chopin was just awesome...I always preferred him to Mozart tbh...
The Polovitsian Dances by Borodin....aka “Stranger in Paradise”...
A very nice choice.
Ella, what a voice. never misses a note.
Yes, she had a voice like clear, cool water—beautiful.
"The Moon Was Yellow"
"The Moon of Manikoora"
"Pale Moon"
"In the Misty Moonlight"
"Moonlight Becomes You"
"Full Moon (and empty arms)"
"Moonlight in Vermont"
"Night and Day"
"Blues in the Night"
"In The Still Of The Night"
"Song for a Winter's Night"
"Round Midnight"
"Midnight Cowboy"
"Are You Lonesome Tonight?"
"The Way You Look Tonight"
"All Through The Night"
"I Could Have Danced All Night"
"Quiet Nights Of Quiet Stars"
"Wonderland By Night"
"Midnight Sun"
"June Night"
"Strangers In The Night"
"Midnight In Moscow"
. . and a bonus: "A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square"br
I like your listings. I never realized how much the night inspires our favorite music.
Remembered a nighttime fave from my youth (and still):
Echo & the Bunnymen - The Killing Moon [HD] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IO0njL-FmHU
Genesis - Mad Man Moon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQ_U4XkAarE
Marillion - That Time of the Night
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cowXdLSPZM
ECHO & THE BUNNYMEN - Nocturnal Me
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rr3gmrac92Y
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