I would like to die after listening to this performance of John Cage’s Organ²/ASLSP.
Maybe John Cage’s 4’33, if I could really hear it. I’ve had tinnitus for years.
I’d be torn between something beautiful and sad-ish, like Strauss’s Beim Schlafengehen , Mahler’s Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen, Bach’s Schlummert Ein, or the slow movement of Rachmaninov’s Cello Sonata - or, on the other hand something silly like
Highway to Hell.
Hey momma
Look at me
I’m on the way to the promised land
Allegri’s Miserere as performed by the Tallis Scholars.
And between that alternative selections from the Icehouse and Paul Kelly discographies.
I’m a lifelong music buff who spends hours every day listening to music, often feeling unable to function well without a dose of it. I have many favorites, songs that still fill me with emotion. Hello Earth by Kate Bush, for one.
With all that being said, I’m not sure any music would fit in my dying hour. In that particular singular, monumental moment, even the best music in the world might feel trite and pointless, maybe even annoying.
Pink Floyd - The Great Gig in the Sky
Lyrics - “And I am not frightened of dying, you know / Any time will do, I don’t mind / Why should I be frightened of dying?”
Plus the incredible voice of Clare Torry
It’s an absolutely incredible song. It says it all.
I think some seventies-era Miles Davis would get me in the right mindset. Instrumental music that just sort of jams onward and creates an atmosphere. On the Corner would be a good choice.
With the great story that when she recorded it, she didn’t really know what the band was planning. She assumed it was like an exploratory demo or something and was stunned when the album came out later with her vocal track in place exactly as she laid it down.
Wow. That’s cool. It was sort of ‘off the cuff’ then. She just did it. Amazing.
I’d have them play “Pop Goes The Weasel”!
But seriously..
I’d play the whole album in order, except to cut out “Money”. That song is a bit too raucous and has been grossly overplayed. With that song gone, “Great Gig in the Sky” should seque nicely into “Us and Them”. And the end of “Eclipse” would make a nice music bed for my final departure.
Excellent. And while the song ‘Money’ made them an international hit. I’m very tired of it.
Us and them is great, as is the song ‘Time’ We have a new application at work call Prism. Guess I made a .gif for a link to it. I did not copy the Album cover. I drew it.
Well this is what I’d like sung at my service, assuming anyone has one for me.
Tchaikovsky Serenade for Strings, 1st movement.
Beethoven Symphony #7, 2nd movement.
Beethoven Symphony #9, 2nd movement.
In rotation.
I’m torn between
and
Yeah. I keep trying to think of music to die to and it keeps shifting to music for my funeral. My mind just can’t line up the situation.
I keep thinking of “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life” by Monty Python. If it’s at the funeral, I’d like to find a soft instrumental version. Just to see who recognizes it.
Some song whose composer will not even be born until the 2060s…
Now, seriously I also think it would be trite or annoying, for my funeral though, I would like “The lament of the Rohirim” by J.R.R. Tolkien / Clamavi De Profundis
MacCrimmon’s Lament as sung by Sheila Chandra. Death is sad, so I should be sad, and everyone in the room should be very sad too.
Anyone else want the 1812 Overture plaed as they are shot out of a cannon?
Hey, c’mom, just stick Hunky Dory on. Knowledge comes with death’s release, right?
j