Luke Muehlhauser

Media diet for Q2 2025

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Music

Music I most enjoyed discovering this quarter:1

Rediscovered or revisited, and really liked:2

  • Arcangelo Corelli: “La folia” (1700)
  • Wayne Horvitz: “Prodigal Sun Revisited” (1990)
  • Claudio Monteverdi: “Zefiro torna e di soavi accenti” (1632)
  • George Frederic Handel: Suite in D Minor [HWV 437] (1706)
  • Saint-Saens: “Havanaise” (1887), Piano Concerto No. 5 mvt 3 (1896)
  • Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 23 “Appassionata” mvts. 1 & 3 (1806), Piano Concerto No. 5 “Emperor” (1809)
  • Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 20 mvt. 3 (1785), Piano Concerto No. 21 mvt. 2 (1785), Piano Sonata No. 16 mvt. 1 (1788)
  • Karl Jenkins: Adiemus: Songs of Sanctuary (1995), Adiemus II: Cantata Mundi (1996), Adiemus III: Dances of Time (1998), Adiemus IV: The Eternal Knot (2001), Adiemus V: Vocalise (2004), “Canción Amarilla” (2013), Symphonic Adiemus (2017)
  • Sons of Kemet: Burn (2013), Lest We Forget What We Came Here to Do (2015)
  • Metallica: S&M (1999)
  • Frank Zappa: King Kong (1969), “Strictly Genteel” (1971)
  • Soap&Skin: Lovetune for Vacuum (2009), Narrow (2012)
  • Robert Rodriguez: “Sin City” & “Sin City End Titles” (2005)
  • Philip Glass: Powaqqatsi (1988), “It Was Always You, Helen” (1992), “Escape to India” (2003) “Intensive Time” (2002), “100,000 People” & “Target Destruction” (2003), “Miller’s Theme” (2003)
  • Kamasi Washington [playlist]: “The Conception” & “The Bombshell’s Waltz” & “Bobby Boom Bap” (2007), “Change of the Guard” & “Askim” & “Miss Understanding” & “Leroy and Lanisha” & “The Magnificent 7” & “Malcolm’s Theme” & “The Message” (2015), Harmony of Difference (2017), “The Secret of Jinison” & “Fists of Fury” & “Hub-Tones” & “One of One” & “Vi Lua Vi Sol” & “Show Us the Way” & “Will You Sing” (2018), “Lesanu”  & “The Garden Path” & “Prologue” (2024), Lazarus (2025)
  • Wim Mertens [playlist]: “Birds for the Mind” & “Struggle for Pleasure” & “4 Mains” (1987), “No Testament” & “The Whole” (1989), “Iris” & “Far” (1991), “Their Duet” & “His Own Thing” & “Watch Over Me” & “Shot One” (1993), Jardin Clos (1996), Skopos (2003), Partes Extra Partes (2006), Receptacle (2007), Zee Versus Zed (2010)
  • Ill Considered: Ill Considered (2017), “Delusion” (2018), “Incandescent Rage” & “Single Leaf” (2019), Liminal Space (2021), Precipice (2024)
  • Rollerball: Ahura (2008), Murwa Mbwa (2011)
  • Fire! [playlist]: “Can I Hold You for a Minute?” & “You Liked Me Five Minutes Ago” (2009), “And the Stories Will Flood Your Satisfaction” & “He Wants to Sleep in a Dream” (2012), “Exit! Pt. 1” (2013), “Enter Part Four” (2014), “Ritual, Pts 1-2” (2016), “The Hands” & “Washing Your Heart in Filth” (2018), “Weekends” & “Blue Crystal Fire” (2019), “A lost farewell” (2023)
  • Anna von Hausswolff [playlist]: “Lost at Sea” (2010), Ceremony (2014), “Pomperipossa” (2015), “The Mysterious Vanishing of Electra” & “Ugly and Vengeful” (2018)
  • Howard Shore [playlist]: “A. Hauser and O’Brien B. Bugpowder” (1991), “The Shire” & “Bag End” & “The Council of Elrond Assembles” & “The Road Goes Ever On…” (2001), “The Three Hunters” (2002), “The Battle of Pelennor Fields” & “The Lighting of the Beacons” & “For Frodo” (2003), “Believe” (2010)

I also listened to a significant portion of the works by each of the composers listed below.3 My favorites pieces from them were (names linked to playlists):

  • Franz Liszt (b. 1811): Schubert Marches Nos. 3 & 4 (1846), Totentanz (1849), “Un sospiro” (1849), Liebesträume No. 3 (1850), Paganini Studies Nos. 3 & 4 (1851), Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 (1851), Transcendental Études No. 4 (1852), Piano Concerto No. 2 mvt 2 (1861)
  • Hector Berlioz (b. 1803): “Marche hongroise” (1845)
  • Gustav Holst (b. 1874): The Planets (1917)
  • Modest Mussorgsky (b. 1839): Night on Bald Mountain (1867), “Varlaam’s Drinking Song” (1873), Pictures at an Exhibition (1874)
  • Giuseppe Verdi (b. 1813): “La donna è mobile” (1851), “Libiamo ne’ lieti calici” (1853), Messa da Requiem mvts. 3 & 19 (1874)
  • Bedrich Smetana (b. 1824): Triumphal Symphony (1853), The Bartered Bride (1866), Ma vlast (1879)
  • Gioachino Rossini (b. 1792): The Italian Girl in Algiers “Overture” (1813), The Barber of Seville “Overture” and “Largo al factotum” (1816), William Tell “Overture (Finale)” (1829)
  • Jean-Philippe Rameau (b. 1683): “Les cyclopes” (1724), “Les Sauvages” (1725), Platée act 1 scene 6’s air & orage (1745), Zais overture (1748)
  • Charles-Valentin Alkan (b. 1813): Etude [from Encyclopédie Du Pianiste Compositeur] (1840), Piano Trio No. 1 mvt 4 (1841), Symphony for Solo Piano mvt 1 (1857)
  • Edouard Lalo (b. 1823): Fantasie Originale mvt 1 (1848), Divertissement mvt 4 (1872), Norwegian Fantasy for Violin and Orchestra mvts 1 & 3 (1878), Norwegian Fantasy (1878), Romance-Sérénade (1879), Fantasy-Ballet for Violin and Orchestra (1885), Symphony in G Minor mvts 1 & 4 (1886), Piano Concerto in F Minor (1889)
  • Louis Spohr (b. 1784): String Quartet No. 3 mvt 1 (1806)
  • Isaac Albeniz (b. 1860): Iberia mvts 1 & 2 (arr. for orch.) (1908), Suite española (arr. for orch.) (1889), “Asturias (Leyenda)” (arr. for guitar) (1889), “Tango” (arr. for orch.) (1890)
  • Charles Gounod (b. 1818): “Funeral March of a Marionette” (1872)
  • Henryk Wieniawski (b. 1835): Adagio elegiaque (1852), Capriccio-Valse (1852), Violin Concerto No. 1  mvt 3 (1853), Variations on an Original Theme (1854), 8 Etudes-Caprices No. 4 (1862), “Scherzo Tarantelle” (1885)
  • Max Bruch (b. 1838): Violin Conerto No. 1 mvt 3 (1867), Symphony No. 1 mvt 3 (1868), Scottish Fantasy for Violin and Orchestra (1880), Violin Concerto No. 3 mvt 3 (1891), 8 Pieces Nos. 2 & 7 (1910)
  • C.P.E. Bach (b. 1714): Symphony in E Minor [Wq 178] mvt 1 (1756), Symphony in E-Flat Major [Wq 179] mvt 1 (c. 1757), “Solfeggio” [H 220] (c. 1766)
  • Alexander Borodin (b. 1833): String Sextet in D Minor mvt 1 (1861), Piano Quintet in C Minor (1862), Symphony No. 2 mvt 4 (1876), “Requiem” (1878), Petite Suite (1885), Prince Igor “Overture” (1887)
  • Alexander Glazunov (b. 1865): Symphony No. 1 (1884), “Slavonic Feast” (1888), Oriental Rhapsody mvts 2 & 5 (1889), Chopiniana mvts 1 & 4 (1892), Symphony No. 4 (1893), Symphony No. 5 (1895), The Seasons (1900), “Grand Waltz” and “Little Peasant Dance” (1900)
  • Edward MacDowell (b. 1860): Piano Concerto No. 1 mvts 1 & 3 (1885), Piano Concerto No. 2 (1890), Woodland Sketches (1896)
  • Vincent d’Indy (b. 1851): Symphony No. 1 mvt 1 (1872)
  • Niels Gade (b. 1817): Symphony No. 5 (1852)
  • Joachim Raff (b. 1822): String Sextet in G Minor mvt 2 (1872), Orchestral Suite No. 2  (1874), Symphony No. 9 mvt 4 (1878)
  • Henri Vieuxtemps (b. 1820): Violin Concerto No. 3 mvt 3 (1844), Violin Concerto No. 4 mvts 2-4 (1850)
  • Edward Elgar (b. 1857): Enigma Variations (1899), Pomp and Circumstance Marches (1901-1907 & 1930), Cello Concerto (1919)
  • Mikhail Glinka (b. 1804): Spanish Overture No. 1 (1845), Spanish Overture No. 2 (1851)
  • Ernst von Dohnányi (b. 1877): Ruralia Hungarica [orch.] mvts 2 & 5 (1924)
  • Plus the following composers for which I didn’t “strongly like” any of their pieces I listened to: Karl Goldmark (b. 1830), Anton Bruckner (b. 1824), Henri Duparc (b. 1848), Ethel Smyth (b. 1858), Giuseppe Torelli (b. 1658), Georg Philipp Telemann (b. 1681), Cesar Franck (b. 1822), Carl Maria von Weber (b. 1786), Giuseppe Martucci (b. 1856).

As a reminder, when I don’t list any works by a given composer, that just means I didn’t “love” or “strongly like” any of their works that I listened to, even if I “liked” a lot of them. And liking or disliking a piece is different from thinking it’s good/bad aesthetically.

Movies/TV

Ones I “really liked” (no star), or “loved” (star):

  • Soderbergh, Black Bag (2025)
  • Ho, Mickey 17 (2025)
  • Linklater, Hit Man (2023)
  • Baker, Anora (2024) ★
  • Various, Black Mirror, season 7 (2025)
  • Various, The Righteous Gemstones, season 4 (2025) ★
  • Hobkinson, Lover Stalker Killer (2024)
  • Saulnier, Rebel Ridge (2024)
  • Borgli, Dream Scenario (2023)
  • Rogen & Goldberg, The Studio, season 1 (2025) ★
  • Various, What We Do in the Shadows, season 1 (2019) ★
  • Various, What We Do in the Shadows, season 2 (2020) ★

Games

All games I finished or decided to stop playing:

  • ★ Cyberpunk 2077 and Phantom Liberty: A unique and highly ambitious game that, years after its release (with the 2.0 update and Phantom Liberty expansion), has finally come close to achieving its original ambitions. Great world-building, massive scope, open-ended exciting gameplay, frequently good storytelling, thought-provoking themes, and just lots of fun.

Books

I post book ratings and reviews to my Goodreads account instead of here.

  1. Here are ~all the works I listened to for some of the composers below: Yamada, Subramaniam, Einaudi. [↩]
  2. I think I hadn’t heard some of the classical pieces before, but I’m not sure which ones. [↩]
  3. For Liszt, I listened to this ~complete works playlist through S427 before switching to this highlights playlist. For Berlioz, I listened to this complete works playlist through H81b before switching to this highlights playlist. I listened only to highlights playlists (plus a smattering of other pieces) for Holst, Mussorgsky, Verdi, Smetana, Rossini, Franck (note the repeated pieces), Weber, Rameau, Alkan, Torelli, Telemann, Spohr, Albeniz, Gounod, Bruch, Duparc, Smyth, C.P.E. Bach (only through 6 Prussian Sonatas), Bruckner, Borodin, Glazunov, MacDowell, d’Indy, Gade, Raff, Goldmark, Vieuxtemps, Martucci, Elgar, Glinka, and Dohnányi. I listened to complete works playlists for Lalo and Wieniawski. [↩]