Luke Muehlhauser

Media diet for Q3 2025

by

Music

Music I most enjoyed discovering this quarter:

I also listened to a significant portion of the recorded works by each of the (new-to-me) composers listed below.2 My favorites pieces from them (names linked to playlists) were:

  • Svante Henryson (b. 1963): Electric Bass Concerto No. 1 (2007), Concerto for Jazz Cello and Orchestra (2022)
  • Daniel Bjarnason (b. 1979): “Red-handed” (2010)
  • Marcos Balter (b. 1974): “Cherubim” (2013)
  • Scott McAllister (b. 1969): Freebirds (2007), “More Cowbell” (2007), “Zing!” (2008), Death and Disfigurations (2024)
  • Annie Gosfield (b. 1960): Ewa7 (1999)
  • Jonathan Leshnoff (b. 1973): Double Concerto for Violin and Viola (2007), “Starburst” (2010), Violin Concerto No. 2 mvt. 4 (2018), Piano Concerto (2019), Of Thee I Sing (2020), Symphony for Winds mvt. 1 (2023)
  • Sergei Taneyev (b. 1856): Piano Quintet in G minor mvt. 2 (1911)
  • Nick Omiccioli (b. 1982): “Fuse” (2014)
  • Adam Schoenberg (b. 1980): American Symphony mvts. 1, 3, 5 (2011), Picture Studies mvts. 2, 3, 10 (2012), Scatter (2015)
  • Henrik Anassian (b. 1937): Concert for Duduk and Orchestra (2010)
  • Moritz Moszkowski (b. 1854): Piano Concerto in B Minor (1875), Spanish Dances (1876), Johanna d’Arc mvts. 1 & 4 (1876), Violin Concerto in C Major mvt 3 (1881), From Foreign Lands mvt. 6 (1884), Orchestral Suite No. 1 mvts. 2 & 5 (1886), Piano Concerto in E Major mvts. 1, 3, & 4 (1898), Suite for Two Violins and Piano mvt 1 (1900), 15 Virtuosic Etudes No. 1 (1903)
  • Engelbert Humperdinck (b. 1854): String Quartet in C Major mvt 3 (1920)
  • Hugo Alfven (b. 1872): Swedish Rhapsody No. 1 (1903), Swedish Rhapsody No. 2 (1907), The Prodigal Son Suite (1957)
  • Christian Sinding (b. 1856): Suite in A Minor mvt. 1 (1891), “Rustle of Spring” (1896), Violin Concerto No. 1 mvt. 1 (1898)
  • Lowell Liebermann (b. 1961): Piano Concerto No. 2 mvt. 4 (1992)
  • Charles Stanford (b. 1852): Symphony No. 2 mvt. 3 (1880)
  • Jeff Beal (b. 1963): “House of Cards Title Theme” (2013), “Youthful Rebellion” (2015), House of Cards Symphony mvt. 9 (2018)
  • Reinhold Glière (b. 1876): Symphony No. 2 (1907), The Red Poppy (1927), Bronze Horseman Suite (1949), “Whirlwind” (1952)
  • Malek Jandali (b. 1972): “Piano Dream” & “Yafa” & “Arabesque” (2009), Emessa (2012)
  • Friedrich Gulda (b. 1930): Piano Concerto No. 2, mvt 1 (1963), Music for 4 Soloists and Band mvts 1 & 3 (1964), Fantasy for 4 Soloists and Band (1964), Variations for Two Pianos and Band (1966), Eurosuite (1966), Symphony in G (1970), Wings mvts 2 & 4 (1973), Concerto for Cello, Wind Orchestra, and Band mvt 1 (1980), Concerto for Myself mvts 1-2 & 4 (1988)
  • Emil von Reznicek (b. 1860): “Donna Diana Overture” (1894)
  • Benjamin Yusupov (b. 1962): “Viola Tango Rock Concerto” (2005)
  • Dora Pejačević (b. 1885): Piano Concerto mvts 1, 3 (1913), Symphony in F-sharp minor mvts 3, 4 (1917), Piano Quintet in B minor mvts 1, 3, 4 (1918), Phantasie concertante (1919)
  • Gabriella Smith (b. 1991): “Bard of a Wasteland” & “Tarn” (2021)
  • Nikolai Medtner (b. 1880): Piano Quintet in C (1949)
  • Alexander Gretchaninov (b. 1864): Symphony No. 1 mvts 1, 3 (1894), Symphony No. 2 mvts 2, 3 (1908)
  • Dana Suesse (b. 1909): “Jazz Nocturne” (1931), Concerto in 3 Rhythms mvts 1 & 3 (1932)
  • Arturo Márquez (b. 1950): “Paisajes Bajo el Signo de Cosmos” (1993), “Danzon No. 1” & “Danzon No. 2” & “Danzon No. 3” (1994), “Zarabandeo” (1995), “Danzon No. 4” & “Octeto Malandro” & “Danza de Mediodía” (1996), “Danzon No. 5” (1997), Máscaras (1998), Espejos en la arena (2000), “Danzon No. 6” & “Danzon No. 7” (2001), “Danzon No. 8” (2004), “Conga del Fuego Nuevo” (2005), “De Juarez a Maximiliano” (2006), “Leyenda de Miliano” (2010), “Danzon No. 9” (2017), Concierto de Otoño (2018), “Lejania Interior” (2019), Fandango (2020), La Sinfonia Imposible (2022)
    • With these new listens, Márquez has now crossed the 5-hour mark as one of my favorite musical artists! [playlist]
  • Miguel del Águila (b. 1957): “Conga-Line in Hell” (1994), Wind Quintet No. 2 mvts 2, 4 (1994), Salon Buenos Aires mvt 3 (2005), “Milonga” (2017)
  • Antonio Bazzini (b. 1818): “Dance of the Goblins” (1852), “Calabrese” (1859)
  • Paul Richards (b. 1969): “A Butterfly Coughs in Africa” (2003), “Witch Doctor” (2008), “If You Could Only See the Frog” (2010)
  • Christopher Gunning (b. 1944): Poirot theme (1989)
  • Grigor Arakelian (b. 1963): “Melody and Dance of Sun” (2010)
  • Nikolai Budashkin (b. 1910): “Concert Variations on a Folk Song” (1946), “Balalaika Concerto” (1946), “First Rhapsody” (1947), “Second Rhapsody” (1949), “Russian Overture for Orchestra” (1950), “The Legend of Lake Baikal” (1950), Domra Concerto (1953), “Lyric Suite in Four Parts” (1955)
  • Kuan Nai-chung (b. 1939): Scenes from Yunnan (1982), “Bumper Harvest Worship [Harvest Festival]” (1983), Butterfly Dream (1988), “Prayer for Rain” (1989), Memory of Mountain mvt 1 (1991), The Peacock (1998), The Age of the Dragon (1999), “Millennium Overture” (2001), The Charming Braid (2009), Erhu Concerto No. 5 “Centennial of the Xinhai Revolution” (2011)
  • Peng Xiuwen (b. 1931): “Axi Moon Dance” (1956), Four Seasons Suite mvt. 1 (1971), 12 Months Suite mvts 1, 10 (1989)
  • Judd Greenstein (b. 1979): “Change” (2009), “City Boy” (2010), “Clearing, Dawn, Dance” (2010), “Acadia” (2012)
  • Florence Price (b. 1887): Symphony No. 1 mvts 1, 3, 4 (1933), Piano Concerto in One Movement sec. 3 (1934), Suite of Negro Dances (1951), Violin Concerto No. 2 (1952), Piano Quintet in A minor mvt 4 (1952)
  • Kamran Ince (b. 1960): Music for a Lost Earth mvts 5, 9, 10, 12 (2007)
  • William Perry (b. 1930): Trumpet Concerto mvts 1, 3 (1986), Six Title Themes in Search of a Movie mvt 1 (2008)
  • Ignacy Jan Paderewski (b. 1860): Piano Concerto mvt 3 (1888)
  • Leo Delibes (b. 1836): La Source Suite “Scene dansee” & “Introduction et Mazurka” (1866), Coppélia Suite “Prelude” & “Theme slave, variation 5” & “Galop final” (1870), Sylvia Suite “Les Chasseresses, Fanfare” & “Strette, Galop” (1876), Lakmé “Flower Duet” (1883)
  • David Baker (b. 1931): “Screamin’ Meemies” (~1959), “IU Swing Machine” (1968), Concerto for Violin and Jazz Band (1969), “5M Calypso” (1989), Three Ethnic Dances (1993), “Dance of the Jitterbugs” (1993), “Walt’s Barbershop” (2016)
  • William Russo (b. 1928): “Frankly Speaking” (1953), “Blues Before and After” & “Bacante” (1954), “Rituals” (1964), 3 Pieces for Blues Band and Symphony Orchestra (1968), Street Music mvts 3, 4 (1977)
  • Donal Fox (b. 1952): “Variations & Improvisations on Prokofiev’s Toccata” (2001), Scarlatti Jazz Suite (2007), “Variations on Piazzolla’s Oblivion” (2007), “Le Coucou and the Funky Chicken” (2010), “Partita Jazz Suite in G Major” (2010), “Variations on Ludovico Einaudi’s I Giorni” (2022)
  • Brendon Randall-Myers (b. 1986): “The World as a Nail” (2017)
  • D. J. Sparr (b. 1975): The World Within mvts 1-3 (2022)
  • Dario Marianelli (b. 1963): “Briony” (2007), “21 Years” (2013), “The War Rooms” & “We Shall Fight” (2017)
  • Ferde Grofe (b. 1892): Mississippi Suite mvt 4 (1926), Grand Canyon Suite mvt 1 (1931)
  • Patrick Hawes (b. 1958): “Quanta Qualia” (2004)
  • Peter Gregson (b. 1987): Quartets: One mvt 3 & Quartets: Two mvt 1 (2022)
  • John Korsrud (b. 1963): “Cruel Yet Fair” & “Scratching the Surface” (1995), “Crush” (2003), “Lowest Tide” (2005), “Slice” & “Chorale in Two Chords” & “Wise Up” (2014?)
  • Somtow Sucharitkul (b. 1952): Requiem for the Mother of Songs mvt 1 (2011)
  • Mohammed Fairouz (b. 1985): Symphony No. 4 mvts 3 & 4 (2012)
  • Peter Boyer (b. 1970): “Celebration Overture” (1997), Three Olympians mvt 3 (2000), “Silver Fanfare” (2004), American Rhapsody (2008), Symphony No. 1 (2013), “Rolling River” (2014), Balance of Power (2019), “Fanfare for Tomorrow” (2021)
  • Roberto Sierra (b. 1953): Fandangos (2000)
  • Johan de Meij (b. 1953): T-Bone Concerto mvts 1 &  3 (1996), Wind in the Willows mvts 1 & 2 (2002), “Klezmer Classics” (2002), At Kitty O’Shea’s (2010), “Spring” (2010), “Songs from the Catskills” (2011), Sinfonietta No. 1 (2011), Extreme Beethoven (2012), African Harmony (2017), Pennsylvania Faux Songs (2018), Symphony No. 5 mvt 2 (2019), “Rotterdam 1945” (2019), “Los Cuatro Vientos” (2021), Los Libros Olvidados (2023), “Elegy & Scherzo” (2023)
  • Zhou Tian (b. 1981): Grand Canal Symphonic Suite “The Grand Canal” & “Life” & “Tomorrow” (2008)
  • Plus the following composers for which I didn’t “strongly like” any of their pieces I listened to: Vladimir Dukelsky [Vernon Duke] (b. 1903), Orbert Davis (b. 1960), John Alden Carpenter (b. 1876), Erwin Schulhoff (b. 1894), Constant Lambert (b. 1905), Pietro Mascagni (b. 1863), David T. Little (b. 1978), Guillaume Connesson (b. 1970), Sergei Lyapunov (b. 1859), Magnus Lindberg (b. 1958), Ferruccio Busoni (b. 1866), Carl Reinecke (b. 1824), Guo Zurong (b. 1928), Huang An-Lun (b. 1949), Vache Sharafyan (b. 1966), Avner Dorman (b. 1975), Aram Satyan (b. 1947), Stepan Rostomyan (b. 1956), Benjamin Dean Taylor (b. 1983), Bongani Ndodana-Breen (b. 1975), Tim Brady (b. 1956), Rageh Daoud (b. 1954), Aaron Jay Kernis (b. 1960), Timo Andres (b. 1985), Adolphus Hailstork (b. 1941), Guy Ropartz (b. 1864), Abu-Bakr Khairat (b. 1910), Calixa Lavallée (b. 1842), Grażyna Bacewicz (b. 1909), Victor Herbert (b. 1859), Mohamed Abdelwahab Abdelfattah (b. 1962), Tôn-Thất Tiết (b. 1933), David Chesky (b. 1956), Vasily Kalinnikov (b. 1866), Nguyen Van Quy (b. 1925), Alberic Magnard (b. 1865), Franz Schmidt (b. 1874), Michio Miyagi (b. 1894), Gabriela Ortiz (b. 1964), Ahmet Adnan Saygun (b. 1907), Ottorino Respighi (b. 1879), Vladimir Rebikov (b. 1866), Alexander von Zemlinsky (b. 1871), Hans Rott (b. 1858), Josef Suk (b. 1874), Anton Arensky (b. 1861), Amy Beach (b. 1867), Zdenek Fibich (b. 1850), Ernest Chausson (b. 1855), Richard Danielpour (b. 1956), Paul Mealor (b. 1975), Eriks Esenvalds (b. 1977), Tansy Davies (b. 1973), Luigi Cherubini (b. 1760), George Enescu (b. 1881), Franz Berwald (b. 1796), Thomas Schmidt-Kowalski (b. 1949), Emmanuel Chabrier (b. 1841), Hugo Wolf (b. 1860), Ernest Bloch (b. 1880), Anton Rubinstein (b. 1829), Alexander Arutiunian (b. 1920), Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (b. 1895), Arnold Bax (b. 1883), Dobrinka Tabakova (b. 1980), Brett Dean (b. 1961), Richard Rodney Bennett (b. 1936), Frank Ticheli (b. 1958), Qigang Chen (b. 1951), James M. Stephenson (b. 1969), Otto M. Schwarz (b. 1967), Philip Sparke (b. 1951).

Rediscovered or revisited, and really liked:

  • Hans Zimmer [playlist]: The Power of One (1992), “You’re So Cool” (1993), The Lion King (1994), The Gladiator (2000), “Leave No Man Behind” (2001), “Woad to Ruin” & “Hold the Ice” (2004), “Molossus” (2005), “The Dark Knight” (2008), “It’s So Over It’s Covert” & “Romanian Wind” & “Two Mules for Sister Sara” & “The End?” & “End Credits” (2011), “What Are You Going to Do When You Are Not Saving the World?” (2013), “Tick-Tock” (2014), Blue Planet II (2017), The World of Hans Zimmer: A Symphonic Celebration (2019), “Rust” & “Themyscira” & “Games” & “1984” & “The Beauty in What Is” (2020), “Dragon Age: The Veilguard Main Theme” (2024)
    • With these new and old listens, Zimmer has now crossed the 5-hour mark as one of my favorite musical artists!
  • Son Lux / Ryan Lott: [playlist]: At War With Walls and Mazes (2008), We Are Rising (2011), Lanterns (2013), “You Don’t Know Me” (2015), “Part of This” & “Remedy” (2017), “Dream State” & “The Fool You Need” (2018), “Possibility Bells” (2019), “Thunderbolts” (2025)
  • Timbre Timbre: “Black Water” (2011)
  • Jeremiah Clarke: “Trumpet Voluntary” (c. 1700)
  • Luigi Denza: “Funiculì, Funiculà” (1890)
  • James Last: “The Lonely Shepherd” (1977)
  • John Metcalfe: “The Appearance of Colour” (2015), Tree (2023)
  • Duke Ellington: New World A’Coming (1943), Harlem (1950), “The Handsome Traffic Policeman” (1960), The Golden Broom and the Green Apple (1965)
  • Remo Giazotto: “Adagio in G minor” (1949)
  • Robert Wyatt: “The Duchess” & “September the Ninth” & “Alien” & “Out of Season” (1997)
  • Dave Holland: “Metamorphos” (1998), “The Sum of All Parts” & “Double Vision” (2008)
  • Vijay Iyer: Tirtha (2011), Accelerando (2012)
  • Hania Rani: “Hawaii Oslo” (2019)
  • Grandbrothers: “Naive Rider” & “Arctica” (2015), “Bloodflow” (2017)
  • Zack Hemsey: “Mind Heist” (2010)

I also listened to a significant portion of the recorded works by each of the (not new-to-me) composers listed below.3 My favorites pieces from them (names linked to playlists) were:

  • Steve Martland (b. 1954): Dance Works (1993), Beat the Retreat (1995), “Kick” (1996)
  • Samuel Barber (b. 1910): String Quartet mvt. 2 / “Adagio for Strings” / “Agnus Dei” (1936 / 1967)
  • Henryk Górecki (b. 1933): Three Pieces in Olden Style No. 2 (1963), Symphony No. 3 (1976)
  • Leroy Anderson (b. 1908): “Jazz Legato” (1938), “Chicken Reel” (1946), “The Irish Washerwoman” (1947), “Sleigh Ride” (1948), “The Typewriter” (1950), “Melody on 2 Notes” (1965)
  • Paul Dukas (b. 1865): The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (1897)
  • Evan Ziporyn (b. 1959): “Angkat” (2001), Frog’s Eye (2002), Big Grenadilla (2006), Mumbai (2011)
  • Kevin Puts (b. 1972): Network (1997), Marimba Concerto mvt. 3 (1997), Millennium Canons (2001), Symphony No. 2 (2002), Inspiring Beethoven (2002), Flute Concerto (2013), Contact (2022)
  • Christopher Rouse (b. 1949): “The Nevill Feast” (2003)
  • Johnny Greenwood (b. 1971): “Moon Trills” & “Splitter” & “24 Hour Charleston” & “Milky Drops from Heaven” & “Tehellet” (2003), “Future Markets” (2007), “Arrival” (2021)
  • James Horner (b. 1953): “Following Kirwill” & “Krull Main Theme” & “Ride of the Firemanes” & “Epilogue and End Title” (1983), “Returning to the Sea” (1985), The Land Before Time (1988), “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids Main Title” (1989), “All Systems Go / The Launch” & “End Titles” (1995), “A Kaleidoscope of Mathematics” (2001), “Becoming one of The People…” & “Climbing up Iknimaya…” (2009), “Avatar Suite” (2013), Pas de Deux mvt 3 (2014)
  • Wojciech Kilar (b. 1932): Exodus (1981), Angelus (1984), Requiem Father Kolbe (1994), Piano Concerto No. 1 mvt. 3 (1996) Missa Pro Pace mvts. 2 & 3 (2000)
  • Craig Armstrong (b. 1959): “Hanging” & “Escape” (1999), “Opening” & “End Credits” (2015)
  • Carl Nielsen (b. 1865): Symphony No. 1 mvt. 1 (1894), Aladdin Suite mvts. 1 & 7 (1940)
  • Aram Khachaturian (b. 1903): Masquerade Suite mvts. 1 & 3 (1941), “Sabre Dance” (1941), “Dance of the Pirates” & “The Market” & “Dance of a Greek Slave” (1955)
  • Nikolai Kapustin (b. 1937): Piano Concerto No. 1 (1961), “Variations for Piano and Big Band” (1962), “Rose-Marie” (1963), “Toccata for piano and orchestra” (1964), Piano Concerto No. 2 (1974), “March for orchestra” (1975), Concert Rhapsody for piano and orchestra (1976), “Variations for Piano” (1984), Piano Concerto No. 3 (1985), Concerto for alto saxophone and orchestra (1987), Piano Concerto No. 4 (1989), Chamber Symphony mvts. 1 & 3 (1990), Piano Concerto No. 5 (1993), Piano Concerto No. 6 mvts. 1 & 3 (1993), “Piece for sextet” (1995), Duet for alto saxophone and cello (1999), Concerto for 2 Pianos and Percussion (2002), Divertissement in Four Movements mvt. 4 (2005)
  • Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (b. 1875): “Bohemian Waltz” (1899)
  • Howard Hanson (b. 1896): “Prelude to Act II & Maypole Dances” (1938)
  • Robert W. Smith (b. 1958): “The Tempest” (1995), Inchon (2001), Symphony No. 3 “Don Quixote” (2008)
  • Michael Daugherty (b. 1954): “Flamingo” (1991), “Route 66” (1998), Sunset Strip mvt 3 (1999), Ghost Ranch (2005), Brooklyn Bridge mvt 1 (2005), Troyjam mvt 3 (2008), Gee’s Bend mvts 1, 3, 4 (2009), Mount Rushmore mvt 3 (2010), Radio City mvt 1 (2011), Lost Vegas (2012), Vulcan mvts 1, 3 (2014), Rio Grande (2015), Night Owl mvt 3 (2018), To the New World mvt 3 (2019), Blue Electra (2022), Valley of the Moon (2022), Passacaglia in Primary Colors (2023)
  • Henry Purcell (b. 1659): “Fantazia Upon a Ground [Z. 731] (1678), “When I am Laid in Earth” (“Dido’s Lament”) (1689), Abdelazer mvts 2, 6 (1695), “Funeral March 1” (1695)
  • Manuel de Falla (b. 1876): “Danza del fuego fatuo” (1915), “Danza de la molinera” (1917)
  • Gabriel Fauré (b. 1845): Cantique de Jean Racine (1865), Piano Quartet No. 1 mvts 1, 2, 4 (1879), Ballade for piano and orchestra in F♯ major (1881), Piano Quartet No. 2 mvts 1, 2, 4 (1887), “Pavane” (1887), Dolly Suite (1897), “Sicilienne” (1898), “Fileuse” (1900)
  • Johann Pachelbel (b. 1653): “Canon & Gigue in D” (c. 1690)
  • Heitor Villa-Lobos (b. 1887): “Etude No. 1” (1929), Fantasia for saxophone, three horns, and strings mvts 1, 3 (1948)
  • Fazil Say (1970): “Alla Turca Jazz” (1993), “Nazim” & “Kumru” (2002), “Religious Order” (2009), “Fur Elise Jazz” (2009), “Tigris River” & “About the Culture of Death” (2011), İlk Şarkılar (2013)
  • Miklós Rózsa (b. 1907): Theme, Variations, and Finale mvts 2, 3 (1933)
  • Johann Strauss II (b. 1825): “Tritsch-Tratsch-Polka” (1858), “The Blue Danube” (1867), “Voices of Spring” (1882)
  • Ola Gjeilo (b. 1978): “Dark Night of the Soul” (2010), “Luminous Night of the Soul” (2011), Dreamweaver mvt 3 (2017)
  • Zbigniew Preisner (b. 1955): “Lacrimosa” & “Meeting” & “Lacrimosa, Day of Tears” (1998)
  • Gunther Schuller (b. 1925): Concertino for Jazz Quartet and Orchestra (1959)
  • Jacques Loussier (b. 1934): Concerto for Violin and Percussion (1988), Lumières mvts 3, 5, 6 (1990), “Tableaux Vénitiens” (1992), Piano Concerto “Playades” (1993), Violin Concerto No. 2 mvts 1, 3 (2001)
  • Lalo Schifrin (b. 1932): Gillespiana (1960), Mission Impossible theme (1966)
  • Thomas Newman (b. 1955): “Shawshank Prison / Stoic Theme” (1994), “Orchard House” (1995), “Still Dead” (1999), “Angels in America” & “Acolyte of the Flux” (2003), “Flying Fish” (2009)
  • Nino Rota (b. 1911): Concerto Soirée mvt 5 (1961), 8½ Suite mvts 4, 5 (1963), La Strada Suite mvts 1, 2 (1966), “Romeo and Juliet Love Theme (1968), “The Godfather Love Theme” (1972), Amarcord Suite (1974)
  • Wynton Marsalis (b. 1961): “Bullet Train” (1999), Swing Symphony mvts 3, 4 (2019)
  • Dave Brubeck (b. 1920): Time Out (1959), “Points on Jazz Waltz” (1961), “Elementals” (1963), “Tritonis” (1978)
  • David Lang (b. 1957): Cheating, Lying, Stealing (1993), The Passing Measures (1998), The Carbon Copy Building scenes 6-8, 12 (1999), “Sweet Air” (1999), “Involuntary” (2011)
  • Michael Kamen (b. 1948): Saxophone Concerto (1989), “Mr. Holland Begins” & “An American Symphony” (1995), Guitar Concerto (1998), The New Moon in the Old Moon’s Arms mvts 2-4 (2001)
  • Joe Hisaishi (b. 1950): “Kiki’s Delivery Service” (1989), “Madness” & “The Wind of Ages” & “Mamma Aiuto” & “A Picture in Sepia” (1992), “DA MA SHI E” (1996), “Cinema Nostalgia” (1998), “Summer” (1999), “One Summer Day” & “The Dragon Boy” & “Procession of the Spirits” & “Reprise” (2001), “Merry-Go-Round of Life” (2004), “Links” (2007), “Orbis” (2007), “794BDH” & “TIRA-RIN” (2000), Sinfonia for Chamber Orchestra (2009), MKWAJU 1981-2009 (2009), Symphonic Poem Nausicaa (2015), “Dream More” (2015), TRI-AD (2016), Symphonic Suite “Castle in the Sky” (2017), Asian Symphony (2017), Spirited Away Suite (2018), World Dreams (2019), Woman (2019), Symphonic Suite “Kiki’s Delivery Service” (2019), The Border Concerto mvt 1 (2020), 2 Pieces for Strange Ensemble (2020), “Variation 14 for MFB” (2020), Asian Works (2020), “How do you dance?” (2021), Viola Saga (2023)
    • With these new and old listens, Hisaishi has now crossed the 5-hour mark as one of my favorite musical artists! [playlist]
  • Osvaldo Golijov (b. 1960): “Gallop” (1992), The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind mvt 1 (1994), Air to Air mvt 4 (2006), Azul mvt 4 (2006), “Sidereus” (2010)
  • Carl Orff (b. 1895): Carmina Burana mvts 1, 2, 25 (1937)
  • Zhao Jiping (b. 1945): Violin Concerto No. 1 (2017), “Plateau Dance” (2019)
  • Niccolo Paganini (b. 1782): Sonata for Violin & Guitar Op. 2 No. 6 mvt 2 (1809), Violin Concerto No. 1 (1816), Violin Concerto No. 2 mvt 3 (1826), Violin Concerto No. 4 mvt 3 (1830)
  • Claude Bolling (b. 1930): “March Turque (Rondo Alla Turca)” (1965), Picnic Suite mvt 5 (1980), Toot Suite mvt 4 (1981)
  • Joaquín Rodrigo (b. 1901): Concierto de Aranjuez (1939), Concierto heroico (1943), Concierto de estío mvt 3 (1944), Fantasía para un gentilhombre mvts 2, 3 (1954), Pavana Real “Escene de Cetreria” & “Danza Final” (1955), Concierto madrigal mvts 2, 5, 7, 10 (1966), Concierto Andaluz (1967), Concierto como un divertimento mvt 1 (1981)
  • John Adams (b. 1947): “Christian Zeal and Activity” (1973), Shaker Loops mvt 1 (1978), Common Tones in Simple Time (1979), Harmonium mvts 1, 3 (1980), Grand Pianola Music (1982), Harmonielehre (1985), “The Chairman Dances” (1985), “Tromba Lontana” (1986), “Short Ride in a Fast Machine” (1986), Nixon in China “Landing of the Spirit of ’76” & “Oh What a Day I Thought I’d Die!” & “Act III Beginning” (1987), Fearful Symmetries (1988), El Dorado mvt 2 (1991), Naive and Sentimental Music mvts 1, 3 (1998), The Dharma at Big Sur mvt 2 (2003), Absolute Jest (2012), Must the Devil Have All the Good Tunes? mvt 3 (2018), “I Still Dance” (2019)
    • With these new and old listens, Adams has now crossed the 5-hour mark as one of my favorite musical artists! [playlist]
  • Mason Bates (b. 1977): Omnivorous Furniture (2004), Rusty Air in Carolina (2006), Liquid Interface (2007), The B-Sides (2009), Desert Transport (2010), Sea-Blue Circuitry (2010), “Mothership” (2011), “Attack Decay Sustain Release” (2013), Cello Concerto mvt 3 (2014), “Devil’s Radio” (2014), Anthology of Fantastic Zoology mvt 11 (2015), “Soundcheck in C Major” (2021), “Bootlegger’s Break” (2022), Piano Concerto (2022), Philharmonia Fantastique (2022)
    • For Philharmonia Fantastique, be sure to watch the music video, which is probably the new best musical (wordless) introduction to the orchestra!
  • John Mayer (b. 1930): “Nine for Bacon” (1965), Indo-Jazz Suite (1965), Indo-Jazz Fusions I & II (1967), Etudes (1969), “Raga Malika” (1970), Dhammapada (1976), Violin Concerto No. 2 mvt 5 (1978), Asian Airs (1996), Ragatal (1998), Inja (2000), Shiva Nataraj, King of Dance (2001)
    • With these new and old listens, Mayer has now crossed the 5-hour mark as one of my favorite musical artists! [playlist]
  • Georges Bizet (b. 1838): Carmen Suite No. 1 (1882), Carmen Suite No. 2 (1887)
  • Steve Reich (b. 1936): Music for 18 Musicians (1976), Music for a Large Ensemble (1978), Octet (1979), Variations for Winds, Strings and Keyboards (1979), The Desert Music mvts 1, 5 (1983), Electric Counterpoint mvt 3 (1987), The Four Sections mvt 4 (1987), “Duet” (1993), Proverb (1995), You Are mvts 1, 2, 4 (2004), Music for Ensemble and Orchestra mvts 1, 5 (2018)
  • Darius Milhaud (b. 1892): The Ox on the Roof (1920), Scaramouche (1937)
  • Terry Riley (b. 1935): In C (1964)
  • Michael Torke (b. 1961): Iphigenia mvt 4 (2013), Sky mvt 1 (2018)
  • Arthur Sullivan (b. 1842): “I am the very model of a modern Major-General” (1879)
  • Philip Glass (b. 1937): some parts of Einstein on the Beach (1976), some parts of Dressed Like an Egg (1977), some parts of Another Look at Harmony Part 4 (1977), “Modern Love Waltz” (1978), some parts of Satyagraha (1979), Mad Rush (1979), Glassworks (1981), some parts of Koyaanisqatsi (1982), The Photographer “A Gentleman’s Honor” (1982), some parts of Akhnaten (1983), The Juniper Tree “Act Two Interlude” (1984), The Civil Wars, Rome Section “Prologue” & “Scene A” (1984), String Quartet No. 2 (1984), “The Olympian” (1984), String Quartet No. 3 (1985), Songs from Liquid Days (1985), some parts of A Descent into the Maelstrom (1985), Mishima (1985), In the Upper Room (1986), The Fall of the House of Usher “Act I Interlude” (1987), The Light (1987), Violin Concerto No. 1 (1987), 1000 Airplanes on the Roof “The Encounter” (1988), The Canyon (1988), Powaqqatsi (1988), Music from the Thin Blue Line (1988), “Wichita Vortex Sutra” (1988), Metamorphosis (1988), String Quartet No. 4 (1988), Itaipu mvts 1 & 3 (1989), The Voyage “Act I: Scene 2 Interlude” (1990), “Howl Part II” (1990), Passages “Meetings Along the Edge” (1990), White Raven Act 2, Scene 2 “Exploring Black Holes in the Sky (1991), Symphony No. 1 mvt 2 (1992), Anima Mundi “Living Waters” & “Perpetual Motion” (1992), Candyman “It Was Always You Helen” (1992), Aguas da Amazonia (1993), Symphony No. 2 mvt 3 (1994), “Now, So Long After That Time” (1994), Piano Etudes 1-3 & 6 (1994), Persephone mvts 3 & 4 (1994), Symphony No. 3 mvts 3 & 4 (1995), “Echorus” (1995), some parts of The Secret Agent (1996), Symphony No. 4 mvt 1 & 6 (1996), The Witches of Venice “A Happy Ending” (1997), Days and Nights in Rocinha (1997), Kundun “Escape to India” (1997), The Truman Show “Dreaming of Fiji” & “Truman Sleeps” & “Raising the Sail” (1998), Symphony No. 5 mvt 1 (1999), Piano Concerto No. 1 (2000), Concerto Fantasy for Two Timpanists and Orchestra mvts 1 & 3 (2000), Cello Concerto No. 1 (2001), some parts of Cello Concerto No. 2 (2002), some parts of Naqoyqatsi (2002), Harpsichord Concerto (2002), The Hours (2002), The Fog of War “100,000 People” & “Target Destruction” (2003), Orion “Australia” (2004), Piano Concerto No. 2 mvts 1 & 3 (2004), Night Stalker theme (2005), Life “Into the Air” & “Planet of Life” (2006), Four Movements for Two Pianos mvts 1 & 4 (2008), Sonata for Violin and Piano mvts 1 & 3 (2008), some parts of Double Concerto for Violin, Cello, and Orchestra (2010), Symphony No. 10 mvts 1 & 5 (2012), “Concert Overture 2012” (2012), Piano Etudes 11-12 & 17 (2004-2012), Jane “Perfect Life” (2017), Symphony No. 12 (2019)
    • With these new and old listens, Glass has surpassed Miles Davis as my favorite musical artist! Indeed, there are apparently 25.5 hours of music I “strongly like” from Philip Glass, and all my other favorite artists are at ≤14 hours each, so in that sense I like Philip Glass more than “twice as much” as any other musical artist!
  • Tan Dun (b. 1957): “2000 Today: A World Symphony for the Millennium” (1999), “Internet Symphony: Eroica” (2009)
  • Plus the following composers for which I didn’t “strongly like” any of their pieces I listened to: Alexander Scriabin (b. 1872), James MacMillan (b. 1959), Einojuhani Rautavaara (b. 1928), Max Reger (b. 1873), Clara Schumann (b. 1819), David del Tredici (b. 1937), Joan Tower (b. 1938), Alfred Schnittke (b. 1934), Don Davis (b. 1957), Rolf Liebermann (b. 1910), Conlon Nancarrow (b. 1912), Jennifer Higdon (b. 1962), Fela Sowande (b. 1905), Marc Mellits (b. 1966), Mark-Anthony Turnage (b. 1960), Heinrich Schutz (b. 1585), Francis Poulenc (b. 1899), John Corigliano (b. 1938), Paul Hindemith (b. 1895), William Walton (b. 1902), Morten Lauridsen (b. 1943), John Mackey (b. 1973).

Movies/TV

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

  • Alex Garland & Ray Mendoza: Warfare (2025)
  • Shawn Levy: Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)
  • Various: Flight of the Conchords, season 1 (2007) ★
  • Various: Flight of the Conchords, season 2 (2009) ★
  • Lenny Abrahamson & Hettie Macdonald: Normal People (2020)
  • Jessie Eisenberg: A Real Pain (2024)
  • Various: The Boys, season 4 (2024) ★
  • Paul Thomas Anderson: One Battle After Another (2025) ★

Games

All games I finished or decided to stop playing:

  • Balatro: Like Slay the Spire before it, an impeccably well-designed and addictive rougelike deck-builder.
  • ★ Donkey Kong Bananza: Is this my new favorite game of all time? I have played more ambitious games, more awe-inspiring games, and games with higher peaks, but I can’t remember another game that gave me such high average joy per minute played, across >10hrs. It’s basically the Mario Odyssey formula, but improved in several ways, and with the crucial addition of smashing. I agree with Skill Up that the crux for this game is that (1) smashing is very fun, and (2) DKB has the best smashing of all time.

Standup comedy

For some reason I wasn’t previously tracking the standup comedy I watched or listened to. Now I am.

  • Patton Oswalt: Feelin’ Kinda Patton (2004), ★Werewolves and Lollipops (2007), Finest Hour (2011), Tragedy Plus Comedy Equals Time (2014)
  • Louis C.K.: Shameless (2007), Chewed Up (2008), Live at the Beacon Theater (2011), Hilarious (2020)
  • Anthony Jeselnik: Caligula (2013)
  • Jimmy Carr: Stand Up (2006), Live (2006), Telling Jokes (2009), In Concert (2010), Making People Laugh (2010), Being Funny (2011), Laughing and Joking (2015), Funny Business (2025), His Dark Material (2025)
  • Jimmy O. Yang: ★Good Deal (2020)
  • Kelsey Cook: The Hustler (2023)
  • Nate Bergatze: The Tennessee Kid (2015)
  • Brian Regan: Live (1997)
  • Tom Segura: Mostly Stories (2017)
  • Mike Birbiglia: Sleepwalk with Me (2011)
  • Myq Kaplan: Vegan Mind Meld (2010)
  • Neal Brennan: 3 Mics (2018)
  • Doug Stanhope: Beer Hall Putsch (2013), No Place Like Home (2016), No Refunds (2019)
  • Sam Morill: I Got This (2020)
  • Chad Daniels: Footprints on the Moon (2017)

Books

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

  1. See also the original YouTube version here. [↩]
  2. The pieces I listened to for each composer were: Henryson, Bjarnason, Balter, McAllister, Gosfield, Leshnoff, Fibich, Taneyev, Beach, Chausson, Danielpour, Omiccioli, Schoenberg, Anassian, Moszkowski, Humperdinck, Alfven, Sinding, Zemlinsky, Rott, Suk, Arensky, Liebermann, Stanford, Beal (plus many of his film scores and several of his jazz albums), Respighi, Rebikov, Glière, Ortiz, Saygun, Jandali, Miyagi, Gulda, Schmidt, Reznicek, Magnard, Yusupov, Pejačević, Abdelfattah, Tiết, Chesky, Kalinnikov, Nguyen, Smith, Bacewicz, Herbert, Medtner, Gretchaninov, Ropartz, Khairat, Lavallée, Suesse, Márquez, Águila, Daoud, Kernis, Andres, Hailstork, Bazzini, Ndodana-Breen, Brady, Richards, Taylor, Gunning (plus a few of his film/TV scores), Satyan, Rostomyan, Arakelian, Sharafyan, Dorman, Budashkin, Kuan, Peng, Busoni, Reinecke, Guo, Huang, Greenstein, Lindberg, Price, Ince, Perry, Paderewski, Connesson, Lyapunov, Delibes, Baker, Russo, Fox, Schulhoff, Lambert, Mascagni, Little, Randall-Myers, Sparr, Marianelli (plus many of his film scores), Davis, Carpenter, Grofe, Dukelsky, Hawes, Mealor, Esenvalds, Gregson, Davies, Cherubini, Enescu, Berwald, Schmidt-Kowalski, Chabrier, Wolf, Bloch, Rubinstein, Korsrud, Arutiunian, Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Bax, Tabakova, Dean, Sucharitkul, Fairouz, Bennett (plus several of his film/TV scores and a few of his jazz tunes), Boyer, Sierra, Ticheli, Meij, Haan, Schwarz, Sparke, Stephenson, Zhou, Chen, TODO. [↩]
  3. The pieces I listened to for each composer were: Martland, Scriabin, Barber, Gorecki, Anderson, MacMillan, Dukas, Ziporyn, Rautavaara, Puts, Reger, Rouse, Greenwood (plus many of his film scores), Horner (plus many of his film scores), Kilar (plus several of his film scores), Armstrong (plus many of his film scores), Nielsen, Khachaturian, Kapustin, Coleridge-Taylor, Hanson, Smith, Daugherty, Purcell, de Falla, Fauré, Pachelbel, Schumann, Villa-Lobos, Say, Rozsa (plus many of his film scores), Tredici, Strauss II, Tower, Schnittke, Davis (plus several of his film scores), Gjeilo, Liebermann, Preisner (plus several of his film scores), Schuller, Loussier (plus a few of his film/TV scores), Schifrin (plus several of his film/TV scores), Newman (plus many of his film scores), Nancarrow, Rota (plus many of his film scores), Marsalis, Brubeck (plus several of his jazz albums), Lang, Higdon, Kamen (plus several of his film/TV scores), Hisaishi (plus many of his film and videogame scores), Golijov, Orff, Zhao (plus several of his film scores), Paganini, Bolling (plus a few of his film scores), Rodrigo, Adams, Bates, Mayer, Sowande, Bizet, Mellits, Reich, Turnage, Schutz, Poulenc, Milhaud, Corigliano (plus a few of his film scores), Hindemith, Riley, Walton, Torke, Lauridsen, Sullivan, Glass, Mackey, Tan (plus a few of his film scores), TODO. [↩]