Luke Muehlhauser

Media diet for Q4 2023

by

Music

Music I most enjoyed discovering this quarter:

Rediscovered or revisited, and really liked:1

  • Camille Saint-Saens: Symphony in A Major (1850), Piano Concerto No. 1 (1858), Violin Concerto No. 2 mvts 1 & 3 (1858), Introduction and Rondo capriccioso (1863), Piano Concerto No. 2 (1868), Piano Concerto No. 3 (1869), The Yellow Princess Overture (arr. for piano) (1872), Cello Sonata No. 1 (1872), Danse Macabre (1874), Piano Concerto No. 4 (1875), “Bacchanale” (1877), Septet [Opus 65] (1880), “Aquarium” and “The Swan” (1886), Symphony No. 3 “Organ” (1886), “Africa” (1891), Javotte (1896), Cello Concerto No. 2 mvt 2 (1902) [playlist]
  • Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 4 (1900) [playlist]
  • Richard Wagner: “Polonia overture” (1836), “Rule Britannia overture” (1837), Tannhauser overture (1845), Lohengrin Prelude to Act 1 (1850), Das Rheingold Scene 1 Vorspiel (1869), “Ride of the Valkyries [instrumental version]” (1870) [playlist]
  • Franz Schubert: “Erlkönig” (1815), The Trout Quintet mvt 3 (1819), Symphony No. 8 [D.759] mvt 1 (1822), Fierrabras overture (1823), String Quartet No. 13 mvt 1 (1824), String Quartet No. 14 (1824), “Der Zwerg” (c. 1825), “Ellens dritter Gesang [Ave Maria]” (1825), Symphony No. 9 [D.944] (1826), Fantasy in C [D.934] (1827), Four Impromptus [D.899] No. 3 (1827) [playlist]
  • Maurice Ravel: Bolero (1928) [playlist]
  • Claudio Monteverdi: L’Orfeo Prologue Toccata (1607), “Lamento della Ninfa” (1638) [playlist]
  • Benjamin Britten: String Quartet in F Major mvt 4 (1928), Simple Symphony (1934), The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra “Theme” (1945), “Lord Jesus Think on Me” (1958) [playlist]
  • Jean Sibelius: “Karelia overture” (1893), Karelia Suite (1893), “Finlandia” (1900), Symphony No. 2 (1902), “Valse triste” (1904), Violin Concerto mvt 3 (1905), “Night Ride and Sunrise” (1908), “In memoriam” (1910), 6 Humoresques (1918), Symphony No. 5 (1919), 3 Pieces [Opus 96] (1920), Symphony No. 7 (1925) [playlist]
  • Bela Bartok: Sonata mvt 3 (1903), Kossuth (1903), Scherzo Burlesque for Piano and Orchestra (1904), Romanian Folk Dances for Orchestra [BB 76] (1917) [playlist]
  • George Frideric Handel: Water Music, Suite 2 mvt 2 (1717), “The Harmonious Blacksmith” (1720), “Zadok the Priest” (1727), “Hallelujah” (1741), “The Arrival of the Queen of Shiba” (1748), Music for the Royal Fireworks (1749) [playlist]
  • Jean-Philippe Rameau: “Danse des sauvages” (1734) [playlist]
  • Joseph Haydn: Symphony No. 82 mvt 4 (1786), Symphony No. 86 mvt 4 (1786), Symphony No. 87 mvt 1 (1786) [playlist]
  • Frédéric Chopin: Variations on Là ci darem la mano (1827), “Waltz No. 16 [B.21] (1827), “Rondo à la Krakowiak” (1828), “Introduction and Polonaise brillante” (1829), Piano Concerto No. 2 mvt 3 (1829), Etudes [Opus 10] (1833), 24 Preludes [Opus 28], Nos. 3 & 4 & 15 (1839) [playlist]
  • Dmitri Shostakovich: “Scherzo for Orchestra” (1919), Hamlet Suite (1932), Cello Sonata in D Minor mvt 4 (1934), Jazz Suite No. 1 (1934), “Viborg District” (1939), Suite on Finnish Themes (1939), Piano Quintet mvt 1 (1940), Symphony No. 8 mvt 3 (1943), “Pirogov” [Opus 76a] (1947), Symphony No. 10 mvt 2 (1953), Piano Concerto No. 2 mvt 2 (1957), Suite for Variety Orchestra No. 12 (c. 1958), String Quartet No. 8 mvt 2 (1960)3 [playlist]
  • Aaron Copland: Rodeo (1942), “Fanfare for the Common Man” (1942), Music for Movies (1942), “Danzon Cubano” (1942), Appalachian Spring (1944), “Letter from Home” (1944), The Red Pony Suite (1948), “Simple Gifts” (1950), “Variations on a Shaker Melody” (1956) [playlist]
  • George Gershwin: “Swanee” (1919), Rhapsody in Blue (1924), An American in Paris (1928), “I Got Rhythm” (1930), “Cuban Overture” (1932) [playlist]
  • Xploding Plastix, Amateur Girlfriends Go Proskirt Agents (2002)
  • Mew: Frengers (2003)
  • Secret Machines: Now Here Is Nowhere (2004)
  • Terry S. Taylor: Neverhood Songs (1996)
  • Bryce Dessner: “Aheym” (2009)
  • Ingram Marshall: Kingdom Come (2001)
  • David Borden: “Easter” (1973), “Esty Point, Summer 1978” (1981), The Continuing Story of Counterpoint, Parts 1-12 (1987), “Double Portrait” (1987), “Fireflies” (1993)
  • Dan Plonsey: Moving About, Humming, Still Our Flowers are Blooming Under the Old Portcullis (2001)
  • Ennio Morricone: Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)

This quarter, I listened through “complete works” playlists for Saint-Saens, Mahler, Wagner, Schubert, Ravel, Britten, Sibelius, Shostakovich, Copland, and Gershwin, and “highlights” playlists for Monteverdi, Handel (1, 2), Rameau, and Haydn (1, 2). Overall, my experience was similar to last time. A few minor notes:

  • Chopin is perhaps the most consistently enjoyable composer I’ve encountered so far, though again I only liked a few of his compositions strongly enough to list above.
  • Apparently Saint-Saens is one of my favorite classical composers. Who knew?
  • I was surprised and disappointed by how few pieces I liked by Ravel, Mahler, and Haydn.

I also made a Spotify playlist for Other Classical Musics.

Movies/TV

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

  • Dack, Palm Trees and Power Lines (2022) ★
  • Various, Patriot, season 1 (2015)
  • Various, Colin from Accounts (2022)
  • Various, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, season 1 (2005)
  • Tafdrup, Speak No Evil (2022)
  • Wells, Aftersun (2022) ★
  • Fincher, The Killer (2023)
  • McElhenney & Atlas, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, season 2 (2006) ★
  • Hazlewood, Tones Drones and Arpeggios The Magic of Minimalism (2018)
  • Wigon, Sanctuary (2022)
  • de Araujo, Soft & Quiet (2022)
  • Triet, Anatomy of a Fall (2023) ★
  • Nolan, Oppenheimer (2023) ★
  • Bathurst & Harper, Peaky Blinders, season 1 (2013)
  • Song, Past Lives (2023)
  • Haynes, May December (2023) ★
  • Various, Scavengers Reign (2023) ★
  • Olson, Love Has Won: The Cult of Mother God (2023) ★
  • Vigalondo, Timecrimes (2007)
  • Scorcese, Killers of the Flower Moon (2023) ★
  • Oldroyd, Eileen (2023)
  • Lanthimos, Poor Things (2023) ★
  • Metzstein, Slow Horses, season 3 (2023) ★

Games

All games I played a significant amount:

  • [none]

Books

  • Lewis, Going Infinite. Seems more sympathetic to SBF than I am (including when I read it, before the trial).
  • Sager, The Only One Left. Another fun murder mystery. The number of plot twists in the third act is a bit dizzying.
  • Rowling, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. Since I only consume fiction via audiobook, and mostly listen to audiobooks when I’m doing other things or failing to fall asleep, I’m looking for fiction that’s simple and easy to follow with limited or regularly interrupted attention, and I figured perhaps young adult fiction fits the bill. So, I decided to start with the most culturally impactful series I know, and the one that many of my friends and colleagues regularly refer to in everyday speech. Overall, this was a fun read, if a bit silly at times. I’m told the series gets better in later books, so I’ll probably stick to it.
  • ★ Weir, Project Hail Mary. Wow! By some sets of aesthetic criteria (which focus on enjoyability and coherence rather than avantgarde artistic innovation), this might be the best novel I’ve read yet. (Though it’s hard to know, since I don’t remember the books I read as a child very well. But e.g. even Lord of the Rings and other classics had significant plot holes and boring parts and so on.) Every chapter is thrilling, moves the plot forward, is emotionally impactful, etc. There is a ton of great science, either real or fictional but sorta plausible. It avoids being dumb in a lot of ways that fiction is often dumb, for example the conflict doesn’t come from the characters being incredibly stupid. Also, it’s great to see what it would look like for humanity to come together and act intelligently toward addressing an existential threat; unfortunately we live in a Don’t Look Up universe instead. The ending is satisfying, and the core relationship between the scientist Grace and [spoiler] is perfect. If you know of other novels that have the same strengths as Project Hail Mary, please tell me!
  • Weir, The Martian. Similar to Project Hail Mary but lower-stakes and less interesting (no alien life etc.). Similarly meticulous about scientific problem-solving, and engaging from start to finish. The book was better than the movie; constantly working through scientific logic doesn’t really make sense to do in movie form, I think.
  1. I think I hadn’t heard some of the classical pieces before, but I’m not sure which ones. [↩]
  2. Yes, I know this is arguably better attributed to Levon Atovmyan. [↩]
  3. I also like the version of this in Shostakovich’s Chamber Symphony (Opus 110a). [↩]