O Fortuna // Tuesday for the Muse

This week I got my Galaxy Player 4.0, which, aside from its many other wonderful features, automatically creates a playlist of your most-played songs.  Right now the song in second place (behind Peponi, which I posted about last week) is, yes, another song from The Piano Guys.  This poem is centuries old and was set to music in the 1930's by the German composer Carl Orff.  While the original version is pretty epic by itself...


...what The Piano Guys did to the song was just too amazing.  
For me, race cars don't really do the song justice, so I recommend you play the video, close your eyes, and let the music suggest its own theme.  
Lately I've had characters on my mind (both mine and other people's) that are centuries old, and whenever I play this song I see an immortal character wandering through ages, seeing the rise and fall of empires and religions, hope and love and so, so much loss.  Such a character would have more reasons than most to complain against fate, as did the writer of O Fortuna so many centuries ago.  
(And yes, it's almost Wednesday.  I know.  Sometimes surprise visits from delightful relatives happen, and blogging just has to wait.)

Peponi // Tuesday for the Muse

Today, I'm going to tell you something a little different: don't watch the video.  I mean yes, you can watch it, but I recommend that the first time through you just let it play with the window minimized.  When I tried to show this video to my sister, she wasn't able to really appreciate the music on the first go-round because of the 'weird dancing.'




This is, of course, The Piano Guys' cover of Coldplay's hit song Paradise.  Due to the somewhat eclectic circles I run in, I generally don't get much exposure to whatever music is currently popular.  I came across the song because I watched this awesome Doctor Who fanvid (warning for general spoilers for Series 5 and 6):


The song's been on my Spotify playlist ever since, but I haven't gotten around to actually buying it.  However, I can't get over the gorgeous instrumental arrangement in the Peponi version.  Every time I try to listen to it while doing something else, I inevitably stop in my tracks so that I can fully absorb it.  I feel like Peponi taps into a little more of the passion in the song, and because the words are in a language I can't understand, it's perfect music for writing.  
Speaking of writing music, I've been on a complete Piano Guys binge this week.  Their music is gorgeous (and will probably reappear in Tuesday for the Muse sometime soon).  If you're looking for instrumental music with great energy and emotion, I urge you to check them out.  

Amy in the TARDIS // Tuesday for the Muse

Now that I'm more than halfway through Doctor Who Series 5, I felt I could start listening to the first half of the soundtrack.  (I generally don't like to listen to music for episodes I haven't seen.  Somehow it feels like spoiler-hunting.)  This is my favorite song from the soundtrack so far, and I've been listening to it over and over again the past several days.  It plays during the scene where Amy first enters the TARDIS, and it conveys a strong sense of magic, of a long-held wish finally being fulfilled, a childhood dream gently becoming reality.  All of those are themes that resonate with me, which I think is why I like this song so much.  This track actually caught my attention while I was watching the episode, which in my world is a testament to how good it is.    Most Doctor Who music isn't written specifically to be lovely, but this piece is just lovely anyway.  
Now, to hunt around for a dollar so I can download it from Amazon...

Kingdom Dance // Tuesday for the Muse

Inspired by my friend Katie and her lovely fashion blog Beautifully Pure, I've decided to start a weekly music feature, focusing primarily on songs that inspire me (but also including songs that I just plain love).

This week, I chose a song that I've loved for a long time but only just downloaded last week.  It's the music from the Tangled soundtrack (by the brilliant Alan Menken) that plays during the dancing scene.  I fell in love with this song the first time I watched the movie, even before the scene was over.  Dancing (and songs that make me feel like dancing) have always had a special place in my heart, and this song perfectly captures the energy of a dance while retaining a sweet innocence that we in the modern era have forgotten with our dancing.  I personally believe old-fashioned community dances should make a comeback.  What do you think?

Pendulum Waves Video

Basically, I did steal this from Nathan Bransford.  But how could I not?

Whoever came up with this ought to get a medal. 

Star Trek meets Monty Python

We interrupt our regular content for this blatantly geeky silliness. 

Stolen from med_cat on LJ.  :)