Mia & Sebastian’s Theme – La La Land (2016) – Justin Hurwitz

Posted on June 29, 2023 by observationblogger — 8 Comments

This look by actress Emma Stone and this song combined is one of the most impactful and romantic scenes I’ve seen in cinema. Well, there are actually three of those scenes in the movie. How is that? I’ll lay it out below. And those familiar with the film will know where I’m going. This short theme plays a lot in the film; more than three times and it’s never dull.

I just see her ‘look’. You can’t teach that. In terms of romantic chemistry between lead actors (Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone) La La Land is on par with Remains of the Day (Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson). I’ve never seen their equal.

The composer of the music Justin Hurwitz was a friend of director Damien’s Chazelle at Harvard University. Damien won best director for La La Land at 32 years old, making him the youngest to win the award. It’s Damien’s Chazelle’s ‘Citizen Kane’. It was his passion project which he was able to make after Whiplash became such a big success. You can find a lot more information about La La Land in my previous three posts of the movie. Ok, here goes…. Musicals are not my go-to genre in movies and I wasn’t expecting much from the movie when I saw the trailer.

Remember the trailer? She watches him with that look in the same place (parallel universe), but they kiss just after he is fired. Anyone who had watched the trailer and walked into the movie thought they knew what was going to happen after she had entered for the first time. It’s brilliant how they concocted it to deceive the audience’s expectations upon first viewing. I’ve never seen that done before and it worked a charm. So, he brushes her off as seen below and as a movie-goer we are left thinking…wait…what!!!! That’s not what I saw.

Now for the three scenes with the same look by Emma Stone and this music:
The first is when she first hears the theme music and walks into the bar and he shrugs her off. The next is the parallel universe scene as presented in the epilogue and trailer which I wrote about in December, 2021. Then if that wasn’t enough, it’s presented again at the end of the film and each time her ‘look’ and this music is ‘movie magic’. I love this movie.

To quote artsy1987 in the YT comments below:

This movie is a masterpiece. Ive never seen a movie so aesthetic. If only there were more like this. You know, jazzy music, beautiful aesthetic colours, comfound cinematic movie capture. Its just, like a piece a diamond. This movie deserves more attention even after years of released.

Tagged with: Justin Hurwitz, La La Land, Mia & Sebastian’s Theme
Posted in Movies and TV, Music

Messiah (1741) – George Frideric Handel

Posted on June 29, 2023 by observationblogger — Leave a comment

The Messiah is the second composition from George Frideric Handel to feature here. The previous was the exquisite opening aria from his 1738 opera Serse also known as Ombra mai fu and Largo from Xerxes or Handel’s Largo. The Messiah premiered 3 years later in Dublin on 13 April 1742. I have presented below two of the most famous pieces from it, namely Hallelujah and The Pastoral Symphony. Most of the information contained in this article was sourced from the Wikipedia article below.

Messiah is an English-language oratorio. An oratorio is a large musical composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists. Like most operas, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias. However, opera is musical theatre, while oratorio is strictly a concert piece.

Handel’s reputation in England, where he had lived since 1712, had been established through his compositions of Italian opera. He turned to English oratorio in the 1730s in response to changes in public taste; Messiah was his sixth work in this genre. The text was compiled from the King James Bible and the Coverdale Psalter by Charles Jennens. Jennens’s text is an extended reflection on Jesus as the Messiah called Christ. The text begins in Part I with prophecies by Isaiah and others, and moves to the annunciation to the shepherds, the only “scene” taken from the Gospels. In Part II, Handel concentrates on the Passion of Jesus and ends with the Hallelujah chorus. In Part III he covers Paul’s teachings on the resurrection of the dead and Christ’s glorification in heaven.

The composer George Frideric Handel, born in Halle, Germany in 1685, took up permanent residence in London in 1712, and became a naturalised British subject in 1727. By 1741 his pre-eminence in British music was evident from the honours he had accumulated, including a pension from the court of King George II, the office of Composer of Musick for the Chapel Royal, and—most unusually for a living person—a statue erected in his honour in Vauxhall Gardens.

In July 1741 librettist Charles Jennens sent Handel a new libretto for an oratorio; in a letter dated 10 July to his friend Edward Holdsworth, Jennens wrote: “I hope [Handel] will lay out his whole Genius & Skill upon it, that the Composition may excel all his former Compositions, as the Subject excells every other subject. The Subject is Messiah“.
During the 1750s Messiah was performed increasingly at festivals and cathedrals throughout the country. Individual choruses and arias were occasionally extracted for use as anthems or motets in church services, or as concert pieces, a practice that grew in the 19th century and has continued ever since. After Handel’s death, performances were given in Florence (1768), New York (excerpts, 1770), Hamburg (1772), and Mannheim (1777), where Mozart first heard it.

References:
1. Messiah (Handel) – Wikipedia

Tagged with: George Frideric Handel, hallelujah, Messiah, Pastoral Symphony
Posted in Music

Memory (1981) – Elaine Paige & Betty Buckley’s rendition (Andrew Lloyd Webber)

Posted on June 28, 2023 by observationblogger — 13 Comments

I knew the hardest thing writing this post was deciding which version of Memory to feature at the end. Would I go with the version from Cats the Musical (image above), or another Elaine Page version at the Royal Albert Hall. I even considered The Three Tenors‘ version in Rome, 1990…. You know Plácido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti and the other guy. I decided to go with Elaine’s version (not Elaine from Seinfeld – ‘it’s really you‘) at the Royal Albert Hall. Perhaps you have another version you prefer, which I would love to hear.

I’m enamoured with the lyrics of Memory that Trevor Nunn wrote so I have pasted more than I usually do. Plus, I like to fill in white space with stuff and “The rest is just scribbling and bibbling“. If anyone can guess where that quote is from without referring to the link deserves my highest appreciation. I really mean that.
Andrew Lloyd Webber composed this show tune and for all you young folk out there did some pretty good stuff. He is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway.

[Verse 1]
Midnight, not a sound from the pavement
Has the moon lost her memory?
She is smiling alone
In the lamplight, the withered leaves collect at my feet
And the wind begins to moan

[Verse 2]
Memory, all alone in the moonlight
I can smile at the old days
I was beautiful then
I remember the time I knew what happiness was
Let the memory live again

[Bridge 1]
Every streetlamp seems to beat
A fatalistic warning
Someone mutters and the streetlamp gutters
And soon
It will be morning

[Verse 3]
Daylight
I must wait for the sunrise
I must think of a new life
And I mustn’t give in
When the dawn comes, tonight will be a memory too
And a new day will begin

I have never seen in entirety an Andrew Lloyd Webber production, but I was always a fan of this show piece. To quote Jim Carrey in Dumb and Dumber: ‘I like it a lot‘. Elaine Page is such a wonderful performer. Her rendition of Bette Midler’s The Rose always wow’d me and her expressions and manner of delivery are simply first class. If you want to hear someone raise the register of voice in an already difficult song to sing then hear Elaine’s version of The Rose.
Elaine Paige originated the role of Grizabella in the West End production of Cats and was thus the first to perform the song publicly on stage. Memory was named the Best Song Musically and Lyrically at the 1982 Ivor Novello Awards.

In 2020, Jessie Thompson of the Evening Standard wrote:
“Paige’s version set the standard and enabled Memory to become one of the most recognisable musical theatre songs of all time.“

If you want to see just what a class act Elaine Paige is then watch these videos:

Elaine Paige On Susan Boye. They eventually did sing together in I Know Him So Well.

Updated (12/10/23) – Jeff at Eclectic Music Lover wrote below in the comments:
I saw a touring production of ‘Cats’ in 1985 in Los Angeles and loved it. Looking back, I’m not quite as fond of the musical overall, however, I think “Memory” is one of the most beautiful and heartbreaking songs ever written. I cannot listen to it without tearing up, and the lyrics “I can smile at the old days, I was beautiful then. I remember the time I knew what happiness was. Let the memory live again” really hit hard.

I also love Betty Buckley’s rendition from the original Broadway cast production, which is the one I heard first. Here’s her performance at the 1983 Tony Awards:

References:
1. Memory (Cats Song) – Wikipedia

Tagged with: Andrew Lloyd Webber, cats, elaine page, memory, the three tenors
Posted in Music

Memories (2019) – Maroon 5

Posted on June 27, 2023 by observationblogger — Leave a comment

Two songs in a row featured here recommended by my children. What is going on? Sometimes after hearing ten’s of the crappiest songs there comes along a diamond in the rust. That’s a Joan Baez reference for all you kids out there, although she actually wrote Diamonds and Rust, a song you would undoubtedly be familiar with.
I like to give credit where it’s due. Today’s song Memories by Maroon 5 has only about 1 billion views of their video, and yet it’s still a pretty good song! It makes everyone cry I’ve been told from unspecified sources. A song presented here two days ago Leave (If You Want To) by My Friend the Chocolate Cake has 7 views in 6 months. Now that wants to make me cry.

[Chorus]
Here’s to the ones that we got
Cheers to the wish you were here, but you’re not
‘Cause the drinks bring back all the memories
Of everything we’ve been through
Toast to the ones here today
Toast to the ones that we lost on the way
‘Cause the drinks bring back all the memories
And the memories bring back, memories bring back you

[Verse 1]
There’s a time that I remember when I did not know no pain
When I believed in forever and everything would stay the same
Now my heart feel like December when somebody say your name
‘Cause I can’t reach out to call you, but I know I will one day, yeah

Memories is a song by American band Maroon 5 and was the lead single from the band’s seventh studio album Jordi. Memories is based on Canon in D Major by German composer Johann Pachelbel which featured here July, 2020. The single peaked at number two on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and at number one on the international music charts.

The band’s lead singer, Adam Levine, explained:

“This song is for anyone who has ever experienced loss. In other words, this song is for all of us.” The song is based on the loss of the band’s manager and Levine’s friend, Jordan Feldstein who died in December 2017. According to guitarist, James Valentine: “It’s a different kind of song for us…It’s an important song for us. You know, we experienced some loss in the last couple of years. We lost our longtime manager, Jordan Feldstein. We heard the skeleton of this song and thought it matched where we were at.”

References:
1. Memories (Maroon 5 song) – Wikipedia

Tagged with: maroon 5, memories
Posted in Music

Me Hace Daño Verte (2020) – Fresto

Posted on June 27, 2023 by observationblogger — Leave a comment

Me Hace Daño Verte (It Hurts Me to See You) is another song my kids recommended to me. It didn’t take me much time to decide to add this spectacular Salsa song to the Music Library Project. Cuban singer – songwriter Freddy Ernesto Gamboa Pérez is better known as Fresto. After crying and missing the person he loved, Fresto decided to fill himself with courage and, in the middle of his “tusa” (extreme sadness for a lost love), he composed Me Hace Daño Verte (It Hurts Me to See You); the song that went viral and has become today’s salsa hymn. It is part of his first album called ‘Trovando el son‘.

A crude English translation of the opening stanzas of Me Hace Daño Verte (It Hurts Me to See You):

It hurts me to see you
I would like you to leave
I would give everything to have the power
that you disappeared

I try to forget you
either way
But it’s getting impossible for me
if you go out anywhere

If you go out wherever I’m walking
and a couple who are kissing
In the rainbow with which you make up
if you’re not crying

“The lyrics of the song were born out of the purest spite. The person who inspired the song, I will never say the name, I’ll take it to the grave, but it really was such a situation. One love, that we all go through in our lives and stormy at times. I saw her everywhere and one day I went out with a lot of anger, and I made the song for her and here it is. It came out just the way it came out and that’s how it stayed, because it has become a hymn for many for what I consider is no longer mine, it belongs to the entire public”, explained the Cuban.

Although Me Hace Daño Verte (It Hurts Me to See You) was created three years ago, only now is it being played in all corners of the world, where they sing and dance to it non-stop. It is said it became the most popular Salsa song in 2022. Now Fresto lives with his wife and children in Cuenca, Ecuador. When interviewed on the Pereira Diversa program, he said that he began his path in music at the age of 10 and made his debut as a composer at the age of 16. The grandson of a piano teacher, Fresto learned about the flute, piano, percussion, and guitar. “My other vocation is to teach the little ones” he comments when posting about his participation in musicals.

References:
1. Quien es Fresto? – Que Noticias
2. Fresto y la historia detrás de su tema viral ‘Me hace daño verte’ – El Universal

Tagged with: Fresto, It Hurts Me to See You, Me Hace Daño Verte, Trovando el son
Posted in Music

Hold My Hand (2022) – Lady Gaga

Posted on June 26, 2023 by observationblogger — 2 Comments

Hold My Hand is the second song from Lady Gaga to be presented here after Always Remember Us this Way from the film A Star is Born. Today’s song was featured as the end piece of last year’s mega hit – Top Gun: Maverick. I have remarked about my fascination with this movie a few times and relayed the interview with Actual Top Gun, Dave Berke who reacted to Top Gun Maverick with Jocko Willink.

Lady Gaga said the following about her making Hold My Hand at the 2023 Oscars:

I wrote this song with my friend Bloodpop for the film Top Gun: Maverick in my studio basement. It’s deeply personal and I think we all need each other. We need a lot of love to walk through this life. And we all need a hero sometimes. There are heroes all around us and assuming places. But you might find you can be your own hero even if you feel broken inside.

[Verse 1]
Hold my hand, everything will be okay
I heard from the heavens that clouds have been grey
Pull me close, wrap me in your aching arms
I see that you’re hurtin’, why’d you take so long

[Pre-Chorus]
To tell me you need me? I see that you’re bleedin’
You don’t need to show me again
But if you decide to, I’ll ride in this life with you
I won’t let go ’til the end

[Chorus]
So cry tonight
But don’t you let go of my hand
You can cry every last tear
I won’t leave ’til I understand
Promise me, just hold my hand

In April 2021, it was reported that Gaga would potentially be involved in the soundtrack for Top Gun: Maverick (2022), after Tom Cruise, the film’s star and producer, was seen among the audience at one of Lady Gaga’s concerts: Enigma 2.

The video clip for Hold My Hand was released on May 6, 2022 and was directed by Joseph Kosinski, who was also in charge of directing Top Gun: Maverick. The video shows Gaga singing at an airfield in the middle of the desert, while various scenes from Top Gun (1986) and Top Gun: Maverick are interspersed. Throughout the clip, the artist uses two costumes; first a military aviator jacket, the same one used by Cruise during Top Gun, and later a more modern version accompanied by a toga.

References:
1. Hold My Hand (canción de Lady Gaga) – Wikipedia

Tagged with: Hold My Hand, Lady Gaga, oscars, Top Gun: Maverick
Posted in Music

Leave (If You Want To) (2002) – My Friend the Chocolate Cake (David Bridie)

Posted on June 26, 2023 by observationblogger — 3 Comments

Leave (If You Want To) is the second song to appear here from My Friend the Chocolate Cake‘ (MFTCC)‘s fourth studio album – Curious. In the article of the previous song, It’s All in the Way from the same album I wrote:

‘A few weeks after seeing David Bridie and Archie Roach in a concert in Melbourne we received in the mail the CD ‘Curious‘ (see image inset) from Bridie and his band ‘My Friend the Chocolate Cake‘as a thank you gift for seeing him concert. Do you believe that? Well, it’s true. And I still have the CD. I played that thing to death. Do you know why? Not because it was a gift; as lovely as that was to receive, but because it contains some of the best eclectic music I have ever heard.’

Leave (If You Want To) encapsulates what I like so much about MFTCC. It’s subtle, unassuming but has this alluring depth of intimacy and transcendence. The breezy cocktail bar sound which the instrumentals conjure in the opening parts convert to something more atmospheric ‘Chamber – pop’ and with swagger as the song develops and then it repeats the process. I find it educates my ears in a way that few other songs do. The whole album is like that. I love it; like I do almost everything I’ve heard from them.

If you want to leave just walk away
I’m tired of the uneasiness everyday
We wouldn’t have it any other way
We wouldn’t have it any other way

There are mostly lies in times of war
our battle’s the same stupid one as before
how bout we say we’ll take this crap no more
Let’s take this crap no more

For I’m gone ba da de da da de da

So if you want to leave just walk away
I fall for indecisiveness everyday
I wouldn’t have it any other way
i wouldn’t have it any other way

David Bridie who founded My Friend the Chocolate Cake has featured so much here. You can find so much more about him and his group in my previous articles. In 2000, My Friend the Chocolate Cake’s contract with Mushroom Records ended and they decided to represent themselves independently. Gathering in 2002 the group released their fourth studio album, Curious, in May of that year, via Capitol Records. It peaked at No. 14 on the ARIA Australasian Artists Albums chart.

References:
1. My Friend the Chocolate Cake – Wikipedia

Tagged with: curious, David Bridie, Leave (If You Want To), My Friend the Chocolate Cake
Posted in Music

Me Estoy Eloqueciendo Por Ti (1994) – Jerry Rivera

Posted on June 26, 2023 by observationblogger — Leave a comment

Me Estoy Enloqueciendo Por Ti (‘I’m Going Crazy For You’) is one of the first Latin America Salsa songs that I adored instantly and listened to repeatedly over the years. If I was forced to choose my favourite salsa song then it would be today’s track although I’m hardly a connoisseur of the genre. I used this song as an emblematic track to a family holiday video we had in Giradot, in the state, Tolima Colombia. It is the second latino song from Jerry Rivera to presented after Amores como el Nuestro (Loves’ like Our One). This is pure ‘Salsa Rosa‘ which I described recently as:

‘Salsa Rosa‘ is a colloquial term which typifies Salsa music romantical which garnered notoriety in the mid-1980s. I imagine the Rose (flower) is used because it is delicate and in general these types of Salsa songs raise emotions of romance and sex and how men try to entice or capture women with Roses. So, it is a mix between ballads and orchestral music that is adorned with sensual, sexual, flirtatious and romantic lyrics.
The AnkiDroid Collection (Part 40) – Salsa Rosa, Hormones & Hermeticism

A crude English translation of the opening stanzas of Me Estoy Enloqueciendo Por Ti (‘I’m Going Crazy For You’) follows:

Your look has my heart
tied in four parts
and falling at your feet
I get to the bottom of you
and I dance alone in the air

Without knowing my name
I no longer have a head
and my legs are shaking
to think of your love

I am
I’m going crazy for you
I’m sticking to your shadow to die
completely losing control

Jerry Rivera like Eddie Santiago whose song I presented recently Lluvia is from Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico is located on the continent of North America, in between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of the Virgin Islands. Puerto Rico has produced a plethora of influential Salsa artists whose music is adored in Latin America. Jerry Rivera was born in 1973 in the town of Humacao located on the eastern coast of Puerto Rico. His entire family consists of musicians, including tropical recording artists Edwin Rivera and younger sister Saned.

‘Fabiolasanchez5003‘ wrote the following about Me Estoy Enloqueciendo Por Ti (‘I’m Going Crazy For You’) in the you tube comments below:

Those times… They fill me with nostalgia and sadness… it was an innocent time, with poetic and metaphorical lyrics, where childhood and youth were lived to the full. Valuing the small details as it should be, without the current coldness of technology and music without rhythm and without lyrics.

Jerry Rivera has performed in Venezuela, Colombia, Honduras, Panama, the United States, Spain, Ecuador, Argentina, Peru, Mexico, Sweden, France, and Japan.

References:
1. Jerry Rivera – Wikipedia

Tagged with: jerry rivera, Lo Nuevo y lo Mejor, Me Estoy Eloqueciendo Por Ti
Posted in Music

May It Be (2001) – Enya

Posted on June 25, 2023 by observationblogger — 4 Comments

May it Be is the third song of Enya presented in this music library. Enya presented a good performance of this at the Academy Awards in 2002 and she hardly does live performances. Her voice palpitates more (nerves? – don’t know) and resembles the sound of fellow Irish lass Sinead O’Connor. Enya and Roma Ryan composed May it Be for Peter Jackson’s 2001 film The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. Eithne Pádraigín Ní Bhraonáin was anglicised as Enya Patricia Brennan; born 17 May 1961 and known as Enya. She is a best-selling Irish solo artist and the second-best-selling Irish musical act overall after the rock band U2.

[Verse 1]
May it be, an evening star
Shines down upon you
May it be, when darkness falls
Your heart will be true
You walk a lonely road
Oh, how far you are from home

[Chorus]
Mornië utúlië
Believe and you will find your way
Mornië alantië
A promise lives within you now

From Wikipedia:
Enya was thrilled at the prospect of working on Peter Jackson’s movie. Enya worked on the song with Nicky Ryan, her producer, and Roma Ryan, her lyricist. Nicky produced Enya’s vocals and arranged the music while Roma wrote the lyrics. They recorded the song through Enya’s contract with Warner Music in the Ryans’ Dublin studio, Aigle Studio.

The vocals were recorded in “Aigle Studios”, Enya’s Studio near Dublin and the orchestration was recorded in London, directed by Howard Shore and performed by the London Voices and London Philharmonic Orchestra…. The lyrics of this theme song include English words, as well as words in the fictional Elvish language, Quenya, created by J.R.R. Tolkien.

Reference:
1. May It Be – Wikipedia

Tagged with: enya, lord of the rings, may it be, the fellowship of the ring
Posted in Music

Mass in C minor, K. 427 (Kyrie) (1783) – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Posted on June 24, 2023 by observationblogger — Leave a comment

The Mass in C minor is the 13th piece of music to be presented here so far by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. I first heard this in the movie Amadeus (1984), which possesses the greatest musical soundtrack I have ever heard. There’s not even a close second in my estimation.

I have researched about his life and music here and what has struck me is how director Milos Forman and playwright Peter Shaffer depicted his life so accurately on film. Sure, they used Salieri as the mediocre ‘us’ (audience) portrayed as the villain, which I wrote about in the article Axur, re d’Ormus, but chronologically the movie seems a historically precise representation of his career and life.
Ah Tutti Contenti (Ah, All Content) (1786) – The Marriage of Figaro Act IV – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Most of the following information is quoted from the Wikipedia article below:

The Great Mass in C minor (German: Große Messe in c-Moll), K. 427/417a, is the common name of the musical setting of the mass. He composed it in Vienna in 1782 and 1783, after his marriage, when he moved to Vienna from Salzburg. The large-scale work, a missa solemnis, is scored for two soprano soloists, a tenor and a bass, double chorus and large orchestra. It remained unfinished, missing large portions of the Credo and the complete Agnus Dei.

Mozart mentioned a vow he had made to write a mass when he would bring his then fiancée Constanze as his wife to Salzburg to meet his family for the first time after his father’s earlier opposition. Constanze then sang the “Et incarnatus est” at its premiere….The first performance took place in Salzburg on Sunday 26 October 1783 (the twentieth Sunday after Pentecost).

The work embodies pomp and solemnity associated with the Salzburg traditions of the time, but it also anticipates the symphonic masses of Joseph Haydn in its solo-choral sharing. The mass shows the influence of Bach and Handel, whose music Mozart was studying at this time.

Reference:
1. Great Mass in C minor, K. 427 – Wikipedia

Tagged with: Great Mass in C minor, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Posted in Music

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