This is one of those songs where I just don’t pay any attention to the words.  It’s from Lauridsen’s Songs of the Roses, and is about Narcissus, but to me, the music is so tender, it always makes me think of the Seraphym from Secret World among the children, singing them lullabies.  I think I like this slightly faster version but here is a version with Lauridsen himself at the piano. The second is even more lullaby-like.

I listen to a lot of soundtracks as general background music.   James Newton Howard is a favorite, and Hidalgo is on the top of my list (hey, come on, Viggo Mortenson AND a stunning horse?  No-brainer.)

Sometimes you need music to get into a particular mood; Gorecki’s Symphony of Sorrowful Songs is pretty much guaranteed to get me into the state of reaching for the Kleenex ™ box.

Close to finishing the Secret World Podcast Book 3 (it will be done by Dragoncon) and closer to wrapping up the paper version.  You might have noticed that a lot of my chapters have songs for titles.  One I haven’t yet used (but oh, I have a place for it!) is Perpetual by VNV Nation. And there are/will be a LOT of VNV Nation songs used for titles in SWC.  It is absolutely spooky how perfect Ronan’s lyrics are for so many of the characters and stories.

Bella Dawn Parker, that is, aka Belladonna Blue of Secret World Chronicles.  I don’t watch a lot of anime but the first time I heard this song from The Ghost In The Shell it gave me shivers, and it absolutely was Bella.

Sometimes I get direct inspirations.  The “Bedlam Bards” short story called “The Waters and the Wild” was one of those.  If you have never heard Loreena McKennit performing “Stolen Child,” then you are in for a magical experience.

This piece, The Girl from Corsica, is what I was thinking of when describing the “ballet” piece Our Heroine was doing for the Arabian Nights number.

The first time I heard the third movement of Richard Harvey’s Concerto Antico, I knew that this was perfect for the Seraphym’s theme in Secret World Chronicle.

This blog is only going to be about music.  What I am listening to, what I am writing to, what inspires scenes, and why on earth I used “X” as the title to a chapter.

For instance, turning on the Wayback Machine, in 1982 I spent most of the summer listening to Ralph Vaughn Williams Sinfonia Antarctica as I wrote Arrow’s Flight.

Listening to the first piece I ever heard by him: Mysterious MountainALWAYS good for doing mystical/magical stuff