My playlists
My playlists contain music that I felt compelled to save outside of their original albums. I use Apple Music, so all my playlists live there and will be linked in this post. They are usually organized by composer, theme or a particular piece where I collect different recordings or instrumental arrangements of the same piece. I’ll list them in reverse chronological order (2024-2018).
Guillaume de Machaut: 3 lovely chansons by a 14th century French composer
Agnus Dei from B minor mass BWV 232: a collection of recordings by various choirs
Fauré 2nd/3rd movements: 2nd movements of his two cello sonatas & 3rd movements of his two piano quartets (that is, the best movements)
Quando corpus morietur: last duo from Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater; two renditions
Cello Sarabandes: a cross-section of Bach cello suites at their 4th movements, the Sarabandes. From Jean-Guihen Queyras’s album (the best recording of the suites, imo)
Scriabin op. 57: recordings by various pianists
Allemande BWV 1012: recordings of my most favorite movement out of all Bach cello suites; by various cellists
Scriabin’s 10th: his last piano sonata; by various pianists
3rd movements: of Ravel’s and Shostakovich’s piano trios — the best piano trios of the 20th century (along with Fauré’s)
Borges playlist: this one was prompted by a friend, @natural_hazard, who asked on twitter about music to accompany his reading of Borges
BWV 1011 Sarabande: from the C minor suite; recordings by various cellists, guitarists and lutenists
Monetochka: her best songs from a 2018 album
Gara Garayev, piano works: selections from his 24 piano preludes
Lullabies: 3 from Azerbaijan and 1 from Ireland
Brahms Intermezzo op. 119 no 1: probably his best solo piano work
Blue in Green: jazz standard, recordings by Miles Davis & Bill Evans
Dreams of a Mechanical Man: selections from a 2020 album by Aaron Parks
Russian hip-hop: mostly pre-2021
Malheur me bat: a lute piece by Johannes Ockeghem (15th century); various recordings
BWV 873: C# minor prelude from WTC Book 2 (the prelude is itself like a fugue); harpichord & piano versions
BWV 853: E flat minor prelude & fugue from WTC Book 1; harpichord & piano versions
John Dowland madrigals: my favorite ones from the First (1597) & Second (1600) Booke of Songes. By Anthony Rooley & The Consort of Musicke
French Suites on Guitar: I’ve come to appreciate them later than the English ones but they are all really lovely
Thomas Dunford: a selection of his theorbo recordings by various composers
Ockeghem: my favorite chansons
Elliot Smith: his best songs
Masters of Flanders: my favorites from Flemish choral music
Mugham: favorite recordings of different modes of mugham on tar and kamancha
Radiohead: my favorite songs from various albums
Binchois Triste plaisir: a chanson by a 15th century Flemish composer; vocal original & piano arrangement
William Byrd Pavan and Galliard MB29a: early keyboard music from a master of the English Virginal School
BWV 1012 Sarabande: from the D major suite; recordings by various cellists and guitarists
BWV 1008 Sarabande: from the D minor suite; recordings by various cellists and guitarists
Missa La-Sol-Fa-Re-Mi: by Josquin des Prez (15-16th century)
Zoe Keating: what I was listening to on repeat (along with The Art of the Fugue) while writing my thesis
Gammal fäbodpsalm: “Old Psalm Tune”, a Swedish hymn
Missa Pange Lingua: by Josquin des Prez (among my most-listened-to music). The last two movements, Sanctus & Benedictus and Agnus Dei especially are incredible
Nur wer die Sehnsuch kennt: a Lied by Schubert based on a poem from Goethe’s “The apprenticeship of Wilhelm Meister”. Barbara Bonney’s rendition is especially breathtaking
Alexandre Tharaud plays Bach: his lesser known works
A Sad Pavan for These Distracted Times: by Thomas Tomkins, another composer of the English Virginal School; by various harpsichordists and pianists
Scriabin: my favorite short pieces of his
Vagif Mustafa-zadeh: an Azerbaijani jazz pianist whose recordings I grew up with
Super flumina Babylonis: settings by various Renaissance composers
Byrd — Tregian ground: another excellent keyboard piece by William Byrd; piano & harpsichord versions
BWV 1080 Canon alla ottava: not the only favorite from The Art of the Fugue
Chacone in G minor by Henry Purcell: bouncy and light
Philippo de Monte, Di mie dogliose note: a dark and sensuous madrigal from 16th century
My Lady Carey’s Dompe: one of the oldest surviving works for keyboard, from c. 1520, by an unknown composer
John Bull — In Nomine a 3: this is how to make the piano or, better, the harpsichord sound like bells
Northern: a few pieces by Grieg and Medtner, sprinkled with fairy dust
BWV 582, guitar quartet arrangement: arrangement of the organ Passacaglia & Fugue in C minor by The English Guitar Quartet
Vergene bella: the loveliest chansons by Guillaume Dufay
All-Night Vigil — Magnificat: from Rachmaninov’s masterpiece; by various choirs
All-Night Vigil — Nunc dimittis: ibid.
Beethoven — Largo e mesto from Piano Sonata no. 7: one of the very few works of his that I love; Lucas Debargue’s rendition is the best
Scarlatti K. 208: one of his copious short sonatas, simplicity and elegance itself
BWV 830 Sarabande: an obsession of mine; recordings by various pianists and harpsichordists
Russian: pieces by Rachmaninov that remind me of Russia of yore
Arpeggiata: Bach’s little lute Prelude in C minor BWV 999 and Toccata Arpeggiata by Johannes Kapsberger (3 different renditions)
