Peaceful music for a garden
October 1, 2018 8:28 AM Subscribe
Seeking peaceful music to be played in a public garden.
Before we start:
Please don’t discuss whether or not music should be played at all. It isn’t something that is up for discussion.
Currently we have classical music with a perhaps too healthy dose of opera. We would like to move in the direction of less vocals.
If you were in a garden and there were music played twice a day for twenty minutes, what would you like to hear that conveys a feeling of peacefulness?
We already have the sound of running water and a reasonable number of birds so neither sounds are needed in music.
The person in charge of this strongly prefers classical music so pop or rock is pretty much completely out.
Before we start:
Please don’t discuss whether or not music should be played at all. It isn’t something that is up for discussion.
Currently we have classical music with a perhaps too healthy dose of opera. We would like to move in the direction of less vocals.
If you were in a garden and there were music played twice a day for twenty minutes, what would you like to hear that conveys a feeling of peacefulness?
We already have the sound of running water and a reasonable number of birds so neither sounds are needed in music.
The person in charge of this strongly prefers classical music so pop or rock is pretty much completely out.
For a more informal feel, try Hawaiian slack key guitarist Keola Beamer. I'm thinking of the album "Soliloquy." (It's on Spotify.) Example. It's interesting and soothing, not kitschy and definitely not rock.
posted by purpleclover at 8:50 AM on October 1, 2018
posted by purpleclover at 8:50 AM on October 1, 2018
Anything by Saint Saens would be lovely. For instance:
The Swan
posted by jwhite1979 at 9:08 AM on October 1, 2018 [1 favorite]
The Swan
posted by jwhite1979 at 9:08 AM on October 1, 2018 [1 favorite]
Also, The King's Noyse has a bunch of great, upbeat songs from the 17th c.
Galliard III Based on 'La Mantoana'
posted by jwhite1979 at 9:12 AM on October 1, 2018
Galliard III Based on 'La Mantoana'
posted by jwhite1979 at 9:12 AM on October 1, 2018
What about something like Tony Scott? For example Music for Meditation and Other Joys.
posted by Carravanquelo at 10:02 AM on October 1, 2018
posted by Carravanquelo at 10:02 AM on October 1, 2018
Brian Eno, Music for Airports.
posted by kevinbelt at 10:22 AM on October 1, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by kevinbelt at 10:22 AM on October 1, 2018 [3 favorites]
Japanese woodwind. or someone like oud player Marwan Abado.
posted by runincircles at 10:25 AM on October 1, 2018
posted by runincircles at 10:25 AM on October 1, 2018
What about this restaurant Spotify playlist, created by Ryuichi Sakamoto, and written about in this NY Times article?
I asked Mr. Sakamoto whether the exercise of creating a restaurant playlist was as simple as choosing music he liked. “No,” he said. “In the beginning, I wanted to have a collection of ambient music — not Brian Eno, but more recent.” He came to the restaurant and listened carefully as he ate. He and his wife agreed that the music was much too dark in mood.posted by rollick at 10:52 AM on October 1, 2018 [3 favorites]
“The light is pretty bright here,” Ms. Sora said. “The color of the wall, the texture of the furniture, the setting of the room, wasn’t good for enjoying music with darker tones, to end your night. I think it depends not just on the food or the hour of the day, but the atmosphere, the color, the decoration.”
Patrick Ball. Specifically, I’m partial to this album: Celtic Harp, Volume III - Secret Isles
posted by MexicanYenta at 11:53 AM on October 1, 2018
posted by MexicanYenta at 11:53 AM on October 1, 2018
For me it will always be LoFi Hip Hop
posted by LansLeFleur at 1:26 PM on October 1, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by LansLeFleur at 1:26 PM on October 1, 2018 [1 favorite]
Eno's "Neroli" is extremely minimalist but interesting. Easy to ignore but worth paying attention to.
posted by davebush at 2:30 PM on October 1, 2018
posted by davebush at 2:30 PM on October 1, 2018
Royal Botanical Gardens 'Rock Garden' in Burlington ON plays a generic light classical instrumental selection (Chopin piano, Faure, etc.) on low volume on a decent Bose ambient sound system. It sounds pretty nice and non-intrusive.
If it was my garden, I would program some of the trance like hypnotic selections from Minimalist composers like Philip Glass, Terry Riley, & Steve Reich.
posted by ovvl at 5:10 PM on October 1, 2018
If it was my garden, I would program some of the trance like hypnotic selections from Minimalist composers like Philip Glass, Terry Riley, & Steve Reich.
posted by ovvl at 5:10 PM on October 1, 2018
Satie goes very nicely with the sound of a fountain. Small ensemble baroque on old strings (to plug my favorite local band) is also very pleasant without being too soporific. Kapsperger and Boccherini are good examples.
posted by notquitemaryann at 6:39 PM on October 1, 2018
posted by notquitemaryann at 6:39 PM on October 1, 2018
Might I recommend The Blue Notebooks by Max Richter? The vocals are sparse and impactful, so less than opera (although English) and yet not completely vox-less. Additionally, if the window is only 20 minutes, the vocal tracks could be avoided entirely.
posted by Chipmazing at 3:24 AM on October 2, 2018
posted by Chipmazing at 3:24 AM on October 2, 2018
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by adiabatic at 8:37 AM on October 1, 2018 [1 favorite]