Music for Meditation

From Menletter November 2003

By Tim Baehr

Much of the meditation in most traditions (I don't know of a tradition without some form of it) is done in silence. Sometimes there's chanting. A few weeks back I asked subscribers to list music they have found helpful for meditation. Where I could (or had energy), I checked on Amazon.com to see if they're in print. Tom helpfully provides publisher information.

Dale Leffler

Tim Wheater, Heart Land

Paul Baker, Peace Beyond Words. [I can't find this on Amazon.com, but there are other Paul Baker works on harp, Celtic harp, and keyboard -- Tim]

Tom Baehr

For me craft and meditation: There are times that I can get into the "zone" while making flutes, where the rhythm of certain skills just seem to flow. Eighteen years (as of Nov. 4) of repetition of these skills contributes to this. I listen to a wide variety of music while I do this, ranging from contemporary singer-songwriters to classical (Renaissance to modern). But what really settles me down to the work at hand is Bach, especially the solo works--piano, harpsichord, violin, cello, guitar--which I have grown as familiar with as the flute-making skills. With Bach in particular, I hear the different lines woven through each piece: melody, counter-melody, fugue statement, bass line, interior voices. While I don't relate specific themes to specific skills, there is a sense of construction that I can relate to. Rather than make me envious, or self-congratulatory for my listening skills, Bach erases ego with his ability to transport the listener toward universal truth. Bach's voice leading--vocal part writing--is essentially writing for instruments, which can make his choral works wicked to sing. Even his more homophonic chorale settings can have moving lines that make my heart ache.

[I haven't checked these out on Amazon.com. Too many! -- Tim]

Guitar

Passion: Music for Guitar, various artists, Narada Lotus ND-61044

contemporary jazz

Lute Music for Witches and Alchemists, Lutz Kirchhof, lutenist, Sony

Classical SK 60767

various composers 16th-18th centuries

Music of Barrios, David Russell, Guitar, Telarc CD-80373

amazing recording of Barrios (1885-1944), Paraguayan composer

The Guitarist John Williams, Sony Classical SK 60586

mixture of 20th century composers, incl John Williams

Jason Vieaux, Manuel Ponce: The Guitar Sonatas, Azica ACD-71212

five sonatas, some tributes to earlier composers (Sor, Schubert) played

by a very talented younger guitarist

Partitas of Giuseppi Antonio Brescianello (ca. 1690-1757), Anthony Glise,

guitar, Dorian DIS-80127

eight partitas by the court musician in Stuttgart

Haydn: Sonatas, Paul Galbraith, 8-string guitar, Delos DE 3239

transcriptions of 4 keyboard sonatas; he makes them sound idiomatic to the guitar

Peder Riis Classical Guitar, Opus 3 CD 8015

incl Bach Suite No. 2 BWV 997 played on 11-string alto guitar; also

Villa Lobos, Turina, Weiss

(several other recordings, incl Sharon Isben, Guy Van Duser, Harvey Reid)

Bach:

Cello Suites, Mstislav Rostropovich, EMI Classics 5 55364

Cello Suites, Yo-Yo Ma, Sony Classical S2K 63203

I prefer the Rostropvich for his heart and warmth

Edgar Meyer, Bach: Unaccompanied Cello Suites Performed on Double Bass, Sony

Classical 89183

nos. 1, 2 & 5; truly virtuoso playing--but not cello

Bach: English Suites [1, 3, 6], Murray Perahia, piano, Sony Classical SK

60276

Bach: English Suites 2, 4, 5, Murray Perahia, Sony Classical SK 60277

a foremost interpreter; I have a dub of a guitar duo playing 3 mvts of

#3; amazingly faithful

J.S. Bach: Sonatas & Partitas, Nathan Milstein, violin, Deutsche Grammophon

289 457 701-2

historic reissue orig. 1975 (Grammy winner), reissued 1998

(Bach Mass in B Minor, private recording of Musica Sacra, 1999)

(Glenn Gould, Goldberg Variations, from a CBC broadcast of 1954; amazing

playing, considering that it

was live; lousy sound reproduction)

Bach on Guitar

J.S. Bach: Sonatas and Partitas--Complete, Paul Galbraith, 8-string guitar,

Delos DE 3232

Jim Guiness

Jim has recorded and produced Monhegan Winds, a CD of woodwind improvisations to accompany wind chimes. I find it very soothing, but I haven't tried meditation with it yet. See Jim's Web site at http://www.atlanticwinds.com/.

Tim Baehr

Jim Donovan: Indigo. A mesmerizing hour of softly played drums, one-string guitar, breathing sounds, and chanting of the sacred syllable AUM. Definitely not to be played in the car while driving. Indigo is listed at Amazon as out of stock; I've been able to find it at Amazon as used or new by one of their partners.

Liquid Tension Experiment: Liquid Tension Experiment. With members of Dream Theater, this is a hard-driving, all-instrumental exploration into improvisation. Played very (no, VERY) loud, it can cause shifts in awareness. A couple of quieter tracks can bring you back or get you deeper. Try it with breathwork.

Ry Cooder, Vishwa Mohan Bhatt: A Meeting by the River. Combination of Cooder's six-string, Bhatt's hybrid of traditional Indian instrument and slide guitar. This is not Indian music; it's an improvisational meeting. Isa Lei, the last of four cuts, is a Fijian farewell song that is both heartbreaking and peaceful.

Sheila Chandra: This Sentence Is True. One of about eight albums (and the only one I've heard), this one features Chandra's voice used as a musical instrument -- including a stunning imitation of Indian drumming. Multi-layered, electronic, weird, and strangely compelling.

Ghazal: As Night Falls on the Silk Road. Collaboration between Indian Shujaat Hussain Khan (sitar) and Persian Kayhan Kalhor (spike fiddle), with tabla playing by Swapan Chaudhuri. Largely unrehearsed, meditative, call-and-response, with haunting vocals. Listen to it while meditating, or reading Sufi poetry.