October so far has been a pretty amazing month. We've had the most glorious after-summer weather, we've had big autumn storms, and now in the last couple of days we've had the inset of those bleak pre-Christmassy autumn days. Lovely. So what have I been doing in these past few weeks?
First of all, as a general theme for (September and) October, my boyfriend and I have been visiting Dutch castles (aka wedding venues). Oh yeah, the British don't have complete monopoly on aesthetically pleasing country houses. We've been visiting a lot of them the past couple of weeks, and this month we've been to Slot Zuylen.....
0 Comments
Whenever I'm studying, I always feel incomplete when everything is quiet around me. For me, music is a way to shut myself off from the world completely when I'm trying to do work. It allows me to sink back into my own private studying world and pretend that I can't hear anybody because I'm wearing headphones. I mostly listen to period drama soundtracks, because really, what else would I be listening to? Since they always work well for me, I decided I might make a list of my current go-to's in Soundtrack World. 1. Victoria - Martin Phipps At first I really hated the Victoria intro, because I was expecting a Serious Period Drama, but well.. it turned out that Victoria is just pure (fan)fiction. And now I love it. The rest of the soundtrack is just as light and happy as the show is. Not too heavy, but not at all boring either. It's a good listen, but perhaps it doesn't work flawlessly to enhance your concentration game. 2. Outlander series one - Bear McCreary Nothing like Scottish drums and violins to rev you up for some die-hard atmospheric studying. Can either work out VERY WELL, or you will end up screaming along to the intro, and looking up trivia about all the characters. Either outcome is a good one, I think. 3. Belle - Rachel Portman God, I love this movie and I love this soundtrack even more. It's very peaceful, romantic and a little wistful. It's like the Pride and Prejudice soundtrack, but better. Anything by Rachel Portman is better. The only problem I have with this soundtrack that it makes me want to write, rather than translate Virgil. And if you haven't seen this film, you're really missing out on some extremely powerful and groundbreaking cinema - and it's period drama! 4. Downton Abbey - John Lunn Believe it or not, I'm revisiting Downton's music for whenever I'm in a light, upbeat mood, and when studying doesn't require extra tough concentration-enhancing methods. It's light, happy and familiar and that makes it work pretty well actually. 5. Viceroy's House - A.R. Rahman The music is just as beautiful as this film is. But don't be deceived by its cheery, Downtonesque cover! The music is eerie, haunting, and beautifully heartbreaking. It's a very good soundtrack for when you are at the height of your concentration. I sometimes think that sad, wistful, sweeping-violinish music (be it soundtrack or "normal") works best for me. I'm not sure why. Perhaps I associate the sadness with autumn, and I associate autumn with it being dark early, drinking lots of tea, and studying until late in the evening. Anyway, same as with Belle - if you haven't seen this, you definitely should! 6. My Cousin Rachel - Rael Jones This also is a soundtrack that is especially good for those moments when you're in deep. Most of the songs have more or less the same melody, which makes it very easy to listen to, but not less beautiful. It has the same autumn-y vibe to it, and it is rather threatening sometimes. It's just a really rather peaceful classical soundtrack that you should definitely add to your playlists. So that is it! About 90% of what I'm currently listening to. I'm not sure what it actually says about me that the music inspired me to write a blog instead of translate Latin, but oh, well. Does anyone know of more soundtracks we should all be listening to? Love, Vera |
Welcome!Archives
March 2018
Categories
All
Currently Reading |