Monday, August 10, 2009

Music for the road

Over the weekend, my wife and I went on a short road trip - well, short only in the fact that we left on Thursday evening, and returned on Saturday evening. We did cover 1,240 KM (770 miles) and sat in a car for 14 hours of the 50 hour trip. The trip was a family reunion of sorts in Humboldt Saskatchewan - and it was well worth the drive to see family that I don't see very often, and it is always a great excuse to visit my parents.

The prairie skies didn't disappoint, with a beautiful array of storm clouds, with full double rainbows. The landscape was rolling green with the occasional huge field of bright yellow canola. The kind of yellow you would otherwise only see on paintings (just think of all the biodiesel possibilities!) Our view at times was not unlike this photo (including the vast gray skies, with breaks of sunlight):


Whoever says that driving through the prairies is boring, needs to develop a new understanding of what beauty actually is.

The music was the important part of this trip.

It was all Bach in one direction:
  • Edmonton Alberta through to Vermillion: Angela Hewitt - Bach Arrangements
  • Vermillion through to Lloydminster: Angela Hewitt - Well Tempered Clavier Book I #1-12
(Stayed the night - the cross the Alberta Saskatchewan Border)
  • Lloydminster to North Battleford: WTC Book I#13-24, WTC Book II #1-4
(filled up the tank)
  • North Battleford to Saskatoon: WTC Book II #5-24
  • Saskatoon to Humboldt: Jordi Savall - The Muiscal Offering (up to the 2nd movement of the Trio Sonata)
On the way home, a bit more of a mixed bag:
  • Humboldt to Saskatoon: Jordi Savall - The Musical Offering (finish) and Bach's Whitsunday Cantatas (Gardiner).
(filled up the tank)
  • Saskatoon to North Battleford: continuation of Bach's Whitsunday Cantatas, and Holst's: Planets
  • North Battleford to Lloydminster: Liszt piano concertos and Mozart concerto for two pianos.
(Stop for dinner then cross the Saskatchewan Alberta border)
  • Lloydminster to Edmonton: (well, Sherwood Park): Messiah (Paul McCreesh). Although, we had to cut from the B section of Sound the Trumpet to Worthy is the Lamb to make it all fit. We did sing every chorus though.
What do you listen to when you are on the long drive?

1 comment:

Lee said...

I'd love to say we're as refined. But with two preschoolers in the car, we start with The Beatles' Octopus' Garden and progress through a whole stack of Disney Classics and Sesame Street Gold.

If we're lucky, we get more Beatles.

Can we swap Ipods? ;-)