Music
Tunes worth listening
Music is probably the oldest art form - producing sounds that are pleasant to our ears. While it's very easy to find tunes we like, here I list some songs and melodies that I find unique and inspiring. They are listed below in random order. I try, wherever possible, to provide some links to the songs. All images have been retrieved from wikipedia.
Bohemian Rhapsody
1975
by Queen
I was lucky enough to listen to this song carefully for the first time at a late age (20). When you have listened to regular music tracks for your whole life, the originality in the Bohemian Rhapsody is truly mindblowing. It doesn't qualify as a conventional song (with intro, refrain, etc). It is all over the place in an ingenious way, and that's what makes it unique.
Wikipedia has an excellent analysis of the various parts of the song.
Estancia - Op.8 - Danza Final
1941
by Alberto Ginastera
Ginastera is probably the most famous Latin American composer. If you want to get an idea of what 20th century classical music can be like, you have to listen to his Estancia. I was lucky enough to experience a performance of this piece from the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, CA, and it was the most awe-inspiring musical experience I've ever had. His synthesis is just astounding, creating the most uplifting piece of music I've ever heard.
Canon Rock
2006
by Jerry Chang
Back in the 1600s Johann Pachelbel wrote a beautiful canon, known as Pachelbel's Canon, frequently nowadays played at weddings. In 2006 Jerry Chang from Taiwan rewrote a rock version of the piece for an electric guitar. Then youtube took over and the performance uploaded by funtwo now approaches 100M views. It is the first thing that comes up on youtube when you search for "guitar". You can watch the video here.
Symphony No.5 in C minor, Op.67: Allegro con Brio
1808
by Ludwig van Beethoven
If all human civilization is destroyed, and only one piece of music survives, this should probably be the one. It is music larger than life, with superb mastery and perfection shining all over it. The story goes that there is a male voice and a female voice in the piece - two distinct tunes. One of them is Beethoven, the other is his girlfriend, running after him and begging him to return to her. The piece is an succession of these two voices. Wikipedia has some interesting insight and samples.
Symphony No.40 in G minor, K. 550: Molto allegro
1788
by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Mozart, in general, writes happy music. His symphony No. 40 is a perfect example of the skills and style of music. Pleasant to the ear, stylish, complicated, outworldy.
The Highwayman
1997
by Loreena McKennitt
McKennitt is one of the artists that I solidly like over the years. The Highway man is a poem, a sad story expressed in music. It is one of my favorite melodies, but make sure you listen to the lyrics carefully, or have them aside when listening to the song.
Carmen - Les Tingles des Sistres Tintaient
1845
by Georges Bizet
Carmen has probably the best music of all operas - well known, famous song that are very familiar in popular culture today. You often don't realize that all these pieces of music come from the same opera. The piece mentioned here is incredible as it starts very slowly and builds up to a momentous climax.