Sunday Playlist -10/10/2021

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzrVlXh4mc1Ph88CEbBW-0OH1MlRRezHX

This week's list begins and ends with autumnal works---in mood, Bach's Sarabande from French Suite No. 1, and in fact and spirit, Keats' great ode. In researching the other works for this week,I had the good fortune of stumbling on the second piece. The performer describes it as a favorite from her childhood, and as songs for children often do, it has plenty to say to grown ups. And if the coffeehouse setting is distracting, it nonetheless seems appropriate. Alemu Aga is a great Ethiopian performer and teacher of the begenna. Here, he chants the Lord's Prayer over his accompaniment in a traditional mode of worship. Finally, on our playlists, I tend to hold back from the whole array of music that is vaguely described as "rock," though I know and love it. But this week, I'm giving in, and we're having a classic, quasi-Christian piece from U2's October--music from when they were still an edgy, new rock band (and I was a teenager.)