September 06, 2011 01:15:31 PM
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Grieg's Norwegian Suite, Beethoven's 3rd Symphony (Eroica)

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I'd like the Norwegian Suite to be included, for two reasons:
1) Out of solidarity with the Norwegian people and as a gesture of respect for the way in which they've dealt with their own recent terrorist atrocity;
2) I've always found the music evocative of nature and uncommonly soothing.

I recommend the Eroica both musically (it's my favorite of LVB's symphonies) and historically. There's an ironic parallel, I think, between the withdrawal of the dedication to Napoleon when he became Emperor, and the loss of world sympathy we sustained in our wantonly aggressive response to 9/11. I told my oldest son when I learned he was alive, "I want to kill the people who did this to us. I do NOT want to kill their cousins."

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Con Roche