The music on this playlist is not necessarily relaxing. In fact, you may find yourself listening more intently here than to a high-volume selection. It’s music that evokes night in many different senses of the word. There’s beautiful melody, but also some surprises.
- A Cool Wind is Blowing by Tigran Tahmizyan. Kronos Quartet, with Djivan Gasparian, duduk. From the album Night Prayers (1994)
A duduk is a traditional Armenian wind instrument, which sounds a little like a saxophone. - “Noche de Yucatan” from La noche de los Mayas (1939), film score by Silvestre Revueltas. Aguascalientes Symphony Orchestra, Mexico; Enrique Barrios, conductor.
The movie, for which this music was written, by the great Mexican composer Silvestre Revueltas, is about a hunter who discovers a people living in the Yucatan exactly as their Mayan ancestors. Of course, he falls in love with a young girl of the tribe. The ending isn’t happy. - Nocturne No. 16 (Op. 55/2) in E-Flat Major (Chopin). Nelson Freire, piano.
Despite its title, this is an anxious little piece with a lot of tension in its harmony and counterpoint. It’s a beautiful melody, of course, but listen to how it’s set. - Nocturne, from A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Mendelssohn). Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy, conductor.
OK, this is a “relaxing” piece, and also one of classical music’s most popular. I wonder why. - Nocturne No. 1 by Joe Jackson. From the album, Night Music.
This instrumental from English singer/ songwriter Joe Jackson, shows his style after his Grammy-winning pop hits. It’s kind of like a jazzy/modern take on a Chopin nocturne. - “Night Music” by Eric Dolphy. From the album Vintage Dolphy
A wailing saxophone melody is a symbol of night in the city. But this track relaxes into a groove — maybe we’re entering a night club — and then things get wild, unexpectedly and the ending is a little unsettling. - Central Park in the Dark by Charles Ives. New York Philharmonic, Leonard Bernstein, conductor.
One of my favorite pieces of night music: Ives imagined sitting on a park bench, listening to the night sounds, when the music of the city — pop tunes from the 1910s, a street band, singers, newsboys, a fire engine — break in. Then the night sounds return. - Andante religioso (Movment 2) from Piano Concerto No. 3 (Bela Bartok). Vladimir Ashkenazy, piano, London Symphony Orchestra, Georg Solti, conductor.
Bartok, the great Hungarian composer, had a whole style that has been dubbed “night music.” This gorgeous piece has a great example in the middle. Listen especially to the minute-and-a-half from 4:45 to 6:00.