Music is a powerful thing. There’s no other force on earth that can manipulate the whole spectrum of human emotion using only vibration. The closest parallel I can think of is what writers do using only symbols on a page. Go figure…

Growing up, I could never sleep (thanks anxiety!) and would lie awake in bed for hours. To keep me quiet and hopefully lull me to sleep I would listen to music cassettes. Yes, cassettes. There was once an incident involving the soundtrack to A Chorus Line. I must have been three or four years old.  Apparently, one day I started wandering around the house singing “Dance 10, Looks 3” (famously known as the “Tits and Ass” song). Google at your own risk there. Somehow that cassette disappeared from my collection and was replaced with famous classical pieces … odd.

I still have sleepless nights, but now I keep myself busy coming up with new things to do to my characters.  Insert evil laugh here.

An endless parade of violin lessons, orchestras, ensembles, and quartets later, and you can say classical music is in my blood. But, not the boring uppity stuff. Nah. Give me Dvorak, give me Wagner. Give me modern-day movie soundtracks! Get my heart beating. Excite me, people! Loud horns. Drums that shake the floor. Sweeping strings. I love it all.

It’s no surprise that now as a grown up, or at least someone pretending to be one, intense classical music works a special kind of magic over me. I am transported. I use it to summon up the right feelings when writing and editing intense and/or emotional scenes. Thanks to Mr. Internet, there is a wealth of music that really scratches my itch. Here are some of my favorites.

Do you have a favorite piece of music that stirs you? Share it in the comments!

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