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Piece of Music that is on my iPod

Shostakovitch: Symphony Number 13 "Babi Yar" in Bb minor, Op.113

This is an astonishing work. Effectively a choral symphony, it marks a terrible atrocity - the wartime slaughter of Jews near Kiev in the Ukraine by the Nazis with Ukranian collaborators.

The book, by Anatoly Kuznetzov is disturbing to read, and this is the basis for the poems by Yevgeny Yevtuschenko that are used by Shostakovitch.

The symphony is unashamedly Russian, using a Bass soloist and a male voice choir singing in unison.

Powerful and Disturbing.

The translation starts:

No monument stands over Babi Yar.
A steep cliff only, like the rudest headstone.
I am afraid.
Today, I am as old
As the entire Jewish race itself.

I see myself an ancient Israelite.
I wander o'er the roads of ancient Egypt
And here, upon the cross, I perish, tortured
And even now, I bear the marks of nails.

Mrs J D's recommended reads.

Mrs JD is a teacher (and a very good one at that). Here is a list of her recommended reads for her pupils.

I do, of course, agree with her.

To kill a mockingbird by Harper Lee

1984 by George Orwell

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngosi Adichie

The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

Reading well is one of the great pleasures that solitude can afford you - Harold Bloom

A thousand splendid suns by Khaled Hosseini

The reluctant fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid

The Chrysalids by John Wyndham

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

The House of the spirits by Isabel Allende

Paula by Isabel Allende

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

Books let us into their souls and lay open to us the secrets of our own - William Hazlitt

The History of the World in 10 and a half chapters by Julian Barnes

Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres

An Ice Cream War by William Boyd

Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier

Snow falling on Cedars by David Guterson

The curious incident of the dog in the night-time by Mark Haddon

Notes on a scandal by Zoe Heller

A pale view of hills by Kazuo Ishiguro

The unbearable lightness of being by Milan Kundera

A short history of tractors in the Ukraine by Marina Lewycka

Books can be dangerous. The best ones should be labelled "This could change your life". Helen Exley

Small island by Andrea Levy

Eight months on Ghazzah Street by Hilary Mantel

Beloved by Toni Morrison

The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje

The god of small things by Arundhati Roy

Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie

A suitable boy by Vikram Seth

We read to know that we are not on our own. C S Lewis

We need to talk about Kevin by Lionel Shriver

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

The bonesetter's daughter by Amy Tan

Things fall apart by Chinua Achebe

The boy in the striped pyjamas by John Boyne

The ragged trousered philanthropists by Robert Tressell

Desert Island Cantatas

I sometimes play a game - 20 favourite books, 10 favourite pop singles, 15 best pictures and so on. Sometimes these are simple things like 5 favourite footballers (Pele, Bobby Moore, David Ginola, Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi) and sometimes, with selected people it is like a desert island discs.

The other day I was (and I admit this is a small area of interest) 8 favourite Bach Cantatas.

I know (yawn, yawn) but I am a classicist, and these are wonderful pieces of music.

The best is No 21 (Ich hatte viel bekumerniss), then 106 (Gottes Zeit is der allerbeste zeit) and also 82 (Ich Habe Genug). Not far behind is 51 (Jauchzet Gott in Allen Landen), and also 41 (Jesu, Nun sei gepreiset). Number 68 (Sie werden aus Saba) is number 6. Finally Number 1 (Wie Schone Leuchtet der morgenstern) and 30 (Freue Dich erloste sar)