Playlist: Hernan Diaz’s Writing Soundtracks For Trust
Hernan Diaz, the author of Trust – Service95 Book Club’s March Monthly Read – shares the music he listened to when writing the novel…
Trust Playlist
“Trust is mainly about women’s voices, so this is a playlist featuring only women’s voices. In one way or another, all these songs question and defy the narrow, suffocating gender roles. In some cases, the challenge to misogyny is overt and in your face (The Slits, Chaka Khan, Bikini Kill, Sonic Youth, Kleenex, The Raincoats, ESG). In others, the tables are turned (Bette Davis, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Blondie). In some of the songs, a strong undertow of irony can be heard regarding fairy tale narratives (Donna Summer). In contrast, others double down in the exploration of loneliness, claustrophobia, and alienation (Portishead, Carpenters, Yoko Ono, My Bloody Valentine, Eurythmics, Angel Olsen). Some even relate to the book in uncannily close terms (The Fall, Yazoo, Roberta Flack, Broadcast, Neu!). Of course, greed and money are recurring themes (The B-52s, Kid Creole, The Flying Lizards), as is the experience of ambling about a sometimes-hostile New York City (Cat Power, Bush Tetras). I was so lucky to find so many songs that spoke directly to the novel by so many of my all-time favourite artists. I do love the variety of genres and moods in this playlist.”— Hernan Diaz
Over (Live) – Portishead
I’m A Woman – Rufus & Chaka Khan
Rumour Has It – Donna Summer
Typical Girls – The Slits
Compared to What – Roberta Flack
Rich – Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Manhattan – Cat Power
Too Many Creeps – Bush Tetras
Vixen – The Fall
Troubled Child – Joni Mitchell
No One’s Eye Little Girl – The Raincoats
Accidents Never Happen – Blondie
A Simple Design – The Juan Maclean
Politician Man – Betty Davis
Shoot – Sonic Youth
The Masquerade – The Carpenters
All Mirrors – Angel Olsen
Ain’t You – Kleenex
Erase You – ESG
DemiRep – Bikini Kill
I’m Corrupt – Kid Creole And The Coconuts
Legal Tender – The B-52
Money – The Flying Lizards
Nobody’s Diary – Yazoo
Tender Buttons – Broadcast
Come in Alone – my bloody valentine
Walking On Thin Ice – Yoko Ono, Jason Pierce
She’s Invisible Now – Eurythmics, Annie Lennox, Dave Stewart
Gedenkminute (fuer A+K) – NEU!
Mildred’s Playlist
“Music is one of the book’s main protagonists – and Trust actually has a musical structure in several regards. Mildred, the main character, is immensely gifted but unable to pursue a musical career because of the suffocating gender expectations and rampant sexism of the age. This playlist gathers most of the composers and performers referenced throughout the novel, with emphasis on relatively unsung American female composers of the time. I’m really touched by Ruth Crawford Seeger’s music (maybe because I love Berg and Bartók, both of whom she met and whose influence is clear in her work). Amy Beach and Mary Howe were also among the composers I listened to as I wrote the book – about a third of this process took place at the MacDowell residency, to which Ruth Crawford, Amy Beach, and Marion Bauer were in different ways connected. It was inspiring to be steeped in that history. Bach is a massive presence in the novel – and in my life (I play his music on my headphones while I write every day). There are also a few recordings by transcendental performers from the time, some of which played at Mildred’s salon (Rosenthal, Kreisler, Schnabel). And, of course, pieces by modernist heroes, from Schönberg and Webern to Stravinsky and Varése. On the novel’s final page, Mildred quotes a poem by Mallarmé. I’ve included Ravel’s song based on it in Anne Sofie von Otter’s version, which brings me to tears every single time.”— Hernan Diaz
By The Still Waters, Op. 114 — Amy Beach, Isata Kanneh-Mason
Trio Sonata No. 1, Op. 40: II. Andante espressivo — Marion Bauer, Jonathan Snowden, Judith Herbert, Diana Ambache
Andante Mystico — Ruth Crawford, Sarah Cahill
Three Pieces After Emily Dickinson: II. “Birds, by The Snow” (Tra... — Mary Howe, Various Artists
Central Park in the Dark – Live — Charles Ives, New York Philharmonic, Leonard Bernstein
Nocturne No. 2 in E-Flat, Op. 9, No. 2 – Recording: March 1935 — Frédéric Chopin, Moriz Rosenthal
Musical Offering, BWV 1079 (Orch. Anton Webern): Fuga (Ricer... — Johann Sebastian Bach, Berliner Philharmoniker, Pierre Boulez
Andante for Strings — Ruth Crawford Seeger, Schönberg Ensemble, Oliver Knussen
Piano Sonata No. 20 in A, D. 959 — Franz Schubert, Artur Schnabel
Lyric Suite for String Quartet (1926): II. Andante amoroso — Alban Berg, Emerson String Quartet
Berceuse — Amy Beach, Stephen Hough, Steven Isserlis
Violin Sonata No. 1 in G Minor, BWV 1001: I. Adagio — Johann Sebastian Bach, Fritz Kreisler
Six Pieces For Orchestra, Op. 6 – Original Version (1909): III. Zar... — Anton Webern, Berliner Philharmoniker, Pierre Boulez
Music for Small Orchestra (1926): 1. Slow, pensive — Ruth Crawford Seeger, Schönberg Ensemble, Oliver Knussen
Suite Italienne for Violin and Piano, Serenata: II. Larghetto — Igor Stravinsky, Bruno Monteiro, Joao Paulo Santos
Suite für Klavier, Op. 25: Ilc. Gavotte (da capo) — Arnold Schoenberg, Maurizio Pollini
Pines Of Rome, P. 141: 2. The Pines Near A Catacomb — Ottorino Respighi, Berliner Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan
Octandre – Rev. & Ed. Chou Wen-Chung 1980: 1. Assez lent — Edgard Varèse, Asko Ensemble, Riccardo Chailly
Sonatine, H. 42: II. Lent et soutenu — Arthur Honegger, Maximiliano Martín, Scott Mitchell
Sonate pour piano et violoncello: II. Adagio espressivo — Ernest Bloch, Raphael Walifisch, John York
Quiet City — Aaron Copland, Philip Smith, Thomas Stacy, New York Philharmonic, Leo...
VIII — Johanna Beyer, Sarah Cahill
Kleine Suite, Op. 13a: VI. Foxtrott — Ernst Krenek, Stanislav Khristenko
Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta, BB 114 (Sz. 106): III. A... — Béla Bartók, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Pierre Boulez
3 Preludes and Fugues, Op. 16: No. 1. Prelude and Fugue in G Mi... — Clara Schumann, Jozef De Beenhouwer
Tosca: Act III: lo de’ sospiri — Giacomo Puccini, Zubin Mehta, David Pearl
Cello Suite No. 5 in C minor, BWV 1011: IV. Sarabande — Johann Sebastian Bach, Pablo Casals
Dichterliebe, Op. 48: X. Hör’ ich das Liedchen klingen — Robert Schumann, Fritz Wunderlich, Hubert Giesen
Preludes & Fugues, Op. 87: Prelude no.1 in C major. Moderato — Dmitri Shostakovich, Alexander Melnikov
Rückert-Lieder: Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen — Gustav Mahler, Kathleen Ferrier, Wiener Philharmoniker, Bruno Walter
Ricercar A 6– Ensemble (Bach) — Johann Sebastian Bach
Trois Poèmes de Stéphane Mallarmé, M.64: 1. Soupir — Maurice Ravel, Anne Sofie von Otter, Andreas Alin, Peter Rydstroem, Lars Paulson, Bengt Forsberg, Nils-Erik Sparf, Ulf Forsberg, Matti Hirvikangas, Mats Lidström
Half Past the Hour Church Bell Chime — Sound Ideas
