Music to Listen to While You Read Part II – Don Quixote

Yesterday I wrote about the music I like to listen to while reading Patrick O’Brian’s Master and Commander series. I know that the reading group Tilting at Windmills is about to begin Don Quixote, so today I want to share the kind of music that helps set the atmosphere when I read this most excellent novel. (Sidenote: If you’ve never read Don Quixote you should join Tilting at Windmills and read it–it’s my favorite book, hands down, and in my opinion the greatest novel ever written.)

To achieve a Spanish ambience when I read it, I love listening to Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez for guitar and orchestra. Its light and lively melodies remind me of the relationship between Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, and it makes me feel like I’m in a Spanish villa. If you can’t get a hold of Rodrigo’s music, almost any CD of Baroque guitar concertos will provide a good substitute.

I also enjoy Richard Strauss’s tone poem Don Quixote, conducted by Herbert von Karajan.

Next time I’ll talk about music I like to listen to while reading Tolkien.