If I Stay Playlist

Since music is such a huge part of If I Stay, how could I not write up a playlist?

1) Cello Sonata No. 3, 1st movement by Beethoven

This piece plays during the devastating car crash at the beginning of the book. It's a heartbreaking scene when the speakers still work in the mangle car and she still hears the music while seeing her parents' bodies. It's a beautiful piece and this video features two great musicians, Glenn Gould and Leonard Rose.

2) Mozart's Requiem

After an uncharacteristic funeral for a friend, Mia's mother rants about how he would have hated it. Mia says she would want Mozart's Requiem played at her funeral. It's a powerful piece that is even more tragic because the composer did not live to see its completion. The beginning of the recording is the "Dies Irae" or Day of Wrath, describing the day of judgment, and my favorite part of the Requiem mass.

3) Cello Suite No. 1, Prelude by J.S. Bach

I had to include this piece because it's the first thing that comes to mind when I think of the cello.

4) Transylvanian Concubine by Rasputina

Mia seems to think that cellos have no place in rock music. I kind of wish I could have reached into the book and given her a Rasputina CD, a band that features cellos and does indeed rock. This is their most mainstream song that I first heard on an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

5) Escape Artist by Zoe Keating

Zoe Keating is an incredibly talented cellist that used to play in Rasputina, but now releases very successful self published avant-garde classical music. This piece, and the album it's from called Into the Trees, fuses classical music and technology in a mindblowing way. She uses a foot pedal to record a line she plays and then layers on top of it in real time. The results are amazing. I saw her play a different piece live at an Amanda Palmer show and she made a mistake, but it was still magnificent performance that I will never forget. She also collaborates with Amanda Palmer on her first solo album. It shows that a cellist can create classical music and rock music and be good at both.

Any more songs/pieces to add? Any awesome music you just want to share?