7 am - 8 am

7 A.M. There is a need for order and purpose to the day. Haydn symphonies are ideal at this hour. Concise and with an absence of bombast, they sharpen your wits with a wit of their own.Don't expect this from the slick machine of the modern orchestra. The period group is what you need, with the buzz and clang of the arcane bells, reeds, and bows. There are many recordings, but Volume 2 of the Haydn Symphonies Series, by the Academy Of Ancient Music (L'Oiseau-Lyre), directed by Christopher Hogwood, is a good place to begin.
As the murmur of news seeps unbiden through the walls and windows, you may prefer the prophecy of the opening measures of the Mozart String Quartet No. 19 in C Major, K. 465", often subtitled "Dissonant", performed by Le Quatuor Talich (Calliope), or turn to the piano for "On An Overgrown Path" played by András Schiff on the album Leos Janácek: A Recollection (ECM), or Brahms's autumnal intermezzos "Opuses 117 and 118", performed by Radu Lupu (Decca).

1. Haydn - Symphony No. 3 in G Major - I. Allegro (5:17)
2. Haydn - Symphony No. 3 in G Major - II. Andante moderato (6:42)
3. Haydn - Symphony No. 3 in G Major - III. Menuet. Trio (3:48)
4. Haydn - Symphony No. 3 in G Major - IV. Finale, Alla breve (1:51)
5. *Mozart - String Quartet No. 19 in C major ("Dissonant"), K. 465: I. Adagio - Allegro (10:55)
6. *Mozart - String Quartet No. 19 in C major ("Dissonant"), K. 465: II. Andante cantabile (7:45)
7. *Janácek - On An Overgrown Path I: I. Our Evenings (3:24)
8. *Janácek - On An Overgrown Path I: II. A Blown Away Leaf (2:56)
9. Brahms: Intermezzi, Op. 117 - No. 1 in E flat, Andante Moderato (5:44)
10. Brahms: Intermezzi, Op. 117 - No. 2 in B flat minor: Andante non troppo e con molta espresione (4:57)
11. *Brahms: Intermezzi, Op 118 No 1 Intermezzo. Allegro non assai in A minor (1:55)
12. *Brahms: Intermezzi Op 118 No 2 Intermezzo. Andante teneramente in A Major (4:31)

6 am - 7 am

6 A.M. A time of brief respite, before telephones and televisions assault us, and we may be still and patient enough for Palestrina's Missa Papae Marcelli sung by the Westminster Cathedral Choir (Hyperion). It was once thought that this work saved music in a time when dogmatic cardinals wanted to forbid the use of polyphony. Scholarship does a disservice to our imaginations by illustrating a more mundane reality. Listening to "Kyrie", you can believe that it would have been persuasive.
Voices are raised in praise. Perhaps it is enough to believe that they believe, but if that feels hypocritical, then you could always turn to Monteverdi's "Lamento d'Arianna" performed by the Deller Consort (Vanguard). It speaks of another kind of love and sorrow.

1. *Choir of Westminster Cathedral - Kyrie (4:28)
2. *Choir of Westminster Cathedral - Gloria (6:28)
3. *Choir of Westminster Cathedral - Credo (9:47)
4. *Choir of Westminster Cathedral - Sanctus (3:50)
5. *Choir of Westminster Cathedral - Benedictus (4:11)
6. *Choir of Westminster Cathedral - Agnus Dei I (4:59)
7. Choir of Westminster Cathedral - Agnus Dei II (5:09)
8. *Monteverdi, Claudio - Monteverdi: Il sesto libro de' madrigali - Lamento d'Arianna - Lasciatemi morire (2:13)
9. Monteverdi, Claudio - Monteverdi: Il sesto libro de' madrigali - Lamento d'Arianna - Ahi che non pu... (4:28)

*Different to compilation )

5 am - 6 am

What wakes you up at 5 A.M.? Toothache? Heartbreak? Or the nervous rush that comes from too much wine the previous evening? You can tell yourself it is still "night" in the hour after four. Once five strikes it is indisputably "morning".
What sound will soothe as the sharp light floods past the ill-fitting curtains of your hired room? You need fine gauze for the senses. Outside, the last taxis with exhausted revelers skulk home as newspaper trucks sling piles that lie in doorways.
Play Joao Gilberto's "Aguas de Marco" (Polygram), a song that has no need to raise its voice. It's either this or John McCormack's Songs Of My Heart: Popular Songs and Irish Ballads (Angel) at a low volume. The circuit of the vanity clock commences. It's just another parlour (or boudoir) game; in the words of Errol Flynn, this is only "for fun and sport".

1. Joao Gilberto - Águas de março
2. John McCormack - Garden Where The Praties Grow
3. John McCormack - The Harp That Through Tara's Halls
4. John McCormack - Jeannie with the Light Brown Hair
5. John McCormack - Kathleen Mavourneen
6. John McCormack - Believe Me If All These Endearing Young Charms
7. John McCormack - Green Isle of Erin
8. John McCormack - Kerry Dance
9. John McCormack - Oh Mary Dear (Londonderry Air)
10. John McCormack - Star Of The County Down
12. John McCormack - Oft In The Stilly Night
13. John McCormack - Meeting Of The Waters
14. John McCormack - Bardh of Armagh
15. John McCormack - Down By The Sally Gardens
16. John McCormack - She Moved Through The Fair
17. John McCormack - Green Bushes
18. John McCormack - Off to Philadelphia

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