Father Vittorio’s Playlist

Some writers must have absolute silence to work. That really isn’t me.

Some writers are terribly pure, and only listen to music from the time and place they’re writing about. That isn’t me, either! But If I’m writing an especially intense scene, I’ll often listen to songs that connect with a particular emotion. Sometimes I even feel as if my characters are asking to hear them again. That’s why I started thinking of my “Recently Played” as Father Vittorio’s Heartbreak Playlist.

Here are just a few of the songs that, for me, will always be associated with writing Daughter of Genoa. The logic might not always be obvious, and taste is highly subjective. But perhaps you’ll enjoy them – and feel the connection, too.

Sullivan, The Long Day Closes, performed by VOCES8

Mazzy Star, Into Dust

Johnny Flynn, The Water, with Laura Marling

Lewandowski, Tzadik Katamar, performed by Cantors Azi Schwartz and Rachel Brook

Sibelius, Be Still, My Soul, performed at the University of St Francis (dir. Jessica Schuster)

Casalini, Dalle belle città date al nemico, performed by Mario De Micheli

Allegri, Miserere, performed by Tenebrae

Debbie Friedman, Oseh Shalom

Simon and Garfunkel, Bridge Over Troubled Water, performed by Johnny Cash and Fiona Apple

Purcell, Dido’s Lament, performed by Anna Dennis

Francesco Guccini, Auschwitz, performed by Modena City Ramblers

Finally, a late discovery, but simply perfect: Azi Schwartz sings Stradella’s Pietà, Signore in the Hebrew version of Cantor Gershon Sirota