What music do you play to enhance your creativity while writing? Some don’t like playing music while they write… indeed, there are times when I find quiet is essential (during Editing, mainly).

However, 99% of the time I like music playing in the background, just loudly enough to make out what it is that is playing. Never do I listen with ear-devices, as I would not be able to hear the children. My husband bought an iPod for the family to use and we each have a playlist. Mine resembles a baroque/Celtic/romance/guitar eclectic mixture, that borderlines a sort of classical madness.

Luigi Boccherini is my favorite composer at the moment; his cello pieces are phenomenal and are invigorating and relaxing, at the same time… something I once thought impossible. The “La Musica Notturna di Madrid” (Quintettino in C major) is my favorite piece, or pieces being sprightly in parts and romantic in others. Part of this wonderful music was used in the movie ‘Master and Commander-The Far Side of the World’; it accompanies the last scene of the movie where one character plays his cello like a guitar. Fun stuff.

Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony is also fantastic for writing as the music goes through several stages and emotions.

Chopin and Brahms rival each other in number of piano concertos, which I find particularly relaxing, while Karl Jenkins’ ‘Palladio’ comes behind in a sweeping, crashing tempest for the dramatic moments.

Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture and The Spanish Dance (Nutcracker) are present as well, each providing lifting, rousing energy for the moments of writers block.

There is one operatic aria solo in my list, sung by Angela Gheorghiu, which for the life of me I cannot find the name of, but its short, sweet and sounds sad and romantic all at once.

Sprinkled throughout the playlist are several songs of Silly Wizard, a mostly-traditional Scottish band specializing in sprightly folk music, dancing reels and tear-inspiring ballads. Their song ‘When Summer Ends’ is one of my all-time favorites; it promotes a slightly sad, sweet and sighing mood perfect for good-bye scene or scene echoing with romantic promises. Boys of the Loch songs are included in the lists here and there, with their folky music of the Shetland Islands, Scotland, Ireland and Wales.These are especially good for homey scenes, or ‘everyday’ scenes.

Medieval pieces performed by modern troubadours with period instruments provide a historical, ancient feel for the action’adventure knight/quest/sword-wielding series, along with crashing symphonies for battle scenes. A few songs taken from Shakespeare’s plays find themselves listed and played every so often, when a genteel or aristocratic scene is required.

A few, slightly more modern composers like Meyer, Copland and Holst are present, but the classic symphony composers find themselves most welcome on the playlist. Indeed, they are responsible for almost the entire content. Debussy, Corelli, Handel, Mozart… there are so many inspiring pieces to chose from that it seems best to set the list on ‘random’ and let it inspire purely by chance.

Meredith Greene