Mimi Ezust asks:

>But where is our profound musical 'home'?

Home base is Bach keyboard works.  They give me everything I want from
music: complexity, multiple musical lines, logic, melodies to die for,
thematic development, inevitability, security, and a wide spectrum of
other emotions.

>Who are the composers we most turn to when we are feeling like we want to
>cleanse our tastebuds?

Bach - Schumann - Scriabin.  Bach is my foundation, and the other two
my tension and volatility.

>Which are the compositions we select when we need a good old pal, or want
>to renew ourselves after a very stressful time?

Bach's Goldbergs/Well Tempered Clavier/German Organ Mass, Schumann's
Davidsbundlertanze, Chopin's Preludes, Shostakovich's Op. 34 Preludes/Op.
87 Preludes and Fugues, and Scriabin's Etudes and Op. 11 Preludes.

>What is our own personal, guaranteed, tried-and-true feel-good music?

Goldberg Variations.

>What are the pieces of music we have sought out more than five times in the
>last year?

My old pals listed above.

Like Mimi, I love to dig into unfamiliar repertoire.  But my greatest
affection and exhilaration is reserved for those few composers who always
make me feel complete and at peace with the world.  The funny thing is
that the music doesn't have to be upbeat; it can be bleak as hell.

Don Satz
[log in to unmask]