Today I felt sad and lost, the lake of my soul had frozen over night.
I went and bought Bach's Goldberg Variations, played with all the repeats
(I got hold of Gavrilov, by the way).  The Aria is a piece that has the
power to melt my inner ice and I didn't want to play Gould and use the
repeat function.  I wanted it to last 5 minutes (and more).  Which musical
stuff do you others use when you find yourself in a state of sadness and
when words are not yet there to be spoken? My best musical comforters are
Satie's Gymnopedie No.  1, Bach's Ich will bei meinem Jesu wachen (from the
St Matthew's Passion), Bach's Aria from the Goldberg Variations, Mozart's
Adagio from his last piano concert and Ravel's Pavane.  Reliable friends
which never tire to help.

Robert