Literature or Life
Book Playlist

Literature or Life

by Jorge Semprun

This playlist reflects Jorge Semprun's harrowing journey through the horrors of Buchenwald and his philosophical resilience. The instrumental selections evoke the bleakness and introspection of his imprisonment, while the vocal tracks explore themes of memory, resistance, identity, and the struggle between literature and survival. The blend of classical, post-rock, jazz, and indie elements mirrors the emotional complexity and historical weight of the autobiography.

20 tracks
balanced
May 1, 2026
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Track List

20 songs
1
Gidon Kremer plays Pärt/Weinberg

Cantus in memoriam Benjamin Britten

Arvo Pärt · Gidon Kremer plays Pärt/Weinberg

2
Music for 18 Musicians

Music for 18 Musicians: Section I

Steve Reich · Music for 18 Musicians

3
Borodin, Dvorak & Shostakovich String Quartets

Shostakovich String Quartet No.8 op.110: Shostakovich String Quartet No. 8, Op. 110: II. Allegro molto

Dmitri Shostakovich · Borodin, Dvorak & Shostakovich String Quartets

4
Music from The Comedy, A Film by Rick Alverson

Disintegration Loops (1.1 Excerpt I)

William Basinski · Music from The Comedy, A Film by Rick Alverson

5
Gnossienne No. 1

Gnossienne No. 1

Erik Satie · Gnossienne No. 1

6
Arvo Pärt: Portrait

Spiegel im spiegel

Arvo Pärt · Arvo Pärt: Portrait

7
Sunset Mission

On Demon Wings

Bohren & Der Club Of Gore · Sunset Mission

8
The Last Night Of The Poms

Fanfare for a Dame (with Carl Davis Conducting the London Symphony Orchestra and the New Antipodean Singers) - 2009 Remaster

Dame Edna Everage · The Last Night Of The Poms

9
All Is Wild, All Is Silent

Remembrance

Balmorhea · All Is Wild, All Is Silent

10
Other Lights

An Ending, A Beginning

Dustin O'Halloran · Other Lights

11
The Lost Sessions

One Of Us Cannot Be Wrong

Leonard Cohen · The Lost Sessions

12
They Moved in Shadow All Together

Hands

Emily Jane White · They Moved in Shadow All Together

13
Where Did You Sleep Last Night

Where Did You Sleep Last Night

Wanda Davis · Where Did You Sleep Last Night

14
Guitar Heroes: Rock of the 80s

Ghost Town

The Specials · Guitar Heroes: Rock of the 80s

15
World Jazz Day 2023

There Will Never Be Another You

Lester Young · World Jazz Day 2023

16
Everything All The Time

The Funeral

Band of Horses · Everything All The Time

17
On Song 2: Red Sails In The Sunset

My Love Is Like A Red Red Rose

Brian Kennedy · On Song 2: Red Sails In The Sunset

18
A Letter to Leonard Cohen

The Partisan

Perla Batalla · A Letter to Leonard Cohen

19
async

disintegration

Ryuichi Sakamoto · async

20
Spell She Cast

Spell She Cast

Luminary Flux · Spell She Cast

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