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Book Playlist
Beasts of the Sea Playlist
by Iida Turpeinen, David Hackston
20 tracks
balanced
Nov 1, 2026
This playlist moves between the vastness of the North Pacific, the close attention of natural history, and the sadness of an extinction caused by human activity. Spacious orchestral and ambient pieces evoke the sea and remote landscapes; the vocal songs bring in wonder, human ambition, and elegy for what has been lost.
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Track List
20 songs
1
Spiegel im spiegel
Arvo Pärt · Arvo Pärt: Portrait
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2
Become Ocean
John Luther Adams · John Luther Adams: The Become Trilogy
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3
Cantus arcticus, Op. 61, "Concerto for Birds and Orchestra": II. Melankolia (Melancholy)
Einojuhani Rautavaara · Rautavaara: Cantus Arcticus / Piano Concerto No. 1 / Symphony No. 3
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4
Four Sea Interludes, Op. 33a: III. Moonlight (Andante comodo e rubato)
Benjamin Britten · Britten: Four Sea Interludes
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5
A Flock Descends into the Pentagonal Garden
Toru Takemitsu · Takemitsu: Flock Descends Into the Pentagonal Garden (A)
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6
And the Swallow
Caroline Shaw · And the Swallow
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7
Une Barque Sur L'océan
Maurice Ravel · Ravel
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8
Shéhérazade, Op. 35: I. The Sea and Sinbad's Ship
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov · Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov: Shéhérazade
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9
Divenire
Ludovico Einaudi · Islands - Essential Einaudi
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10
The Lark Ascending
Ralph Vaughan Williams · Vaughan Williams: Tallis Fantasia; Fantasia on Greensleeves; The Lark Ascending etc.
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11
River Man
Nick Drake · Five Leaves Left
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12
Oceania
Björk · Medúlla
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13
Big Yellow Taxi
Joni Mitchell · Ladies of the Canyon
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14
Holocene
Bon Iver · Bon Iver, Bon Iver
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15
Blue Ridge Mountains
Fleet Foxes · Fleet Foxes
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16
Hoppípolla
Sigur Rós · Takk...
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17
Green Grass of Tunnel
múm · Late Night Tales: Belle and Sebastian
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18
Where Have All the Flowers Gone
Joan Baez · Live at Forest Hill, NYC '63
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19
After the Gold Rush
Neil Young · After the Gold Rush (2009 Remaster)
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