# Emotion Provoking, Tear producing classical stunners?



## belfastboy (Aug 3, 2012)

Is it just me - or do some classical pieces stir up emotion that produces that 'lump in the throat' or even a rolling tear down the cheek? Is it even powerful enough to influence your mood?? For me among many has to be.....Senza Mamma or even Elijah - Es Ist Genug, So Nimm Nun, Herr, Meine Seele.....Mendelssohn. Do you find yourself selecting a piece to either change or help your mood?

Regards....Sean.


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## peeyaj (Nov 17, 2010)

*This guy:*






Richter did it to him.


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## ahammel (Oct 10, 2012)

There are a few. I save Strauss' _Four Last Songs_ for when I've had a really bad day.


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## lupinix (Jan 9, 2014)

Chopin Nocturne 20
Rachmaninov piano concerto 3 second movement
Rachmaninov suite 1 part 3 i believe "tears"
Rachmaninov Vocalise
Prokofiev piano concerto 2 first movement 
Fauré pavane


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## Couac Addict (Oct 16, 2013)

peeyaj said:


> *This guy:*
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Imagine being seated next to him at a concert. What's wrong with this guy. Did a falling piano crush his dog or something?


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## belfastboy (Aug 3, 2012)

Dido & Aeneas, Act 3: "When I Am Laid in Earth" - Is is just emotional or am I confusing emotion with depression!


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## belfastboy (Aug 3, 2012)

An emotional 'thumbs up' to Chopin....love it....I confess though that I find Ballade No.1 very, very moving - stops me in my tracks.....


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## peeyaj (Nov 17, 2010)

Couac Addict said:


> Imagine being seated next to him at a concert. What's wrong with this guy. Did a falling piano crush his dog or something?


That reminds me of anecdote:

_Marlene Dietrich, who was Richter's friend, wrote in her autobiography, Marlene: "One evening the audience sat around him on the stage. While he was playing a piece, a woman directly behind him collapsed and died on the spot. She was carried out of the hall. I was deeply impressed by this incident and thought to myself: "What an enviable fate, to die while Richter is playing! What a strong feeling for the music this woman must have had when she breathed out her life!" But Richter did not share this opinion, he was shaken"._


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## belfastboy (Aug 3, 2012)

lupinix said:


> Chopin Nocturne 20
> Rachmaninov piano concerto 3 second movement
> Rachmaninov suite 1 part 3 i believe "tears"
> Rachmaninov Vocalise
> ...


An emotional 'thumbs up' to Chopin....love it....I confess though that I find Ballade No.1 very, very moving - stops me in my tracks.....


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## Eviticus (Dec 8, 2011)

I find Tchaikovsky's 1st movement to the Pathetique symphony incredibly powerful and tear jerking.

On the flip slip, the opening movement to Mozart's Linz symphony i find to be incredibly uplifting. Mozart really is sunshine.


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## belfastboy (Aug 3, 2012)

I'm beginning to think I am encouraging my January blues with an over indulgence of melancholic yet stirring and very beautiful classical stunners - aww well....so let it be!


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

belfastboy said:


> Dido & Aeneas, Act 3: "When I Am Laid in Earth" - Is is just emotional or am I confusing emotion with depression!


The first OP:
I'm sure I will select a more ebullient and 'up' piece at times because it is that, but other than that, music is to me more food than medicine to enhance or change moods.

To this Q:
Emotions are thoughts, so can have just as great a range and nuance in the area as more 'cerebral' thoughts. 
I noticed you're naming things all with text -- the verbal content sure to influence.

Do you have pieces which have no 'program' about them, no personal association as, say, you were listening to it when you got the news that a friend died, etc. which move you just as much?

Though it is not my area of interest, I think that might be an interesting survey for you to make.


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## Couac Addict (Oct 16, 2013)

peeyaj said:


> *This guy:*
> 
> 
> 
> ...


How long before someone replaces the audio with something odd like Anderson's Syncopated Clock?


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

That lump in your throat should be checked by an ENT specialist just in case the music has nothing to do with it.


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## belfastboy (Aug 3, 2012)

PetrB said:


> The first OP:
> I'm sure I will select a more ebullient and 'up' piece at times because it is that, but other than that, music is to me more food than medicine to enhance or change moods.
> 
> To this Q:
> ...


Thanks, grateful for your reply. The interpretation of music surely rests on the individual, their beliefs and even customs. Music as a food source for you is more than that for me.

The association or link with familial / societal circumstances and particular pieces of music does not readily happen for me. I am
egocentric and selfish in my musical self-prescription - it is what I need at a given time and has not been triggered externally.

Regards,

Sean.


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

belfastboy said:


> Thanks, grateful for your reply. The interpretation of music surely rests on the individual, their beliefs and even customs. Music as a food source for you is more than that for me.
> 
> The association or link with familial / societal circumstances and particular pieces of music does not readily happen for me. I am
> egocentric and selfish in my musical self-prescription - it is what I need at a given time and has not been triggered externally.
> ...


Just checking  Music, I think next to the sense of smell, is perhaps the strongest trigger of some emotion there could be. Without association, the somewhat alpha state we get into _if we have given ourselves up to it completely_ could have anyone tripping into some area, conscious or no, which opens the floodgates -- and me being near infamous for harping on the fact the music itself can convey 'nothing,' about each time also saying it is one collective Rorschach blot. Certainly, this emotional trigger / response is part of _what music is for_.


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## belfastboy (Aug 3, 2012)

PetrB said:


> Just checking  Music, I think next to the sense of smell, is perhaps the strongest trigger of some emotion there could be. Without association, the somewhat alpha state we get into _if we have given ourselves up to it completely_ could have anyone tripping into some area, conscious or no, which opens the floodgates -- and me being near infamous for harping on the fact the music itself can convey 'nothing,' about each time also saying it is one collective Rorschach blot. Certainly, this emotional trigger / response is part of _what music is for_.


I don't have the sense of smell


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## belfastboy (Aug 3, 2012)

Not exactly under the classical music canopy but, I feel so moved when this guy starts his performance....I find his voice classical and stunning. ...hope you agree....(Do love the original artist though)!


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

belfastboy said:


> Dido & Aeneas, Act 3: "When I Am Laid in Earth" - Is is just emotional or am I confusing emotion with depression!


I think you would have to be fairly dead not to respond to this, a near as perfect wedding of music and text as is about in the literature. It is gorgeous, it is wrenching -- it is profoundly well-written 

Try Schubert's _Nacht und träume_





Or no audible words or voice present, this:
Mozart ~ Piano Concerto No.23 in A, K.488; ii. Adagio
All the worse for a brief respite of 'up' in the middle section...


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Makes me depressed. Or perhaps I just haven't found the right girl yet.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Even worse. Match.com would never give me Schubert's phone number.


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## belfastboy (Aug 3, 2012)

PetrB said:


> Try Schubert's _Nacht und träume_


Thanks for posting this - you have cheered me up! I love it,....beautiful....thanks

Regards,
Sean.


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

hpowders said:


> Even worse. Match.com would never give me Schubert's phone number.


Would not have mattered, perpetually disconnected due to lack of funds....


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

PetrB said:


> Would not have mattered, perpetually disconnected due to lack of funds....


I could write to him via his web page, WWW.Trout.com


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

belfastboy said:


> Dido & Aeneas, Act 3: "When I Am Laid in Earth" - Is is just emotional or am I confusing emotion with depression!


Yeah. I simply cannot take that slow heavy quality that tends to put me to sleep every time. Happens to me in some super slow minor key Handel arias too.

Some folks call it beautiful. I consider it deadly.


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## belfastboy (Aug 3, 2012)

hpowders said:


> Yeah. I simply cannot take that slow heavy quality that tends to put me to sleep every time. Happens to me in some super slow minor key Handel arias too.
> 
> Some folks call it beautiful. I consider it deadly.


I appreciate your comments, I suppose it really has a time and a place! I just feel as I move up the age brackets my enjoyment changes...


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

belfastboy said:


> I appreciate your comments, I suppose it really has a time and a place! I just feel as I move up the age brackets my enjoyment changes...


There's something about minor key adagios that makes me want to leave the room....QUICKLY!!!


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

hpowders said:


> I could write to him via his web page, WWW.Trout.com


or try WWW.Unvollendete.edu[url]


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## belfastboy (Aug 3, 2012)

PetrB said:


> I think you would have to be fairly dead not to respond to this, a near as perfect wedding of music and text as is about in the literature. It is gorgeous, it is wrenching -- it is profoundly well-written
> 
> Try Schubert's _Nacht und träume_
> 
> ...


I do love this Mozart Concerto....I'm painting a rather dull image of myself in this thread!! lol....I am rather a happy, funny, easy to get on with kinda guy. Loves a Guinness (ok several), loves dancing! Some times even reach's for Marilyn Manson, House or Techno.....over and out.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

PetrB said:


> or try WWW.Unvollendete.edu[url][/QUOTE]
> I got an error message.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

belfastboy said:


> I do love this Mozart Concerto....I'm painting a rather dull image of myself in this thread!! lol....I am rather a happy, funny, easy to get on with kinda guy. Loves a Guinness (ok several), loves dancing! Some times even reach's for Marilyn Manson, House or Techno.....over and out.


 The Mozart 23rd is my favorite Mozart keyboard concerto.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

I'm not dull either. I just don't like a lot of minor key adagios, especially from the baroque period.


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## brianvds (May 1, 2013)

For some reason, the second of Chopin's Trois nouvelles études has a profound tear-jerking effect on me, with its wistful sadness. Not sure whether anyone else on the planet experiences the piece this way. And the same thing happens with Tallis' _Spem in alium. _

For the rest, I suppose I am affected by the same old sad warhorses as everyone else: Barber's adagio for strings, for example. And the slow movement from Mozart's piano concerto no. 23.


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

Xenakis - Persepolis

It just get's me there, straight where it counts. I have taken it with me on road trips and vacations. The perfect musical companion... on endless repeat.


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

belfastboy said:


> I appreciate your comments, I suppose it really has a time and a place! I just feel as I move up the age brackets my enjoyment changes...


Oh, no!  another pulling out "the age card." :lol:


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

hpowders said:


> I got an error message.


Hey, you don't pay your bills....


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

brotagonist said:


> Xenakis - Persepolis
> 
> It just get's me there, straight where it counts. I have taken it with me on road trips and vacations. The perfect musical companion... on endless repeat.


I'm more than guilty of 'misusing' Morton Feldman's _Piano and String Quartet_ in a similar manner. I would be hard pressed to name any specific emotion I get from it, but I certainly like _being there._ At one hour and twenty-nine minutes, I still put it on repeat play... a lot.
{alert -- ad at beginning of link}


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

PetrB said:


> Hey, you don't pay your bills....


Perhaps, you are right! I stepped out for a while then came back, flicked the switch and my computer decided to set me up for a wireless mouse when I am already wired! I could just see Beethoven picking up my iMac and smashing it on the floor in a rage!
I resorted to a less drastic measure. I turned the machine off and restarted it.


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## CypressWillow (Apr 2, 2013)

brianvds said:


> For some reason, the second of Chopin's Trois nouvelles études has a profound tear-jerking effect on me, with its wistful sadness. Not sure whether anyone else on the planet experiences the piece this way....


 *raises hand* I do! I do! So wonderful to find someone else who responds to it the same way.

And then this aria. I love it in many incarnations, but when Bjorling sings it, I'm in tears almost from the first note:






In this video, I sometimes watch his face at the end, wondering if he's realizing how sublime it was. I hope so.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Jussi Bjorling at his best: Beethoven Missa Solemnis with Arturo Toscanini and Alexander Kipnis thrown in for good measure!


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## Headphone Hermit (Jan 8, 2014)

Yes - absolutely

First time it happened was in a record shop (anyone remember them???) when I was first getting intoo classical music and I grumbled that Kanawa's version of Chants d'Auvergne had disappointed me and the owner put on the version by Victoria de los Angeles. I can still remember the tingle down my spine and the tears leapt to my eyes. Wonderful stuff - stilll does it for me, even now.

since then, has happened many times to me. Always at a concert when I hear some Berlioz (must be the release of tension that builds up in anticipation and expectation) but on record there's loads of stuff ..... for example (in no particular order) some recent examples include:

Maria Yudina playing Bach
Maria Callas singing Bellini
Carlos Kleiber conducting Beethoven's 7th
Zara Dolukhanova singing Shostakovich's Songs from Jewish Folk 
Nathan Milstein playing the slow movement of Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto

Don't suppose we'll ever work out why it happens to some people more than others, but it is very real for me


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

While we're on the subject, Nathan Milstein performing the fugue from JS Bach's Sonata #3 in C for solo violin.


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## Rachmanijohn (Jan 2, 2014)

Mahler's _Kindertotenlieder_...gets me every time. So moving.


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

Middle movement "Emperor" concerto.
Can't make it through it,


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Music doesn't make me cry real tears. Feeling profoundly sad is usually as far as it goes with me. Music which is about death usually stirs this emotion, whether it's sad and slow, chiming in with melancholy feelings, or solemn & stately, reminding me that all the pomp of earth will pass. An example of the first is Carolan's Farewell to Music:






An example of the second is Purcell's Music for the Funeral of Queen Mary, which I believe was also used for the composer's funeral.


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

Sometimes the sheer beauty of a piece will draw tears from me.
Like the overwhelming beauty of Beethoven's Pastoral symphony.
Or the beauty of a Mozart aria.

I think I've shed more tears from overwhelming beauty than sadness actually.


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## Headphone Hermit (Jan 8, 2014)

Itullian said:


> Sometimes the sheer beauty of a piece will draw tears from me.
> Like the overwhelming beauty of Beethoven's Pastoral symphony.
> Or the beauty of a Mozart aria.
> 
> I think I've shed more tears from overwhelming beauty than sadness actually.


Me too - the simple joy of beauty does it for me sometimes as well:tiphat:


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## Headphone Hermit (Jan 8, 2014)

hpowders said:


> While we're on the subject, Nathan Milstein performing the fugue from JS Bach's Sonata #3 in C for solo violin.


Oh yes - I'm going to rush off to get that off the shelf right now!


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

I have to go with Ingélou. I have never shed real tears over music.
However, not so with some of those chick flicks I am occasionally persuaded to sit through!


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## Winterreisender (Jul 13, 2013)

As much as I enjoy those bombastic adagios along the lines of Rachmaninoff's Second Symphony, I find myself far more moved by pieces which are restrained, melancholic and reflective. Therefore I think of Grieg's Piano Concerto (2nd mvt.) or even something as simple as Couperin's _Mysterious Barricades_. Perhaps Vaughan Williams' 5th Symphony as well, a piece which has a great nostalgic effect for me. Or Mozart's _Laudate Dominum_ from the Vespers.


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

PetrB said:


> Oh, no!  another pulling out "the age card." :lol:


But he's only a student.


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

Ingélou said:


> Music doesn't make me cry real tears. Feeling profoundly sad is usually as far as it goes with me. Music which is about death usually stirs this emotion, whether it's sad and slow, chiming in with melancholy feelings, or solemn & stately, reminding me that all the pomp of earth will pass. An example of the first is Carolan's Farewell to Music:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I'm surpised to hear that from you. In my case it's the voice, there are certain singers who I can only listen to alone.


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## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

Sometimes I cry during a piece I'm listening to, right at the moment it hits me, but I also have cried a few minutes _after _I finished hearing a piece, sometimes even longer than that, when all has fallen silent. I think in those instances, it's because the ending made an impression on me that took me a while to process. Also, extramusical things have made me cry. For example, thinking about Shostakovich's life situation at the time of the 5th Symphony while listening to the Largo can do it for me. I can almost imagine him embracing his son and wife in that movement, whispering, "Is it too much to ask that I not be taken from you? You're all I've got." I learned in Music History this past semester that this sentiment was recognized by many of the listeners at its premiere, who were having their own loved ones be taken away in the Great Terror...


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## stevederekson (Jan 5, 2014)

peeyaj said:


> *This guy:*
> 
> 
> 
> ...


What piece is that?


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## Rachmanijohn (Jan 2, 2014)

The 3rd movement of Beethoven's 9th always gets me there. Especially in context; it's got some unbelievably poignant moments.


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## stevederekson (Jan 5, 2014)

The only pieces of music that have physically made me cry, for whatever reason, have been:

1. Abbado Lohengrin - When all the voices merge together during Elsa's procession.
2. Wesendonck Lieder - Schmerzen
3. The quiet chorus before the finale of Mahler 8 - Tennstedt


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

The only thing related to music which practically brings me to tears is the price of some of these imported CD's!


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## Richannes Wrahms (Jan 6, 2014)

Mahler's 2 ending allways brings me to tears if I listen to it isolated from the rest of the work. However, the second movement of Tchaikovsky's 5 and the last of Sibelius's 5 work better at the task inside the complete work. Also Sibelius's 7 and the second movement of Ravel's piano concerto can make me cry if they are perfectly permormed. Outside those worlds I'm not a very emotional person at all, because for me it's all about the music by itself (without any kind extra musical associations).


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

I cry at the movies, but never from listening to music. Listening to music makes me feel fantastic, elevated, even religious, no matter what the mood of the piece.


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## scratchgolf (Nov 15, 2013)

hpowders said:


> I cry at the movies, but never from listening to music. Listening to music makes me feel fantastic, elevated, even religious, no matter what the mood of the piece.


I think this is valid, and personal experience comes into play. I've cried during movies and musical performances. There's certainly a manipulation in movies, more so than music, that can evoke strong emotional response. With music, and in my experience, it's less manipulation and more of a joyful nature. A certain piece, listened to on 10 different occasions, can cause tears twice, happiness 5 times, and a distracted indifference the rest. In recent years, movies have elicited a much stronger response from me than in my youth. I've also stopped trying to mask my emotions. The current movie Lone Survivor hits a little too close to home for me and I've decided not to watch it in the theater. Not out of embarrassment, but more a desire to have a personal experience with it.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

scratchgolf said:


> I think this is valid, and personal experience comes into play. I've cried during movies and musical performances. There's certainly a manipulation in movies, more so than music, that can evoke strong emotional response. With music, and in my experience, it's less manipulation and more of a joyful nature. A certain piece, listened to on 10 different occasions, can cause tears twice, happiness 5 times, and a distracted indifference the rest. In recent years, movies have elicited a much stronger response from me than in my youth. I've also stopped trying to mask my emotions. The current movie Lone Survivor hits a little too close to home for me and I've decided not to watch it in the theater. Not out of embarrassment, but more a desire to have a personal experience with it.


I can really get emotional watching movies but I am more amazed and in awe, than close to tears when listening to great classical music.


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## techniquest (Aug 3, 2012)

> 3. The quiet chorus before the finale of Mahler 8 - Tennstedt


Yes, Yes, YES! That is so wonderful; especially when it is a well rehearsed, well disciplined choir that can manage to keep the high notes as quiet as the lower ones.
The second movement of Vaughan Williams' 2nd symphony always gets to me, especially being a Londoner.





An unusual one, but it gets me every time is this section from the second part of Gorecki's 2nd symphony (in this clip from the start to about 2:40) when the choir enters in the major with hushed tam-tam after the bass soloists mournful singing. It's as if the sun has come out from behind a huge cloud. Absolutely beautiful.


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## DeepR (Apr 13, 2012)

hpowders said:


> I can really get emotional watching movies but I am more amazed and in awe, than close to tears when listening to great classical music.


Movies make you care for the story and characters and I admit they can leave a strong impression. 
But music I feel is much more personal. It speaks to me intimately and in ways that can't be expressed otherwise. It can reach into my very being.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

DeepR said:


> Movies make you care for the story and characters and I admit they can leave a strong impression.
> But music I feel is much more personal. It speaks to me intimately and in ways that can't be expressed otherwise. It can reach into my very being.


Yes. Music moves me very much too, but never makes me cry. Yet I'm a sap for those darn Lifetime Movies/Chick Flicks! The tears simply come out in buckets!!!


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## Blake (Nov 6, 2013)

The Adagio to Bruckner's 7th is a heart-tenderizer.


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## Johnwilliam (Feb 21, 2014)

Rachmaninovs Second symphony and Elgars Cello Concerto turn me into a blubbing babby particularly the Du Pre Cello with the tragic back story. Cliche i know.


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## Tristan (Jan 5, 2013)

One piece of music that has always been able to give me that lump in the throat feeling and tear down the cheek is "Le jardin feérique" by Ravel. There's something about:






The finale to Swan Lake has also been able to induce that reaction in me, with or without the performance accompanying.


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## Richannes Wrahms (Jan 6, 2014)

This didn't make me cry at all but it is certainly "psychological music". It could be perfectly transcribed for string orchestra for those who still reject choral stuff (I know I did until relatively recently). The "Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis" fan club will love this too.


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## Mister Man (Feb 3, 2014)

The fourth movement of Beethoven's 9th Symphony.


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## Ravndal (Jun 8, 2012)

ahammel said:


> There are a few. I save Strauss' _Four Last Songs_ for when I've had a really bad day.


Yes. Incredibly beautiful, and very Sad.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Never actually cried, but these come closest:

Mahler - Kindertotenlieder, Abschied (Das Lied von der Erde)
Gorecki - Symphony 3
Bach - St Matthew Passion
Strauss - Vier letzte Lieder
Mozart - Adagio from Clarinet concerto*

* we used this at the funeral of my mother in 1992 and my father last year


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Mahler Kindertotenlieder with Janet Baker and Leonard Bernstein will bring you to tears.


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## helpmeplslol (Feb 1, 2014)

Chopin Op.17 Mazurka No.4. Has a grounding effect on my mind.


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## schuberkovich (Apr 7, 2013)

Dvorak: cello concerto. The second and third movements in particular: especially this passage [31:13]:





Also - Beethoven: cavatina from op.130, 3rd movement of op.132, 2nd movement of 5th piano concerto
Brahms: 3rd movement of 3rd piano quartet


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

I find Dvorak's cello concerto to be his finest work.


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## EDaddy (Nov 16, 2013)

Concerto No 21 In C, for Pno & Orch, K467 'Elvira Madigan' ii Andante still gets me after 1001 listens. This version in particular.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Ives Concord Piano Sonata. Movement #3 "The Alcotts". Achingly beautiful and passionate.


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## EDaddy (Nov 16, 2013)

scratchgolf said:


> I think this is valid, and personal experience comes into play. I've cried during movies and musical performances. There's certainly a manipulation in movies, more so than music, that can evoke strong emotional response. With music, and in my experience, it's less manipulation and more of a joyful nature. A certain piece, listened to on 10 different occasions, can cause tears twice, happiness 5 times, and a distracted indifference the rest. In recent years, movies have elicited a much stronger response from me than in my youth. I've also stopped trying to mask my emotions. The current movie Lone Survivor hits a little too close to home for me and I've decided not to watch it in the theater. Not out of embarrassment, but more a desire to have a personal experience with it.


Lone Survivor kicked my @#$%*! Saw it in the theater by myself. I think you are wise to "have a personal experience with it". I Kinda wish I had in retrospect, although I think it's bryral impact was all the more so from being experienced on the big screen with the umma gumma sound system. I was a slobbering mess by the end; the guy in the back blowing his nose-horn. The music is very much a part of that experience. I think you'll see what I mean.


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## gracewie (Feb 25, 2014)

Definitely the ending of Mahler's "symphony of a thousand".. it sounds like the creation of a universe


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

I agree. You know so many folks on TC have put down Mahler's 8th!

As far as the ending of Mahler's 8th is concerned, you have no idea what a shattering impact it has unless you hear it at a live performance. No sound system can do it complete justice.


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## Whistler Fred (Feb 6, 2014)

Music often moves me to tears, though they are more frequently happy tears. The third and fourth movements of Respighi's Ancient Airs and Dances, in a good performance, will always do that to me. There's just something about the serene beauty of "Campanae parisienses & Aria" and the joyous dance of "Bergamasca" that moves me every time I hear it.


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## Tristan (Jan 5, 2013)

hpowders said:


> I agree. You know so many folks on TC have put down Mahler's 8th!
> 
> As far as the ending of Mahler's 8th is concerned, you have no idea what a shattering impact it has unless you hear it at a live performance. No sound system can do it complete justice.


I completely agree about Mahler's 8th. I've seen it in concert twice and it is amazing--listening to it on headphones simply doesn't compare.

I know it's often put down on this site and I can see why, but I don't agree with it frankly. Mahler himself thought highly of the work and for good reason


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Tristan said:


> I completely agree about Mahler's 8th. I've seen it in concert twice and it is amazing--listening to it on headphones simply doesn't compare.
> 
> I know it's often put down on this site and I can see why, but I don't agree with it frankly. Mahler himself thought highly of the work and for good reason


I love all Mahler Symphonies after the first one.
Anyone who hates the 8th needs to hear it live, though admittedly, finding such a performance will be difficult.
My favorite performance is one given live in Carnegie Hall in the 1950's by Leopold Stokowski. 
Absolutely electrifying!!


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Tristan said:


> I completely agree about Mahler's 8th. I've seen it in concert twice and it is amazing--listening to it on headphones simply doesn't compare.
> 
> I know it's often put down on this site and I can see why, but I don't agree with it frankly. Mahler himself thought highly of the work and for good reason


I find quite a few posters do not seem to like singing in their music. That could be the reason.


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## DeepR (Apr 13, 2012)

I would've liked it better if it had only choir singing and no soloists. But I agree about the ending, it's already mesmerizing through speakers so I can't even imagine what it must be like to hear live.

I also don't get why it's being put down as trash.


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