# Bring out your Adagios, and Andantes



## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

(and Largos and Lentos and Graves, etc.)

I know hardcore classical enthusiasts get upset at the very suggestion that classical can be soothing, but confound it! I've had a rough week. Somehow I made it through without killing anyone. Can you help to calm me? Post your favorite adagios and andantes -- any genre, though I personally am looking for slightly lesser known stuff.

Here's one that came up on my random play today. It probably saved some poor soul on the other end of a business email from getting verbally filleted:


----------



## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

Weston said:


> (and Largos and Lentos and Graves, etc.)
> 
> I know hardcore classical enthusiasts get upset at the very suggestion that classical can be soothing, but confound it! I've had a rough week. Somehow I made it through without killing anyone. Can you help to calm me? Post your favorite adagios and andantes -- any genre, though I personally am looking for slightly lesser known stuff.






Originally premiered as "Two Lentos", and later revised/recomposed. A little dark, perhaps, but meditative.

(Then again, if you can find something Takemitsu composed that's faster than Allegretto, it's probably misattributed!)


----------



## Ravndal (Jun 8, 2012)

Okay. Behold: The most beautiful piano concerto slow movement ever written.






I'd recommend Argerich or Zimmerman instead. But that version is perfectly fine.


----------



## Prodromides (Mar 18, 2012)

Likely not to calm the original poster, but this _adagio_ is lesser known. 






It's also rather unique in that it is the ending movement in Humphrey Searle's Symphony No.3.


----------



## GreenMamba (Oct 14, 2012)

I love the slow movement (adagio molto) to Ives' 1st Symphony. Not "Ivesian" though, more in the Dvorak/Brahms mold.


----------



## Prodromides (Mar 18, 2012)

Christopher Young's score for HELLRAISER might capture one's soul:


----------



## Guest (Feb 9, 2013)

Bring out your Adagios, and Andantes 
Andante's what ???


----------



## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

Rather than hit the Like button mindlessly like the FaceBook zombie I can be at times, I'll just say I enjoyed all of these (well, I've got the Ives running now). 

I want to explore more from Takemitsu. I have streamed a few works and they all seem far more interesting than the piece "Tree Line" that I have in my collection.

The Ravel -- why did I think this piece was for piano, one hand? I'm confusing it with something else.

Humphrey Searle's - still calming in that it is is slow. Maybe I should say "focusing" which I can always use more of. A fine piece. I'm unfamiliar with him and looking to add him to my collection, but not finding a huge selection unless in CD format only.

The Ives, I know well. Very American.


----------



## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

Andante said:


> Bring out your Adagios, and Andantes
> Andante's what ???


Refined taste of course.


----------



## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

Weston said:


> I want to explore more from Takemitsu. I have streamed a few works and they all seem far more interesting than the piece "Tree Line" that I have in my collection.


I don't know if I've heard Tree Line, but some of his later works can be a bit samey....that's not to say they're bad, and sometimes when you get to know them better they reveal their individuality, but on first listen they might strike you as something you might have heard before.

Edit: Listened to Tree Line, in the BIS recording, via streaming. It's a good but not exceptional example of Takemitsu's late orchestral style. Perhaps you heard the Sony/London Symphony recording though? I'm listening to it now, and I think it's played too fast and unidiomatically.


----------



## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

Yes, with John Williams. ^


----------



## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

Weston said:


> Yes, with John Williams. ^


Before giving up on that piece, at least try to hear a better version. That one's not very good, in this Takemitsu fan's opinion. That said, he wrote better pieces in a similar style, so listening to those is probably more of a priority.

Here's another adagio for you. Don't be scared off by the composer's name, please!





Hope this is all working to get your pulse moderated.


----------



## Novelette (Dec 12, 2012)

All right, get ready to relax and be entranced by the ethereal and evocative genius of Liszt, beautifully performed. The tempo here is just about perfect, as this piece is accustomed to being rushed.


----------



## violadude (May 2, 2011)

Here's a few nice relaxing slow movements I can think of.

Bax symphony 3, movement 2






Elgar Serenade for strings in e minor





Milhaud piano concerto 2





Rubbra Symphony 6





Not really an adagio, but this piece is relaxing nonetheless
Somei Satoh, Birds Warped in Time





Yoshimatsu Dream colored mobile


----------



## Ravndal (Jun 8, 2012)

Weston said:


> Rather than hit the Like button mindlessly like the FaceBook zombie I can be at times, I'll just say I enjoyed all of these (well, I've got the Ives running now).
> 
> I want to explore more from Takemitsu. I have streamed a few works and they all seem far more interesting than the piece "Tree Line" that I have in my collection.
> 
> ...


He wrote two piano concertos  one for the left hand, and the other in G.


----------



## QuietGuy (Mar 1, 2014)

Try the 3rd movement of Bernstein's Chichester Psalms. Hold on through that thorny prelude, and wait for the "Peacefully flowing" theme in 10/4 ... this has always calmed me down.


----------



## Animato (Dec 5, 2013)

any slow movement from the Mozart Piano Concertos is soothing. But listen to the slow movement of KV 488 

or listen to the Overture to Parsival by Wagner: excellent music to calm down.


----------



## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

The second movement of Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony with the beautiful, moody oboe solo always brings me to a better state.


----------

