# Music which focuses on a calm atmosphere



## Fredx2098 (Jun 24, 2018)

In my experience, most classical music seems like a rollercoaster between slow, quiet sections and loud, intense sections, with a focus on the intense sections, if there are even any quiet sections. It seems very rare for music to focus on the calm moments, and especially rare for the music to be entirely calm with no rollercoaster feeling. Composers who come to mind are Morton Feldman, Erik Satie, and Jeremy Soule. Three isn't a satisfactory number for me, so I would appreciate any suggestions! My favorite classical music develops slowly, it can subtly increase in volume but doesn't have a wide dynamic range, tempo range, intensity range, etc. On the side from that, I also like music with an abstract combination of consonance and dissonance. Music that is both calm and dissonant seems like even more of a rarity, so that would be a nice bonus.


----------



## Triplets (Sep 4, 2014)

Aarvo Part and John Taverner


----------



## Fredx2098 (Jun 24, 2018)

Triplets said:


> Aarvo Part and John Taverner


I always forget about Part! I love Spiegel Im Spiegel and Fur Alina. But did you mean John Tavener? There are composers by each of those names that seem to have a similar style, coincidentally, but Tavener seems more likely to be mentioned after Part.


----------



## Larkenfield (Jun 5, 2017)

Very good observations! Try this ambient Eno classic for its notable serenity & calm:








> The music was designed to be continuously looped as a sound installation, with the intent of defusing the tense, anxious atmosphere of an airport terminal by avoiding the derivative and familiar elements of typical "canned music". To achieve this, Eno sought to create music that would "accommodate many levels of listening attention without enforcing one in particular; it must be as ignorable as it is interesting." Rather than brightening and regularizing the atmosphere of an environment as typical background music does, Music for Airports is "intended to induce calm and a space to think. [unquote]
> 
> It's a personal favorite and I feelits intended purpose works beautifully.


----------



## Fredx2098 (Jun 24, 2018)

Larkenfield said:


> Very good observations! Try this ambient Eno classic for its notable serenity & calm


Oh yeah, I love that album! He's quite an eclectic guy. I also enjoy Discreet Music and Thursday Afternoon for a classical sound. It just clicked that that album probably inspired some of the music for Minecraft, which has a nice selection of calm music like that.


----------



## Guest (Aug 29, 2018)

I'm a huge Pärt fan so I will also recommend his music.

But also, Toshio Hosokawa. Definitely Hosokawa.


----------



## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

The slow movement of the Hammerklavier Sonata.


----------



## tortkis (Jul 13, 2013)

Wolfgang von Schweinitz: Plainsound Counterpoint for double bass





John Cage's number pieces are calming.
Two4 for violin and shō







Fredx2098 said:


> Oh yeah, I love that album! He's quite an eclectic guy. I also enjoy Discreet Music and Thursday Afternoon for a classical sound. It just clicked that that album probably inspired some of the music for Minecraft, which has a nice selection of calm music like that.


Music for Airport, Discreet Music and Thursday Afternoon are my top favorites of Brian Eno albums.
This is more classical, with a bit of climax, but mostly in a calm and melancholic mood.
Stephen Whittington: Music for Airport Furniture - Zephyr Quartet


----------



## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

You want peace and quiet? Respighi: _Ancient Airs and Dances_. Music, beautiful music, to sooth the fevered brow. Often just the thing as an antidote to too much musical _Sturm und Drang_. Love it!


----------



## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

MarkW said:


> The slow movement of the Hammerklavier Sonata.


I find that slow movement builds up quite a bit of tension over time, culminating in a striking passage near the end. After that things subside until the awakening that leads into the fugue...which is definitely not a "calm atmosphere" piece!


----------



## regenmusic (Oct 23, 2014)

Faure has this and many other pieces of his are calm. Of course, much of Satie.


----------



## Lisztian (Oct 10, 2011)

Lots of Debussy does this. Example:


----------



## Guest (Aug 29, 2018)

A lot of Catherine Lamb as well:


----------



## Fredx2098 (Jun 24, 2018)

shirime said:


> A lot of Catherine Lamb as well


I'm loving this. I'm pretty much in the dark about contemporary music and female composers, so that should help! I checked out Hosokawa as well and found it more unsettling than calm, but I did like it.


----------



## Fredx2098 (Jun 24, 2018)

Speaking of Pärt, does anyone know what is with albums that have multiple recordings with the same title? For example, the album Alina has 3 separate tracks called Spiegel im Spiegel divided by 2 tracks called Für Alina, and the album Tabula Rasa has 2 separate tracks called Fratres. Are they simply different performances of the pieces, or is there actually something different about each iteration?


----------



## Eusebius12 (Mar 22, 2010)




----------



## Guest (Aug 29, 2018)

Fredx2098 said:


> Speaking of Pärt, does anyone know what is with albums that have multiple recordings with the same title? For example, the album Alina has 3 separate tracks called Spiegel im Spiegel divided by 2 tracks called Für Alina, and the album Tabula Rasa has 2 separate tracks called Fratres. Are they simply different performances of the pieces, or is there actually something different about each iteration?


In the Tabula Rasa recording on ECM there are two versions of _Fratres_: 1st track is for Violin and Piano (my personal favourite) and later on there's a version for cellos. They are both fairly different.

on Alina, tracks 1 and 5 are _Spiegel im Spiegel_ for violin and piano, I believe they are just two performances by the same musicians. Tracks 2 and 4 are two performances of _Für Alina_ (solo piano) and track 2 is _Spiegel im Spiegel_ for cello and piano. The differences between the cello and violin versions of _Spiegel im Spiegel_ are just instrumentation and octave, I believe.

The two different _Fratres_ versions are certainly more different; the cello version plays through the basic process resulting in a long series of chord progressions, whereas the violin and piano version has that series of chord progressions solely in the piano with a solo violin line over the top playing new material derived from the harmonies of the piano. The violin and piano version also has a very virtuosic introduction section for violin, outlining the basic process of the movement of pitches but with rapid arpeggios.











There are also other versions for different instrumental combinations.

I'm not sure exactly the reason for having repeated performances of _Spiegel im Spiegel_ and _Für Alina_ on a CD, but I can imagine that it would be quite nice in a performance.


----------



## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Cage’s ASLSP hasn’t caused any cases of high blood pressure or overexcitement. As performed at Halberstadt, it took 4 years for the first chord to be played. There have been several chord changes since then, with the next planned for 2020. It will end in 2640 if you can stay awake that long.


----------



## Fredx2098 (Jun 24, 2018)

KenOC said:


> Cage's ASLSP hasn't caused any cases of high blood pressure or overexcitement. As performed at Halberstadt, it took 4 years for the first chord to be played. There have been several chord changes since then, with the next planned for 2020. It will end in 2640 if you can stay awake that long.


I actually enjoy that piece when it's played for about 5 minutes, too bad there's not more material for a longer piece with tangible rhythm.


----------



## geralmar (Feb 15, 2013)

Ravel, Rapsodie Espagnole
And, at the risk of severe backlash: Vaughan Williams, Lark Ascending


----------



## aleazk (Sep 30, 2011)

I like John Cage's "number pieces", like this one:


----------



## Jacck (Dec 24, 2017)

Fredx2098 said:


> It seems very rare for music to focus on the calm moments, and especially rare for the music to be entirely calm with no rollercoaster feeling....


this spells "boring" to me. The composer that comes to my mind is Delius. Try searching for ambient music, it is mostly slow atmospheric music without much happening in it.


----------



## aleazk (Sep 30, 2011)

While not Feldman-like, Takemitsu's music is often tranquil:


----------



## Fredx2098 (Jun 24, 2018)

Jacck said:


> this spells "boring" to me. The composer that comes to my mind is Delius. Try searching for ambient music, it is mostly slow atmospheric music without much happening in it.


Well, alright. I like to focus on the other aspects of sound and natural dynamics created. I'm not looking for ambient, I have a plentiful collection.


----------



## sonance (Aug 20, 2018)

Not sure, whether I fully understood the opening post; so just trying:
- Walter Zimmermann, Distentio:




- Nikolaus Brass, Zeit im Grund:





I admit that I have to be in a very special mood to listen. But when I do I'm gaining a lot.

I've got the Zimmermann and several CDs by Brass, but not the one mentioned above. It is on my wishlist. In case you like this kind of music, you might be interested to read the booklet text on the label's website:
https://neos-music.com/index.php?la...ish-album-details.php&content=Alben/11112.php


----------



## Guest (Aug 29, 2018)

Whoooaaa finally I found another Nikolaus Brass fan! 

Zeit um Grund is a good work. I would also say his String Quartet no. 4 often has very calm moments and I think would fit this thread quite nicely.


----------



## sonance (Aug 20, 2018)

shirime said:


> Whoooaaa finally I found another Nikolaus Brass fan!
> 
> Zeit um Grund is a good work. I would also say his String Quartet no. 4 often has very calm moments and I think would fit this thread quite nicely.


Thanks for the reassuring reply.

Yes, ever since I got to know Nikolaus Brass, I hold him in high esteem. My CDs are Chamber music vol. 1; String Quartets vol. 1 (nos. 2, 3 and another without title/number); Orchestral works vol. 1 and Songlines (for solo strings). On first listening I didn't like the latter, but for sure I will listen again. Thanks for bringing String Quartet IV to my attention (wish list growing longer and longer ...).


----------



## Guest (Aug 29, 2018)

sonance said:


> Thanks for the reassuring reply.
> 
> Yes, ever since I got to know Nikolaus Brass, I hold him in high esteem. My CDs are Chamber music vol. 1; String Quartets vol. 1 (nos. 2, 3 and another without title/number); Orchestral works vol. 1 and Songlines (for solo strings). On first listening I didn't like the latter, but for sure I will listen again. Thanks for bringing String Quartet IV to my attention (wish list growing longer and longer ...).


I have the orchestral works and a couple of other CDs including String Quartet IV. The String Trios are a personal favourite, though perhaps not quite as _calm_ as Fred would prefer. I am yet to listen to Songlines........


----------



## JAS (Mar 6, 2013)

If one is not in the right mood, there is nothing more stressful than trying to be calm.


----------



## Fredx2098 (Jun 24, 2018)

I like extremes, extreme intensity and extreme calm, but for intensity I usually go with "rock" genres like grindcore, and for classical I find the most calm music to be the most moving.


----------



## DeepR (Apr 13, 2012)

Larkenfield said:


> Very good observations! Try this ambient Eno classic for its notable serenity & calm:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Music for Airports usually gets most of the attention, but I vastly prefer Ambient 2: The Plateaux of Mirror, The Pearl (also with Harold Budd) and Ambient 4: On Land. They have a more refined sound and style. The final piece of On Land is my favorite of them all, in fact, one of my favorite pieces of music:


----------



## Richannes Wrahms (Jan 6, 2014)

Some time ago I was inspired by Feldman and Takemitsu, so I tried to make a calm piece by writing single lines and "picking out" tones (to form harmonies) with my ear. As an amateur though the result might be found cheap and inconsequential.


__
https://soundcloud.com/richannes-wrahms%2Fbagatelle-for-string-quartet-no2


----------



## Azol (Jan 25, 2015)

https://projektrecords.bandcamp.com/album/structures-from-silence

Speaking of ambient, you should not miss brilliant Structures From Silence by Steve Roach. A masterpiece!


----------



## Fredx2098 (Jun 24, 2018)

Azol said:


> https://projektrecords.bandcamp.com/album/structures-from-silence
> 
> Speaking of ambient, you should not miss brilliant Structures From Silence by Steve Roach. A masterpiece!


A masterpiece for sure, one of my favorite albums!


----------



## SuperTonic (Jun 3, 2010)

I find the music of Simeon ten Holt very calming. His music is more rhythmically active than Feldman, but despite all of the notes, it still have a very static feeling to it. His best known pieces is the Canto Ostinato, which is typical of his mature work.


----------



## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

Virtually any choral and organ works by Maurice Duruflé - his music is very often devotional in a gentle, almost private way.


----------



## Larkenfield (Jun 5, 2017)

Most of the Mahler adagios from his symphonies, the slow movements, often have an inwardly serene and calm atmosphere though of course there’s the dynamic range to consider.


----------



## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

Fredx2098 said:


> I like extremes, extreme intensity and extreme calm......


This part of your post is describing Kancheli's music - long, quiet, still sections with occasional loud and very colourful explosions.


----------



## Fredx2098 (Jun 24, 2018)

Enthusiast said:


> This part of your post is describing Kancheli's music - long, quiet, still sections with occasional loud and very colourful explosions.


I meant more like pieces of music that focus on one extreme or the other, but I do enjoy music that goes back and forth from extremes without much middle ground. Stravinsky comes to mind, are they comparable? Any suggestions of pieces?


----------



## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Many of the Debussy piano preludes focus on a calm atmosphere...the effect of which is to put me to sleep.


----------



## licorice stick (Nov 24, 2014)

How about Mendelssohn's "Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage Overture" and Ives's "Unanswered Question?"


----------



## Azol (Jan 25, 2015)

Fredx2098 said:


> I meant more like pieces of music that focus on one extreme or the other, but I do enjoy music that goes back and forth from extremes without much middle ground. Stravinsky comes to mind, are they comparable? Any suggestions of pieces?


You should listen to Silvestrov!


----------

