# Help me build a "stress buster" playlist



## marcospt (Apr 6, 2020)

Hello all! Going through some tough times mentally so I'm building a playlist with the theme being soothing, sort of "dreamy" music. Music helps me relax and balance 

Here's some I've picked as reference:

- Chopin: Andante spianato





- Debussy - Reverie 





- Chopin etude op.25 no.1 aeolian harp





Short string or symphonic work is also welcome.

No "Fur Elise" please! :-D

Thank you!


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## consuono (Mar 27, 2020)

Slow movements from some of the Mahler symphonies come to mind, especially the fifth and sixth.
(edit)Or something like this:




Or this:


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

Slow movement from Hammerklavier Sonata.


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## pianozach (May 21, 2018)

*Delius* may be just the relaxation you're looking for.











And some others:

A Midsummer Night's Dream, Op. 61, Act III: Nocturne (Mendelssohn)
3 Liebestraume, S541/R211: No. 3: Nocturne in A-Flat Major (Liszt)
2 Elegiac Melodies, Op. 34: No. 2. Last Spring (Grieg)
Le tombeau de Couperin: Menuet (Ravel)
Violin Romance No. 2 in G Major, Op. 50 (Beethoven)


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## Nereffid (Feb 6, 2013)

Part: Spiegel im Spiegel


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## Xisten267 (Sep 2, 2018)

MarkW said:


> Slow movement from Hammerklavier Sonata.


I think that he wants soft, lyrical music to relax, not intense, passionate music.


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

Satie's Trois Gymnopedies is always a great one for relaxing.


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## Xisten267 (Sep 2, 2018)

_Ma Mère L'oye_ is a lyrical and in my opinion very beautiful piece that Ravel wrote for children. I think that it's perfect to give peace. You may like it:


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## Jacck (Dec 24, 2017)

for me, the best works for stress are the modernist composers. So I would recommend *Boulez Piano Sonata 2* or *Wellesz Symphony 5* or something from Schoenberg


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## Torkelburger (Jan 14, 2014)

Rachmaninoff _Vespers_ especially movement 5 - "Now Lettest Thou Depart". The quarter note accompaniment ostinato throughout is hypnotic. And the low basses are relaxing in all movements, especially this one where at the end they descend to a low Bb below the staff.






Eric Whitacre's _Sleep_ I think is meant to relax you and the end is either meant to actually send you off to sleep or is symbolic of the act of falling asleep, so should relax you.


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## ORigel (May 7, 2020)

The trio of Bruckner's Symphony No. 8 is good, but it comes attached to a scherzo that is not stress releiving.

Beethoven Piano Sonata No. 30 first movement

Part Summa Credo

Brahms German Requiem third and fourth movement

Schubert Notturno for Piano Trio

Bartok Concerto for Orchestra Movement 3


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)




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## MatthewWeflen (Jan 24, 2019)

It's not short by any means, but Beethoven's 6th is my go-to "happy place" composition.






This is one of my favorites. Other good recordings are Adam Fischer and John Eliot Gardiner.

I joke or doesn't quite fit what the OP asked for. It's just my number one stress relief piece. I almost always feel better after hearing it.


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## pianozach (May 21, 2018)

The non-bombastic movements of Holst's The Planets:

*Venus* and _*Neptune*_


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## Swosh (Feb 25, 2018)

I think it's different for each person. I can't really choose music for you that only I find relieves my stress xD You just keep looking for new music!!


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## Alfacharger (Dec 6, 2013)

Respighi Companea Parisienses from his transcriptions of Ancient Airs and Dances. Here is a video of both versions, piano solo and orchestra.


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## 20centrfuge (Apr 13, 2007)

I'd suggest the French:

Fauré: Pelléas et Mélisande, Op.80 - 3. Sicilienne. Allegretto molto moderato


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## 20centrfuge (Apr 13, 2007)

Swosh said:


> I think it's different for each person. I can't really choose music for you that only I find relieves my stress xD You just keep looking for new music!!


I dream of a day when every response will be like this and we will no longer discuss anything. We'll just say "It's different for everyone."


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## Blancrocher (Jul 6, 2013)

If under stress, I'd probably just listen to the Well-Tempered Clavier all the time...seems to have worked for Shostakovich! 

Rosalyn Tureck is a steady guide.


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## NLAdriaan (Feb 6, 2019)

This box is a very good companion to me.


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## Taplow (Aug 13, 2017)

Try these on for size. Both highly recommended (by me!  )


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## Andante Largo (Apr 23, 2020)

I recommend the following works (all of them represent a Romantic style and also are emotional but in subtle way):

Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco - A Midsummer Night's Dream, Op. 108
Jean Sibelius - Two Serious Melodies for cello and orchestra, Op.77
Jean Sibelius - Symphony No. 7
Henryk Wieniawski - Legende in G minor, Op. 17
Frédéric Chopin - Berceuse in D flat major Op.57
Frédéric Chopin - Barcarolle in F sharp major, Op. 60
Ottorino Respighi - Poema autunnale, for violin & orchestra, P. 146 
Frederick Delius - The walk to the Paradise Garden


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## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

Surely Shostakovich’s Leningrad Symphony should be at the top of any stress bursting list?

Swiftly followed by any Bartok String Quartet!


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## isorhythm (Jan 2, 2015)

Virtually anything by Mozart. Maybe start with the Clarinet Quintet, Clarinet Concerto, and Ave Verum Corpus.


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## Allegro Con Brio (Jan 3, 2020)

Barbebleu said:


> Surely Shostakovich's Leningrad Symphony should be at the top of any stress bursting list?
> 
> Swiftly followed by any Bartok String Quartet!


Reminds me of this:


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

Allegro Con Brio said:


> Reminds me of this:


These are so bombastically silly that they're more amusing than relaxing

just kidding XD


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## jim prideaux (May 30, 2013)

Based on immediate personal experience and after a really stressful day...….give Finzi's Ecologue for Piano and Strings a go!


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## pianozach (May 21, 2018)

Allegro Con Brio said:


> Reminds me of this:


I'm glad I wasn't sipping coffee when the Bartok started playing . . . .:lol:


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

Some good suggestions for the OP. I would want different music to bust any stress I feel - it would need to be inspiring rather than peaceful.


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## Blancrocher (Jul 6, 2013)

Dark, rainy day today--took a long walk outside listening to Haydn's London Symphonies 100-104 on my headphones.


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## Allegro Con Brio (Jan 3, 2020)

I suppose the OP deserves a serious response from me. When I’ve had a tough day it’s always Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet. Can’t tell you why, it’s just like balm for the soul. Generally anything by Bach transports me to a different realm.


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## pianozach (May 21, 2018)

Enthusiast said:


> Some good suggestions for the OP. I would want different music to bust any stress I feel - it would need to be inspiring rather than peaceful.


Stress busting music might be quite different from inspiring music.

I'm sure we could come up with a list of music that is both inspiring AND stressbusting, yes?


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## isorhythm (Jan 2, 2015)

Another one I like, again assuming you don't mind religious music, is Bruckner's _Os justi meditabitur_.


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