# Dark/Melancholy Classical music



## cumulus.james

hi people, I am new to both this forum and classical music. Since descovering Max Richter I am hungry for more classical music, however I tend to like dark/depressing/eerie music. I wonderd if anyone could reccommend some pieces/composers to me as i know nothing about classical composers and it is kinda overwhelming!

Thanks!


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## Huilunsoittaja

Shostakovich Symphonies, most of them. Watch out, eerie includes dissonant.

Rachmaninoff Piano Concertos nos. 2 & 3, especially 2.

Sibelius is quite dark in his tone poems (ex. Tapiola, although more positive).

Ives _Unanswered Question_, and _Central Park After Dark_.

Stravinsky Firebird Suite, especially the _Prelude _and_ Enchanted Garden._

All I can think of at the moment...


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## Chi_townPhilly

*The ubiquitous darkness*

The following threads may prove of interest for those in quest of the darkness:

dark, visceral, or beautiful
dramatic dark choral music
heavier & darker
sad/dark
bleak dark evil
dark classical

As one might readily tell, "dark" is something of a recurrent request around these parts.:devil:

You may also 'enjoy:'

epic angry intense
nightmarish
battle or war pieces
creepy/haunting
depressive/loud/powerful
powerful & spooky

:resists temptation to lock thread...:


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## Great Gate

*Melancholy Piece:*

I would say that the most melancholy classical piece in my collection is Tchaikovsky's Symphony #6, the Pathetique.

Great Gate


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## johnnyx

If vocal music is o.k. try this:


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## cumulus.james

Huilunsoittaja said:


> Shostakovich Symphonies, most of them. Watch out, eerie includes dissonant.
> 
> Rachmaninoff Piano Concertos nos. 2 & 3, especially 2.
> 
> Sibelius is quite dark in his tone poems (ex. Tapiola, although more positive).
> 
> Ives _Unanswered Question_, and _Central Park After Dark_.
> 
> Stravinsky Firebird Suite, especially the _Prelude _and_ Enchanted Garden._
> 
> All I can think of at the moment...


Thnaks a lot, I will search these out with haste!


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## cumulus.james

johnnyx said:


> If vocal music is o.k. try this:


I found this intriguing, something I may reference, but not really listen to. Might make you laugh to know I was sitting in the dark in the twilight in silence when I clicked the link and had not checked the volume, suffice to say it scared the living daylights out of me! Few horror movies have given me quite such a fright!!


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## Catharsis

By the way, you should check this out:
Slavko Osterc 'Suite'.


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## Sheridan

I love classical music and i am crazy about it,and i am very glad to read about my favorite topic in this forum.


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## Antiquarian

Scriabin / Nemetin : Universe (USSR Russian Chorus / Moscow Philharmonic, Cond. K. Kondrashin) is a particularly dark piece, particularly the conclusion. To me it evokes the darkness of the infinite void beyond which no stars hang.


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## Richannes Wrahms

There's nothing like low horns + tamtam (+ contrabassoon + low harps + pizz basses), the whole thing is a combination of darkness and delicate beauty one can only find of such refinement later in Berg.


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## Morimur

Beautiful. Bravo!


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## Igneous01

Something thats been on my mind for some time now. To me it is the epitome of despair.


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## Chronochromie

If you're up for vocal music, Schubert's Winterreise is a must. Can hardly get darker than that.


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## brianvds

Rachmaninov: Isle of the dead.

Bartok: Music for strings, percussion and celesta.


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## Chronochromie

brianvds said:


> Rachmaninov: Isle of the dead.


This 1000 times.


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## PetrB

Claude Debussy: from his Trois Nocturnes,
Nocturne No. 1 _Nuages_ (Clouds)




Nocturne No. 3 _Sirènes_
(under *about* find, "Nocturnes - 3. Sirènes 00:12:44" click on the blue highlighted time, starts you right on Sirènes)





Sergei Prokofiev:
_Violin Concerto No. 1,_ first movement




_Scythian Suite_




Alexander Nevsky; _Battle on the Ice._





Bela Bartok:
Music for Stringed Instruments, Percussion & Celesta (first and third movements, especially)




_Piano Concerto No. 2,_ second movement




_The Miraculous Mandarin_





Arthur Honegger ~ Symphony No. 5 (first and third movements, especially)













Darius Milhaud: _Les Choéphores_ Libation and Incantation




Here is the complete cantata:


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## hpowders

Allan Petersson's 7th Symphony is as dark and melancholy as music can get.


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## clara s

PetrB said:


> Claude Debussy: from his Trois Nocturnes,
> Nocturne No. 1 _Nuages_ (Clouds)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Nocturne No. 3 _Sirènes_
> (under *about* find, "Nocturnes - 3. Sirènes 00:12:44" click on the blue highlighted time, starts you right on Sirènes)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sergei Prokofiev:
> _Violin Concerto No. 1,_ first movement
> 
> 
> 
> 
> _Scythian Suite_
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Alexander Nevsky; _Battle on the Ice._
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Bela Bartok:
> Music for Stringed Instruments, Percussion & Celesta (first and third movements, especially)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> _Piano Concerto No. 2,_ second movement
> 
> 
> 
> 
> _The Miraculous Mandarin_
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Arthur Honegger ~ Symphony No. 5 (first and third movements, especially)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Darius Milhaud: _Les Choéphores_ Libation and Incantation
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Here is the complete cantata:


very interesting list

darkness, no doubt, is spread around

by the way, do you know who Les Choéphores were?


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## Richannes Wrahms

Here one from the forgotten, again beauty and *dark*.


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## SONNET CLV

There's a fellow named Allan Pettersson who wrote a couple of rather gloomy symphonies ... sixteen of them, in fact. And ... if you wait until June 20th, you can listen to them on the anniversary of the composer's death in 1980. _That_ should make your day!

I'll also nominate Bartok's 2nd String Quartet.

Shostakovich's 14th Symphony ranks high in "gloom and doom". In fact, I believe it was musical commentator Jim Svejda on his radio program "The Record Shelf" who warned about this painfully dark symphony that no one should listen to it more than a couple of times a lifetime or it might provoke suicide. Well, I've heard it more than a few times and am still here. But I _do_ put away out of reach all sharp objects each time I pop a copy of that work into my CD deck or onto my turntable.

Of course, the final movement of Tchaikovsky's _Pathétique_ Symphony is supposed to be depressing, and I usually sense that in a well-interpreted performance. I suspect the composer wrote it while himself contemplating suicide. In any case, he died of mysterious causes a few days after the premier of the work.

The Epilogue of Ralph Vaughan Williams's Sixth Symphony ranks with the darkest, most despairing music of all time. It evokes nothing less than the aftermath of the nuclear holocaust and an earth destroyed, empty of life. Scary stuff, indeed.

Messiaen's _Quartet for the End of Time_ was written while the composer was interred in a Nazi concentration camp during WWII ... and much of the music sounds like it arises from the death chamber itself. You won't feel like dancing to this stuff.

Alfred Schnittke offers much in the way of gloom and doom music. The Symphony No. 4 is a case in point. It's based upon religious motifs, but it proves rather more despairing than uplifting to my ears. (This same composer's First Symphony is despairing in quite another way, and any of you who have taken on this vehicle will understand what I mean.)

But my vote today goes to Shostakovich's protégé Galina Ustvolskaya who is perhaps the only one who outdoes Shosty's own 14th. Everything I've heard from Ustvolskaya is dark and upsetting, but perhaps the laurel goes to her Symphony No. 5 ("Amen") which is music from the depths of the gulag itself. I'll go so far as to offer that the Shosty 14th seems cheerful in comparison. Listen at your own risk.


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## PetrB

clara s said:


> very interesting list
> 
> darkness, no doubt, is spread around
> 
> by the way, do you know who Les Choéphores were?


"The Oresteia (Ancient Greek: Ὀρέστεια) -- a trilogy of Greek tragedies by Aeschylus... 
though "The individual plays probably did not originally have titles of their own." 
These are now generally titled: 
Agamemnon 
The Libation Bearers
The Furies

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oresteia

_Les Choéphores_ is the second of those three plays, _The Libation Bearers_; the translation / libretto was written for Milhaud by Paul Claudel.

Milhaud's _Les Choéphores_, and Stravinsky's _Oedipus Rex_, are my two highly favored 20th century cantatas based on antique Greek Tragedy


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## Dan Hornby

Mahler's Sixth Symphony whilst not particularly melancholy can definitely be described as dark. Not recommended listening if you're in a bad place, the first movement can feel somewhat barbaric.


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## SONNET CLV

PetrB said:


> "The Oresteia (Ancient Greek: Ὀρέστεια) -- a trilogy of Greek tragedies by Aeschylus...
> though "The individual plays probably did not originally have titles of their own."
> These are now generally titled:
> Agamemnon
> The Libation Bearers
> The Furies
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oresteia
> 
> _Les Choéphores_ is the second of those three plays, _The Libation Bearers_; the translation / libretto was written for Milhaud by Paul Claudel.
> 
> Milhaud's _Les Choéphores_, and Stravinsky's _Oedipus Rex_, are my two highly favored 20th century cantatas based on antique Greek Tragedy


I'm wondering if you know the Russian composer Sergei Taneyev's opera _Oresteia_ (1894)? I count myself fortunate to have the DG recording on black disc. A wonderful version of one of the greatest stories ever told.


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## PetrB

SONNET CLV said:


> I'm wondering if you know the Russian composer Sergei Taneyev's opera _Oresteia_ (1894)? I count myself fortunate to have the DG recording on black disc. A wonderful version of one of the greatest stories ever told.
> 
> View attachment 43306


Thank you.

For those who love the high to late romantic era that recommend may be the next treasured find.


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## clara s

PetrB said:


> "The Oresteia (Ancient Greek: Ὀρέστεια) -- a trilogy of Greek tragedies by Aeschylus...
> though "The individual plays probably did not originally have titles of their own."
> These are now generally titled:
> Agamemnon
> The Libation Bearers
> The Furies
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oresteia
> 
> _Les Choéphores_ is the second of those three plays, _The Libation Bearers_; the translation / libretto was written for Milhaud by Paul Claudel.
> 
> Milhaud's _Les Choéphores_, and Stravinsky's _Oedipus Rex_, are my two highly favored 20th century cantatas based on antique Greek Tragedy


Très Bien PetrB

Les Choéphores were older women offering libations to the dead,
in this case Agamemnon.

the libations were wine, olive oil, honey.

Paul Claudel had a special relationship with ancient Greece.

Classical greek art attracted Claudel and affected his creative spirit.

This specific play of Aeschylus is full of curses, by Electra, Orestes, the libation bearers, for Clytaemnestra.

and you can hear the tone in Milhaud's cantata.

do not forget Medea by Luigi Cherubini and Gluck's Alceste


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## HaydnBearstheClock

Joseph Haydn - Symphony No. 49 in F minor:





Symphony No. 34 in D minor - 1st movement:





The Seven Last Words of Our Saviour on the Cross:





Don't miss the eerie Introduzione at 34:58


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## BRHiler

I have a friend who once listened to Mahler's 6th, by himself, in the dark, on a very stormy night. Me and my roommate (college years) were hanging out having a few (read: a LOT) of beers and we get this call at about 11:30pm

M: " Hey.....guys"
B: "Hey man, what's up?"
M: " Just wanted to call and make sure the world is still existence"
B: " ok...........why?"
M: " I just listened to Mahler 6"
B: "Ahhh, understood. Wanna come over?"
M: "No. Just gonna curl in a ball and cry for a while"

True story


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## Orfeo

Sir Arnold Bax: Symphony no. II, Symphony no. I (slow mov't).
Nikolay Myaskovsky: Symphonies nos. II, III, IV, VI, XIII, XVI (slow movement), Slav Rhapsody.
Maximilian Steinberg: Symphony no. II.
Gavriil Popov: Symphony no. I.
Howard Hanson: Symphony no. IV.
Erkki Melartin: Symphonies nos. V & VI.
Kurt Atterberg: Symphony no. IX.
Alexander Glazunov: Symphony no. VIII (mesto), Poeme Lyrique, Theme et variations for Strings.
Sergei Rachmaninoff: opera "The Miserly Knight," Symphony no. I, Symphonic Poem "Prince Rostislav."
Sergei Prokofiev: opera "The Fiery Angel."
Mahler: Symphony no. IX
Bruckner: Symphony no. IX.
Franz Schmidt: Symphony no. IV.
Janis Ivanovs: Symphonies nos. IV & V.
Adolfs Skulte: Symphony no. VI.
Eduard Tubin: Symphony no. VIII & Requiem.
Nikolay Peiko: Symphony no. IV, Concerto for Orchestra.


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## Op.123

Brahms - Piano Concerto No. 1 - first movement


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## Bruno Setola

Hi Cumulus and all those that replied,

I enjoyed this (five year old) thread and have made a playlist out of the recommendations here, that you may enjoy. Hope you like the way I glued them together.


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## ribonucleic

The last Shostakovich string quartet.

Have some kitten pictures handy to look at afterwards.


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## Jimjarou

This is an excellent thread. I absolutely love melancholy music of all genres and this collection of knowledge has opened my eyes/ears to a variety of composers that I had never heard of before. I've been finding my way in to the extensive world of classical since around 2008.... still a lot to learn! Thanks all, for your insight and wisdom! P.S., this is officially my first ever post on talkclassical. :tiphat:


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## Pugg

Jimjarou said:


> This is an excellent thread. I absolutely love melancholy music of all genres and this collection of knowledge has opened my eyes/ears to a variety of composers that I had never heard of before. I've been finding my way in to the extensive world of classical since around 2008.... still a lot to learn! Thanks all, for your insight and wisdom! P.S., this is officially my first ever post on talkclassical. :tiphat:


A very warm welcome to TalkClassical then, do enjoy.


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## Heck148

Shostakovich - Sym #14...this is dark, melancholy stuff....i can't listen to the whole thing at one sitting...Sym #8 is pretty bleak, too, with a lot of violence.


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## Neward Thelman

*The Rach 2 Is Not Dark and the Opposite of Eerie*



Huilunsoittaja said:


> Shostakovich Symphonies, most of them. Watch out, eerie includes dissonant.
> 
> Rachmaninoff Piano Concertos nos. 2 & 3, especially 2.
> 
> Sibelius is quite dark in his tone poems (ex. Tapiola, although more positive).
> 
> Ives _Unanswered Question_, and _Central Park After Dark_.
> 
> Stravinsky Firebird Suite, especially the _Prelude _and_ Enchanted Garden._
> 
> All I can think of at the moment...


Nor is the Firebird dark - what're you talking about? You seem to regard the mere appearance of a minor key - or maybe even a single minor chord - as being "dark and eerie".

OK. Now, to answer James Cumulus [clouds], you may pretty much ignore Huilllinotsotja's recommendations. Or, check them out. All of it's good music - but it's not what you're looking for or asking about.

What you want really doesn't fully appear until the 20th cent - more specifically, music after the 1920's. Prior to that, the Asreal Symphony by Suk stands out as one of the darkest and most tragedy-ridden pieces. It's more than worth checking out - but it tends to be thick and dense - so it's not easy listening.

Beyond that, tons of eerie and dark music beckons, but it depends on your tolerance for dissonant - radicalist 20th century styles.

For a non- dissonant piece, try the Vaughan-Williams Symphony #7. The opening sounds as it it's emerging out of thick, deeply purple colored mists. The rest of it remains fairly dark.

You might also investigate the works of Penderecki; some of his pieces fulfill both of your conditions. Start with "Threnody", "Kosmognia", or many of his symphonies.


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## pierrot

The Ciaccona.


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