# Music That Prolongs Your Sense of Despair



## ProudSquire (Nov 30, 2011)

There are certain moments in my life when I'm overwhelmed by an extraordinary sense of abject despair, and instead of trying to figure out a way to overcome this feeling, I chose to remain in this state of misery. I don't exactly know why that is, but all I know is that, when my emotions take over and I lose all of my sense of rationale, this feeling of hopelessness seizes my entire being. It's at that point that I start to search for pieces that are filled with sorrow and an air of abandoned hope.

Some of these pieces include: The second movement of Mozart's G minor symphony, the second movement of Schubert's 4th (tragic) symphony, the second movement of Beethoven's string quartet Op. 127, and the third movement of Op. 132. There are more, but I can't seem to recollect them at the moment.

So, has anyone ever felt this way? and if so, please share the music, if any, that you prefer to listen to if ever you were faced with a similar dilemma. 





















TPS


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

The most breathtakingly beautiful piece of music ever composed.


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

Apparently you are concerned with the whimpering sort of despair. If you were standing and leaning into it, the finale of Tchaikovsky's 6th would do for you.


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## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

Despair is a dangerous emotion, mostly because it can be falsely fabricated. A piece for me that really borderlines really bad case despair is the Largo from Shostakovich's 5th symphony. But it's almost repulsive to me when it gets to that point. There is a kind of despair that becomes unhealthy because it goes so far as to be untruthful about reality.


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

Huilunsoittaja said:


> Despair is a dangerous emotion, mostly because it can be falsely fabricated. A piece for me that really borderlines really bad case despair is the Largo from Shostakovich's 5th symphony. But it's almost repulsive to me when it gets to that point. There is a kind of despair that becomes unhealthy because it goes so far as to be untruthful about reality.


I'm guessing that personal despair can go pretty deep without losing touch with reality; depends on the reality. What I don't know is how deep despair can get without becoming a mental numbness; maybe endorphins kick in.


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## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

Hilltroll72 said:


> I'm guessing that personal despair can go pretty deep without losing touch with reality; depends on the reality. What I don't know is how deep despair can get without becoming a mental numbness; maybe endorphins kick in.


Shostakovich was a man who knew what true despair was like, but even there it went too far with him because he wasn't believing truth about reality. By reality, I mean that fact that life isn't meaningless, and to proclaim that life _is_ meaningless they way he does sometimes in his music is false. But, I drop that topic where it is, we've seen enough of that here.


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## Crudblud (Dec 29, 2011)

I often fall in to despair _because_ I lose touch with reality.


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## emiellucifuge (May 26, 2009)




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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

Thanks for the link, _emiel_.


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## Polednice (Sep 13, 2009)

Oh come on, true despair is dramatic. Four words: Verdi, Requiem, dies irae.


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## Llyranor (Dec 20, 2010)

To me, nothing says despair like the Passacaglia from Shostakovich's 1st Violin Concerto.


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## bigshot (Nov 22, 2011)

I imagine myself with a broken leg- I can't get up off the sofa. A friend comes by and puts on Philip Glass's Einstein on the Beach and leaves. I realize that the CD player is set to play the CD in an endless loop. Despair!


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