# Music that Overwhelms You...



## peeyaj (Nov 17, 2010)

The first time that I heard Wagner (probably I'm 14), it overwhelms my being. It is just like I'm bowled over by these huge orchestral forces and I probably suffered headaches.  Listening to that kind of music overwhelms me and in not a good way. 

Are there are kinds of music or composers that overwhelms you when you listen to them?

It can be overwhelmed by:

admiration
fear
pleasure
anger
etc....


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## mmsbls (Mar 6, 2011)

Overwhelm might be a strong word, but here are examples of strong reactions to some music:

Intense beauty: Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante. Mendelssohn's 1st Piano Concerto second movement, Schubert's Impromptu Op. 142 #1, Bach's Double Violin Concerto second movement, Wagner's Liebestod from Tristan and Isolde.

Overall Grandeur: Beethoven's 9th symphony

Physical unpleasantness: Ligeti's Atmospheres (high pitched dissonance)


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## StlukesguildOhio (Dec 25, 2006)

Oops! Duplicate.


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## StlukesguildOhio (Dec 25, 2006)

J.S. Bach- Passacaglia and Fugue in C-minor
- Toccata and Fugue in D- minor
Richard Wagner- Tristan und Isolde
- Parsifal
- The Ring
Mahler- Das Lied von der Erde
Schubert- Winterreise
Beethoven- Symphony no. 9
Mozart- Requiem
- Conclusion to Don Giovanni


Just a few off the top of my head. In every instance I think of overwhelmed as being emotionally/physically drained... needing a period of silence in which to think about what I have experienced and in which to recoup.


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

Bruckner's 8th by Furtwangler does that to me. On my iPod with earbuds, it actually got me all the way through a root canal.


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## Dowd (Jan 15, 2012)

Before classical radio stations began regularly posting their playlists online, I remember having to pull my car to the side of the street so I wouldn't miss the composer/composition the first time I heard Finzi's Romance for String Orchestra in E Flat Major, Op. 11. At the time it seemed to be one of the most beautiful pieces I had ever heard.


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

I was just thinking of these things this morning. Well, similar things, about how I get this "gut" reaction to certain pieces of music, it's a visceral animalistic emotion.

I read this quote by Xenakis a few years back and it kind of resonates with much of my experience with music, esp. more recent music -

_"...the listener must be gripped and - whether he likes it or not - drawn into the path of the sounds, without special training being necessary. The sensual shock must be just as forceful as when one hears a clap of thunder or looks into a bottomless abyss." _

To speak to this, some pieces that give me this "gut" effect are -

*Nigel Westlake* (Australian) - _Piano Sonata_, discussed by me HERE

*Xenakis* - _Herma for solo piano_, described HERE among other things of Xenakis, who does give me this reaction often. Boulez called Xenakis' music crude and primitive, but I think if it is that, it's that deliberately, eg. for the "right" and not "wrong" reasons. Pleiades, a percussion work, is amazing, the best live performance I've attended by far.

I agree *Ligeti *is another one (his well known _Requiem_, esp. when the two lady soloists scream out at the top of their voices, it's just chilling; and his _Lux Aeterna _- not eternal light, more like eternal darkness, eternity)

*Berlioz *- the scene in the final part of _La Damnation de Faust, _the vivid and nightmarish ride to hell, capped with a rejoicing of the devils, happy that Faust has met his fate.

*Berg *- _Wozzeck_, the whole thing is very intense, has profound effect on me, esp. the final (third) act.

But more positive vibe happen for me from music when I get images from it. Eg. -

*Tippet's* String Quartets, esp. #3, bring me images of English countryside, his native Suffolk (John Constable country)

*Bruckner's* _Sym.#7_, brings to my mind Alpine landscape, with pristine forests and lakes.

*Peter Sculthorpe's* four _Sun Music_ pieces take me to the Australian outback.

Then things that overwhelm me with emotion of the composer, esp. in terms of memorialising events and people of their time -

Piano trios of* Rachmaninov, Shostakovich, Tchaikovsky *written in memory of dead colleagues/musicians. *Dvorak's *_F minor trio_, written when his mother died.

*Lutoslawski's *cello concerto, again when his mother died and Poland was going through industrial turmoil (industrial strikes, protests). Very dark.

*J.S. Bach's*_ Chaconne_ from _Partita for solo violin #2_ - written at the time his wife died.

Music written reflecting on World War II - *Messiaen's* _Quartet for the End of Time_, *R. Strauss' *_Metamorphosen_, *Shostakovich's* _String Quartet #8._

*Shostakovich* deserves special place for me - his music, certain pieces, are the few that bring me to tears - eg. _Cello Concerto #1_ (the cadenza movement, of which Rostropovich said it's the composer saying to the Soviet authorities "What have you done to my country?"), the _Piano Trio #2_ (a memorial to a dead friend, a musicologist, but also reflecting on the HOlocaust), _Sym.#10 _whose opening movement comes across as a requiem for the victims of Stalinism.

There are many more, and these can be very dark (but not always - Eg. *Janacek's* music is a world in itself in this regard, very autobiographical)...


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## EarthBoundRules (Sep 25, 2011)

One word: Wagner. It gives my heart orgasms.


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## Vaneyes (May 11, 2010)

I prefer impressed, rather than overwhelmed. There are entire works that impress, certainly. But sometimes, the most rewarding moments are the tiniest of phrasings. Less is more, so to speak.

The ones I speak of, you don't usually notice them, except if they're done by superb interpreters. No examples, I'm keeping them all to myself.


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

This is the most awesome thing I've heard in a while!!!


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

clavichorder said:


> This is the most awesome thing I've heard in a while!!!


Oooh .....I should play my recording for you sometime


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

violadude said:


> Oooh .....I should play my recording for you sometime


You don't like that recording? I have another by the Belcea. I think the music speaks pretty well for itself though.


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

clavichorder said:


> You don't like that recording? I have another by the Belcea. I think the music speaks pretty well for itself though.


It does, but Im used to a much fuller sound.


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## aleazk (Sep 30, 2011)

Ravel, all of his pieces


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## Xaltotun (Sep 3, 2010)

With Wagner, I often get the feeling that _I_ overwhelm the _world_, whereas with Bruckner I get the feeling that the _world_ overwhelms _me_.


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## Lisztian (Oct 10, 2011)

...Double post. Ignore this.


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## Lisztian (Oct 10, 2011)

This completely overwhelmed me with emotion just now. Almost reduced me to tears - which is not a common thing for me.


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## Lisztian (Oct 10, 2011)

And, another one.






One of the most emotionally powerful piano pieces ever written. I've never heard a climax so powerful and heart-shattering as the one in this piece, from 13:25-13:47.


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## SiegendesLicht (Mar 4, 2012)

Just like the OP, Wagner was the first classical music that truly overwhelmed me, but it was an incredibly sublime and enjoyable experience (I sure had no headache afterwards, just the opposite, my favorite master often help me feel better when I do have them). The best I can compare it to would be standing at the foot of a mighty mountain and looking high up at the top that is concealed in the clouds... 
Here is one more piece or rather single movement that has this "overwhelming" quality:











Yeah, I love all that brass and German grandeur!


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## kv466 (May 18, 2011)

Well, it certainly doesn't do it now but the very first time I heard Barber's adagio for strings it was at a live performance where I really went to hear Mozart's concerto for two pianos, kv365. By the time that huge swell comes in toward the very end I was trembling in my seat and almost shaking and then came the resolve and I was swept away into utter bliss. It still has a similar effect as the notes have not changed but never quite the same as that first time.


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## pasido (Apr 2, 2012)

*Schubert* Piano Sonata D960
-An introverted work that tenderly speaks to my heart.

*Bruckner* Symphony No. 8
-Like watching the moment after the end of the world, where the gods ride in their golden chariots through the eternal darkness.

*Bruckner *Symphony No. 7
-One of the most beautiful and sublime orchestral works I've ever heard. I get images of nature's verdant landscapes.


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## Sonata (Aug 7, 2010)

Mahler- he hit me between the eyes with the second symphony and Das Lied.
Mozart- Don Giovanni
Brahms- Horn trio and clarinet sonatas
Dvorak- Stabat mater


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## Ramako (Apr 28, 2012)

Haydn - symphony 43
Haydn - symphony 99 mov 2
Beethoven symphony 9. The entrance to the recap in mov 1 is just, well, _overwhelming_.


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## BurningDesire (Jul 15, 2012)

Mozart sometimes overwhelms me with annoyance. I hate every time he ends a phrase with with one of those dumb trills into the cadence, and thats most of his pieces.


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## Renaissance (Jul 10, 2012)

I find this to be very powerful music.


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## beetzart (Dec 30, 2009)

When I am listening through headphones I have the best experience, plus going for a walk too. But mine at present would be:

Beethoven 9th Symphony 1st and 4th movements.
Beethoven 2nd Symphony 
Mendelssohn Hebrides Overture
JS Bach Brandenburg Concerto No 3
Schubert 1st symphony last movement
Haydn Variations on Andante in F minor
Haydn 'Farewell' Symphony
Haydn 'Clock' Symphony
Mozart Piano Concerto in C minor
Rach 3 last movement
Brahms 1st Piano Concerto 2nd movement


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## BurningDesire (Jul 15, 2012)

For me, music that's emotionally overwhelming in a good way would include:

Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 8 "Pathétique" Movement II
Beethoven: Symphony No. 6
Cage: Dream
Cage: In a Landscape
Cage: Summer from 'The Seasons'
Chopin: Etude No. 3 in E Major, Op. 10
Chopin: Nocturne No. 2 in D-flat Major, Op 27
Debussy: Prelude X, Book 1
Debussy: Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun
Debussy: Suite Bergamasque, Prelude and Clair de Lune
Holst: The Planets - Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn
Ives: Piano Sonata No. 2, 'Concord', Movement III. "The Alcotts"
Kajiura: A Bit of Happiness
Kajiura: Key of the Twilight
Led Zeppelin: The Rain Song
Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition
Oldfield: Hergest Ridge Part 1
Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet, Introduction and Romeo Bids Juliet Farewell
Ravel: Daphis et Chloe Suite No. 2
Stravinsky: Finale from The Firebird
Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring
Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake - particularly the Waltz (featured in the suite) and the Final Scene
Tchaikovsky: Romeo and Juliet Fantasy-Overture
Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker - especially the Overture, The Christmas Tree, Trepak, Waltz of the Flowers, and the Pas de Deux
Zappa: Punky's Whips
Zappa: The Black Page No. 1
Zappa: Watermelon in Easter Hay


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## Dongiovanni (Jul 30, 2012)

My first post here !

Music can be very overwhelming indeed. It is hard to describe what the feeling is, but for me it's always a positive feeling, nothing like anger or fear. For some pieces I can remember when I heard them for the first time and completely blew me away, I was overwhelmed. And everytime I hear them, it's like the first time. Some of these pieces are:

JS Bach: Chaconne
Mozart: Requiem 
Mozart: Don Giovanni, the Commendatore scene
Mahler: 9th symphony (especially the slow last movement)
Schubert: unfinished symphony
Chopin: 4 Ballades
Verdi: La Traviata (Che fai? Nulla)
Tchaikovsky: Symphony 5
Schubert: Der Doppelgänger
Beethoven: Pianosonate Appasionata
Brahms: Symphony 1
Beethoven: Symphony 7


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## Bas (Jul 24, 2012)

Schubert's Unfinished and ninth Symphony make me shiver of awesomness (no really, I don't know a more delicate way of saying it)

Emotionally heavy touched by some aria's in the Matthew Passion (Buss und Reu, Mache dich Mein Herze Rein and the choral Wir Setzen uns mit Tranen Nieder), the Actus Tragicus Cantate, Pergolessi's stabat mater. All those pieces sometimes make me cry.


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## aleazk (Sep 30, 2011)

Ravel's violin sonata, first movement.
Ravel's L'enfant et les sortileges, final number ("Il est bon, l'enfant, il est sage")


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## Toddlertoddy (Sep 17, 2011)

aleazk said:


> Ravel's violin sonata, first movement.
> Ravel's L'enfant et les sortileges, final number ("Il est bon, l'enfant, il est sage")


Ravel's Ma mere l'oye (ending)


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## Taneyev (Jan 19, 2009)

Tchaikovsky trio and violin concerto.
Borodin string quartet 2.
Taktahishvili first violin concerto.
NRK piano trio.
Brahms clarinet quintet


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## Corvus (Aug 9, 2012)

First time poster here. I am fairly new to classical music but the piece that overwhelmed me with emotion was something I heard on CBC: Beethoven's violin concerto in D major performed by Janine Jansen. I have been hopelessly addicted to classical music (and downloading mp3s) ever since.


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## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

*Tchaikovsky *overwhelms me with his hyperbolic emotion that doesn't annoy me, but _stimulates _me so far as to start having thoughts like, "I don't belong here. I belong _there_, in a world where this is loved and cherished, and where everything is happily ever after. _That's_ where I belong." I lose touch with reality very quickly with Tchaikovsky, which doesn't happen with most other Russian composers. On the contrary, Glazunov very much grounds me in reality, and makes me want to engage with the world in the here-and-now, not have fanciful thoughts (only ).


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

I think that you have to include performers in the list, they are probably what made it "overwhelming".

Tchaikovsky. Piano Concerto 1. Horowitz/Toscanini. War bond concert 1943,,An astonishing assault on the piano and I've heard nothing like it since.
Schubert. "Der Winterabend". Karl Erb,ten.Made in the 50's when he was in his 70's.seraphic beauty, this can make you weep.
Mehul. "Joseph" 'Champs Paternels'.John McCormack. Perfect bel canto singing.
Mussorgsky. "Songs and Dances of Death". 'The General'. Kim Borg/ Prague Radio S.O Terrifying.
Beethoven. Violin Concert. Alfredo Campoli. RPO/Prichard. I think it's the best of the modern versions.
Mozart. The Piano Concertii. Lili Kraus. Vienna Festival orch./Simon. Wonderful understanding.
Wagner. "Siegfried" 'Heil dir, Sonne'.Flagstad/Svanholm.First Wagner operatic stuff I'd heard,like a bolt of lghtning.
Wagner/Liszt. "Tannhauser"Overture. piano transcription. The famous Carnegie Hall concert.An astounding display.
Beethoven "Appassionata"Sonata. Horowitz, RCA 1960. Sends you reeling.
Beethoven. The Piano Concertii. The legendary pianist recorded these in her 78 year. Ely Ney/Nuremburg Symph/van Hoogstraten
So much soul,so much experience.
Busoni. Fantasia Contrapuntistica, Egon Petri. 1960. He was a Busoni pupil Monumental.
Mahler. "Das Lied von der Erde! Ferrier/Patzak/Walter. The greatest and saddest.
Boito."Mefistofele". Prologue. The devil hurling defiance at God. Moscona/Toscanini,NBC Orch. Live 1954. This is overwhelming!
Verdi. "La Forza Del Destino" Exc. Zinka Milanov, Jan Peerce, Leonard Warren. Cond Renato Cellini.The greatest post war diva and Peerce was the greatest Verdi tenor.
Schubert. "Winterreisse". Live 1948. I have all the "best" versions,but this is the one for me.
Meyerbeer. "L'Africana". 'O Paradiso'.There never was and never will be anyone like Gigli.

there are so many over my too many years, but I'd better stop for now,


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## powerbooks (Jun 30, 2012)

Bach Mass in b, the whole work, especially Sanctus till the end Agnus Dei.


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## SottoVoce (Jul 29, 2011)

Monteverdi's Madrigals


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## mtmailey (Oct 21, 2011)

Well when i heard TCHAIKOVSKY symphony 5 i wanted to cry because certain parts sounds so depressing-the andante of the first and last movements.Beethoven symphony 7 was so good i played a few times in a day.


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## belfastboy (Aug 3, 2012)

It just has to be - what could overwhelm you more??


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## DeepR (Apr 13, 2012)




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