# Ten saddest classic pieces



## Arsakes

That you know which emotionally impact you so much and even may cause you shed tear. They can be from any genre of classical. I don't know many, so my list may differ in the future.

1) Grieg - Peer Gynt Suite No.1: The Death of Åse (Åses død)

2) Stokowski / Ippolitov Ivanov - Traditional Slavic Christmas Music / In the Manger (both are similar) 

3) Albinoni (?) - Adagio in G minor for Organ and Strings 

4) Bruckner - Symphony No.7 - II. Adagio: Sehr feierlich und sehr langsam

5) Dvorak - Ballade Op.15

6) Wagner - Lohengrin: Prelude

7) Schumann - Symphony No. 3 'Rhenish': IV - Feierlich

8) R.V.Williams - Fantasia on a theme

9) Beethoven - Symphony No7 in A Op92 - 2. Allegretto

10) Sammartini - Recorder Concerto, 3rd movement

I also like some Trombone solo~quartets that I cannot simply identify. 
What are your sad music pieces?


----------



## PianoMan

Somebody showed me this Purcell piece a few days ago, and I think it qualifies:





O dive custos - Elegy on the death of Queen Mary


----------



## Arsakes

PianoMan said:


> Somebody showed me this Purcell piece a few days ago, and I think it qualifies:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> O dive custos - Elegy on the death of Queen Mary


I have only one album from Purcell and that's it. The Queen's Funeral has some good pieces with the tragedy atmosphere and is very deep.


----------



## LordBlackudder




----------



## Couchie




----------



## pjang23

A few from the top of my head

Bach Chaconne from Partita No.2
Mozart Piano Concerto No.23 2nd Movement
Beethoven Op.131, Symphony No.9 3rd Movement
Schubert String Quintet & Piano Sonata D960 2nd Movements, Winterreise, Death and the Maiden
Mendelssohn String Quartet No.6
Brahms Alto Rhapsody, Op.118 No.2, Clarinet Quintet, Piano Quartet No.2 2nd Movement
Tchaikovsky Symphony No.6 & Piano Trio
Mahler Das Lied von der Erde & Kindertotenlieder


----------



## Arsakes

Thanks everyone. Sadly YT and similar video sites are somewhat censored in our country, so I have to use "special" stuff to open them.
So I appreciate more names, and their links so I may check them later.

Finally I want to know your 10 sad pieces ... one is just not enough!


----------



## Art Rock

Sad and heartbreakingly beautiful:

1. Mahler - Das Lied von der Erde
2. Mahler - Kindertotenlieder
3. Gorecki - Symphony 3

These three would definitely be my top 3. Beyond that there are too many candidates to just pick a few.


----------



## Stargazer

Here's my list!

1. Mahler - Kindertotenlieder
2. Beethoven - String Quartet 14, 1st movement
3. Mahler - Ich bin der Welt
4. Tchaikovsky - Symphony 6
5. R. Strauss - Metamorphosen
6. Sibelius - The Swan of Tuonela
7. Schubert - Wintereisse
8. Goreki - Symphony 3
9. Beethoven - Adagio from his Cello sonata in D major
10. Wagner - Act 3 of Tristan und Isolde


----------



## Chrythes

Beethoven op.132 3rd Movement 
Rachmaninoff 2nd Piano Trio
Tchaikovsky Piano Trio
Tchaikovsky SQ No.1 Mvt 2


----------



## Norse

I find it fascinating when pieces in Major come across as sad. I think I saw someone say Brahms had a special talent for this.

One good example (imo) is Intermezzo no.1 from op.117. Of course it depends on how it is played. The beautifully dark middle section also helps.

The middle movement from the 1st Piano Concerto is also a good example of 'sad in Major'. Supposedly it's actually a kind of Requiem for Robert Schumann.

A few other additions:
Shostakovich: Piano Concerto no.2, 2nd movement
Rachmaninov: B minor prelude
Grieg: Air from Holberg Suite
Grieg: Hjemve (Home-sickness) from Lyric Pieces, op.57


----------



## Clementine

Some of my favorites:

1. Beethoven: _String Quartet #14 Op. 131_
2. Berg: _Wozzeck_
3. Shostakovich: _String Quartet #8_
4. Mahler: _Symphony #9_
5. Beethoven: _String Quartet #15 Op. 132_
6. Britten: _War Requiem_
7. Wagner: _Tristan und Isolde_
8. Messiaen: _Quartet for the End of Time_
9. Britten: _Peter Grimes_
10. Schubert: _Winterreise_


----------



## Huilunsoittaja

My list is, of course, tampered by Russians.

**Shostakovich Symphony No. 5 Largo**
Grieg Peer Gynt Suite no. 1 Åse's death
Shostakovich SQ no. 8, whole thing, but particularly last mvmt.
Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 6 Last mvmt.
Prokofiev Symphony no. 2 Variation IV (The crying variation)
Prokofiev Romeo and Juliet: Juliet's Death/Funeral
Sibelius Swan of Tuonela
Prokofiev Alexander Nevsky Cantata: Field of the Dead
Griffes Poem for Flute and Orchestra

Glazunov Elegy in memory of Vladimir Stasov. Rarely does he end his works in such a despondent way as this.


----------



## DeepR




----------



## Lisztian




----------



## humanbean

The 6th movement from Beethoven's Op. 131 quartet.


----------



## PetrB

I don't correlate emotions and music quite so specifically as many do, but, what I list here are all -- to me -- 'deeply moving'

Sometimes they are just so 'pretty / beautiful' it moves you because - well, not all of life is like that 

Vocal:
Claudio Monteverdi ~ Lasciate mi morire - for chorus





Henry Purcell ~ aria 'Dido's Lament,' "Thy hand Belinda -- When I am laid in earth" from Dido and Aeneus:





Georg-Friedrich Haendel - aria, "Lascia Ch'io Pianga," from the opera, Rinaldo...





Franz Schubert ~ Nacht und Träume (night and dreams)





Instrumental:
Mozart ~ Piano Concerto No. 22 in E flat major, K. 482, 2nd movement, Andante.





Samuel Barber: Surely, someone will mention his 'Adagio for Strings.' - nice enough, but I prefer these two.
Barber ~ Violin Concerto, 2nd movement, Andante




Barber ~ Piano Concerto Op.38 II: Canzone: Moderato - this IS lovely, but it has a dark undercurrent, something tense, running through it.





Dmitri Shostakovich ~ Piano Concerto No. 2, ii - Andante "Slava Triste."





Igor Stravinsky ~ Violin Concerto - 3rd Movement 'Arioso II'





Maurice Ravel ~ Piano Concerto in G - ii; Adagio assai





Gustav Mahler ~ Symphony No. 5 in C-sharp minor -- iv; Adagietto





I hope all the links work for you -- it is 'just music' -- all of it


----------



## psfiddler

What about the second movement of the Barber Violin Concerto


----------



## TrazomGangflow

LordBlackudder said:


>


Wow I didnt realize that anyone other than me had heard this. Hooray for video game nerds!


----------



## BeatOven

Beethoven - Piano Sonata No. 29 Op. 106 - 3rd Mvmnt.




Beethoven - Symphony No. 7 Op. 92 - 2nd Mvmnt
W. A. Mozart - Requiem Mass K. 626 - Sequence: Recordare, Sequence: Lacrimosa
W. A. Mozart - The Magic Flute K.620 - "Ach, ich fühl's, es ist verschwunden"


----------



## Andreas

Hello everyone!

To add to what's already been mentioned, I'd say:

Ravel - Pavane pour une infante défunte

Perhaps not necessarily as much sad as touching. Still, I find its aching melancholly almost hard to bear, it is that beautiful.

Also:

Pergolesi - Stabat mater: first movement


----------



## DeepR

/thread


----------



## Ravndal

Grieg - Åses Død (The death of åse)
Larsson - En Vintersaga - Epilogue (A Winters tale epilogue)
Gorecki - Symphony no.3 
Mendelssohn - Gondolier's song no.6 and no. 12
Schindlers list soundtrack
Grieg - Melody

i cant actually think of anything sader than Åses død. what a heartbreaking piece...


----------



## Igneous01

Liszt - Etude no 12 from the grande etudes (older version of transcendental) Bb minor. The moment the tremolo begins is a sadness so pure it cannot be contained.






Scriabin Etude 11 from his op 8 set






Chopins Csharp minor nocturne no1 (not the posthumous)





I kind of want to say Alkans 7th etude from op 35 set (the fire in the neighboring village) but I just dont feel any sadness in any of Alkans works, hes always so humorous or forceful when he has dark passages in his music. However it is my favorite work from Alkan thus far, with his 11th etude being the second favorite.






been focusing mostly on piano music lately, so no chamber music or orchestral suggestions here.


----------



## science

For me, Shostakovich's String Quartet #8 has to be among the saddest. 

The "Den alles alles Fleisch" movement of Brahms' German Requiem is up there. 

And finally, of course, Chopin's Funeral March.


----------



## Arsakes

science said:


> For me, Shostakovich's String Quartet #8 has to be among the saddest.
> 
> The "Den alles alles Fleisch" movement of Brahms' German Requiem is up there.
> 
> And finally, of course, Chopin's Funeral March.


Shostakovich's String Quartet #8 is very sorrowful one, I can sense the sadness behind it deeply.


----------



## Romantic Geek

I don't understand how Tchaik 6 is not on more of these lists. Choose your own movement...1, 2, or 4. They're all pretty depressing.


----------



## ramondo

Romantic Geek said:


> I don't understand how Tchaik 6 is not on more of these lists. Choose your own movement...1, 2, or 4. They're all pretty depressing.


Yes, I agree. I would go with 4th movement of Tchaikovsky's 6th. Coming after the madness of the 3rd movement (a la Bernstein or Svetlanov) gives it extra impact.

also Barber's Adagio

and Gorecki Symphony No 3.


----------



## elgar's ghost

For some reason Tchaikovsky's piano trio pulls at my heartstrings rather more than his 6th symphony does - in this case maybe the medium of chamber music makes for a more private expression of despair, especially as he was a particularly low ebb at the time of writing it.


----------



## Albert7

Second movement of Beethoven's Third Symphony.


----------



## AnotherSpin

I was thinking what pieces seem to be sad for me, and I see that none, even from those that were mentioned there. Would music really be sad?

I remember when Brezhnev died back in 1982 they played on Soviet TV Tchaikovsky's andante cantabile from 5th with this gorgeous horn theme almost on repeat mode the whole burial day. And it was so elevating and beautiful. No sad or tragic at all...

Oh, I recalled one that is truly sad for me: Dido's lament from Purcell's Dido and Aeneus.


----------



## tuffy

There's been several mentions of Liszt here, his Via Crusis is perhaps more morbid than sad, but yikes!
For unashamed sadness I'd nominanate Giya Kancheli's Trauerfarbenes Land (land coloured by sorrow).


----------



## Marc

I can't name such a top 10, because I rarely feel sad whilst or after listening to music. So, it's difficult to describe any piece of music as being truly _sad_. 
'Happy' music brings me joy, and 'sad' music comforts me, probably because it makes me realize that I'm not alone in experiencing human emotions like happiness and sadness. It's nice to know there have been great people who understood those feelings and managed to create a piece of art that brings me either comfort or joy, or even both.

But there are some exceptions. In classical music, the one piece that comes to mind is the Finale of Tchaikovsky's 6th symphony. Despite a few glimpses of hope, in the end there's nothing but emptiness.

And in pop music (off topic, I do apologize) the one exception is probably the song 'Decades' by Joy Division.


----------



## elgar's ghost

Marc said:


> I can't name such a top 10, because I rarely feel sad whilst or after listening to music. So, it's difficult to describe any piece of music as being truly _sad_.
> 'Happy' music brings me joy, and 'sad' music comforts me, probably because it makes me realize that I'm not alone in experiencing human emotions like happiness and sadness. It's nice to know there have been great people who understood those feelings and managed to create a piece of art that brings me either comfort or joy, or even both.
> 
> But there are some exceptions. In classical music, the one piece that comes to mind is the Finale of Tchaikovsky's 6th symphony. Despite a few glimpses of hope, in the end there's nothing but emptiness.
> 
> And in pop music (off topic, I do apologize) the one exception is probably the song 'Decades' by Joy Division.


Funnily enough, me and my pal launched into this_ impromptu _down the local the other week. If I had to compile a 'Non-Classical Downer Top 30' then this would be a shoe-in. Mind you, quite a few JD songs would be contenders.


----------



## Declined

Mahler 6
Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto 2


----------



## SeptimalTritone

Feldman's Piano, Violin, Viola, Cello.


----------



## Pimlicopiano

Schubert - Der Müller und der Bach from Die Schöne Müllerin. Almost unbearably sad as the young miller drowns himself in the brook and asks the brook to carry on singing to him . A classic use by Schubert of a modulation into the major to intensify the melancoly.


----------



## hpowders

The Pettersson Seventh Symphony is unbearably sad....and angry.


----------



## jmaloney

3rd movement of Beethoven's quartet op 59 no.1


----------



## gardibolt

For me the saddest are Adagio for Strings and Tchaikovsky's Sixth. They're both just heart-breaking.


----------



## Marschallin Blair

At the top of the list for me it would be: Mahler's _Adagietto_ from his _Fifth Symphony _and very especially "_Der Abschied_" from _Das Lied von der Erde_. . . and Act III of Callas' '58 Covent Garden _Traviata_ of course.


----------



## helenora

agree Tchaikovsky 6th and Janacek Piano sonata 



 may be Franck Prelude, choral and fugue ...


----------



## isorhythm

Pimlicopiano said:


> Schubert - Der Müller und der Bach from Die Schöne Müllerin. Almost unbearably sad as the young miller drowns himself in the brook and asks the brook to carry on singing to him . A classic use by Schubert of a modulation into the major to intensify the melancoly.


Schubert is incredible with these heartbreaking moments, most of which are too "small" to belong on some kind of "ten greatest" list.

The one that stands out for me the most is "Abschied" from _Schwangengesang_.

It's a straightforward strophic song, major key and fairly jaunty, where in each verse the singer says farewell to some aspect of the home he's leaving behind (the village, the fields, etc). Then in the last verse there's a surprising modulation to another key as he starts singing about the stars. He realizes that the same stars will follow him everywhere, reminding him of his past, and the music is wrenched abruptly back into the original key. The identical jaunty major-key tune is transformed into something incredibly sad at the end of the song. I might not be describing this quite right because I haven't heard it in a while, but that's the general idea.


----------



## techniquest

Howard Skepton's "Lento". Gets me every time.


----------



## Sonata

Gorecki symphony 3
Puccini Suor Angelica
Brahms: slow movements from violin sonatas 1 and 3


----------



## Gustav Mahler

Schumann's Dichterliebe has quite a few heart breaking moments. I don't won't to list Mahler as his music is so complex and full of different emotions.


----------



## Chopiniana93

_Kinderszenen_ of Robert Schumann. Some of them are really sad IMHO, for example _Fast zu ernst_:


----------



## ComposerOfAvantGarde

I never knew music could feel sad. I hope it's okay! Maybe I should go make music feel better.....


----------



## johankillen

I dont know, but this piece is special to me. Its kinda new but it really got something


----------



## Blancrocher

1. Monteverdi - Orfeo
Act 2 excerpts: 



There's a happy ending, but Monteverdi knows it's wishful thinking. "La tua diletta sposa..." gets me every time.

2. Tchaikovsky - Yeletsky's Aria, Act 2 Queen of Spades




What a heart of gold this great composer had.

3. Louis Couperin - Tombeau for Blancrocher




One of the great unsung elegies.

4. Rodrigo - Concerto de Aranjuez ... 2nd movement (of course)





5. Mozart - Adagio in B minor




If this is part of an unfinished work, I don't see how anyone could have finished it.

6. Schubert - Litanei auf das Fest alle Seelen





7. Franck - Prelude, Chorale, and Fugue





8. Sibelius - Andante festivo




Nobody does it like Sibelius himself. Originally written, curiously enough, for his sister's wedding.

9. Fauré - Requiem





10. Bach - Art of Fugue, Contrapunctus XIV


----------



## k1hodgman

Alto Rhapsody (w. Kathleen Ferrier), Op. 53, Johannes Brahms.


----------



## drpraetorus

1 Siegfrieds funeral march, Wagner
2 Parsifal, interlude between scene 1 and 2 of Parsifal, Wagner 
3 Swan of Tuonell, Sibelius
4 Flow my Tears, Dowland
5 When I am laid in Earth, Purcell
6 Lacrimosa from Requiem, Mozart
7 Vesti la guiba, from Pagliacci, Leoncavallo
8 Hard Times, Stephan Foster
9 Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, Bach
10 Passion sequence from Messiah, Handel

I left a special place for the Russians
1. Movement 3 from Symphony #5, Shostakovich
2. The Isle of the Dead Rachmaninoff 
3. Last Scene from Lady MacBeth etc., Shostakovich
4. String Quartet #8, Shostakovich
5. The Field of the Dead from Alexander Nevski, Prokofiev


----------



## drpraetorus

oops, 
6. Symphony#6, Tchaikovsky
7. Prelude in C# minor and G# minor, Rachmaninoff 
8. Andante Cantabile from String Quartet #1, Tchaikovsky


----------



## atsizat

1.) Adagio in G minor
2.) Chopin Nocturne no 20
3.) Beethoven Moonlight Sonata
3.) Johann Sebastian Bach Bwv 244 13rd movement
4.) Mozart Requiem Rex Tremendae 
5.) Johann Sebastian Bach Bwv 1053 2nd movement
6.) Lizst Love Dream
7.) Johann Sebasitan Bach Bwv 1042 2nd movement
8.) Johann Sebastian Bach Bwv 1041 2nd movement
9.) Tchaikovsky None but the Lonely Hearts
10.) Tartini Concerto for Violin in D minor Allegro
11.) Chopin Prelude no 4 in E minor
12.) Mozart Piano Concerto no 4 Andante
13.) Tartini Devil's Trill Sonata 1st Movement
14.) Johann Sebastian Bach Adagio
15.) Lizst Romance
16.) Chopin Nocturne no 19
17.) Johann Sebastian Bach Bwv 639
18.) Antonio Vivaldi RV 402
19.) Chopin Piano Concerto no 1 1st movement
20.) Johann Sebastian Bach Bwv 1004 Chaconne


----------



## Oscarf

Tchaikovsky' s 6th symphony (first or last movement), Sibelius the swan of Tuonela, Wagner Sigfried's death, Schuberts Winterreise


----------



## stevesteve

Great suggestions but surprised to hear no mention of Symphony 4 of Sibelius, especially the third movement.


----------



## Vronsky

Witold Lutosławski: Lacrimosa


----------



## Pugg

stevesteve said:


> Great suggestions but surprised to hear no mention of Symphony 4 of Sibelius, especially the third movement.


Each person has it's own taste I suppose, welcome on Tall Classical by the way :tiphat:


----------



## Vronsky

Dmitri Shostakovich: Piano Trio No.2 in E minor Op.67


----------



## Pat Fairlea

stevesteve said:


> Great suggestions but surprised to hear no mention of Symphony 4 of Sibelius, especially the third movement.


Not sure that 'sad' is the word for that dark symphony. How about 'monumentally devoid of any human sentiment or empathy'?
It's a great favourite of mine, by the way.


----------



## Xenakiboy

I apologise beforehand for a troll response but this thread asked for it:


----------



## DaveM

Xenakiboy said:


> I apologise beforehand for a troll response but this thread asked for it:


I have no idea what that's supposed to mean.


----------



## Xenakiboy

DaveM said:


> I have no idea what that's supposed to mean.


Well it is one of the happiest pieces ever written....


----------



## R3PL4Y

I agree that Tchaikovsky 6 is sad, but the 3rd movement is always what is the most emotional to me, mostly because of how positive it is, but you always know that the fourth movement will come and the triumphant ending to the 3rd movement is almost false in a way. It is always hard for me to not connect this piece with events in Tchaikovsky's life, and he did tell Rimsky-Korsakov that the piece did have a program which he never disclosed. The third movement always makes me think of the joy he must have had in his few successful romantic relationships, (including with his nephew, the dedicatee of this symphony) while the fourth movement I always connect with the fact that he knew he would never be accepted in Russia for who he was, as well as of course his own death, whether or not he knew it would happen when it would.


----------



## shangoyal

Try this:


----------



## acitak 7

O Mio Babbino Caro by Puccini, as she tells her father she will throw herself of a bridge if she cant marry her boyfriend. I hope she didn't do it.


----------



## Pugg

acitak 7 said:


> O Mio Babbino Caro by Puccini, as she tells her father she will throw herself of a bridge if she cant marry her boyfriend. I hope she didn't do it.


Of cause not, it's a fairy tale.


----------



## zhopin

Were any of Chopin's nocturnes mentioned?


----------



## helenora

zhopin said:


> Were any of Chopin's nocturnes mentioned?


yes, they were. some previous reply, but why not to mention them again? they are beautiful at the same time, not just sad  beauty in sadness and sadness in beauty what a wonderful combination!

Barber was mentioned with his adagio as well.....really tragic! and Schubert with his Sonata D 960, especially 2nd movement, but it´s the same as with Tchaikovsky 6th, it´s not really possible to exclude any movement out of the whole, because that´s exactly a concept of an entire cycle that makes those particular ¨sad¨movements to sound that way....oppositions shown in one piece/cycle and which construct the whole....joyful moments of those multi-movements "pieces" only emphasize tragedy of following movements.


----------



## tortkis

Gerald Finzi: Eclogue for Piano and Strings Op. 10





Gavin Bryars: Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet





Sergey Akhunov: The autumn water's elegy
https://sergeyakhunov.bandcamp.com/track/the-autumn-waters-elegy


----------



## micro

Shostakovich - String Quartet No. 8
Schoenberg - Verklärte Nacht
Rachmaninoff - Vespers
Ravel - String Quartet, 1st mv


----------



## jmaloney

3rd movement of Beethoven's string quartet in F, op.59. no.1 (Rasumovsky)


----------



## znapschatz

Ravel: *Pavane pour une enfante défune* Always gets to me.

Rimsky Korsakov: Swan Princess' final aria, *Tale of the Tsar Saltan*. It is supposed to be prelude to a happy ending, but the chord progressions preceding the vocal and the aria itself almost always brings a lump to my throat and sometimes tears. I have no idea why.

Beethoven: *3d Symphony*, second movement, Marcia Funebre-adagio assai. Overwhelming sadness, again without explanation.

Berg: *Wozzeck*, orchestral passage before final scene. Overwhelming sadness, completely understandable.

Verdi: *La Traviata*, Violetta's dying scene. Teresa Stratas in the Zeffirelli film version literally had me blubbering.

Mussorgsky: *Boris Godunov*, entrance of pretender Dmitry in last scene. Lots to weep about in other scenes, but this one brings it out of me more than the others, not so much because of the "triumphal" music, but its historical implications for the poor, suffering Russian people. When watching performances or just listening to recordings, I _live_ this opera.

Poulenc: *Dialogue of the Carmelites*. You know the scene. Need I say more?

I'd go on, but it's all so sad.


----------



## EdwardBast

Here are ten; Not sure about the superlative:

Dufay - "Mon cour me fait tous dis penser"
- "Adieu ces bons vins de Lannoys" 
Purcell - Dido's Lament from _Dido and Aeneas_ 
Beethoven - "Largo e mesto" from the Sonata Op. 10 #3 
Prokofiev - Violin Sonata no. 1/i
- Piano Sonata 8/i
Shostakovich - String Quartet 5/ii
- String Quartet 10/iii
Schnittke - Songs Where Every Verse is Filled with Grief (quartet arrangement)
Pärt - Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten


----------



## Kjetil Heggelund

I LOVE sad pieces and sometimes even shed a tear. Since I'm a Mozart guy, maybe the Requiem should be mentioned (didn't read all the posts). It's very powerful & emotional and the Lacrymosa might be the spot where he left the world...(boohoo!). Also a lot of classical guitar pieces can be on such a list, f.ex. La Catedral by Barrios (1st mvt.) or Nocturnal by Britten (actually it's the Dowland at the end that makes me cry). Lacrymae Antique Pavan by Dowland is another sad piece, he has a bunch of them, on lute of course. We classical guitarists are a sad flock of individuals...


----------



## brianvds

I have long found this idea of sad music interesting. Of course, I understand what we mean by it, but however much it might move me, sad music doesn't actually make me sad. Apparently it is not like this for everyone - I have known people who never wanted to hear such music because they find it depressing. For me, the saddest pieces are also the most uplifting. Musical sadness is not the same thing as real sadness.

Some pieces to add to the growing list:

Bartok - slow movement of third piano concerto

Brahms - slow movement of second piano concerto. And perhaps the slow movement from the violin concerto. But the nice thing with Brahms is his mastery of bitter-sweet: a lot of his music is emotionally ambivalent, and can be read as either sweetly lyrical or very sad. 

I have seen a lot of Tchaikovsky mentioned, but not the slow movement from his second and far less famous piano concerto. I actually prefer it to the first. And of course some bits and pieces from the Romeo and Juliet overture. With Tchaikovsky there is often a fine line between sadness and sensuousness. That is perhaps true of lots of music - I see someone has mentioned the Mahler adagietto, and as far as I remember, he wrote that bit for his wife and it has always struck me as very romantic rather than sad.

And then there is Rachmaninoff. Where does one even start? It's easier to make a (very short) list of pieces by him that are not engulfed in beautiful darkness.


----------



## candi

Here's a sad one by Machaut : Puis qu'en oubli.

Especially awesome that he was alive around the same time as Chaucer. If I had known of this back then, it would of made reading Troilus and Criseyde a lot less tedious.


----------



## juliante

Winterreise has come up a couple of times on this thread... but I feel special mention for the last two sounds: Three suns and The Hurdy Gurdy Man. Not sure whether 'sad' quite covers these two wonderful songs. Supremely bleak... in a deeply life affirming way.


----------



## Klassic

Thank you and bless you all for sharing such beautiful music.


----------



## Bachiana

Sad music makes me happy. When I am in a sad mood, I often listen to something that is even sadder, for example: the last part - Langsam, mit melancholischem Ausdruck - from Märchenbilder opus 113 by Robert Schumann. But I urge you to listen to it as played by Paul Coletti, viola and Leslie Howard, piano. They know exactly how to play this music. That harsh sound of the viola in the middle is of a total despair.


----------



## Lenny

I have to go with the "masses" here - Beethoven piano sonata #14. Totally heartbreaking.

Maybe Schumann violin converto opening gets close. But Schumann piece kind moves in waves - almost like a man who is determined to hang himself, but changes his mind, and the whole cycle keeps on repeating.


----------



## starthrower

Schnittke's piano quintet


----------



## 20centrfuge

1. Shostakovich SQ 8
2. Purcell: Dido's Lament
3. Barber: Adagio for Strings
4. Tchaikovsky: Symphony 6

These four, off the top of my head


----------



## Leogoldseed

WOW, Thanks Lenny. This was BEAUTIFUL. I don't understand why this piece isn't more popular. It's incredible!


----------



## pcnog11

Do we have Massenet - Meditation from Thais in the thread? This piece is played by so many violinist, it grasps your heart and the sadness it conveys hangs in the air during the whole piece. Beautifully written, emotionally fulfilling and musically fine piece.


----------



## hpowders

Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 6 final movement.

Mahler Symphony No. 9 final movement

Mahler Symphony No. 10 Adagio

Mahler Kindertotenlieder

Allan Pettersson Seventh Symphony (the entire work)

Mendelssohn String Quartet no. 6

Brahms-every late work-the 2 clarinet sonatas, the clarinet quintet, the four serious songs, the late solo piano pieces-so filled with the sadness of unrequited love and loneliness, which for me makes late Brahms more appealing and moving than just about any other composer. A composer pouring his heart out.


----------



## Pugg

Pierre Fournier "Kol Nidrei, op. 47" *Max Bruch *


----------



## Sonata

Gorecki: symphony of sorrowful songs is one of the saddest works I know.
Puccini: Senza Mama from Suor Angelica
Canon in D: not exactly sad, but when played well, it balances a very bittersweet sorrow to the heights of joy. I've only heard a few versions that brings the best of that dynamic.
Dvorak Stabat mater: very sorrowful indeed


----------



## Retyc

Contrapunctus XIV and a lot of Schnittke pieces...


----------



## calvinpv

Beethoven: SQ #14 1st movement
Bridge: Piano Sonata
Gorecki: 3rd symphony
Messiaen: Quatuor pour la fin du temps, final movement
Mozart: Requiem
Nono: pretty much everything he wrote
Ravel: Pavane pour une infante defunte
Schnittke: Choir Concerto, string quartets
Tchaikovsky: 6th symphony, final movement


----------



## KenOC

calvinpv said:


> Beethoven: SQ #14 1st movement


Wagner agreed, calling this the saddest music ever written. I don't hear it that way -- certainly somber, deep, and forceful. The work that Beethoven himself considered sad was the Cavatina from the B-flat quartet Op. 130 -- he said he shed tears every time he thought about it.


----------



## Heliogabo

The unanswered question by Ives, pure sadness an despair. Love it.


----------



## Lenny

Leogoldseed said:


> WOW, Thanks Lenny. This was BEAUTIFUL. I don't understand why this piece isn't more popular. It's incredible!


You are most welcome! Happy to see friends of Schumann around! I think this piece is actually really popular, as is Schumann in general. Who could possibly resist the madman of romantics?


----------



## Leogoldseed

Here is my own piece, the Adagio Melancolico of my Violin Concerto, performed by my friend Danut Muresan.
I can honestly say i did feel to my core the sadness when writing it.


----------



## Barelytenor

*Penderecki, Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima*

Penderecki, Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima.






:tiphat:

Kind regards,

George


----------



## ronaldgeorge

Stravinsky: Apollo
Bartok PC 3, 2nd mov.
Gorecki: Symphony 3 (1st mov.)


----------



## pcnog11

Beethoven violin romances 1 and 2 - sad and sweet!


----------



## BenG

Please Please listen to just the first movement of Elgars cello concerto, composed in the first world War. Just the saddest thing I've ever heard. It's more than sad, it rips you in two and makes you weep thinking about all the deaths of soldiers. Just thinking about it makes me cry. Just close youre eyes and let it happen.


----------



## elgar's ghost

This is tragic, especially when it appears that the composer's daughter was the apple of his eye for good reason.

_Elegie na smrt dcery Olgy (Elegy on the Death of My Daughter Olga)_ for tenor, chorus and piano [Text: Marfa Nikolayevna Veveritsa] (1904):


----------



## beetzart

The last movement of Tchaikovsky's 6th symphony is so incredibly sad. I just want grab Peter and hug him while saying everything will be ok. I'm starting to well up just thinking how the piece just dies away at the end. 

The last two chords of Alkan's Symphony for piano 1st movement. C major then a depressed sorrowful C minor chord to end the piece. Like a reverse picardy 3rd. The first time I heard that I just dropped my head and broke down. It is like he is saying 'I give up'.

Beethoven's penultimate piano sonata 3rd movement. A wonderful mournful section with A flat minor chords that are so very sad. How he does it I don't know.


----------



## leonsm

Allan Pettesson's Symphonies no. 6 and 7; 
Schnittke's Cello Concerto no. 1, mvt. IV and Requiem; 
Dvorak's Requiem and Stabet Mater (this last one is superlatively sad); 
Bach's St. John Passion aria "Es ist vollbracht" / Fantasy & Fugue, BWV 537 (Elgar's orch. arrangement is very good) / Adagio from Prelude, Adagio & Fugue, BWV 564 / Chorale "Nun komm der Heiden Heiland", BWV 659 / Chorale "Ich ruf' zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ", BWV 639
Atterberg's Symphony no. 5 "Funebre", mvt. II;
Leoncavallo's Pagliacci aria "Vesti La Giubba"; 
Purcell's Dido & Aeneas aria "With drooping wings"; 
Rachmaninoff's Moment Musicaux no. IV; 
Bruch's Kol Nidrei;
Ravel's Piano Concerto in G major, mtv. II.


----------



## Portamento

leonsm said:


> Schnittke's Cello Concerto no. 1, mvt. IV


Really? I find the fourth movement of this work to be one of Schnittke's most life-affirmation scores. Achingly beautiful, but in my view not sad/depressing at all. I'd nominate the same composer's _Piano Quintet_, composed in memory of his mother.


----------



## leonsm

Portamento said:


> Really? I find the fourth movement of this work to be one of Schnittke's most life-affirmation scores. Achingly beautiful, but in my view not sad/depressing at all. I'd nominate the same composer's _Piano Quintet_, composed in memory of his mother.


I think it's an amalgam of anguish and despair, resulting in a painful beautiful music. In a way, is very life-affirming, indeed.


----------



## licorice stick

Two I haven't seen on here are the Larghetto from Elgar's Second Symphony, which serves, perhaps inadvertently, as a funeral march for the symphony's dedicatee, Edward VII; and the final numbers of Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet, Juliet's Funeral and The Death of Juliet.


----------

