# classical music w/ specific themes



## josepe (Jun 23, 2012)

hello everyone. i'm looking for classical music, such as program music, symphonic, or other instrumental, that touches on ideas like loneliness, isolation, self-denial, longing, identity. here i mean music that has a background having to do with these ideas, not a subjective interpretation of the music. i would prefer something that doesn't relate to love/romance or doesn't do so too much. for example, berlioz symphonie fantastique would not be very fitting. it could also be something more modern or something really old. anything really, just not pop music. thanks,


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## Jeremy Marchant (Mar 11, 2010)

josepe said:


> hello everyone. i'm looking for classical music, such as program music, symphonic, or other instrumental, that touches on ideas like loneliness, isolation, self-denial, longing, identity. here i mean music that has a background having to do with these ideas, not a subjective interpretation of the music....


Interesting question - could you be more specific about the difference between
(a) "touches on ideas like loneliness, isolation, self-denial, longing, identity"
(b) "music that has a background having to do with these ideas" and 
(c) "not a subjective interpretation of the music"

Do you mean in (c) where an abstract piece of music is identified as having a certain emotional state by the listener, though it isn't necessarily intended by the composer. As opposed to a scene in an opera (say), where the singer is singing about how lonely they are (say) and the music suits that (which would be (a)). (b) might be music that was written in adversity (say) but doesn't express it - Stravinsky symphony in C being a prime example.


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## pjang23 (Oct 8, 2009)

josepe said:


> hello everyone. i'm looking for classical music, such as program music, symphonic, or other instrumental, that touches on ideas like loneliness, isolation, self-denial, longing, identity. here i mean music that has a background having to do with these ideas, not a subjective interpretation of the music. i would prefer something that doesn't relate to love/romance or doesn't do so too much. for example, berlioz symphonie fantastique would not be very fitting. it could also be something more modern or something really old. anything really, just not pop music. thanks,


The late clarinet music of Brahms fits your description. It expresses a kind of longing, loneliness and resignation.

Clarinet Quintet





Schubert's Winterreise too. Though lost love is a part of it, the main theme is the protagonist being abandoned by the world around him.


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## josepe (Jun 23, 2012)

Jeremy Marchant said:


> Interesting question - could you be more specific about the difference between
> (a) "touches on ideas like loneliness, isolation, self-denial, longing, identity"
> (b) "music that has a background having to do with these ideas" and
> (c) "not a subjective interpretation of the music"
> ...


(a): it could involve lyrics expressing these ideas or it could be instrumental
(b): the circumstances in which the music was written and perhaps the process of its composition. usually when i read about well known works the "background" of its composition seems to be reflected in the music, so i would hope that it does express adversity
(c) that's exactly what I should have said

and if the music doesn't have these qualities it should be close to having them. 

edit: sorry it took me so long to respond, just got back


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## crmoorhead (Apr 6, 2011)

Some ideas in response to this:

Gorecki: Symphony No. 3, "Symphony of Sorrowful Songs"
Mahler: Kindertotenlieder or "Songs on the Death of Children" (In fact, much of Mahler)
Kordgold: Die Tote Stadt (an opera about a man who is obsessed with his dead wife and then meets her doppleganger)
Verdi: Slaves Chorus from Nabucco (Va Pensiero) Beautiful music about slaves longing to return to their homeland.
Schoenberg: Verklarte Nacht (about an unhappy/complex relationship)
Bartok: Bluebeard's Caste (opera about... well, I couldn't really say. It does fit your specification though, especially how the characters are needful of love. Isolation, longing, self-denial, lonliness and identity are all there in spades)

EDIT: Its a bit hard to think of things that don't relate to love in this regard. Lonliness, isolation and longing are too strongly connected. Loss of a loved one also fits these. I can't really think of anything that relates specifically to self-denial, except elements of Bluebeard's castle. You can get this in English, and I highly recommend it.


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## josepe (Jun 23, 2012)

thanks crmoorhead, i'm going to check this out now,


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## josepe (Jun 23, 2012)

crmoorhead said:


> Some ideas in response to this:
> 
> Bartok: Bluebeard's Caste (opera about... well, I couldn't really say. It does fit your specification though, especially how the characters are needful of love. Isolation, longing, self-denial, lonliness and identity are all there in spades)


i looked at the description of the opera and it really seems fitting. where could i find the text, english translation? i do mind paying but id prefer an electronic version.

(nevermind, i somehow managed to find it.)


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Elliott Carter's string quartet no. 1


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## Lisztian (Oct 10, 2011)




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## Norse (May 10, 2010)

Grieg's lyric piece _Hjemve (Home-sickness)_, seems like it should fit pretty nicely with some of your keywords. The outer parts are very melancholic, with a more up-beat yet dreamlike (IMO) middle section. If the outer parts are 'about' the actual longing, I imagine the middle part is a memory or image of home, probably mostly in the sense of nature and landscape. Well, that's what I hear, anyway. 

First piece in this video:


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## josepe (Jun 23, 2012)

thanks for your contributions everyone!


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## LordBlackudder (Nov 13, 2010)




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