# Was this a real thing or did I mix up stories my piano teacher told me?



## Manok

I remember years ago one of the stories about the way pieces ended back a long time ago that had to do with descending somehow equating to dying, or the death of a piece I don't remember exactly what he said but that was the gist of it I think. Is there a name for this? Or am I misremembring something?


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## Mahlerian

Perhaps you're remembering something about the lament bass?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lament_bass


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## Reichstag aus LICHT

Manok said:


> I remember years ago one of the stories about the way pieces ended back a long time ago that had to do with descending somehow equating to dying, or the death of a piece I don't remember exactly what he said but that was the gist of it I think. Is there a name for this?


The musical term _morendo_ means "dying", and is sometimes seen at, or near, the end of a piece of music. Morendo, however, relates to a fading-out (e.g. "soft->softer->really soft->inaudible"), as opposed to a descending melodic line (e.g. "so-fa-mi-re-do"), although it is of course possible to have a _morendo_ on a descending phrase.


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## Manok

Mahlerian said:


> Perhaps you're remembering something about the lament bass?
> 
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lament_bass


Maybe it was about 20 years ago this sounds vaguely familiar.


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## Pugg

Manok said:


> Maybe it was about 20 years ago this sounds vaguely familiar.


Memory plays tricks with ones mind .


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## Guest

Could it have anything to do with topic theory? The pianto topic seems somehow rather fitting.


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