# looking for melancholy classical pieces



## massindminor (Jan 16, 2014)

I'm a new convert to classical music (I saw "Amadeus" hah), and I've been listening to whatever Mozart music I can find at my library, but they all seem to be...upbeat. call me moody, but I prefer dark, melancholy music. his Requiem and Mass in D Minor are the only "dark" pieces I've heard so far. can you give me some Mozart recommendations?

But I'm open to all composers. I admit, I don't know much about the other notable composers, but if they have the kind of sound I'm looking for, I'd definitely like to hear it


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## Winterreisender (Jul 13, 2013)

If you like the Requiem, I would suggest two of his other choral masterpieces:

"Laudate Dominum" from Mozart's Vespers






and Ave Verum Corpus


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Try Tchaikovsky's 6th Symphony.


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## lupinix (Jan 9, 2014)

Chopin nocturne 20 



Chopin sonata 2, especially the third movement 



Chopin prelude 20, 



Chopin prelude 15, 



Rachmaninov vocalise 



Rachmaninov 'tears" 



Rachmaninov piano concerto 3, especially the second movement 



Chopin and Rachmaninov both have really gloomy and melancholy pieces, mozart is harder but perhaps the 25th symphony, or 20th or 24th piano concertos, like this movement 



I also recommend the first movement of Mahlers 5th symphony 



and pavane by fauré 



 played by himself ^^


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## lupinix (Jan 9, 2014)

hpowders said:


> Try Tchaikovsky's 6th Symphony.


I forgot to mention that one =o
also his serenade melangolique! 
tchaikovsky was influenced also a lot by mozart


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## spradlig (Jul 25, 2012)

maybe Brahms's Fourth symphony. Many of Brahms's works can be described as "melancholy", including the "Drei Intermezzi", Opus 117, for piano.

Barber's _Adagio for Strings_ is a real downer. "Melancholy" may be too weak a word. It's downright depressing.


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## Blake (Nov 6, 2013)

I don't know if I can throw you into the abyss so soon, especially if you're looking for more traditional platforms, but maybe you'll dig it. Schnittke makes some seriously dark music.

Here's a taster... see if you can bear it :


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Try any of Brahms late piano pieces Opus 116-119. Filled with feelings of melancholy and loneliness.


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## aleazk (Sep 30, 2011)

Melancholy and dark are not the same thing.
This is melancholy and sadness: 



This is dark:


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## stevederekson (Jan 5, 2014)

Mahler's 9th, 4th movement.

I won't recommend more. I don't need to.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

stevederekson said:


> Mahler's 9th, 4th movement.
> 
> I won't recommend more. I don't need to.


Maybe not for a beginning listener??


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## Blake (Nov 6, 2013)

aleazk said:


> Melancholy and dark are not the same thing.
> This is melancholy and sadness:
> 
> 
> ...


I think darkness is the umbrella in which melancholy and sadness are under.


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## aleazk (Sep 30, 2011)

Vesuvius said:


> I think darkness is the umbrella in which melancholy and sadness are under.


Well, sadness may imply darkness. The melancholy, I'm not so sure.
Darkness may imply fear, for example, but not necessarily sadness or melancholy.
I mean, of course they can be related, but I think they are different things. For the sake of "emotional diversity" and for expanding the emotional palette, I prefer to look at these concepts in that way.


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## neoshredder (Nov 7, 2011)

Basically everything Shostakovich.


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## stevederekson (Jan 5, 2014)

hpowders said:


> Maybe not for a beginning listener??


Bull. This is music from the heavens, you just have to be human. Two or three listens and he will get it.


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## Blake (Nov 6, 2013)

aleazk said:


> Well, sadness may imply darkness. The melancholy, I'm not so sure.
> Darkness may imply fear, for example, but not necessarily sadness or melancholy.
> I mean, of course they can be related, but I think they are different things. For the sake of "emotional diversity" and for expanding the emotional palette, I prefer to look at these concepts in that way.


Nothing wrong with that. I throw all of that into darkness, but that doesn't mean it's something I reject. I quite enjoy a dose of soft melancholy or sadness. There's something deepening about it. It sort of pulls you out of silliness or superficialness for a bit to really contemplate.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Slow, a bit melancholy, and certainly striking!


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

stevederekson said:


> Bull. This is music from the heavens, you just have to be human. Two or three listens and he will get it.


Two or 3 listens and he goes back to acid rock.

Who recommends an intense 30 minute piece to a beginning listener?


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## lupinix (Jan 9, 2014)

aleazk said:


> Well, sadness may imply darkness. The melancholy, I'm not so sure.
> Darkness may imply fear, for example, but not necessarily sadness or melancholy.
> I mean, of course they can be related, but I think they are different things. For the sake of "emotional diversity" and for expanding the emotional palette, I prefer to look at these concepts in that way.


emotions like sadness, gloom, melancholia and despair are generally considered "dark" emotions, if you're really gloomy you also feel like dark or something so I understand why people call it that way
but I also understand why you find emotional diversity important, the only problem is that there are actually too many emotions and too little words for them, for instance melancholia is itself a collective word for a lot of different feelings you can have, but only music can really "explain" or express them


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## lupinix (Jan 9, 2014)

neoshredder said:


> Basically everything Shostakovich.


like the cello concerto no 1 2nd movement 



 or the violin concerto no 1 



or his sonata 2 of which this is the third movement


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## Blake (Nov 6, 2013)

hpowders said:


> Who recommends an intense 30 minute piece to a beginning listener?


It's all in good fun... not everyone needs the same training wheels.


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## Blake (Nov 6, 2013)

This is quite nice. The recording is a bit brash, but the music is sweetly melancholic.


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## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

stevederekson said:


> Bull. This is music from the heavens, you just have to be human. Two or three listens and he will get it.


If he's not open to it, either in style or any other way, it may take more than that, or he will, possibly, never "get it".

Quality is not the issue. Not everyone is open to everything.


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## Blake (Nov 6, 2013)

Alright, one more Schnittke... I promise. I'm sorry, and you're welcome.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

neoshredder said:


> Basically everything Shostakovich.


Ha! Ha! Hey!! We don't want him committing suicide!!!!


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## massindminor (Jan 16, 2014)

these are all great suggestions, thanks a lot guys! Alfred Schnittke seems like quite the beast. the only 20th century composers I know are Igor Stravinsky and (if you consider minimalists) Philip Glass, Terry Riley and Steve Reich


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## Blake (Nov 6, 2013)

massindminor said:


> these are all great suggestions, thanks a lot guys! Alfred Schnittke seems like quite the beast. the only 20th century composers I know are Igor Stravinsky and (if you consider minimalists) Philip Glass, Terry Riley and Steve Reich


I'm elated you're open to Schnittke so soon. It took me a couple months since he first entered my paradigm. That goes to show, you never know what someone is down for. He did a lot of great stuff... Check out the symphonies and other orchestral works, as well as the string quartets. Enjoy!


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## samurai (Apr 22, 2011)

How about Sibelius *Symphony # 4* and Shostakovich *SQ # 8? *These should get you off and running quite nicely, I do believe.


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## Cheyenne (Aug 6, 2012)

Shostakovich Violin Concerto 1: 



Górecki Symphony 3: 



Schnittke Piano Quintet: 



Vaughan Williams Symphony 6: 



Bartók String Quartet 6: 




Some more to keep you going.


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## Skilmarilion (Apr 6, 2013)

I'm sure dark or melancholy mean different things to different people. Here's a few recommendations of what I think you have in mind, without being overtly difficult/long/complex etc.

_Bach_ - Mass in B minor, Kyrie eleison
_Mozart_ - Piano Concerto #9 and #23 (second movements)
_Haydn_ - Symphony #46 (second movement)
_Beethoven_ - Symphony #7 (second movement), Piano Concerto #4 (second movement)
_Mendelssohn_ - Violin Concerto (first movement)
_Brahms_ - Symphony #3 (3rd movement)
_Grieg_ - Peer Gynt Suite #1 (Aase's death)
_Tchaikovsky_ - Symphony #4 (second movement), Violin Concerto (second movement)
_Shostakovitch_ - Symphony #5 (3rd movement)
_Mahler_ - Piano Quartet in A minor, Symphony #1 (3rd movement)
_Sibelius_ - Violin Concerto
_Ravel_ - Piano Trio
_Elgar_ - Cello Concerto
_Part_ - Fratres


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## DeepR (Apr 13, 2012)

can't go wrong with some of the music from these Russian piano masters

Rachmaninoff - Elegie Op. 3 No. 1




Rachmaninoff - Prelude Op. 32 No. 10




Scriabin Etude Op. 2 No. 1




Scriabin Etude Op. 8 No. 11


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## Draugen (Dec 26, 2013)

The op asked for Mozart, said they were new to classical and hadn't found anything except the requiem and Mass. Probably the next best thing from Mozart would be Symphony no.40?

After that there are many other great suggestions on this thread. I'd recommend Albinoni - Adagio (ar. Giazotto). Beethovens famous Moonlight of course as well, to me the epitome of melancholy. I also agree on Brahms late piano music, and some of his chamber music has a resigned melancholy.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Tchaikovsky Symphony #8 ("Zoloftian")


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

Vesuvius said:


> I think darkness is the umbrella in which melancholy and sadness are under.


Melancholy and sadness aren't the same thing either, of course, and darkness is simply a lighting deficiency.

BTW _Vesuvius_, your sentence is pleasantly awkward. Substitute 'that' for 'in which' and it loses something.


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## Celloman (Sep 30, 2006)

Like you, massindminor, I also tend to prefer dark, melancholy music.

These all sound like great recommendations. I would also add the music of Gorecki and Part...have you heard Gorecki's _Symphony No. 3_? From Arvo Part's oevre, I would recommend works such as the _In Memoriam Benjamin Britten_, the _De Profundis_, and the _Tabula Rasa_.

Happy listen--oh, wait...no...scratch that...

Sad listening!


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

The darker the better. When I am 97% sure I am going to kill myself, I know the music is mellow enough for me.


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## stevederekson (Jan 5, 2014)

hpowders said:


> Tchaikovsky Symphony #8 ("Zoloftian")


Tchaikovsky Symphony 8?


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## GreenMamba (Oct 14, 2012)

stevederekson said:


> Tchaikovsky Symphony 8?


"Zoloftian." LOL.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

stevederekson said:


> Tchaikovsky Symphony 8?


It's a joke!!!!!!!!!!


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## neoshredder (Nov 7, 2011)

Nothing better to kick off your day than some sad music.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Try the last movement of the Pathetique by Tchaikovsky. Takes you all the way down without an elevator.


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## neoshredder (Nov 7, 2011)

I think I'm going to listen to some Schnittke now myself. This thread has inspired me. Though I'm not sure sadness is what I'll get out of it. More like scary sounds.


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## Blake (Nov 6, 2013)

neoshredder said:


> I think I'm going to listen to some Schnittke now myself. This thread has inspired me. Though I'm not sure sadness is what I'll get out of it. More like scary sounds.


There are many feelings I get out of Schnittke. Always pleasantly eccentric though... even when it's unpleasant.


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## neoshredder (Nov 7, 2011)

Vesuvius said:


> There are many feelings I get out of Schnittke. Always pleasantly eccentric though... even when it's unpleasant.


He seems kind of Neo-Romantic to me in that way. He kind of fuses styles together. Heck some of it sounds like Baroque with a twist.


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## OboeKnight (Jan 25, 2013)

Very melancholy and beautiful. This reminds me...I'm going to go practice it now


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## Blake (Nov 6, 2013)

neoshredder said:


> He seems kind of Neo-Romantic to me in that way. He kind of fuses styles together. Heck some of it sounds like Baroque with a twist.


Yea, it's fascinating how he fuses styles in his own quirky way.


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