# Sad, melancholic yet melodic classical music?



## ghostViolin

Hi

I'm still pretty much wet behind the ears when it comes to classical music and my experience with it has been limited, very limited. 

I'm familiar with a few most famous works from a few most famous composers like Paganini, Bach, Beethoven, Mozart and Vivaldi. I guess they're from the romantic period. (?) 

The pieces that I have in mp3 format and on CDs are mostly bright, happy and melodic and tho I really enjoy them, I wish to listen to stuff which are sad, melancholic yet still retain the very important elements of being melodic. 

Well, I really don't know how to put it in a musical perspective but perhaps such sad and melancholic qualities would come from the use of minor key progression (?). 

If I could draw a comparison here it would be that I mostly listen to metal and many of the songs/instrumentals sound very 'minor-key' but manage to be melodic especially in the chorus department. 

So, if anyone here could recommend which composers and their works to listen to then I'd be thankful. 

Cheers


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## Nix

Hello, 
you're actually listening to mostly baroque and classical era music- which tends to have more light weight stuff (though some of it can be quite dark). You mentioned Beethoven, but have you listened to any of his darker works? Try his 14th string quartet-






Also, melodic and melancholic pretty much sums up Tchaikovsky- so I'd try out his 4th and 6th symphonies, though these aren't for everyone.

And also check out Brahms 4th symphony.

Hope that helps.


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## classidaho

My wife calls this piece 'depressing'. I call it extraorinarily beautiful! To me it is an apex to what you seem to be looking for. Enjoy,, Chuck






and if you enjoy that; this


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## Wicked_one

Being Romanian I can offer you this:






Probably there are some other great compositions but this does it for me: sad, melancholic, melodic...

Enjoy!


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## MJTTOMB

An orchestration of Rachmaninov's Vocalise.






An arrangement for piano and solo cello.

Enjoy.


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## emiellucifuge

Well drawing inspiration from Classidaho; this is a piece which i think is the definiton and for me the saddest composition I know which, however, does not sacrifice melody. On the contrary, it was written by one of the most gifted melodists in history, who happened to go through a dark patch.

Yes I am talking about Antonin Dvorak's Stabat Mater. Written after the death of his 3 children.


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## MatejfromSlovenia

I would recomend you a piece from a famous Peer Gynt suite (Grieg):


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## GraemeG

Samuel Barber, _Adagio for strings_
G


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## Norse

Just to be clear, there's no reason to think of minor modes as somehow naturally "less melodic" than major modes. 

One piece you could try is the second movement from Shostakovich's second piano concerto. Parts of it is technically in major, but it's a sad and melancholic kind of major.  I know some people consider Shostakovich "too modern", but if you're one of them, don't worry, this piece is very "easy to like".


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## Ravellian

I second the second movement of Shostakovich's second piano concerto. Also..

Ravel, Piano Concerto in G, second movement
Beethoven, Piano Sonata No. 30 in E major, first and third movements
Gorecki, Symphony No. 3. 
Tchaikovsky, Symphony No. 4, second movement
Tchaikovsky, Symphony No. 6, first and last movements
Bruch, Violin Concerto in G minor, first and second movements

I could go on..


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## StlukesguildOhio

Giovanni Pergolesi- _Stabat Mater_





Samuel Barber- _Adagio for Strings_









Gabriel Fauré- _Requiem_





W.A. Mozart- _Requiem_





Henry Purcell- _March from the Music for the Death of Queen Mary_





G.F. Handel- _Serse "Ombra mai fu"_





A. Vivaldi - _Nisi Dominus_, RV 608 - IV. Cum dederit dilectis suis





J.S. Bach- _St Matthew Passion- Erbarme dich_





Arvo Pärt- _Mirror in the Mirror_ 





Gustav Mahler-_'Das Lied von der Erde' Der Abschied_









F. Schubert- Winterreise:













Just scraping the surface...


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## StlukesguildOhio

you're actually listening to mostly baroque and classical era music- which tends to have more light weight stuff

Where on earth did you get this bizarre notion? The baroque... as in J.S. Bach, Monteverdi, Handel... lightweight? The classical era... as in Mozart and Haydn... lightweight? How is the baroque or classical era more lightweight? Are we to assume that simply because a work is written in a minor key that it is somehow more serious and profound? Or does the degree of bombast make something less "lightweight"... by which standard even Wagner might pale beside Led Zeppelin.


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## MatejfromSlovenia

Wicked_one said:


> Being Romanian I can offer you this:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Probably there are some other great compositions but this does it for me: sad, melancholic, melodic...
> 
> Enjoy!


Wicked_one: Thank you for this romanian suggestion...I really like it!


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## Huilunsoittaja

Slow movement (Largo) of Shostakovich's 5th Symphony, a favorite. But definitely depressing.


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## Argus

StlukesguildOhio said:


> Where on earth did you get this bizarre notion? The baroque... as in J.S. Bach, Monteverdi, Handel... lightweight? The classical era... as in Mozart and Haydn... lightweight? How is the baroque or classical era more lightweight? Are we to assume that simply because a work is written in a minor key that it is somehow more serious and profound? Or does the degree of bombast make something less "lightweight"... by which standard even Wagner might pale beside Led Zeppelin.


It's a well known fact that all music written before Beethoven's Eroica Symphony was simply made for toffs in fancy wigs and breeches to prance around to, whilst bosom ladies in even fancier wigs fanned their excessively pale faces. It is also a fact that all classical music composed after Mahlers death is for overly intellectuallised bourgeois to stroke their beards to whilst sneering down on more 'populist' music from their lofty uber-modernist positions.

Hope that clears up some things for you.

Question:

Can someone recommend some sad, melancholic classical music that *isn't* melodic?


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## Ravellian

Argus said:


> It's a well known fact that all music written before Beethoven's Eroica Symphony was simply made for toffs in fancy wigs and breeches to prance around to, whilst bosom ladies in even fancier wigs fanned their excessively pale faces. It is also a fact that all classical music composed after Mahlers death is for overly intellectuallised bourgeois to stroke their beards to whilst sneering down on more 'populist' music from their lofty uber-modernist positions.
> 
> Hope that clears up some things for you.
> 
> Question:
> 
> Can someone recommend some sad, melancholic classical music that *isn't* melodic?


Erm, I believe what you're referring to when you reference "all music before Beethoven" is the galant movement in the earlier classical period (i.e. around 1730-1770), where there was a taste for less counterpoint, simpler accompaniment, and periodic phrasing. While it is true that the music tended to be 'simpler' in that short period of time than what came before or afterwards, to dismiss the entire classical period up to the 1790s as superficial would be a very stupid thing to do. They simply preferred to write music that was unemotional and logical (standard sonata-form logic). Then Beethoven came and the music was both sentimental and very logical.. then after Beethoven it was all sentimental.

And I sincerely hope you're not dismissing the baroque era as superficial either. The Handel oratorios and operas? The grand French Lully opera? The great Cantatas, Mass, and fugues by Bach? Hardly what I call lightweight.


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## Argus

Ravellian said:


> Erm, I believe what you're referring to when you reference "all music before Beethoven" is the galant movement in the earlier classical period (i.e. around 1730-1770), where there was a taste for less counterpoint, simpler accompaniment, and periodic phrasing. While it is true that the music tended to be 'simpler' in that short period of time than what came before or afterwards, to dismiss the entire classical period up to the 1790s as superficial would be a very stupid thing to do. They simply preferred to write music that was unemotional and logical (standard sonata-form logic). Then Beethoven came and the music was both sentimental and very logical.. then after Beethoven it was all sentimental.
> 
> And I sincerely hope you're not dismissing the baroque era as superficial either. The Handel oratorios and operas? The grand French Lully opera? The great Cantatas, Mass, and fugues by Bach? Hardly what I call lightweight.


I see that you didn't disagree with my ludicrous post-Mahler generalisation, however.


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## Edward Elgar

Practically all Tchaikovsky fits the bill, but this more so than most.


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## Sid James

*Morten Lauridsen's *"Dirait-on" from Les Chansons des Roses (I just posted this on another forum, it is a piece that bought tears to my eyes when I first listened to it, which doesn't often happen):


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## StlukesguildOhio

Morten Lauridsen's "Dirait-on" from Les Chansons des Roses (I just posted this on another forum, it is a piece that bought tears to my eyes when I first listened to it, which doesn't often happen):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWXVZ...eature=related

Now Andre... you are going to need to watch yourself, here. You keep up this sort of behavior and you will quite certainly lose all of your Modernist credentials. I prescribe a healthy dose of Ligeti, Stockhausen, and Xenakis.


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## World Violist

Argus said:


> I see that you didn't disagree with my ludicrous post-Mahler generalisation, however.


Well I'm gonna. Shostakovich.


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## Ravellian

Andre said:


> *Morten Lauridsen's *"Dirait-on" from Les Chansons des Roses (I just posted this on another forum, it is a piece that bought tears to my eyes when I first listened to it, which doesn't often happen):


Yes!! One of my clients (I'm an accompanist) sang this piece about a year ago. It is very very beautiful, if a tad repetitive. Too bad she messed it up horribly during her jury...

And yes, Argus, I don't have many polite things to say about 20th century music.


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## emiellucifuge

Yet your username is 'Ravellian'


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## Ravellian

Fine then, 20th century music published after 1920.


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## ghostViolin

Right, I should have used the word 'melodious' in lieu of 'melodic'. 

And thanx everyone for the suggestions and links. 

It's gonna take me days to check them all! (A rather lousy connection here).

Cheers


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## emiellucifuge

Just make you start with my suggestion


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## jmss

Heavy Metal (Metal) is a genre of extreme music, e.g.:
- the highest-pitch vocals
- the lowest-pitch vocals
- the cleanest vocals
- the more distorted vocals
- the faster music
- the slower music
- the simplest music
- the more complex music
- lyrics about vampires, death, gore, suffering, pain, despair
- lyrics about positivism, society, politics, philosophy, companionship
So it's difficult to have more depressing, melancholic music than in Doom Metal (the Metal sub-genre dedicated to this, with many styles: funeral doom, etc.).
The melancholy and depression the original poster was mentioning is, for example:
My Dying Bride / The Angel and the Dark River: 



or
Desire / Infinity . . . A Timeless Journey Through An Emotional Dream: https://almamater.bandcamp.com/album/infinity-a-timeless-journey-through-an-emotional-dream

I was looking for doom-like baroque when I found this thread. Heard many of the suggestions and they simply don't match the expectations.

I love early, baroque, classic and contemporary music.

Maybe some pieces that give me what I need when I search for peace are the Goldberg Variations and Nocturnes (Chopin, and also John Field).


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## Fabulin

Two pieces with a theme of melancholy/regret:


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## Marc

Argus said:


> [..]
> Question:
> 
> Can someone recommend some sad, melancholic classical music that *isn't* melodic?


Maybe Stravinsky's Elegy for viola solo can be seen both as melodic and not so melodic? 

(It's one of my favourite melancholic pieces, btw.)


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## 20centrfuge

From my perspective, when I was newer to classical music, some of the works I most loved that I would describe as more somber, poignant, or melancholic, would be:

Barber: Adagio for Strings
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No.2
Sibelius: Symphony No.2
Satie: Gymnopedies

I'd also check out Chopin, and Tchaikovsky, as others have mentioned.

Honestly, if there is one thing that classical music excels at, it is BEAUTIFUL AND SAD MUSIC!


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## consuono

This one is my favorite among the Shostakovich preludes and fugues. I love how (to me) the fugue sounds like a troubled conversation for quite a while but then resolves into a sort of reconciliation at the end:


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## hammeredklavier




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## Enthusiast

I have spent much of the last two days listening to Dowland - a master of melancholic songs and other music.


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## 8j1010

Faure's Cello Sonata in G Minor is kind of a melodic work, I really like the second movement.

Also from Resphigi's 6 pieces for piano the notturno (no. 3) has a very nice melody.


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## jmss

20centrfuge said:


> From my perspective, when I was newer to classical music, some of the works I most loved that I would describe as more somber, poignant, or melancholic, would be:
> 
> Barber: Adagio for Strings
> Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No.2
> Sibelius: Symphony No.2
> Satie: Gymnopedies
> 
> I'd also check out Chopin, and Tchaikovsky, as others have mentioned.
> 
> Honestly, if there is one thing that classical music excels at, it is BEAUTIFUL AND SAD MUSIC!


Good suggestions. The Sibelius one I didn't know but wouldn't say it's depressing, but did not listen to all of it.

I remembered: Beethoven - Moonlight Sonata


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## jmss

consuono said:


> This one is my favorite among the Shostakovich preludes and fugues. I love how (to me) the fugue sounds like a troubled conversation for quite a while but then resolves into a sort of reconciliation at the end:


The Fauré one just made me remember "Jogos Proibidos" (



) which I believe the author is unknown and I don't know the English name. Couldn't discover it also.


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## jmss

Enthusiast said:


> I have spent much of the last two days listening to Dowland - a master of melancholic songs and other music.


Yes, I would say Dowland is more "calm", and excellent to listen to in a summer afternoon.


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## Enthusiast

^ So you feel he failed to communicate melancholy? I'm not sure I find much that is actually calm in his music but I guess we all use words differently. Most of the recommendations in this thread seem to me to be for music that stirs the emotional pot but is not (to me) actually sad and certainly not melancholic.


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## consuono

Enthusiast said:


> ^ So you feel he failed to communicate melancholy? I'm not sure I find much that is actually calm in his music but I guess we all use words differently. Most of the recommendations in this thread seem to me to be for music that stirs the emotional pot but is not (to me) actually sad and certainly not melancholic.


I think a lot of Dowland is melancholy in character. Melancholy and calm aren't mutually exclusive since melancholy doesn't have to mean "crushingly tragic". Heck, it can even be major-key.


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## jmss

Enthusiast said:


> ^ So you feel he failed to communicate melancholy? I'm not sure I find much that is actually calm in his music but I guess we all use words differently. Most of the recommendations in this thread seem to me to be for music that stirs the emotional pot but is not (to me) actually sad and certainly not melancholic.


It's probably personal, but I don't find it melancholic or depressing.

It induces in me a feeling of peace and delight.

I wouldn't listen to Download when I'm feeling "down" or troubled, I guess.


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## jmss

Two more ideas:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hours_(soundtrack)

2. Introduction to this radio program: https://www.rtp.pt/play/p1109/a-vida-breve


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## larold

*Borodin's Piano Quintet in C Minor* is in this league.





.


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## Plague

Suk: Meditation on the old Czech hymn "St. Wenceslas", Op. 35a


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## DavidA

Just come across this from Brahms:

https://slippedisc.com/2020/10/the-slipped-disc-daily-comfort-zone-208-seasonal-brahms/


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## flamencosketches

Enthusiast said:


> I have spent much of the last two days listening to Dowland - a master of melancholic songs and other music.


Dowland is amazing. His music has this deep sense of melancholy to it, more so than any other composer I know besides Schubert. He is something like the Robert Smith of his generation...


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