What's that one sad classical song?

Number one on our list is Purcell's devastatingly beautiful Dido's Lament. Taken from his opera, Dido and Aeneas, the melody perfectly captures the moment as Dido comes to terms with her imminent death.

ludwig-van.com - LISZTS | 10 Saddest Classical Music Pieces We Know - Ludwig Van

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There are countless tear-jerkers in classical music: The Fourth movement of Mahler’s 9th symphony; Schubert’s Winterreise; Erbarme Dich, from J.S. Bach’s St Matthew Passion. The list goes on and on, and it’s impossible to choose just ten without leaving out so many other amazing woebegones. Feel free to suggest your contributions to the list in the comments section below.

Pure misery transcribed into sound — here we go:

1: Henry Purcell – Dido’s Lament (When I Am Laid In Earth, from Dido and Aeneas) Number one on our list is Purcell’s devastatingly beautiful Dido’s Lament. Taken from his opera, Dido and Aeneas, the melody perfectly captures the moment as Dido comes to terms with her imminent death.

2: Arvo Pärt- Spiegel im Spiegel

It’s simple and perfect. Spiegel im Spiegel carries a rare openness that allows the music to function as an open vessel for the listener to pour their emotions into. Pärt composed it using his famous Tintinnabulation technique influenced by the composer’s mystical experiences with chant music.

3: Robert Schumann- Hör’ ich das Liedchen klingen (nach Heine)

If this doesn’t move you, then you’re built of stone. “I hear the dear song sounding That once my beloved sang. And my heart wants to burst so strongly From the savage pressure of pain.”

4: Henryk Gorecki – Symphony #3

Why this piece isn’t programmed more often is beyond me, but Gorecki’s Symphony #3 has become an instant masterpiece of chilling saddness. Gorecki used the text in the second movement from words etched into the walls of a Gestapo prison by an 18-year-old girl during the Second World War.

5: Finale of Tchaikovsky’s 6th symphony

Tchaikovsky seemed to embed a little bit of sadness in almost everything he wrote. This movement is dedicated to his nephew, the object of his forbidden desire. This music is so full of loneliness and despair you just might find yourself in the fetal position on the kitchen floor crying into a dish rag. 6: Mahler: “Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen” (“I’ve Become Lost To The World”) Mahler was an emotionally lumbering composer, and even by his own standards, this piece is particularly foreboding. Pair that with contralto Kathleen Ferrier’s 1952 performance, and you have one of the more moving musical experiences ever recorded on record. Adagio for Strings will put a lump in your thoat faster than swallowing an artichoke. After a life of alcoholism and depression, Barber said all he needed to say in this 10-minute masterpiece of melancholy. 8: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Requiem Mass in D minor – VI. Lacrimosa Solemn and stirring, the opening measures of this movement are some of the last notes Mozart ever wrote. In this clip, you’ll hear John Eliot Gardiner conduct the English Baroque Soloists and the Monteverdi Choir to perfection.

9: Nimrod, from Elgar’s Enigma Variations

There’s a good reason this piece is so often played at funerals… Elgar was a master of sweeping heartsick melodies. For another example of his talent for sentimentality, check out the slow movement from his cello concerto. Not a dry eye in the house.

10: Beethoven, slow movement of his 4th piano concerto

Music that comes from the place with no name; where no one understands how you feel except for Beethoven.

Bonus: David Lang: Death Speaks

Turn the light down low, and just listen.

LUDWIG VAN TORONTO

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Is playing the piano hot?

But did you know it's considered to be sexy too? A Vanity Fair/60 Minutes survey ranking the sexiest instruments to play has the piano at number three—just behind the guitar and the saxophone. They found that the top instrument was the guitar at 26 percent, followed closely by the saxophone at 25 percent.

pianoinaflash.com - Survey finds many agree that playing the piano is ""sexy"" - PianoInaFlash

Survey Says Playing Piano is Sexy

Posted at 14:44h in in News

Playing the piano has many cool benefits (like you need to tell us, huh?). But did you know it’s considered to be sexy too? A Vanity Fair/60 Minutes survey ranking the sexiest instruments to play has the piano at number three—just behind the guitar and the saxophone. They found that the top instrument was the guitar at 26 percent, followed closely by the saxophone at 25 percent. The remainder of the list was made of the piano (21 percent), violin (14 percent), drums (seven percent) and flute (five percent.) Interestingly the poll also showed that 42 percent of Americans believe “this decade” has had the worst music in 45 years and it’s not just older Americans that feel that way. Those under 30 are also most likely to think that this decade has had the worst music since 1970. (There’s hope! Ha!) But you know what’s REALLY sexy? Learning to play piano and playing YOUR favorite kind of popular music while doing it. That’s the way we do things around here at pianoinaflash.com! Scott has taught thousands of adults how to play the piano with his Piano in a Flash method, which is also super sexy! The job is done, the kids are grown and gone and you’ve still got a LOT left to do. It’s your time to play, so check out the Piano in a Flash method TODAY!

Your Time to Learn More:

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/whats-the-sexiest-instrument-to-play/

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