What piece of music do you find the most moving of all?
For me, it's the final song of Mahler's Kindertotenlieder, particularly the line "Sie ruh’n als wie in der Mutter Haus" and the flute which follows. It devastates me every time.
#ClassicalDiscussion
For me, it's the final song of Mahler's Kindertotenlieder, particularly the line "Sie ruh’n als wie in der Mutter Haus" and the flute which follows. It devastates me every time.
#ClassicalDiscussion
Comments
It's funny how sometimes a piece doesn't really grab you, perhaps for years, then suddenly clicks and you hear it differently and you're broken.
It's gorgeous.
Other piece I absolutely love is Chopin's Ballad No. 1 in G minor, Op. 23
Die liebe Erde allüberall blüht auf im Lenz und grünt aufs neu! Allüberall und ewig blauen licht die Fernen! Ewig…ewig…
Oh my!
https://youtu.be/A4aNx1QykTk?si=CErVO6jCMVexzpD1
The slow mvt of Prokofiev’s Second Violin Concerto.
The regretful final chorus of farewell in Oedipus Rex.
The slow, nostalgic mvt in Finzi’s Cello Concerto.
DLvdE final movement and Mahler 9 1 st mvt.
Also many of those already mentioned.
Also the Rosenkavalier trio but that’s a bit more obvious 😉
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZgLRsqUQEmqQyIr6wOInZNnsVFoMOPD5&si=dVaGGIS-ik4XJknL
But only in a few recirdings I must say.
https://youtu.be/fSwOKLUlphM?si=p0w_bqfKe5AiC74h
Dvorak "Serenade for Strings" - superb five movement suite
Chopin "Berceuse" - just such a lovely theme and variations
Tchaikovsky "Romeo and Juliet Overture" - just lovely harmonies and melodies and mood.
https://youtu.be/QDW4VJGKLAQ?si=D3Ht5yF0QSmPWV3x
It's about the firefighters that went into the World Trade Center and died trying to save others. I always tear up when I listen to it.
https://youtu.be/NE02BunFtbo?si=XxwFvpU7a7MfVNos
The trills at the end have me in tears. Can't even drive the car: need to pull in till I stop sobbing and the tears clear.
Aside from the music's intrinsic qualities that recording has a deep emotional significance for me - happy memories, nothing bad - but I have to be in the right frame of mind to listen to it.
Kiri Te Kanawa's has the most personal associations for me.
I love Paul Tortelier‘s recording with the London Philharmonic and Sir Adrian Boult.
But my #1 choice for years has been Tallis's Miserere. I don't even know why. It isn't a memory of anything; I just think it's pretty and amazing.
Then VW 5, of course.
Soloist: Dame Janet Baker
Ensemble: New Philharmonia Orchestra
Conductor: Sir John Barbirolli
Label: EMI
Comment: I first heard this as a teen back in the 1970s. So, it just kinda stuck. That said, I'm open to other interpretations! Your recommendation would be welcome.
https://youtu.be/fLLEumabTPA?si=a03RHp7O2ggwMReT
Hilary Hahn’s performance of it is also wonderful— but very different; more delicate, but also very passionate.
I'm not remotely religious but that piece does it for me every time. It's utterly transcendental.
Olivier Messiaen played by Peter Hill.
Messiaen - The Wood Lark (L'Alouette Lulu) - Catalogue d'oiseaux
Also Lacrimosa from Mozart's Requiem gives me goosebumps.
Rasumowsky 1, Adagio
Lied von der Erde, Abschied
Bach Johannespassion, No39; Matthäus: Erbarme Dich
Riez, allez, riez du pauvre idéologue (Massenet, Don Quichotte)
Odesli (Jenufa)
La nostra morte (Andrea Chenier)
This is probably more classical-adjacent than classical but for me, Caleb Burhans’ “Beneath” always flattens me with waves of devastation, euphoria, and frisson.
https://youtu.be/xgZBi64gnxs
Dowland - Lachrimae Antique
Shaw - And So
https://youtu.be/jlf9N0Un0-Y
"Moving" is a subjetive term ...would be interesting to know how ppl define it for themselves.
For me, these pieces connect me with an unworldly feeling, something beyond humanity and this planet.
Schubert’s Fantasy for four hands does it, though it has many episodes of different moods. But the nagging darkness keeps returning.
Then, the Finale of Tchaikovsky 6 is powerfully distressing. The Angel’s Farewell from Elgar’s Gerontius is a true tear jerker, as is Pt 2 of his Apostles.
The whiplash transition from the second movement of Shostskovich’s SQ no 8 into that shrill, keening solo violin at the top of the third destroys me
Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground
Get's me every time.
I learned it once but not sure I remember how to play it anymore.