Anyone know of any good somber, down-tempo music using piano, strings, or opera !
Question: I am wondering if any of you know of any good song/artists that play somewhat somber and down-tempo music. Specifically piano, string, and opera compositions.
Examples:
Opera: http://media.putfile.com/Vide-Cor-Meum-8...
Strings: http://media.putfile.com/Samuel-Osborne-...
Piano: http://media.putfile.com/VnV-Nation---Co...
Answers: I am wondering if any of you know of any good song/artists that play somewhat somber and down-tempo music. Specifically piano, string, and opera compositions.
Examples:
Opera: http://media.putfile.com/Vide-Cor-Meum-8...
Strings: http://media.putfile.com/Samuel-Osborne-...
Piano: http://media.putfile.com/VnV-Nation---Co...
Tristan und Isolde (AMEN ALBERICH!) - Wagner
(especially Isolde's Transfiguration, or Liebestod).
The Planets: Venus - Holst
Parts of Beethoven's 9th Symphony
The last scene of Die Walkure (The Valkyries) from The Ring Cycle - Wagner
Piano Concert No. 2, Opus 102, 2nd movement - Shostakovich
Adagio for Strings - Barber
also rescored for voices and called "Agnus Dei"
Moonlight Sonata, 1st movement - Beethoven
Appassionata Sonata, 2nd movement - Beethoven
Symphony No. 6, Mvmt II and V - Beethoven
Te Deum - Arvo Part (in fact, all of his music is fairly sombre)
Miserere - Part
Litany - Part
Spiegl im Spiegl - Part
Magnificat - Part
Parts of Requiem, Gloria, and Magnificat - John Rutter
Miserere - Allegri
In Ecclessi - Gabrieli
Cloudburst - Eric Whitacre
Little Tree - Eric Whitacre
Any music from the choirs of Cambridge University
Bits of La Traviata (depressing opera, pretty though) - Verdi
Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini - Rachmaninov
Claire de lune - Debussy
Fantasie Impromptu (and any of his nocturnes as well) - Chopin
Clarinet Concerto in A: Adagio - Mozart
Piano Concerto No. 23, 2nd movement - Mozart
Try looking on www.classiccat.net
-Other composers: Palestrina, Gorecki, Taverner, John Corigliano, Joe Giorgiono
This kind of music exists in a lot of middle movements from symphonies and concertos. You just have to know where to look.
Happy listening!
Nine Crimes by Damien Rice has a beautiful piano hook and is very somber. I highly recomend it.
i like her answer..i agree
You may or may not be familiar with my nominee; in case you aren't, I can highly recommend it.
Richard Wagner's opera "Tristan und Isolde".
The most famous and often heard excerpt from it, is Isolde's "Liebestod"(Love-Death). It has been used in countless movies and TV dramas.
Although it was originally written for the soprano voice and orchestra(naturally, it coming from an opera, and I hope Herr Wagner will forgive me), I think its best rendition is with the orchestra alone.
There is also a large portion of the Second Act, which is sometimes played in concert form - with, or without vocalists. It's usually simply entitled the "Love Music(or duet) from Tristan.
The lovers are situated in the castle gardens at night, in a forbidden assignation; conversing(singing) about philosophical considerations that one would only expect a Nietzsche and Shopenhauer to indulge in.
But the music is sublime, and flows from one climax into another, leaving one completely intoxicated with their love: a truly transcendental experience.
Alberich
for the piano Chopin's Nocturnes, or some of Debussy's etudes.
Ralph Vaughan Williams : Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5y7nJL1hp...
Piano/Organ and opera voice together, I'd give you the Albert Hay Malotte 'Lord's Prayer' for soprano or tenor and Organ (or orchestra as well). Caruso recorded it, Maria Callas did it, et.al.
Instrumentally, the Romanza (second movement) of the Ralph Vaughan Williams Concerto for Basstuba and Orchestra cannot be beat. Call to mind Arnold Jacobs' version from 1969. Abe Torchinski did a very good one also. The second movement of Dvorak's New World (ninth) Symphony with the english horn solo is superb also.
But of course, all these suggestions are personal opinions. Your best bet is to listen to a lot and judge for yourself.
here's one that's off-the-wall:
the composers Franz Schubert and Robert Schumann both wrote extended song cycles for voice and piano. Schubert's most famous cycle is Die Sch?ne Müllerin ( a country boy falls in and out of love with the miller's daughter and takes a hike). Schumann's best cycle is Die Winterreise ( a trip during winter, which is basically I've-got-to-get-out-of-here) both are 20+ songs. there are very few happy moments in either of them, although some are at breakneck speed. There are a lot of wonderful recordings, mostly by men, since the songs were written for men.
Look out for (now dead) Fritz Wunderlich, a tenor of great sweetness and flexibility of voice for the Schubert, and Olaf B?r for the Schumann.
I'll add to Alberich's Wagner idea with the Good Friday festival music from the opera Parsifal. Actually, the whole opera is very slow paced ( takes over four hours real time).
for piano music alone, you can't do much better than the etudes of Frederic Chopin. Unless you prefer Franz Liszt.
there is so much out there to listen to. Happy hunting, and happy listening!
For opera voice: Kiri Sings Karl by Kiri Te Kanawa
For piano: Divenire by Ludovico Einaudi