Topic: Five Works That You Believe Depict Heartbreak

[Mirror Image]

This is obviously completely subjective (as are any poll of this nature), but I’m just curious what works do you feel depict heartbreak or perhaps even a sense of loss? In the title of this poll, I mentioned five choices, but you can go beyond this or whatever you feel like doing.

I’ll try to think of a list in the meantime...

[Sergeant Rock]

Fauré Pavane (especially the choral version)
Mozart Pamina's aria Ach, ich fühl's, es ist verschwunden from Die Zauberflöte
Tchaikovsky Finale of the Sixth Symphony
Mahler last movement of the Tenth Symphony
Schubert String Quartet No. 13 in A minor
Schmidt Fourth Symphony

Sarge

[Roasted Swan]

Walton 1 - 1st movement
Zemlinsky - The Mermaid
Madama Butterly - closing scene
Boulanger - Pie Jesu
Suk - Asrael

[relm1]

Walton 1- 3rd movement
Mahler 6 - 2nd (or 3rd movement depending on order)
Mahler 9 - last movement
Tchaikovsky 6 - last movement
Prokofiev - R&J Romeo at Juliet's Grave

[Symphonic Addict]

Suk's Asrael and Schmidt's 4th are the best examples I can think of as well. For me, others are Madetoja's Symphony No. 2 and Howells's Hymnus Paradisi.

[vandermolen]

Suk: Asrael
Schmidt: Symphony 4
Moyzes: Symphony 7
Tchaikovsky: Pathetique
Bax: Symphony 2

[Mirror Image]

Some interesting choices so far, fellas!

[Mirror Image]

Here are my own picks and in no particular order:

Shostakovich: Violin Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Op. 77 (III. Passacaglia)
Martinů: Memorial to Lidice, H. 296
Sibelius: Symphony No. 4 in A minor, Op. 63 (III. Il tempo largo)
Mahler: Symphony No. 6 in A minor (III. Andante)
Pärt: Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten

And one more for good measure:

Tabakova: Cello Concerto (II. Longing)

[André]

Walton 1- 3rd movement
Mahler 6 - 2nd (or 3rd movement depending on order)
Mahler 9 - last movement
Tchaikovsky 6 - last movement
Prokofiev - R&J Romeo at Juliet's Grave

Elgar 2, 2nd movement
Schubert, sonata D959, 2nd movement

 

[vandermolen]

Suk's Asrael and Schmidt's 4th are the best examples I can think of as well. For me, others are Madetoja's Symphony No. 2 and Howells's Hymnus Paradisi.

Yes, I think that the Madetoja, commemorating the death of his brother in the Finnish Civil War and the Howells's work commemorating the tragic death of his young son, are very relevant choices. Armstrong Gipps's Symphony No.3 'Westmorland' I think is another appropriate work - his best work, in memory of his son killed in the Second World War. Interesting thread idea:

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Suk's Asrael was the first work that came to mind.

PD

[Mirror Image]

Strange as this sound, but I never thought Suk’s Asrael Symphony sounded all that heartbroken.

[André]

Strange as this sound, but I never thought Suk’s Asrael Symphony sounded all that heartbroken.

Same here. I find it contains more anger and defiance than heartbreak. Same with Vierne’s op 42 quintet. Maybe it’s a thin line between these various expressions of pain.

[Mirror Image]

Same here. I find it contains more anger and defiance than heartbreak. Same with Vierne’s op 42 quintet. Maybe it’s a thin line between these various expressions of pain.

I really should revisit the work, though, because I know it’s been quite some time since I’ve heard it. And yeah, those lines are quite thin, indeed.

[Florestan]

Vierne’s op 42 quintet.

‘I am constructing … a Quintet of vast proportions, which will give full expression to my tenderness and the tragic destiny of my child … The wild and furious energy with which I am tackling this task matches the depth of my grief, and I will make something powerful, grandiose and strong … Perhaps one who has suffered every grief, every bitterness, every anguish, may be able to ease and console the sufferings of others—that is the role of the artist  …’

Thus Louis Vierne on his Piano Quintet, dedicated to the memory of his only son, killed in WWI. A most moving work.

[Symphonic Addict]

Strange as this sound, but I never thought Suk’s Asrael Symphony sounded all that heartbroken.

It's because you mentioned in the first post that the work could also convey a sense of loss, so the Suk would be a perfect example.

[Mirror Image]

It's because you mentioned in the first post that the work could also convey a sense of loss, so the Suk would be a perfect example.

To further my opinion, I don’t really hear a sense of loss either.

[Symphonic Addict]

To further my opinion, I don’t really hear a sense of loss either.

Ah OK. Fair enough. 

[Iota]

These spring to mind immediately:


Britten - Now the Great Bear and Pleiades (Peter Grimes)

Britten - From the Gutter (Peter Grimes)

Schnittke - Piano Quintet (rather specifically so, being written in memory of his deceased mother)

Mahler - Symphony 9 final movement

Schubert - just about any song from Winterreise

[k a rl h e nn i ng]

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