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...
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
Walton 1 - 1st movement
Zemlinsky - The Mermaid
Madama Butterly - closing scene
Boulanger - Pie Jesu
Suk - Asrael
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
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.
Suk: Asrael
Schmidt: Symphony 4
Moyzes: Symphony 7
Tchaikovsky: Pathetique
Bax: Symphony 2
Some interesting choices so far, fellas!
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)
Quote from: relm1 on July 25, 2021, 06:41:16 AM
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
:)
Quote from: Symphonic Addict on July 26, 2021, 09:56:24 AM
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:
(//)
Suk's Asrael was the first work that came to mind.
PD
Strange as this sound, but I never thought Suk's Asrael Symphony sounded all that heartbroken. :-\
Quote from: Mirror Image on July 27, 2021, 07:46:09 AM
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.
Quote from: André on July 27, 2021, 11:18:54 AM
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.
Quote from: André on July 27, 2021, 11:18:54 AM
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.
Quote from: Mirror Image on July 27, 2021, 07:46:09 AM
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.
Quote from: Symphonic Addict on July 27, 2021, 08:24:17 PM
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. ;)
Quote from: Mirror Image on July 27, 2021, 08:28:56 PM
To further my opinion, I don't really hear a sense of loss either. ;)
Ah OK. Fair enough. :)
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
https://www.youtube.com/v/ZdCLWiCSWTs
d'Indy's Souvenirs: In February 1906, d'Indy returned from a conducting tour of the United States to find his wife, Isabelle, dying from a brain hemorrhage. In her memory he composed Souvenirs, which relives their happy and contented summer holidays together amid their beloved ancestral countryside as well as his heartbreak at the loss of the love of his life. This isn't the "heartbreak" of anguish but of longing, joyful nostalgia, memories of a cherished love one now gone ending in a whisper as if the experiences and memories they shared are all in the past, eventually lost to time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrFHRRGUnAQ&list=OLAK5uy_mBos7OIh8zXqmgpzJ_0PhqQJ1QC26xi8k&index=7
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0aQUZQDkaE&list=OLAK5uy_mBos7OIh8zXqmgpzJ_0PhqQJ1QC26xi8k&index=8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xi0gdgkp-_k&list=OLAK5uy_mBos7OIh8zXqmgpzJ_0PhqQJ1QC26xi8k&index=9
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMqLk0KZsPA&list=OLAK5uy_mBos7OIh8zXqmgpzJ_0PhqQJ1QC26xi8k&index=10
Quote from: relm1 on September 09, 2021, 05:49:49 AM
d'Indy's Souvenirs: In February 1906, d'Indy returned from a conducting tour of the United States to find his wife, Isabelle, dying from a brain hemorrhage. In her memory he composed Souvenirs, which relives their happy and contented summer holidays together amid their beloved ancestral countryside as well as his heartbreak at the loss of the love of his life. This isn't the "heartbreak" of anguish but of longing, joyful nostalgia, memories of a cherished love one now gone ending in a whisper as if the experiences and memories they shared are all in the past, eventually lost to time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrFHRRGUnAQ&list=OLAK5uy_mBos7OIh8zXqmgpzJ_0PhqQJ1QC26xi8k&index=7
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0aQUZQDkaE&list=OLAK5uy_mBos7OIh8zXqmgpzJ_0PhqQJ1QC26xi8k&index=8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xi0gdgkp-_k&list=OLAK5uy_mBos7OIh8zXqmgpzJ_0PhqQJ1QC26xi8k&index=9
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMqLk0KZsPA&list=OLAK5uy_mBos7OIh8zXqmgpzJ_0PhqQJ1QC26xi8k&index=10
Goodness me I know the piece but not the context - listening to the Naxos recording now - "joyful nostalgia" is an excellent description. In answer to the thread immediate thoughts are Suk Asrael Symphony and Zemlinsky The Mermaid. I'm sure some others will soon spring to mind......
Elgar 'Sospiri'.
Quote from: vandermolen on September 21, 2021, 01:15:30 AM
Elgar 'Sospiri'.
Good choice. Such a fascinating piece within Elgar's oeuvre. I think
Sospiri means something like "sighs" in Italian.
Quote from: Mirror Image on September 21, 2021, 06:54:10 AM
Good choice. Such a fascinating piece within Elgar's oeuvre. I think Sospiri means something like "sighs" in Italian.
Thanks John - I'm sure that you are right.
Quote from: vandermolen on September 21, 2021, 06:56:36 AM
Thanks John - I'm sure that you are right.
In the John Bridcut documentary on Elgar titled
The Man Behind the Mask, a good bit of time was spent talking about
Sospiri. A great documentary that anyone who is a fan of this composer should check out. I wish Bridcut would do more composer documentaries.
Finzi's music, somehow, reminds me of this sentiment or situation. I don't know that much about his work and life, but I do feel a strong sense of nostalgic that could include heartbreak and longing. An example is his Romance for string orchestra. The same goes for The Fall of the Leave (a similar name to that by Langgaard). BTW, there is a lovely section in the initial moments of his [Rued] Symphony No. 13 that makes me think of this emotion or state. A little nostalgic waltz?
Quote from: Symphonic Addict on September 25, 2021, 07:34:37 PM
Finzi's music, somehow, reminds me of this sentiment or situation. I don't know that much about his work and life, but I do feel a strong sense of nostalgic that could include heartbreak and longing. An example is his Romance for string orchestra. The same goes for The Fall of the Leave (a similar name to that by Langgaard). BTW, there is a lovely section in the initial moments of his [Rued] Symphony No. 13 that makes me think of this emotion or state. A little nostalgic waltz?
Totally agree about Finzi. Few other composers' music can arouse such strong feelings of nostalgia and longing within me. Other affecting examples in his output include the slow movement of his Cello Concerto, the
Introit for violin and orchestra, and the
Eclogue for piano and orchestra.