The four most famous examples I know:
Chopin’s “funeral march”
Tchaikovsky’s final movement in the 6th Symphony “Pathetique”
Barbers “Adagio for strings”
Adagio for Strings in G minor (sometimes called Albinoni’s Adagio, though it was actually composed by remo giazotto)
I am sure all could be found easily on youtube
Ase’s Death from the Peer Gynt suite by Edvard Grieg. Will make your hair stand on end (at least, it does mine). [:)]
Clayton -
Nothing beats Mozart’s Lacrimosa, or the rest of his requiem.
edit: also love the 3rd movement of Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata.
That was great!
Man I can’t wait to get home and listen to all the great stuff you guys posted!
I forgot to list “Dido’s Lament” by Henry Purcell. That is a very famous depressing song. Also from Purcell, “The Cold Song” and “Funeral for Queen Mary”
Check out the rest of the Peer Gynt Suite, there’s a lot of great stuff in there… very moody, romantic. Ingrid’s Lament, Solveig’s Song, Hall of the Mountain King (more upbeat, but the coolest riff ever). Grieg was an OG.
Someone on a different forum mentioned this piece a few months back and… wow… let me just say that the first time I heard it was like a revelation. Try it out, if you like Ase’s Death I think you’ll like this. I had never heard of Atterberg before I heard this piece.
Less depressing but very introspective is the 2nd movement from Dvorak’s 9th symphony (possibly the best symphony ever written, from beginning to end).
While we’re on a dirge kick, here’s a slow and pensive piece for piano by Claude Debussy. It’s one of those pieces that, despite not being flashy and fast, is actually extremely difficult to play correctly because it is all about the resonance and dissonance within the piano.
Of course, Chopin is my favorite composer by a mile, so I have to post something of his. Here’s a Chopin piece that’ll stand your hair on end. [;)] Also, here’s Ivo Pogorelich (one of my top fav interpreters of Chopin), playing Chopin’s very sad E minor Prelude.
Clayton -
Well Duh. Suite 1 is a tune that can turn any cloudy day into a day of inspiration and sunshine, whether the sun is out or not!
Precisely. If you can’t identify anything it’s no problem. You’ve all been a great help already. I think collectively I have added probably 400 tracks to my WHS, of which I listen to nightly off my squeezebox while I read.
Yes this is nuckin futs. I hadn’t realized it but this pretty much maid me an insta Chopin fan. Amazing.
Thanks everyone.
That piece is unfinished, by the way, it was published posthumously. Let me know if you’d like more Chopin recommendations.
Clayton -