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I don't want to talk about why, but this piece by Olivier Messiaen is a music I go to. Composed in the 1940's, under an adverse situation. It's part of a piece he wrote called the Quartet for the End of Time.
RE: Some music that expresses sorrow... (in reply to estebanana)
Its been a favorite piece of mine for 30 years and I still listen to it sometimes.
If you ever get the chance to hear tthis quartet live... Do it. its so intense and I found it impossible not to cry. Funny how strong unisone playing can be. Maybe because we never hear it, but in this quartet, some of pieces are unisone. Also I like that not all instruments can be heard at a time. This with sorrow it expresses, also has to do with the background story which is very strong. Why does the cello only play 3 strings?
Another wonderfull composition for living sorrow (I´m in that these days/month/years) is Shostakovitch 15th symphony. Its very different. Very introvert. Its fantastic to hear a symphony orchestra playing introvert. One of the things I would like to do in my life is to hear this symphony live. But its very seldom being played.
RE: Some music that expresses sorrow... (in reply to estebanana)
I first heard this about the same time you did. My cello teacher at the time in high school had studied with William Pleeth the English cellist in the late 1950's and he had been part of a newly released recording of this in about 1979. [edit below]
My teacher had to go fix her daughter a sandwich for lunch and she sat me next to the record player and put the Pleeth recording on and put the score in my hands. My sonic world opened up at that moment and it's never been the same. Hearing that prompted me to search through twentieth century music.
Anyone else interested should just discover the details of how it was written. I don't really want to go into it. Technically, compositionally I am with you on the unison passages. The only other thing I would add is that Messiaen at that time took melodies from bird songs and incorporated them as thematic material in this compositions.
I also like Shostakovich in these times. I like the 8th string quartet, the first cello concerto and the 'Leningrad' Symphony. But Shostakovich is vast, he composed so much it is hard to pick a few.
RE: Some music that expresses sorrow... (in reply to estebanana)
I just looked up the Pleeth recording, is from 1968, how memory plays tricks.
You can hear it on this page by clicking the arrow in front of cut #5. It is to me is the best ever recording of this piece. It's amazing, transformative.
I did not become a professional cellist, but I am so lucky to have had Catherine Graff as my teacher. She showed me a universe.
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RE: Some music that expresses sorrow... (in reply to estebanana)
I didnt expect the name of Olivier Messiaen to come up here on the flamenco site ...
He was one of the composers we studied a bit more 'in depth ' when i was at music college , and of course this was one of the pieces , a very famous piece , and his life at that time , and the end of time and everything that went with it ,. Although I dont have this one i do have some of his organ music somewhere , i remember the one with the Angels etc...
Its especially difficult to separate his music from his life , i think , One side gives you an insight into the other , both ways ......
Maybe it says something about you too Stephen .......
RE: Some music that expresses sorrow... (in reply to estebanana)
Two pieces by Shostakovich, both of which are supposedly grounded in his own sorrow.
The third movement of the Fifth Symphony (the first 3:30, in particular):
In 1936, Shostakovich's opera, "Lady MacBeth," was an international sensation. Until Joseph Stalin attended a performance of it. Within a few days, Stalin had condemned the piece; performers were arrested; subsequent performances were shut down. 1936 was the beginning of the "Great Purge" in Soviet history. The Fifth Symphony was Shostakovich's response to both Stalin's denunciation and the mass executions of the Great Purge.
The first movement of the 8th string quartet (i.e. up until 4:30):
In 1960, Shostakovich was allegedly blackmailed into joining the communist party. It's been said that, as a result of this, Shostakovich was suicidal and composed the 8th string quartet in a mere three days. At the time, Shostakovich supposedly told a friend, "I started thinking that if some day I die, nobody is likely to write a work in memory of me, so I had better write one myself." The first four notes played by the cello ("D-S-C-H" in German notation) were Shostakovich's way of referring to himself.
RE: Some music that expresses sorrow... (in reply to estebanana)
The slow movement from Bachs concerto for two violins, and the Allemande in Dm from solo violin Partita. Helen Merrill singin 'Whats New', Nina Simone singing 'Ne Me Quite Pas'.
Funny thing is that as moving I have found these , and at some times in my life listening to them has been a real challenge, I can kind of handle them. But I have yet to get all the way through accompanying myself singing Don Macleans Vincent without bursting into tears and turning into a gibbering wreck, im lucky if i get through two verses.
RE: Some music that expresses sorrow... (in reply to guitarbuddha)
Weird !!!!! Just now Dawn French chose a version of Ne Me Quite Pas on desert Island Disks and I sat flint faced and appalled. Tastes vary I suppose....even when it seems that they don't.
RE: Some music that expresses sorrow... (in reply to estebanana)
I know it seems like a downer, but for me the Shostakovich and Messiean actually cheer me up after I listen to it. Oddlly enough I find lots of upbeat music depressing.
RE: Some music that expresses sorrow... (in reply to estebanana)
quote:
I know it seems like a downer, but for me the Shostakovich and Messiean actually cheer me up after I listen to it. Oddlly enough I find lots of upbeat music depressing.
I follow. To me it makes me live, contemplate and then after accept my own sorrow. And I end up feeling better.
RE: Some music that expresses sorrow... (in reply to machopicasso)
quote:
Two pieces by Shostakovich, both of which are supposedly grounded in his own sorrow.
Absolutely wonderfull. I´ve listened to Shostakovitch for more than 3 decades and I will continue untill the end. Its not something I do every day, but once a week or so. I consider him the most important composer in the 20th century and top 5 of all classical music composers. He has a fantastic capacity of being very introvert and then take that out into despair... Live it out. The problem is that there´s also a lot of crap. I general, his chamber music is very good. The conciertos as well, The symphonies are more so so. And then there´s all the crap he had to compose in order to stay alive. If not, Stalin would have send him to Siberia... (and its not a joke)
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