Depressing piece

[Ktari]

(who would want a depressing piece? *sniff* would make me sad playing it!)

Anyway, my friend needs to find a "depressing" "piece" to learn, any suggestions please?

[allchopin]

schumann- traumerie
chopin- prelude #15
beethoven- pathetique 1&2, moonlight 1&3
mozart- fantasia #1 in D minor
bach- he sucks
liszt- transcendental etude #12 'chasse neige'

check out the post on 'sinister pieces'

[R.Q.]

Allchopin, those pieces are not depressing. they are sad, and thats an entirely different thing!

I would say the most depressing piece to play is one that's too hard for you   I haven't had that problem in a while.

~ young virtuoso

[Garfield]

I completely agree with youngvirtuoso.
Even if my music knowledge is a bit limited (I'm not omniscient and still young, so I do not know EVERYTHING in classical music) I've never found depressing pieces.
But some of them barely made me cry because they were beautiful, that's all (and especially the Beethoven sonatas, my "tear-factory"  ) !

But I'm interested in depressing pieces, if
somebody know some !

[allchopin]

WHAT?! that didnt make any sense! depressing means dreary, or causing emotional gloominess.  as well, saddening means causing gloominess as well.  i think i had escellent suggestions, however, they dont make me CRY ( i dont know how you can cry to a piano...).  I guess if these suggestions arent what youre looking for then the post was titled erroneously.

(sad= )
(depressed=   )
traumerie=   +  

[Ktari]

*grins* thanks, you guys

[ravel]

well , there are many pieces by rachmaninov thatt  are depressing
examples :
Elegie,opus 3,no.1
many of his preludes are depressing, i would sugest u listne to all of his preludes, and find out which ones cuz i dont krememebr their opus numbers and stuff,
in general his works can be realy depressing, his piano concertos are , and well then there is chopin, some of his etudes like  etude opus 10 no. 9 and opus 25 no.12 and others too, like opus 10 no. 3 and actually there are many of his pieces taht can be called depressing, well ihs nocturne opus 48 no.1 and another oone , i thik one of his posthoumously published notctturnes, then there is tchaikovsky , his october from the seasons ,and  well so many pieces by rachmaninov again, haha , that may not qualify aas depressing but can just move u to tears with their beauty,  wwell thats all i can think right now , although classical music is full of depressing pieces ,
bye

[eddie92099]

Rachmaninov's prelude in B minor
Ed

[BuyBuy]

Liszt wrote a piece after Wagner's death. It's the Lugubre Gondola (2 versions : the 2nd is the best).

It's not technically very difficult, but sounds depressing : it's like a lament, and sounds a bit mysterious. Try it out.

[bachopoven]

Traumerie (sp?) has to be very sad. Many people cried when Horowitz played it in the Moscow concert, as most of you have seen it.

Anyway, these so-called "sad" pieces are very calming to me, I have never cried at listening to them.

[xenon]

There are two depressing pieces that I really love, especially since I am depressive in nature .

Amy Beach - A Hermit Thrush at Eve
Granados - Oriental

I recommend that you get a recording, especially for the Beach.  It is just beautiful (and depressing )

[Noah]

I agree with young virtuoso, no music is depressing in itself; sad, yes, but not depressing.
I doubt Schumann wanted to make the Traumerei sound depressive, since 'traumerei' means 'dream'.
The music you'll find depressing is the music you associate with depression periods of your life (what was played at someone's funeral, ...), i.e. it is depressive to you but not necessarily to everyone; even Schumann's Happy Farmer can be depressive !

Noah

[chsmike2345]

How come everyone is forgetting about Beethoven Moonlight Sonata? It sounds like someone close just died...

[chopinetta]

depressing, i see, sad, gloomy... try the renowned chopin nocturne in c# minor. i wonder why nobody mentioned it?

[NetherMagic]

Chopinetta maybe it's because not everyone has watched The Pianist hehe  

[Remon]

Well I think I know what you all mean by "depressing" pieces, but I don't like this word either. I mean, has anyone here had a depression after listening or playing a piano piece? Yeah probably only when the piece is too difficult!
I mean traumerei may be sad, but it makes ME really happy, because of it's beauty! Human beings not only cry because of depression, but more often of sadness, happiness or even joy.  
A piece that is really sad and melancholy, is Chopin etude op. 10 # 3...
Another piece that is even MORE sad, is "Une pavane pour une enfante defunte" (A pavane for a dead princess) by Maurice Ravel.
Well there may be some very dark pieces which contain a depressed character, but I can't remember a single one, maybe you can tell me?
I abslotutely not agree with pieces like traumerei, moonlight sonata, or chopin etudes/nocturnes.
(The renowned nocturne in C# minor, opus posthume, is SO beautiful!)
Remon

[BoliverAllmon]

Ok to say that bach is not depressing may be more accurate than he sucks. many of the greats admired Bach and studied him religiously! More than likely what is happening is(and this happened to me with chopin for awhile) the performer that you are hearing sucks and can't play bach very well. therefore you think Bach sucks. Bach was so great that many town musicians no longer called themselves musicians, but bachs. they did so in honor of the great. He was so far advanced for his time that when he wrote the Brandenburg concertos for the band ( i forget the name) in Brandenburg the court musician there thought the pieces as garbage, not because they were garbage and pointless, necessarily but that the pieces were too hard. He is quoted as saying that there is not a single soul in the world that could play these pieces. Bach wrote his inventions and sinfonias for his 9 YEAR OLD. He wrote them and revolutionized ways of learning technique for his time.Bach lost several jobs because he became too advanced for the church and they couldn't sing to his organ playing. HA! Bach does not suck. If he sucked so bad, then why at all auditions of major music schools and conservatory are you required to play a prelude and bach from the WTC? You are allowed to pick a sonata from ANY classic composer and play ANY piece from a romantic of a good length. Bach was in a league of his own.

boliverallmon

[ThEmUsIcMaNBJ]

haha I find it funny as I go through the 10 most recent posts I see Boliver say "Ok to say that bach is not depressing may be more accurate than he sucks".  I just knew allchopin wrote that.  Haha and going to look back sure enough he did.  I havn't read through this thread at all cause yeah I just havn't but i just thought that was a "tad" funny.  

[Remon]

I just want to agree here with BoliverAllmon, Bach certainly belongs to the few composers who had a great influence on the history of the Western music.
When I started playing piano 5 years ago, I didn't like Bach, he bored me. His compositions were just some notes for me. But now, I'm becoming more and more interested in his music and in the art to bring out beautifully all the polyfonic and very melodic lines.
Liszt and rachmaninoff sound more "spectacular" to the average audience, even when played by some "circus-pianist" who hardly doesn't know in which key he is playing.
I think the music of Bach requires a lot of thinking and a lot of patience and concentration. But eventually, when played beautiful, the music can be very intense.

Remon

[ahmedito]

Well... those are all good sugestions, but in my particular thoughts, if you want depressing go to the 20th century.

In 20th century music (obviosly not all composers) you find that emotion becomes a complete thing, more like real life, you dont get just sad... you get all kinds of degrees of sad and all kinds of emotions, from lust to violence to biting sarcasm (Because in my case, I get depressed with these kinds of negative emotions...)

heres a short list.
To me, depressing music is music that leaves me feeling weak, sad, horrified, the kind of emotion you get when you watch a really violent ocurrance or you get extremely bad horrible news, at the same time, it makes you realise how human you are, and it makes you relieved to know that you can experience those emotions, and you havent become a machine...

my favorite depressing pieces in that sense:
In case of the sinfonic stuff, get you hands on the piano score:
- Shostakovich 11th symphony second movement. (Its programatic, about the killing of thousands of people in the red square in leningrad) You can hear the soldiers marching, the babies crying, the undying revolutionary song in the lips of those resisting... its horribly gut wrenching...
- Prokofiev 7th sonata second movement (Its a strange one, it sounds happy but it makes you feel uncertain, if you look closely, the melody is a quotation of a Schumman song with the words, I sing as if I were happy, while inside I exhale my last breath.... really sad stuff)
- Poulenc his opera, I dont remember the name with the Carmelites (In the final scene they march one by one to be beheaded, all singing a sweet song with very dreary harmonies and the song is cut off as the last one dies)
- Ligeti musica ricercata (its the 9th piece in the collection, for Bartoks death. Some disturbing bells)
There are countless more examples (Look at Gorecki, and Messians quartet for more examples)


hope that helped....

[eddie92099]

I completely agree with Prokofiev's 7th (I have performed this several times) - an example within it is the "no-man's land" section (before the return of tempo 1) with the alternating A flat and G natural, reminding me of a mourning bell,
Ed

[xenon]

Well, if you want flat-out depressing, just play Funeral March by Chopin, though that might be a little too morbid.

[jakester]

Great suggestions all - the Chopin Funeral march is a bit morbid due to its name.. I think.. not because of the music.

The MOST depressing piece I've ever played (and I've played all of the ones mentioned here, or at least know it  ) is the Schubert A minor sonata (after the little A major one.. can't remember the D number atm). That first movement... man. I just want to commit suicide every time I play it. and it's not THAT hard. The last movement contains a nasty octaves passage that umm.. is best left alone.

-enjoy..

Jakester

[NetherMagic]

jakester, you sure Chopin's Funeral March is only morbid due to its name?  I mean well there is a relaxing and heavenly sounding part in the 2nd part of its ternary, but the 1st and last parts are both pretty darn morbid to me  

[jakester]

Well... I'm not saying the funeral march is not a sad piece. But then, a lot of the things that other people think of as morbid are too tame for me and I don't consider them QUITE morbid.. The funeral march just seems like a rather good funeral march, along the same veins as those Beethoven funeral marches. Maybe I just live in a world of exceeding morbidity - I actually like to play the funeral march before exams for a class.. ROFL

[NetherMagic]

haha jakester nice one I don't play it specifically for pre-exam psych-ups or anything but I do often play it in the spare time as a "relaxation" piece

I know it doesn't fit in that category for some but it sure sounds _deadly_ relaxing to me

[BoliverAllmon]

I really like to listen to the funeral march. I don't play it, but I wouldn't mind playing it. I think the name just makes it morbid. I find it really relaxing.

boliver

[NetherMagic]

boliver you should definately play it, I bet without much effort you can sightread the whole thing straight through, that's what happened to me.

Just watch out for some big chords that's all  

[verwel]

Heyho, not easy to find quality piano music especially what you are asking for. There's just that one thing I know of, but it's not just for piano. It's a movement of a Brahms' sonata for piano and clarinet (alto is allowed too). Very depressing, but also very beautifull. I think it's an adagio (or andante) and it belongs to the first of two such sonata's.

Greetings and don't forgit to

[eddie92099]

Well if we aren't limiting ourselves to solo piano repertoire, Prokofiev's Second violin sonata springs to mind (played by the dedicatee, David Oistrakh at Prokofiev's funeral),
Ed

[Bosendorfer_214]

You are going to need another pianinst...but the Schubert Fantasie in f minor.

[bachopoven]

Chopinetta maybe it's because not everyone has watched The Pianist hehe  

Exactly right. It was since watching the Pianist that I have felt ever so deeply about that piece. The story and the look on the pianist's face at the end of the movie somehow makes each note intensify.

[bachopoven]

To me, depressing music is music that leaves me feeling weak, sad, horrified, the kind of emotion you get when you watch a really violent ocurrance or you get extremely bad horrible news, at the same time, it makes you realise how human you are, and it makes you relieved to know that you can experience those emotions, and you havent become a machine...

Exactly right. The goal here is not to force feelings of self-destruction or anything like that, but to get in touch with humanity.

People today are too entertained, at least in the developed countries; they forget or aren't emotionally aware of the terrible life in other places. Therefore, it becomes hard for them to appreciate their lives or freedom or success, and makes it hard for them to care for others' tragedy.

Technology and comfort has made people emotionally apart from each other.  Anyway, so people turn to movies, fiction books and yes music to attain that balance of joy and sorrow. I think and hope that music does it best.

[bachopoven]

Have you noticed nocturne in C# minor, opus posthume. is at times angry (the scales), brave (the right hand chord progressions)? These give the sadness some wonderful contrast.