Composers and Works that make you cry

[comme_le_vent]

Im curious to know what works and composers often move you to tears.

2 russians spring to mind for me-
tchaikovsky - for his devastatingly powerful and mournful piano trio, the emotion contained in this work is so moving it makes your heart stop.

rachmaninov - for his piano trios which are also devastatingly melancholic, and his vocalise which brings everone to tears. plus many other works im sure you guys will bring up.

even though i have other favourite composers - i probably consider rachmaninov the god of melancholy.
whenever someone mentions emotion in music, rachmaninov is ALWAYS the first composer to be thought of.

his music speaks to the heart and to the soul and while drowning us in his tearful melodies, he makes us feel as though we are not alone in our sufferings and misery, and i always feel - through listening and playing his music - that i have had some kind of special encounter with one of the greatest musical souls to have ever lived.

[donjuan]

Hi comme_le_vent,
For me, the second movement of Grieg's concerto is perhaps the most moving tearjerker of a piece I have ever heard.  Have you heard the story behind Grieg and his concerto?  

He made the music especially for his daughter.  He worked so hard on it- even going to Liszt for advice.  However, shortly, Grieg's daughter died, and Grieg would never write another concerto because it reminded him of his daughter.

sad huh?

I also think Liszt's funerailles is especially emotional from the way the melody develops, and if one knows the history behind it.  When played well, I can almost hear the violent sobs from those mourning the deaths of those in the 1848 October Revolution in Hungary and many other parts of Europe.  It also is sad for those who loved Chopin.  Those repeating patterns in the left hand passage are especially reminiscent of Chopin and his Heroic (Op. 53) Polonaise.

Someone who responds to your post comme_le_vent, is bound to say Schumann's Traumerai is one of the saddest pieces ever written.  In Russia following the first World War, a burial ground was built for the Russian troops who perished.  They always played traumerai at this place.  Ironically however , Schumann was a german.  

In my opinion, the saddest, most emotional pieces are those with unique history behind them.

Donjuan  

[comme_le_vent]

i believe extra-musical associations have alot to do with it, but to me some music it just intrinsically tear-jerking on it's own.

this reminds me of a scene in 'immortal beloved' where beethoven's friend was listening to the kreutzer sonata's 1st mvt, beethoven commented on the story of the struggle behind the music, and the guy started crying.
now was it the music, or the association that made him cry? because he didnt cry before beethoven mentioned the meaning.

and about grieg, that story is sad, but it seems inaccurate because i have a cd with sketches of a b minor concerto for piano made before his death, so he did actually want to write another one, but he died too soon to get it really finished.

[ravel]

You said it ,
its rachmaninov,  i find it unbelievable, that guy was full of melancholic melodies. he has to be the God of melancholy in music. apart from his most mentioned common concertos and sonatas,  so many of his preludes, listen to 0pus 23 no.4, 7 , opus 32 no.10,
his cello sonata andante ( specially the volodos transcription of it, its so hauntingly beautiful and melancholic ),  so many other pieces, i ll keep on going on if i try listning all of them.
obviously there are other composers and pieces as well. but i guess rachmaninov tops the list of having most number of sad compositions.

[donjuan]

I saw "Immortal Beloved" a long time ago, and remember that scene.  I can't remember what it was that made him cry.  I remember it was very emotional and well done.  It was probably what Beethoven said that made him cry.  It's possible that he cried because he finally understood the meaning of the music, making him boil over with emotion.  For movies about composers, "Amadeus" is my favorite, followed by "Liszt's Rhapsody".
donjuan    

[DarkWind]

Hmm, I've never been literally moved to tears, but I'll say, that 2nd movement from the Piano concerto by Grieg comes close. Funerailles is pretty sad, although its more of a haunting piece to me. Well, it makes sense in a way. Anyways, since theres no need for another thread, why don't you also mention pieces that basically give you goosebumps, not just because of fear, of course , but like of amazement, or because you just love the piece so much and it fills you with a very strong emotion? For, me, its the La Valse by Ravel, especially the finale. That really gives me the goosebumps!

[ravel]

oh sure, La valse gives goosebumps.
as do a lot of his pieces, how about the climax of ondine.
talking about melancholic pieces , i think ravels concerto in g second movement is pretty hauntingly melancholic.

[comme_le_vent]

i have to say, you havent lived until youve been moved to tears by music.

[bernhard]

i have to say, you havent lived until youve been moved to tears by music.

I don't know if this counts, but I cried when I saw Maksim on TV...

[ayahav]

I cannot listen to the Mozart or the Verdi requiem without crying. The Brahms as well. And as I found out today, the Britten is also very moving. I love the "Stabat Mater" by Pergolesi.

Liszt's funerailles is moving and so is another movement from "Harmonies poetiques et religieuses" - Andante Lacrimoos (I believe it's called). It has an excerpt from a poem at the top, which goes:

Tombez! Larmes silencieuses
Sur un terre sans pitié.
Non plus entre des mains pieuses,
Ni sur le sein de l'amitié.

(roughly translated:
Drop! Silent tears
On a ground without pity.
Not anymore between pious hands,
Nor in the branch of friendship)
Liszt makes the music almost imitate the tears that drop on the ground with little staccato chords over a very emotional melody.

[r.schaefer]

works that often move me to tears:
Beethoven:
9th symphony !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
5th symphony
Waldstein Sonata!!!
Appassionata
Piano Concerto No.4 (last movement!!!)
Piano Concerto No.5 (first movement)
and many more of him!!!

Rachmaninoff:
Piano Concerto No.2 (a passage in the first movement)
Piano Concerto No.3 (the end!)

Bach:
Goldberg Variation No.30

Pachelbel:
Canon


               

[comme_le_vent]

Pachelbel:
Canon

really? why?  :-/

[faulty_damper]

I dont' know if I've ever cried.  Some pieces make me sad, though.

You know Alkan's Op.35-7, The Incident at the Neighboring Village, the opening is so sweet and delicate... so serine and I just don't want it to stop.  That is absolutely one of the most ____ I've heard in a while.  Just so simplistic but beautiful.  Then the village next door burns down and all hell breaks loose.  

[Jemmers]

Rach's Prelude no.4 from op23 makes me wanna cry.
Also, Chopin's Raindrop prelude, and the third movement of Liszt's B minor Sonata... always.

[comme_le_vent]

You know Alkan's Op.35-7, The Incident at the Neighboring Village, the opening is so sweet and delicate... so serine and I just don't want it to stop.  That is absolutely one of the most ____ I've heard in a while.  Just so simplistic but beautiful.  Then the village next door burns down and all hell breaks loose.  

I love that piece, its so mental!
the explosion is pure        fury!  

but i dont get whats sad about it....its serene, not particularly sad to me though.

and i agree about the raindrop prelude, certain harmony changes and inflections of melody in that piece are so beautiful they make your shirt extremely wet.

[DuLudvig]

One's that always makes me cry are Beethovens Seventh Symphony-second movment,  Mozart's Requiem-Lachrymosa, and Barber's Adagio for Strings.

Du

[Daevren]

I can't cry.

I get closest while I listen to Shawn Lane and think about a few sad things in my life.

[dj]

i think the last time i cried for any reason was the first time i heard chopin's nocturne op 9 no 1.....other than that, i don't think i've been moved to tears by music....but scriabin's etude op 2 no 1 comes close

[comme_le_vent]

yeah that scriabin is sad, but i totally agree with the beethoven 7th slow mvt, its totally tear-worthy.

whats so sad about shawn lane's music? i mean he died last year...but alot of composers are dead...explain man!

[dgk88]

Stravinsky- rite of spring

[ayahav]

really?

[Antnee]

Shuberts serenade from his Schwanengesang is so beautiful, that it moves me to tears everytime I hear it.

-Tony-              

[sharon_f]

2nd movement from the Beethoven's Emperor Concerto
The slow movement from Mozart's Clarinet Concerto
The slow movement from Bach's F minor
Barber Adagio for Strings
Strauss - Last Four Songs
In Paradisum from the Faure Requiem
Lauridsen's Lux Aeternam

[trix]

This thread was bumped up and I decided to edit my answer; I'll get it back in here soon (yeah I'm a little weird) .

[Daevren]

"whats so sad about shawn lane's music?"

I don't know. Its not that its sad. Crying isn't really linked with sadness in my personality. I guess its about emotional release. His music has a big emotional impact.

I agree with comme_le_vent, the mind is really good at linking different memories. Linking music music with memories for example.

Music never makes me sad, I get goose bumbs and cold shivers all the time but good music, sad or happy makes me smile with joy.

[homilius]

1) Alkan: op.33 30 ans:The reprise of the theme at the end of the fugue (Pierre Réach)
2) Beethoven: op.81a: Passage between 2nd and 3rd mvt: an explosion of joy
3) Purcell's Song: "Now, that the sun..."
4) Beethoven op.110

[chromatickler]

Chopin sonata #2 movement 3 played by Pogorelich. Curiously, no "correct" interpretation of this movement ever moved me.

[fang_you]

Liszt: Harmonies du soir

[ayahav]

I completely forgot to mention them... Certain movements from Liszt's "Harmonies Poétiques et Religieuses" can bring me completely to tears... Funérailles, and Andante Lagrimoso especially... The poem above the Andante Lagrimoso is so moving.... Lagrimoso is from the same root as Lacrimal (the gland which produces tears in the eye).

There are two stanzas quoted, but I can only remember the first one by heart....

from Une Larme by A. Lamartine

Tombez! Larmes silencieuses,         (Fall! Silent tears,)
Sur une terre sans pitié.                 (On a ground without pity.)
Non plus entre des mains pieuses,  (Not any longer between pious hands,)
Ni sur le sein de l'amitié...               (Nor on the branch of amity.)

amazing isn't it?

[davy10tunes]

Listen to Ravel's "Oiseaux tristes" from Miroirs, also the Andantino from Schubert's sonata No.20 D959

[janice]

TOTALLY!!!!  My old high school piano teacher died of cancer when I was in college.  She had even planned her own funeral!  She requested that a college choir (she had taught at the same college) and orchestra (i think) sing this at her funeral.  I was bawling!!

[bernhard]

I completely forgot to mention them... Certain movements from Liszt's "Harmonies Poétiques et Religieuses" can bring me completely to tears... Funérailles, and Andante Lagrimoso especially... The poem above the Andante Lagrimoso is so moving.... Lagrimoso is from the same root as Lacrimal (the gland which produces tears in the eye).

There are two stanzas quoted, but I can only remember the first one by heart....

from Une Larme by A. Lamartine

Tombez! Larmes silencieuses,         (Fall! Silent tears,)
Sur une terre sans pitié.                 (On a ground without pity.)
Non plus entre des mains pieuses,  (Not any longer between pious hands,)
Ni sur le sein de l'amitié...               (Nor on the branch of amity.)

amazing isn't it?

Here is the complete poem:

Une Larme (Consolation)
Alphonse de Lamartine (1790 - 1869)

Tombez, larmes silencieuses,
Sur une terre sans pitié;
Non plus entre des mains pieuses,
Ni sur le sein de l'amitié !

Tombez comme une aride pluie
Qui rejaillit sur le rocher,
Que nul rayon du ciel n'essuie,
Que nul souffle ne vient sécher.

Qu'importe à ces hommes mes frères
Le cœur brisé d'un malheureux ?
Trop au-dessus de mes misères,
Mon infortune est si loin d'eux !

Jamais sans doute aucunes larmes
N'obscurciront pour eux le ciel;
Leur avenir n'a point d'alarmes,
Leur coupe n'aura point de fiel.

Jamais cette foule frivole
Qui passe en riant devant moi
N'aura besoin qu'une parole
Lui dise : Je pleure avec toi !

Eh bien ! ne cherchons plus sans cesse
La vaine pitié des humains;
Nourrissons-nous de ma tristesse,
Et cachons mon front dans mes mains.

A l'heure où l'âme solitaire
S'enveloppe d'un crêpe noir,
Et n'attend plus rien de la terre,
Veuve de son dernier espoir;

Lorsque l'amitié qui l'oublie
Se détourne de son chemin,
Que son dernier bâton, qui plie,
Se brise et déchire sa main;

Quand l'homme faible, et qui redoute
La contagion du malheur,
Nous laisse seul sur notre route
Face à face avec la douleur;

Quand l'avenir n'a plus de charmes
Qui fassent désirer demain,
Et que l'amertume des larmes
Est le seul goût de notre pain;

C'est alors que ta voix s'élève
Dans le silence de mon cœur,
Et que ta main, mon Dieu ! soulève
Le poids glacé de ma douleur.

On sent que ta tendre parole
À d'autres ne peut se mêler,
Seigneur ! et qu'elle ne console
Que ceux qu'on n'a pu consoler.

Ton bras céleste nous attire
Comme un ami contre son cœur,
Le monde, qui nous voit sourire,
Se dit : D'où leur vient ce bonheur?

Et l'âme se fond en prière
Et s'entretient avec les cieux,
Et les larmes de la paupière
Sèchent d'elles-même à nos yeux,

Comme un rayon d'hiver essuie,
Sur la branche ou sur le rocher,
La dernière goutte de pluie
Qu'aucune ombre n'a pu sécher.

Translations:

Fall, quiet tears,
On a ground without pity;
Either between pious hands,
Nor on the centre of the friendship!

Fall like an arid rain
Who flashes back on the rock,
That no ray of the sky ensues,
That no breath does not come to dry.

What imports with these men my brothers
The heart broken of unhappy?
Too much above my miseries,
My misfortune is so far from them!

Never undoubtedly some tears
Will not darken for them the sky;
Their future does not have alarms,
Their cut will not have gall.

Never this frivolous crowd
Who passes while laughing in front of me
Only one word will need
He says: I cry with you!

Eh well! let me not seek unceasingly any more
The vain pity of the human ones;
We of my sadness nourish,
And let me hide my face in my hands.

At the hour when the solitary heart
Wrap itself in a black crepe,
And nothing any more the ground waits,
Widow of her last hope;

When the friendship which forgets it
Is diverted of its way,
That its last stick, which folds,
Breaks and tears its hand;

When the weak man, and who fears
Contagion of misfortune,
Us only leaves on our road
Face to face with the pain;

When the future does not have any more charms
Who make wish tomorrow,
And that bitterness of the tears
Is the only taste of our bread;

At this point in time your voice rises
In the silence of my heart,
And how your hand, my God! raise
The frozen weight of my pain.

It is felt that your tender word
With others cannot mix,
Lord! and that it does not comfort
That those which one could not comfort.

Your celestial arm attracts us
Like a friend against his heart,
The world, which sees us smiling,
Says itself: From where does this happiness come to them?

And the heart is based in prayer
And discusses with the skies,
And tears of the eyelid
Dry of they-even in our eyes,

Like a ray of winter ensues,
On the branch or the rock,
The last drop of rain
That no shade could dry.

[Alp635]

Everyone in this room seems to like Rachmaninoff a lot...

me to.  

My favorite pieces of all time that move me to tears:
In no order:

 Beethoven cello sonata no. 4 2nd movement (g major theme, so pure and fragile, like a prayer)

 Goldberg variations (i don't cry but feel moved)

 Brahms f minor sonata 2nd mvmt only...the rest makes me feel constipated.  

Prokofiev second violin concerto...second mvmt has an amazing theme.  Heifetz recording great...

Faure requiem...any faure requiem fans out there?

Beethoven op. 109, 110, 111, 4th concerto

Schubert b-flat posth. sonata.  Unbelievable... moments musicaux

Schumann Davidsbundler, Schumann Fantasie.  
Cello concerto 2nd mvmt

Gosh, the list keeps going on...I love it all I guess...
Rachmaninoff cello sonata, 2nd piano concerto,

Bach f minor keyboard concerto second mvmt...

[ayahav]

The Rach 3...

Faure's Requiem indeed.... Mozart's and Verdi's too.... oh, and Brahms'.

and I also get very moved by the f minor chopin concerto....

and the list goes on...

[A.C.]

Beethoven had once held a small piano concert in which he played some of his own sonatas. After the concert, Beethoven looked over the auditorium, and saw people who were touched crying in their seats. He suddenly bursted into laughter, and said, "How foolish you guys are!"

Beethoven laughed because he thought that music is all about cultivating; a well-educated and refined man would not have cried for any sorts of music

[willcowskitz]

Hahah way to go good ol' Ludwig.

Anyways, pieces that have made me cry (I wasn't fighting it either):

Liszt's Totentanz
Rachmaninoff's 3rd

There are probably others but those two had biggest impact on me in the ways of pushing the right buttons if you know what I mean.

Ravel's Jeaux d'eau is beautiful too, and Liszt's 12. hungarian rhapsody, to mention a few.

To my experience, modern music sounds more rational whereas romantic draws out one's emotions. This image is only strengthened by the what Prokofiev's persona was according to what I've read. He was cool, and kind of calculating, a lot unlike his countryman Shostakovich for example.

This might get some people off their chairs, but I think Rachmaninoff's 3rd concerto is kind of classical pop, the way it handles emotions is very straight forward and it communicates with the listener on a relatively primitive level. By no means "primitive" here equals anything negative, but something that's been built-in in us humans. The concerto almost tells you to react in a certain way, it forces these landscapes in your mind. Rachmaninoff was said to be especially good at composing short pieces, like his preludes, cause he could fit a lot of thought and emotion within seemingly small frames. The third concerto appears to be probably the greatest monument of this, as the emotion that its packed with, seems to conquer the actual frame. Its like an explosive of imagery - huge potential that's been "imprisoned" in small space, only waiting to be released by the listener's ability to feel.

I found this topic interesting, usually piano boards are full of "What's the fastest piece for piano?!" or "What's the hardest piece!?".  Its sad to find people who have forgotten the meaning of music.

[ayahav]

I think that instead of the word primitive, you should have said that the music appeals to our primal instincts. I personally think that the Rach 3 is mindblowing! But I see what you mean. The Rach 3 communicates with the listner on a very basic, primal, intuitive level... You're right, to some extent...

[willcowskitz]

Well put.

[ayahav]

why, thank you.

[Beet9]

It depends - what kind of cry do you mean?  

For me, Bach's music is so spiritually profound that i cry from joy.

Rachmaninoff and Tchaik's music is so depressing and beautiful i cry from the expressiveness of it.

But John Cage's music is sooooo stupid i cry for the lack of beauty in modern music.  

[belvoce]

I cry for the lack to beauty in modern music too.  

[ayahav]

You're very narrow minded then... There is beauty in any music... There is beauty in sound on its own...

[A.C.]

Always listen to music with an open mind - Ruth Slenczynska

[EthanT]

O man... song that makes my cry the most would have to be good ol' hot cross buns =p



- Just playing, I have never cried over music... unless im trying to learn a Liszt run or something... then i cry of simple agony! . But I do love the middle section of Rachmaninoff's Prelude in C# Minor... i think thats what it is lol.

[ravel]

no beauty in modern music ?
does that mean there is no beauty in Berg's music
i dont know if beauty is the right word, but every time i hear Berg's violin concerto i am really moved.
and there are a lot of modern pieces that are really moving and beautiful.

[Drillyourtechnique]

Rach's Paganini Rhapsody 18th Var.

[Nita]

I would say Rach 2 is the reason I  stayed  a pianist...I still remember first time I heard it in live performence I promised myself I wouldn`t  stop playing until I would perform this piece... So thanks to Rachmaninov today I`m a pianist...and guess who I play the most? Rachmaninov:)

[ayahav]

I love that concerto too.... and I can't wait till the day I can perform it.... even if I have to perform it with a piano accompaniment instead of an orchestra.... it'd be more for my pleasure than for the audience's anyways......

[jennbo]

Debussey's Claire de Lune made me cry.  because I hated it.  
Czerny used to make me cry when I was 5.
But I'm in my romantic composers period so go Polonaises! and the g m. ballade! and of course Schubert's gb impromptu!
Gosh I need a muffin

[Tash]

oh yeah clair de lune was in music at school last year our 'let's lie in bed and cry' piece during stressful times!
also chopin's noturne no20 in c# minor makes me pretty sad, that has the influence of it being in film adaption of Wladysaw Szpilman's (is that how you spell it??) novel 'The pianist' which makes me wanna cry every time i read it
also has anyone heard the music from the film 'gattaca' by michael nyman? that's beautiful i feel like crying when listening to the theme song from it.
can't think of anything else specifically right now but there are others