profound music

[liszmaninopin]

Just curious, but in your opinion, what are some of the most emotionally deep and compelling pieces of piano music?

[pianobabe56]

A couple years ago (3, actually) I learned Christian Sinding's "Rustle of Spring." I thoroughly enjoyed it, though it's emotional connection with me may be due to the fact that it was my grandmother's favorite song. I remember her playing it when she came to visit, and so it holds great meaning for me.

Most of the 'profound music' that you run across in your life will be tied to certain memories and emotions.

[chopin2256]

Chopin's Ballade Number 1 in G minor is very deep.  I consider that piece to be one of Chopin's greater masterpieces.

But I am obviously not the only one that thinks this.  The piece was played on "The Pianist" in front of the German, remember?  And that was the deepest moment in that movie, because the German let him live and helped him hide out.  The pianist was experiencing alot of sorrow, yet he had hope, because otherwise he wouldn't be fighting vigorously for his life.  He also had rage of what was happening.

I think the reason why this piece was played was because the piece has alot of sadness in it, with some moments of hope, which are still sad.  It also contains rage at the end.  There is a good reason why Chopin is my favorite composer.

[donjuan]

Dont hate me for mentioning an overplayed piece, but I dont think anyone can deny Rachmaninoff's 2nd piano concerto as being one of the most emotional works ever conceived.  The aching melodies and motifs circling about a single note really pulls on the heart strings.
 
also Liszt's Les Preludes are beautiful - the music and Lamartine's poem compliment eachother so beautifully and somehow I hear a subliminal message in such music- to live each day with passion and gusto while you still can.

[thracozaag]

Chopin: The Mazurkas, Polonaise Fantasie
Schumann: Kreisleriana, Dichterliebe
Schubert: Bb posth sonata, Schwangesang
Liszt: Benediction, Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Sagen
Beethoven: Op. 110, 111, late string quartets
Bach: B minor Mass, St. Matthew's Passion, Ich Ruf Zu Dir
Mozart: Requiem, K. 310 sonata
Haydn: The Creation
Shostakovich: 2nd theme from Cello Sonata, 1st movement, 8th string quartet
Debussy: Footsteps in the snow (prelude), Pagodes
Ravel: Le Gibet, LH piano concerto
Rachmaninoff: Isle of the Dead
Copland: Piano sonata

 and a million others....

koji (STSD)

[steinwaymodeld]

Chopin: The Mazurkas, Polonaise Fantasie
Schumann: Kreisleriana, Dichterliebe
Schubert: Bb posth sonata, Schwangesang
Liszt: Benediction, Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Sagen
Beethoven: Op. 110, 111, late string quartets
Bach: B minor Mass, St. Matthew's Passion, Ich Ruf Zu Dir
Mozart: Requiem, K. 310 sonata
Haydn: The Creation
Shostakovich: 2nd theme from Cello Sonata, 1st movement, 8th string quartet
Debussy: Footsteps in the snow (prelude), Pagodes
Ravel: Le Gibet, LH piano concerto
Rachmaninoff: Isle of the Dead
Copland: Piano sonata

 and a million others....

koji (STSD)

(Allow me)

Scriabin: Most of it (especially late ones)

[f0bul0us]

Chopin's Ballade Number 1 in G minor is very deep.  I consider that piece to be one of Chopin's greater masterpieces.

Evanescence's My Immortal?

[steinwaymodeld]

Evanescence's My Immortal?

huh?

[e60m5]

Liszt b minor...

[musicsdarkangel]

the Rach 3 is the most profound piece when played correctly to my ears.


I'd also add the Rach 2, Chopin's g minor ballade (agreed), Liszt - Liebstraum

[musicsdarkangel]

Dont hate me for mentioning an overplayed piece, but I dont think anyone can deny Rachmaninoff's 2nd piano concerto as being one of the most emotional works ever conceived.  The aching melodies and motifs circling about a single note really pulls on the heart strings.

I couldn't agree more.

[jazzyd]

JS Bach:
The B minor and Eb minor Preludes from Book 1 of the Well-Tempered Clavier. (There is a recording of the B minor by Youri Egorov that I find so profound, it is actually quite disturbing and difficult for me to listen to it. Totally irrational, I know - but there.)

The first and the last/unfinished contrapuncti of The Art of Fugue. Glorious.


Herbert Howells: Piano Quartet in A minor and 'In Gloucestershire'. Every Englishman/woman should listen to these; it's the landscape of our country translated into music.



David

[Floristan]

The fourth movement of Mahler's Third Symphony -- the setting of Nietzsche's poem "O Mensch, gibt acht" from "Also Sprach Zarathustra."  To me that's profound.

[Awakening]

I find that all of Rachmaninoff's concertos are masterpieces filled with tremendous emotional power, though numbers 2 and 3 are my personal favorites.  His preludes are beautiful as well, C Sharp Minor being one of the most memorable.  His impulsive, dynamic, sweeping style of composition that is inclined towards melancholy, and filled with longing really appeals to me.  The nuance of his works is a result of layer upon layer of exhuberant emotion constructed beautifully and romantically for maximum emotional impact.  Basically, most pieces by Rachmaninoff move me.  

When it comes to Chopin, for me, he is the greatest writer of melodies there ever was.  Take a simple piece like his Nocturne in G Minor, or his Prelude in D Flat.  Both are examples of an absolutely beautiful, albeit simple melody driving a piece through several stages of thick atmosphere and clarity of emotion.  He is able to truly make poetry with music, and express what cannot be expressed with words through the delicate art of composition.  His etudes, when played well, are technical marvels that undoubtedly impress, but are also capable of awakening profound emotional reflection in the listener.  I think that his Nocturnes and Ballades are probably his finest works for solo piano, filled with stunning melodies and intricacies that are hardly fathomable on first listen.  

Beethoven is another composer who manages to rouse something inside of me during listening.  However, the emotion I feel while listening to Beethoven is generally not the romantic, delicate, wistful, and sometimes mournful mood that Chopin puts me in, or the yearning, soaring, tortured state of heart that Rachmaninoff puts me in.  Beethoven's music is bold, determined, and triumphant.  Filled with great dynamic range, it is often free of ambiguity, and delivers a strong, undeniable rush of feeling.  The coexistance of light and dark in Beethoven's works makes for a dichotomy that is strongly relatable to the listener, as every human being seems to have seen conflict over these two opposing forces at one time or another.  Beethoven appeals to me because of its conviction and unwavering commitment to deliver emotion that is pure and tangible.  His 9th Symphony is an obvious wonder, along with many Sonatas and his concerti.  

Mozart deserves a definite mention as well, because of his structure and adherence to the rules that are testament to the fact that music based on such "textbook" ideas and concepts can be, and is, wonderful and filled with beauty.  His works generally don't have the unexpected fire of Rachmaninoff, or the moody temperament of Chopin, but they are glorious pieces of music that often manage to tug at the listener's heartstrings in all the right ways.  Grave contemplation, elation, and earnest reflection are often results for me from listening to Mozart's music.  Everyone seen Amadeus?  A perfect commemoration to Mozart as a composer (despite the historical inaccuracies)--Salieri's character does an incredible job of showing, and telling us the power of Mozart's composition.

Those are the major four composers I think of when considering classical music and how I am emotionally affected by it.  Nevertheless, I am often moved by the works of Scriabin, Grieg, Tchaikovsky, Debussy, Brahms, Schubert, Schumann, Liszt, and many others.  Basically, all great classical music is profound, and beautiful in its own way.  I can probably relate to Rachmaninoff and Chopin the most easily, and I marvel most at the genius of Mozart and Beethoven, but that isn't to say that every other composer doesn't have something profound to offer the listener.  Definitely the best genre of music there is.  

[Jeremy C.]

Rachmaninov's second. it is so dark, yet has passages filled with compassion. when played, just close your eyes and listen. the music will take you on a journey across the land of Russia.

[pianiststrongbad]

Rachmaninov's second piano concerto and Tchaikovsky's 6th Symphony (Pathetique)

[anda]

rachmaninov - dies irae variation in paganini rhapsody

[jcromp78]

How about Tchaikovsky's Concert Fantasy op 56 which has some great moments of emotional power and drama. The transcription by Sgambati of Gluck's Melodie has one of the most heart-wrenching melodies every written, hence the name. Also Chopin's Ballade in F-Minor or his Etude op 10 no 3, heck just about 2/3 of Chopin falls in this class.

[Awakening]

Rachmaninov's second. it is so dark, yet has passages filled with compassion. when played, just close your eyes and listen. the music will take you on a journey across the land of Russia.

Second Symphony, or concerto?  I love both, but prefer the Concerto. 
There are so many to choose from, I couldn't pick just one favorite.  However, Rachmaninoff's 2nd Concerto is in my top 10.  Other favorites of mine (in my top 30) would be Beethoven's 9th Symphony, Beethoven's 5th Concerto, Mozart's Requiem, Chopin's 2nd Concerto, Brahms' First Symphony (how beautiful), Brahms' 3rd Sonata, Beethoven Sonatas: Pathetique, Waldstein, Appasionata and Moonlight, Chopin's etudes 10/4, 10/3, and others.  The list goes on and on, but all those mentioned are incredible. 

[Jeremy C.]

the concerto. I'm currently learning it

[Bacfokievrahms]

John Walsh's Endicorum

[Skeptopotamus]

Rite of Spring.

[minimozart007]

Ravel: Le Tombeau de Couperin
Beethoven:Eroica Symphony, Op. 74 and Op. 130 String Quartets
Chopin: Impromptu Op. 36, Grande Valse Briliante Op. 18
Anything by Mozart

[Pianoquake]

Wow, the responses here run from Beethoven's late sonatas (how about hammerklavier?!) to pure tear-jerkers.

What do you mean by emotionally deep?
Sometimes the very emotional is in fact superficial.

[jason2711]

shostakovich's symphony number 7 - based on the siege of leningrad.  When i performed the music for the first time with an orchestra i felt i was there... with all the suffering that had happened

[theodopolis]

Cesar Franck's Choral No. 3 in A minor.

Try Stephen Hough's piano transcription or the original version (I recommend Peter Hurford's). If you think you've experienced Franck and haven't heard this piece then you haven't experienced Franck at his most passionate and profound.

[UofMDLisztian]

Some of my favourite emotional pieces come from the orchestra.
They include:

Dante Symphony by Liszt
Cantus in Memory of B. Britten by Arvo Part (plus some others by Part)
Adagio for Strings by Barber
Ein Deutsches Requiem by Brahms
Messa da Requiem by Verdi
Symphony no. 6 1st and 4th mvmnt by Tchaikovsky

For piano:
Chopin's Ballade in G-minor (probably because of The Pianist

cheers

[puma]

The Evanescence song My Immortal is, indeed, uplifiting.  I think Moonlight Sonata is moving, in spite of the fact that it is overplayed.  I'll agree with the Rachmaninoff c# minor prelude as well.