Ever get touched?

[willard3]

Does anyone ever listen to classical music and get particularly touched by it?

Just today (in music history class), we listened to Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique, and I was rather overcome. I know this work is special in that regard because it tells a story, but I've been feeling the same way with other works, too.

 

[janny108]

Yes indeed. Different pieces evoke different moods.
Jan

 

[jcj3803]

Vivaldi - "Four Seasons" - does it every time, but especially when I hear it performed live.

I'm fortunate enough to work near a large, old church (4th Presby in Chicago) that has lunchtime organ concerts from time to time. Even when somebody is just practicing, it's amazing.

And, since I'm of Finnish descent, "Finlandia" gets the juices going too.

 

[janny108]

Swan Lake by Tchaikovsky and Adagio from Spartacus really do this to me!
Jan

 

[Phil4987]

Barber's Adagio for Strings is very evocative. I also love Richard Wagner's 'Vorspeil' intro for The Ring. What does 'Nibelungen' mean anyway?

 

[willard3]

Barber's Adagio for Strings is very evocative. I also love Richard Wagner's 'Vorspeil' intro for The Ring. What does 'Nibelungen' mean anyway?

It means "Nibelungen." I don't believe there's a translation for it.

 

[janny108]

Does anyone ever listen to classical music and get particularly touched by it?

Just today (in music history class), we listened to Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique, and I was rather overcome. I know this work is special in that regard because it tells a story, but I've been feeling the same way with other works, too.

What is it about?
Jan

 

[KimLCMS]

Does anyone ever listen to classical music and get particularly touched by it?

Just today (in music history class), we listened to Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique, and I was rather overcome. I know this work is special in that regard because it tells a story, but I've been feeling the same way with other works, too.

This happens to me all the time. Sometimes it is because of the story behind the music, sometimes it is because of the quality of musicianship. In college, when I listened to friends play I would often get emotional. I majored in music - I'm a trumpet player.

 

[janny108]

This happens to me all the time. Sometimes it is because of the story behind the music, sometimes it is because of the quality of musicianship. In college, when I listened to friends play I would often get emotional. I majored in music - I'm a trumpet player.

Definitely muscianship and story lines.
Jan

 

[Aibrean]

Mozart's Requiem (like the whole thing).

 

[willard3]

What is it about?
Jan

It's about a man who falls in love with a woman, but the love is unreturned. He goes everywhere trying to forget about her, but she keeps coming back into his mind (her theme returns a lot in the music).

 

[janny108]

Something I discovered recently was Tchaikovsky's Winter Dreams or something to that effect and it is good!
Jan

 

[janny108]

Something I discovered recently was Tchaikovsky's Winter Dreams or something to that effect and it is good!
Jan

Excuse me it's Winter Daydreams by Tchaikovsky.
Jan

 

[symphonyb]

Beethoven's 9th (D minor)!
I love this and will always count it as my fav moving piece.

 

[colormebeautiful]

been listening to this one over and over - so beautiful, gives me shivers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0Fg_Q7z2ms&mode=related&search=

 

[dorkelf]

It's about a man who falls in love with a woman, but the love is unreturned. He goes everywhere trying to forget about her, but she keeps coming back into his mind (her theme returns a lot in the music).

Interesting thing is, it's pretty much autobiographical. Berlioz was in love with an Irish actress named Harriet Smithson. He became so obsessed with the chick that he went psycho (or nearly so) - he even plotted to kill some other guy who was a suitor or perceived lover of Smithson's. But after attending a performance of Symphonie Fantastique and realizing she was what the work was all about (and how obsessed Berlioz was with her), Smithson did end up marrying him. More out of fear than love, perhaps? In any case, by the time they were married, which was right at the end of Smithson's heyday as and actress, Berlioz's opium-addled mind had been so long fueled by his obsession with the actress that he'd probably build up expectations of married life far beyond the reality of what marriage is really all about. It wasn't a happy marriage and it didn't last. Very sad.

Paul

 

[dorkelf]

Barber's Adagio for Strings is very evocative. I also love Richard Wagner's 'Vorspeil' intro for The Ring. What does 'Nibelungen' mean anyway?

I think it means the characters are derived from the Nibelungenlied, which I believe was the main source of story material for Wagner's Ring Cycle.


Paul

 

[MarcusHill]

Mozart's Requiem (like the whole thing).

I'm always moved by Mozart's Requiem, but for me it comes in a close second to Faure's - it's my favourite piece of music both as a listener and a singer.

 

[janny108]

Interesting thing is, it's pretty much autobiographical. Berlioz was in love with an Irish actress named Harriet Smithson. He became so obsessed with the chick that he went psycho (or nearly so) - he even plotted to kill some other guy who was a suitor or perceived lover of Smithson's. But after attending a performance of Symphonie Fantastique and realizing she was what the work was all about (and how obsessed Berlioz was with her), Smithson did end up marrying him. More out of fear than love, perhaps? In any case, by the time they were married, which was right at the end of Smithson's heyday as and actress, Berlioz's opium-addled mind had been so long fueled by his obsession with the actress that he'd probably build up expectations of married life far beyond the reality of what marriage is really all about. It wasn't a happy marriage and it didn't last. Very sad.

Paul

Wow that's kind of chilling!
Jan

 

[UberLutheran]

Ohhhhhhhh, yes!

Brahms' Ein Deutches Requiem and Liszt's oratorio Christus (especially the Passion movement) get me every time.

As does the second movement of Bach's Cantata No. 78 (the soprano/alto duo) and Hindemith's First Organ Sonata.

And for that matter, Ravel's Ma Mere L'Oye.

And the last song of Schubert's Die Winterreise.

And the last movement of Beethoven's Sonata, op. 111.

And...