Music of (or for) consolation

[richardfinegold]

Chopin Preludes have always remained special

[kernelbogey]

Brahms was grieving for his mother when he wrote the beautiful soprano solo, Ihr habt nun Traurigkeit, for his German Requiem....

The horn trio - especially the adagio - is also inspired by his grief.

[cloughie]

Any 6 or 8 from WTK, starting anywhere

WTK?

[Pulcinella]

WTK?

Well-tempered clavier (Das wohltemperierte Klavier: so played from a German edition, obviously).

[richardfinegold]

I'm working on the first prelude from the WTC/WTK currently. Coincidentally the harpist that played our processional wedding music made an arrangement of it and it was lovely. However I wouldn't consider it as grief music, exceptng that I probably do send J.S.B. spinning in his grave every time I play it...

[gurnemanz]

Well-tempered clavier (Das wohltemperierte Klavier: so played from a German edition, obviously).

A pedant chips in: Since 'wohltemperierte' is one word, wouldn't it be WK?

[oliver sudden]

A pedant chips in: Since 'wohltemperierte' is one word, wouldn't it be WK?

Someone in Germany chips in: it's reasonably common for abbreviations in these parts to have more letters than the number of words might lead one to expect, what with the words being made of other words and all. Westdeutscher Rundfunk is WDR, for example, to name one particularly close to home...

[oliver sudden]

I turned last night to the Shostakovich 14 in the Rostropovich recording

I was also thinking of that in the context of current events but particularly this bit: https://youtu.be/siGtXCyTZiE?feature=shared

[Boilk]

For some reason, music with rich string writing has always seemed appropriate for me for reflection / mourning / consolation. So four that come to mind:

Distance vs Desire by Allan Holdsworth
Symphony No.6 by Alan Hovhaness
Last movement of Messiaen's orchestral version of L'Ascension
2nd movement of Panufnik's Concerto Festivo (heavily influenced by the Messiaen, I reckon)

[Pulcinella]

A pedant chips in: Since 'wohltemperierte' is one word, wouldn't it be WK?

Agreed! But being a composite I suppose it's sort of OK to break it down into the well and the tempered bits.
A bit like Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis (admittedly hyphenated here) becoming BWV?

PS: Ah: I see that Oliver also responded somewhat similarly.

[smittims]

Mention of 'rich string writing' reminded me that no-one has so far mentioned that most notorious of pieces associated with consolation: Barber's Adagio.

Its' association with grief (dating perhaps from its frequent broadcast following the Kennedy assassination) is an example of music meaning different things to different people (Nimrod being an english equivalent) . In this case Samuel Barber specifically said that it was a love scene , 'a bed scene' .

I've never liked the a cappella arrangement sung to Agnus Dei. I don't know if it's authentic.

[Pulcinella]

Mention of 'rich string writing' reminded me that no-one has so far mentioned that most notorious of pieces associated with consolation: Barber's Adagio.

Its' association with grief (dating perhaps from its frequent broadcast following the Kennedy assassination) is an example of music meaning different things to different people (Nimrod being an english equivalent) . In this case Samuel Barber specifically said that it was a love scene , 'a bed scene' .

I've never liked the a cappella arrangement sung to Agnus Dei. I don't know if it's authentic.

Yes, it's authentic.
And yes, it's dreadful, ha ha!

Wiki says:

Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) is a choral composition in one movement by Samuel Barber, his own arrangement of his Adagio for Strings (1936). In 1967, he set the Latin words of the liturgical Agnus Dei, a part of the Mass, for mixed chorus with optional organ or piano accompaniment. The music, in B-flat minor, has a duration of about eight minutes.

In terms of rich string music my choice would unquestionably be the middle movement of Tippett's Concerto for double string orchestra.

[smittims]

...yes, and that too has been variously interpreted, some seeing it as a dreamy bucolic idyll. Yet when I saw Michael conduct it at the QEH in (I think) 1981 it sounded austere and rigorous , reminiscent of the 'hungry thirties'.

[LMcD]

WTK?

'Where's that Kit-Kat'?

[Pulcinella]

'Where's that Kit-Kat'?

Maybe we should be grateful that someone (the late PDQ Bach, perhaps) didn't write The Well-tempered Flügelhorn!