The music that makes me cry

[John Kim]

Come on, fellow admirers of Mahler.
The two Johns are not brazenly asking you to cry in public;  we're simply asking what music (including non-Mahler) do you find really moving--what music evokes a response from you?

That is correct, thus one John says.

If we are not moved or inspired by the music we're listening to, what's the point??

I for one don't listen to the music for a mere intellectual satisfaction.

So, confess more!

John,

[john haueisen]

I just found another piece that always affects me:  the last five minutes of Wagner's Gotterdammerung.
I was watching the DVD of Daniel Barenboim's Ring, but I don't think it was the stage action but simply the magnificent, all-encompassing beauty of that few minutes of music.
Yes, I know, the genius Wagner is bringing back leitmotifs from many earlier scenes in his Ring--it seems to be the way he blends them, that brings together all at once, the whole history of this gigantic piece.
Wow!--what thrills to recall so many moments of musical brilliance--all recalled again in just those final five minutes of The Twilight of the Gods.
--John H

[John Kim]

I just found another piece that always affects me:  the last five minutes of Wagner's Gotterdammerung.
I was watching the DVD of Daniel Barenboim's Ring, but I don't think it was the stage action but simply the magnificent, all-encompassing beauty of that few minutes of music.
Yes, I know, the genius Wagner is bringing back leitmotifs from many earlier scenes in his Ring--it seems to be the way he blends them, that brings together all at once, the whole history of this gigantic piece.
Wow!--what thrills to recall so many moments of musical brilliance--all recalled again in just those final five minutes of The Twilight of the Gods.
--John H

John,

True. But it happens only if you have followed the previous 4 hrs something all the way up to that point. It's that thing that's been piling up in your heart that eventually breaks loose.

I feel very much the same for the last 5-8 min. of M8th Part II.

And yes, even for the last 5 min. of Resurrection Symphony.

John,

[Damfino]

Posted by John Haueisen: I don't think it was the stage action but simply the magnificent, all-encompassing beauty of that few minutes of music.

That's what I was referring to as well. It's not necessarily the poignancy of a moment, but the sheer perfection and beauty of some pieces of music and opera that simply overwhelm me.

I have thought of another: the scene in Humperdink's Hansel and Gretel when the angels come down and surround the sleeping children. I particularly like the Met version with Blegen and Von Stade as the angels come out, and some are "flown" in from above. Humperdink's music is extraordinarily beautiful and the opera is really one of the great masterpieces of all time, IMO, even though it is dismissed by many as a minor work for children.

[Phaedrus]

1. M2 final bars / Rattle / Liverpool  (if I could trade in a couple of years of my life to be that bass trombone player....)

2. Strauß / 4 Letzte Lieder - Beim Schlafengehen / Gundula Janowitz Concertgebouw - Haitink Mahlerfeest 1968 live

3.  Taneyev / Op. 1 John of Damascus / Polyanski - Russian State Symphonic Capella Russian State Symphony Orchestra

4.  Barber / Adagio for Strings - Tokio String Quartet

5. Jan Sandström / Det Ar en ros utsprungen

6. Jacques Brel / La chanson des vieux amants

[John Kim]

So, it looks like Mahler's music in general (with a few exceptions) doesn't move you, make you in tears or cry, is that it?

Then, what does it do to you?

Make you angry, upset, or scared?

More specifically, for what purposes do you listen to Mahler?

John,

[Phaedrus]

Hello John,

Mahler does move me, it "stirs the soul", but the topic is "Music that makes me cry" and there is alot more music out there. This is the top of my list, and I think the items on my list have the emotion more "on the surface", whereas Mahler's emotion is deeper. M6's ending (Abbado Berlin) , M4's second part (Fischer/Budapest) , M8's ending (Nagano / DSOB) all of M9 (Rattle / Berlin) allow me to get in touch with "der innere Schweinehund" i.e. my heart of hearts (pls don't think of Phil Collins now) and I do cry, but only after a while. I try to compare it to fast food and haute cuisine.... I think your question is tough to answer, perhaps I have never considered this before.  English is not my mother tongue. Allow me to get back to you on this. Good question John!

Best regards,

Phaedrus

[John Kim]

Hello John,

Mahler does move me, it "stirs the soul", but the topic is "Music that makes me cry" and there is alot more music out there.

Yeah originally, but somewhere down the road I softened it from "cry" to "move", something like that.

John,

[john haueisen]

Yes, I believe it was changed to  "music that makes my eyes teary, and can make me cry."

The essence here, is that Mahler's music especially, and other works too, can have a deep and moving influence on the way we feel.  For many of us, that is why we visit the Board.  We, very naturally enjoy meeting and sharing ideas with kindred spirits.
--John Haueisen