Need a sad violin solo... can't find one...
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Replies (96)
Greetings,
try the last movement of of the Bach C major solo sonata. A gorgeous little piece and very poignant. I remeber reading in a review that Issac Stern played it at the end of a cocnert as a tribute to someone. Can't remember who. What did stick in my ind was the reviewer who said he played it so badly it would have been better not to...
Cheers,
Buri
Try one of the movements of the suite from "Schindler's List" by John Williams. If you've seen the movie, which I think just about everyone has, you'll know why it's sad. The music definitely reflects that.
How about "Meditation from Thias" by Massenet?
Con te partiro (time to say goodbye)-made popular by Andre Bocelli
Vocalise by Rachmaninoff.
2nd movement from the Barber violin concerto, although it may stretch your technique more than you're comfortable with.
If you play viola, the Faure Elegie. (One of my favorite "sad pieces" and I try to plug it whenever I can.) There are also several plaintive violin pieces that Faure wrote that might work. (Check out Shaham's Faure disc.)
First movement of Bach c-minor harpsichord and violin sonata (but use piano for accompaniment).
Slow movement of Bach E-major concerto.
Second movement of the Tchaikovsky, Bruch, and Mendelssohn concertos, if played in a certain way.
Once you get to a certain technical level, Shostakovich 1 is one of the ultimates in regards to sad pieces.
Have fun wallowing in sadness! ;)
Sibelius vc 2nd movement is one of my favorite "Slow, sad pieces." But it does have an accompaniment... obviously.
Bach Chaconne.
Yeah, I think Buri was actually referring to the third movement of Bach's C Major Sonata.
It's a great sonata... The movement he's referring to, I think, is beautiful, charming, and just a little warm piece.
Really a gem.
Oh, and I've played it before... easy to memorize and learn. Esp. if you just went through the huge fuga. Julia Fischer often plays it as an encore.
V
Saddest piece I can think of is Joseph Achron's Hebrew Melody. Heart-breakingly sad.
[Edit] Found a video of Abram Shtern playing part of it on YouTube. Clicky
Neil
A sad solo violin piece, mostly slow music but with some fast parts? Hindemith's solo violin sonata no. 2, Op. 31. A beautiful piece of music, too.
In my opinion, the saddest piece I know of (and one that is not at all technically challenging) is Ravel's Kaddish. It is an extended song, a lament, and is heartbreakingly beautiful, as played as a solo or with piano accompaniment. The title comes from the fact that Kaddish is the name of the Jewish prayer for the dead.
Sandy
Ashokan Farewell
Found another (and better) rendition of Achron's Hebrew Melody on YouTube. This time it's Perlman playing it in Cracow - starts at about 3:50 in this clip. Definitely worth a look. :)
Neil
Hey, thanks for all the suggestions, I wrote them down and now will try to find them all... YouTube had a few of them. I'll have to ask my lessons teacher which ones she thinks are within my ability... but thanks everyone!
Melodie by Gluck, arr. Fritz Kreisler.
Another vote for Achron Hebrew Melody
Greetings,
thanks Vince, its the third. Have the same trouble with order of moevements as letters apparently,
Cheers,
Buri
concider these as well:
Tchaikovsky meditation
Tchaikovsky Valse Sentimentale
Tchaikovsky None But The Lonely Heart
Schubert Ave Maria
Rachmaninov Vocalise
Faure Berceuse
Mendelsohn On The Wings Of Song
Stravinski Firebird Berceuse
If you're really desperate I would be more than happy to compose something new for you. Specify the basic neccessary information such as key, difficulty, instrument setting, contact info and so on.
I just spent the last few weeks sight-reading my way through "Hebrew Melodies", a compilation put together by Eric Wen, editorial genius. It is published by Carl Fischer, and readily available through various retail outlets. It includes the above mentioned "Hebrew Melody" by Achron, but has a lot of other great pieces, such as "Baal Shem", and "Kol Nidre". I especially liked "Yisker", by George Perlman. If you want to spring for the "Hebrew Melody", you might as well get a lot more music for your money by purchasing the compilation.
My favorite sad solo Bach is the Sarabande/Double from the first Partita.
Bruch Kol Nidre!
Hey, guys, I repeat - Kaddish by Ravel. It wins, hands down (so to speak).
Sandy
Pibroch by David Duke
Sarabande from Bach D minor Partita
2nd movement of Barber
2nd movement of Tchaik
or, for a bit more of a challenge
3rd movement of shos 1
Hi,
saddest piece I know is "Erbarme Dich" from Bach's Passion by St. Mathew. You can find the score in "Violin Solos from the Sacred Works" at http://www.baerenreiter.com/
Heartfelt, haunting, moving. It's actually a duet with an alto voice, but it should work well unaccompanied, too. My favorite performance was Nigel Kennedy live and open air in Leipzig, Germany.
Bye, Juergen
nigun by bloch
hebrew melody by achron
chaconne by vitali
legende by wienaiwski <--this isnt as hard and was written out of sorrow
Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto by He Zhan Hao and Chen Gang.
I was just practicing a piece that my wife heard from her computer room. She came in to my practice room and said my playing sounded really sad. On second though, maybe she wasn't referring to that particular piece of music. Hmmmmmm.
Ray,
Can you make the 1st movement of Mozart concerto G major to sound sad?
My wife says I can make the happiest music sound sad. Or is she really saying my playing is sad? Actually I think I play, if not concert violinist quality, at least decently.
Wait a minute. Wife is calling from another room. "WHAT? Mary, you said you KNOW what I just wrote and you want me to admit what? WHAT? You want me to stop saying my playing isn't sad." Back again. We seem to be having a disagreement about my playing so I'll get back with you after this is resolved. Maybe some flowers or a nice restaurant dinner will change her mind. Hmmmm...
Sarah chang has a great CD out called "Sweet Sorrow". It contains beautiful and sad pieces that just pull at your heart. Listen to it and you'll find someting! JR
the Vitali Chaconne takes the lead in sad, but beautiful! When my violin teacher retired and moved out of state, I played this for him as my "gift" to him for all he taught me.
You can find an exquisite rendering of this piece on a CD called "Sweet Sorrow" by Sarah Chang. VJ
It really depends on what you mean by “sad”. According to wikdictionary, sad means:
1.Feeling mentally uncomfortable when something is missing or wrong (“She gets sad when he's away.”)
2. Low in spirits, melancholy. (“ Poor puppy, you look so sad…”)
3.(of a song, etc.) moving, full of feeling. (“The Great Gaels of Ireland God truly made mad. For, all their wars are merry and all their songs are sad. ―G.K. Chesterton”)
4.Poor in quality, lacking in character.
“That's the saddest-looking pickup truck I've ever seen.”
Not hard to take your pick:)
Apres un Reve (after a dream) by Faure
There is a good cello recording on cellojourney.com
Hey guys, I repeat - Kaddish by Ravel.
Sandy
Some of the Kreisler tunes...Capprice Viennois, Liebeswhatever, check these out...however some are deceptively difficult.
How about
Bach Chaconne
Rachmaninov Vocalise
Medatation (Massanet)
The Cantabile from the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto
Saint-Saens the Swan
Adagio from the Beethoven violin concerto or Brahms
hope that helps.
If you can rustle up a pianist, try Elegy for Violin and Piano by Gerald Finzi. A beautiful, wistful little romantic piece with as catchy a melody as you'll ever hear.
Hi all,
I'm a new member here. However, I am not new to violin playing. I'm quite seasoned. How about Cannon in D. It is easy to play and there are many variations. It sounds great with a cello and 2 other violins...maybe a viola if you can find a player. Cannon is D can be played pretty much like a "round"...like row row row your boat. It will bring tears to every eye associated to the ear that listens.
I like many of the suggestions above. I'll give them a try.
Prodigy Violinist _ Erick
Chaccone by Vitali
Bruch Concerto 2. mvt. 1
Bruch Concerto 3. mvt. 1
Bruch Scottish Fantasy mvt 1
Saint Saens Concerto 3. mvt 1
Bruch Serenade for Violin and Orchestra mvt. 1
i think chaccone is a good one
Bach 's Chaconne !!
Whats more dramatic than Bachs Chaconne ???
Mihalis
Vitali Chaconne. See if you can find the Heifetz recording w/ organ accomp. I believe Sarah Chang has one w/ orch.
The Kaddisch might not be technically dazzling - but boy o boy is it difficult musically - very difficult piece to play convincingly - every note being savoured and played with emotion, and of course not playing the Kaddisch on the violin, but singing it
I find it interesting that my several immediate ideas came to others, too. Something about commonality of perception. I like Kaddish, Kol Nidre, Meditation from Thais, Ashokan Farewell. If you are thinking "not classical", there are many great movie themes out there full of pathos and nostalgia. Gone with the Wind, The Thornbirds, Lonesome Dove. Jay Ungar has another great little piece based on the Mardi Gras song which he follows with a kick-up fiddle tune; not a bad symbolism there. It's on his Appalachian CD. Sue
Ray--you make me laugh.
I wonder if there's a violin transcription for my favorite sad piece--The Faure Elegie for Cello. That piece breaks my heart every time I hear it played. It takes a day to recover.
And, isn't there a beautiful Elegie by Elgar? And what about the Chopin Nocturne--there's a transcription of that one.
I'm with Sander. Kaddish all the way.
Or if that's too much trouble, the 1st movement of Bach's f minor sonata for violin and keyboard.
I think for sad, the second movement of the Kabelevsky concerto is very sad, and there is a middle section a little more up tempo before returning to the sad theme.
Gary
I really like the Andante from the Bach A minor solo sonata (the third movement). It gives me a really nostalgic feeling.
From: Skowronski: Classical Recordings
Mr. Pressman recommended the Solo Sonata No. 2, Opus 31, by Paul Hindemith. We endorse his choice and suggest our critically acclaimed disc featuring this rarely recorded work as presented on SKOWRONSKI: ALONE, available from-- www.cdbaby.com/cd/skowronski4
Audio clips are provided.
Best regards, S:CR
Possibly the saddest piece in the entire violin literature is the:
Tomaso Albinoni "Adagio in G minor"
Ted Kruzich
I second the Albinoni. Absolutely, gut wrenchingly sad...
Vitali Chaccone is a very sad piece specially for me. I played it for my father about five minutes before he passed away. Can't hear it or play it without blurring eyes...
FROM: Alan: I have some recordings
Mr. Kruzich recommended the Albinioni Adagio by Albinioni, to be played adagio. We endorse his choice and suggest we don't have any disc featuring this often recorded work, but if we did it would be critically panned because we can't play for beans even though we try. This comment is presented on VIOLINIST.COM and I'm all ALONE, but still not available from -- anywhere.
Audio clips of my playing are provided live shortly before bedtime at my house.
Regards: Give My Best of Them To Broadway
Chopin C-sharp nocturne
FROM: Gerety, no decent recordings yet
TO: Alan Wittert
Ms. Gerety finds your comments amusing, and STILL wonders why Mr. Skowronski always refers to himself in the third person. :) (She also endorses Mr. Sords' suggestion of the Chopin.)
Give My Regards to Budapest ;)
A little pedagogical trick for your edification and certainly not aforementioned. Get a copy of the Bach cello suites arranged for viola, and do the 1st movt of the d minor suite, pretending you're holding a viola...it'll sound in a minor and certainly offer the plaintive pathos you desire.
I have to agree with all the recommendations for Achron's Hebrew Melody . . . it is extremely haunting.
Also, you might like the Adagio from Bach's G minor sonata.
Thank you, Maura.
Vince, can you speak in the first person like the rest of us mortals? :) Enjoyed your Ysaye g moll, by the way :)
Hi there,
See this one :
"Ballade pour violon et orchestre de Ciprian Porumbescu"
You can hear this ballade here:
http://iubito.free.fr/audiofiles/porumbescuoriginal.mp3
Best regards
From: Skowronski: Classical Recordings
"Enjoyed your Ysaye G Minor."
Thank you, Andrew, for your laconic yet meaningful 'review.' We very much appreciate your feedback and interest in our work.
As an aside, we hope you investigate Mr. Skowronski's Ysaye No. 2 and 5. They're pretty persuasive as well.
NOTE: The 'other stuff' available from the Skowronski catalog is fairly convincing, too!
Many happy returns, Andrew, on your upcoming recitals and programs. And we hope to be hearing from you in the future.
Truly,
S:CR
How about the 1st movement (Adagio) from Bach Solo Sonata in G minor? I find it very sad music, and that feeling was reinforced when I learnt that it was written soon after Bach returned to Leipzig after a long absence, to find not only had his beloved second wife died, but she was also buried.
Let me know what you think.
Thanks, Vincent. You've certainly been doing very recently, it seems! I thoroughly enjoyed the Mendelssohn article, and agree.
Sad themes? How about a second movement from a major Romantic concerto? :)
Try the solo arrangement for Amazing Grace by Mark O'Connor. It's beautiful!
My personal favorite is Hebrew Melody (Achron). After hearing it on The Art of the Violin, I was drawn to it. The others sound interesting, I'll have to listen to them some time (I love sad pieces, they're full of emotion).
Andrew, you just reminded me of the Bach Double second movement. I guess you'd need a partner for that one and it's not anywhere near as sad as some of the other pieces already mentioned, but the second mvmt of the Bach Double is sublime! Thanks for reminding me which Chopin Nocuturne, btw. I couldn't remember which one when I posted earlier.
Why not play a happy piece really badly?
Greetings,
or just change everything to the minor and play it half speed.
Cheers,
Buri
Hy,
You could try Balada from Ciprian Porumbescu. Here's a link to listen to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guF_OJcKWk4
okay, this is really obvious, and can't believe no one's said it -- schindler's list!! :) my favorite... and it's classic, everyone loves it.
also, bloch's nigun... khatchaturian concerto's 2nd mov is also gorgeous.
Jenni
PS: have just realised you posted in january and you've probably decided on a piece by now... sorry :P what piece are you doing? :)
meditation by thais? vaughn williams the lark ascending? um beethoven romance (i dont know which one).
I saw that someone mentioned Sarah Chang's album "Sweet Sorrow" earlier - it is an excellent repository for 'sad' pieces, with both orchestra and piano accompaniment. Also, I would try the Chausson Poeme, Zigeunerweisen (Sarasate), and the Dvorak Romance in F minor.
Sorry if I repeated a few!
Hindemith Op. 31 no. 2 for a high school senior? No disrespect, but having played it very recently, I seriously question that choice.
Vidui from "Baal Shem" by Ernest Bloch qualifies but it's a bit tricky short notice and perhaps for your level. Don't be afraid to try something below your current level like Seitz #2, Adagio. It's beautiful and a quick learn for a person who plays Mozart. A piece doesn't have to be difficult to be appreciated by the typical audience.
Try Thais Meditation or Estrellita By Ponce
The first piece that comes to mind is bach's prelude from his 2nd cello suite.
I'm probably way too late, though. What did you end up playing?
Even though this is late, I thought I would throw some in anyway.....
Tchaikovsky "Serenade Melancolique"
Grieg "The Last Spring" sweetly sad.
Resphigi "The Dove" from his Suite "The Birds" this is gorgeous although you might need to arrange it to cut the mid section, not difficult though. In F# minor, super sad key! It sounds great on viola especially)
Bach A minor concerto 2nd mvt
Dvorak "Romance"
Grieg "Solveig's Song" from Peer Gynt
Sibeleus "Valse Trieste"
Serenade Melancolique is s wonderful piece, there's a great recording by Menuhin.
Another good "sad" one is the Elegy for violin and piano by Gerald Finzi.
There is also the lovely Albumblat by Wagner-Wilhelmj. It, however, is for violin and piano.
Another is the Intermezzo by Prevost which is also for piano accompaniment. It's the soundtrack piece from the 1940's movie of the same name.
There's Stravinsky's Elegy written in 1944 for solo viola but published as an alternative version for solo violin. Not too long, lots of double stopping. Definitely sad.
I'm surprised no one has mentioned Chopin's Nocturne in C# minor "Doubtful." This is a wonderful piece, VERY sad, incredibly emotional, and relatively short (roughly 4 1/2 minutes). Many soloists play this as an encore, but it'd be perfect for a recital. It does, however, have a piano accompaniment.
The Bach Violin Sonata/Partita IV in d minor,
the Sarabanda movement is really beautiful, terribly sad/minor, and really moving.
AND- it's unaccompianied.
It's one of my favorite pieces.
Or if you can find the arrangement,
Massenet's Elegie
but it probably has an accompiament.
There are many lamments and airs in the Irish traditional repertoire that are sad and inspiring.
Theme from Schindlers List.
It has been a couple of years since I last commented on this discussion thread, but I will repeat it again - Kaddish by Maurice Ravel.
Cheers (or Laments),
Sandy
I can't find Kaddish by Maurice Ravel music sheet for sale online anywhere. Where can I get a music sheet copy?
Try here:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20111012184559AAViOKc
Meditation from Thais
Tchaikovsky's " None but the Lonely Hearts " and
Shostakovich's " Gadfly ".
.
I don't know about anyone else, but I'm looking up, what I'm not familiar with already, on youtube. *sniff* I need another tissue....
Kaddish:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUrnq32Vsgo
Devil's Trill:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7rxl5KsPjs
Schindler's List:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qLePhm-xGs&feature=related
i like 'Come back to Sorento' - it's changes from minor to major in a most heartbreaking way. Pavarotti sang it in Italian.....
This thread has been around for almost exactly 5 years. Now THAT'S sad.
I see that the Devil's Trill sonata has been mentioned as sad, but if you want some even sadder Tartini try the last movement of the sonata 'Didone Abbandonata'.
It is really very simple: just play everything and anything miserably.
Or anything played by Christian Ferras...
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January 27, 2007 at 11:55 PM · Well the saddest piece that comes to my mind (which happens to be one of my very favorites) is Chausson Poeme, but it's in E flat minor which is a very awkward key. It is very beautiful so if you want a real challenge maybe give it a try, (I haven't played it yet, only looked at the music, but I want to try it during the summer or next year because I love it so much). If you want something easier maybe try Vitali Chaconne or Bloch Nigun, both great pieces (though I haven't played them either). Also maybe you could consider Lalo Symphonie Espagnole 4th movement or a movement from Bach's D minor Partita.