Darker violin pieces

June 7, 2008 at 06:28 AM ·

June 7, 2008 at 12:29 PM · the sibelius concerto in d minor always makes me think of a cold winter's evening...

June 7, 2008 at 02:57 PM · You want dark pieces?. Take Bartok's

and Shosta v.s., Prokofieff's first, Busoni's second, Elgar's, Magnard's.....

June 7, 2008 at 03:09 PM · There's much violin music far darker than the Winter piece.

For dark and gloomy you simply can't beat Shostakovich. Try his two violin concerti ... David Oistrakh described the Scherzo in the 1st as a "demonic dance" for a reason. The nocturne movement is hauntingly beautiful and dark as well.

Prokofiev wrote some nice dark violin music, as well as Bartok (contemporaries had a thing for gloom, huh?)

The Sibelius concerto is d minor, so while there's some dark aspects to it, there are light, beautiful passages. Dark in a melancholy way, but not as dark and macabre as other pieces.

You could always go for the classic 'Halloween' pieces like "Danse Macabre"

If you're interested in string quartets as well, check into the later Beethoven quartets. The 2nd movement of his 1st string quartet is rather dark in aspects as well. It was inspired by the tomb scene in Romeo and Juliet, and that tragedy definitely shows in the music.

June 7, 2008 at 03:46 PM · And you can always use Piotr. Take his

third SQ!

June 7, 2008 at 04:17 PM · You want "dark"?

Beethoven, Op 59, No 3 Quartet (Razumovsky), 2nd movement - positively haunting and definitively "dark."

Several of the Shostakovich string quartets.

Achron, Hebrew Melody

Elgar and Brahms Piano Quintets (especially the Elgar)

Lots of Brahms and his good friend (not!) Tchaikovsky are, I think, dark. 4th movements of both the Brahms 4th Symphony and the Tchaikovsky Pathetique.

June 7, 2008 at 07:20 PM · Awesome! I'm definitely checking them all out as we speak. Thanks for the information.

June 7, 2008 at 08:56 PM · On the note of Shostakovich ... if you love dark music you will positively adore Shosty. Nearly ALL of his works are very dark and haunting. There are a few bouncy and upbeat songs, but on the whole his works are very dark.

And there's such political and emotional depth to his music that his works are very pleasing mentally as well as emotionally.

June 7, 2008 at 09:09 PM · For some reason that I can't fathom, nobody's mentioned Bach yet. Art of Fugue, D Minor Partita, A minor concerto, his cello suites are pretty dark, a ton of his keyboard music....and that's just the surface.

Dvorak also wrote some 'darker' music e.g. his three minor key piano trios. A lot of movements of various pieces of his are darker too, like some of his slavonic dances etc. Good luck! Post your favorites here!

June 8, 2008 at 03:21 AM · Chausson Poeme- the beginning especially, but by the end of the piece radiant calm.

June 8, 2008 at 02:07 PM · The Tchaik. piano trio is pretty dark.

June 9, 2008 at 02:48 AM · Wieniawski's Legende is pretty dark I'd say.

Shostakovich Violin Concerto is definately.

And Sibelius Violin Concerto, and the Bruch are very dark.