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Is there any sad Baroq & Renaissance music out there? Speaking about Harpsichord music, It all feels kind of "Lonely" but no directly sad but more like strong bashing chords and fast a fast melody in the right hand. Is there anything slow for example composed by: William Byrd Orlando Gibbons Sweelinck Rameau Silvius Leopold Weiss Johann Sebastian Bach Handel Hadyn Any of the couperins
Practice
Orlando Gibbons The Lord of Salisbury and his Pavin William Byrd Pavana Lachrymae William Byrd Pavan to the Earl of Salisbury William Byrd Lord Willobies Welcome Home Anonymous My lady Careys Dompe
One that came to mind immediately when reading your post is the Adagissimo from JS Bach's Capriccio on the departure of a most beloved brother. It is written as a lament and definitely evokes sadness. I have not heard the rest of the Capriccio, but it's worth looking into.
Any Baroque Suite or Partita that has a Sarabande - and most of them do - will provide you with slowly, elegant, stately music, for that is the character of a Sarabande. Whether it can be interpreted as "sad" will depend upon the individual listener.
"And if we look at the works of J.S. Bach — a benevolent god to which all musicians should offer a prayer to defend themselves against mediocrity... -Debussy
"It's ok if you disagree with me. I can't force you to be right."
Check out some music by Carlo Gesualdo, from the late 1500's and early 1600's. He found his wife cheating on him, so he murdered both his wife and the man she was with right there on the spot. (He was of noble blood so people couldn't really arrest/punish him, but he was scared of family members of the murdered, so he ran away). He was emotionally unstable after that, and it reflects in his music; INTENSE chromaticism and harmonic ideas; things that did not come back until the very late Romantic era and the 20th century.
(Interestingly enough, back in the 1300's, there were styles of music composition called "Ars Nova" and "Ars Subtilior" that used rhythmic complexities so profound that they were also not to be found in that intensity until the 20th century.)
Check out some music by Carlo Gesualdo, from the late 1500's and early 1600's. He found his wife cheating on him, so he murdered both his wife and the man she was with right there on the spot. (He was of noble blood so people couldn't really arrest/punish him, but he was scared of family members of the murdered, so he ran away). He was emotionally unstable after that, and it reflects in his music; INTENSE chromaticism and harmonic ideas; things that did not come back until the very late Romantic era and the 20th century.
Good one! I forgot about Gesualdo -- I learned about him in music history. Did he write for harpsichord? I'm only familiar with his madrigals.
Check out some music by Carlo Gesualdo, from the late 1500's and early 1600's. He found his wife cheating on him, so he murdered both his wife and the man she was with right there on the spot. (He was of noble blood so people couldn't really arrest/punish him, but he was scared of family members of the murdered, so he ran away). He was emotionally unstable after that, and it reflects in his music; INTENSE chromaticism and harmonic ideas; things that did not come back until the very late Romantic era and the 20th century.
Good one! I forgot about Gesualdo -- I learned about him in music history. Did he write for harpsichord? I'm only familiar with his madrigals.
Fantastic piece. Interesting that it was dubiously attributed to him. Albinoni biographer Remo Giazotto was the true composer; he said he based it on a fragment of music he found but later said he had composed it himself.
Fantastic piece. Interesting that it was dubiously attributed to him. Albinoni biographer Remo Giazotto was the true composer; he said he based it on a fragment of music he found but later said he had composed it himself.
So the doggone thing is a 20th century forgery !!! I've always thought this Adagio sounded a too modern for the Baroque era.
Wish Franz Liszt was stil alive, he was good at transcriptions!
Practice
Orlando Gibbons The Lord of Salisbury and his Pavin William Byrd Pavana Lachrymae William Byrd Pavan to the Earl of Salisbury William Byrd Lord Willobies Welcome Home Anonymous My lady Careys Dompe