Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner Spirtual pieces...

Where are some of the most 'spiritual' pieces you know? Chopin's 62/1 nocturne just about does it for me.

If you define "spiritual" we'll be able to answer better.

But whatever it means, I'm pretty sure I'll agree on that Nocturne.

Spiritual in the non-religious sense of the word.

As Chopin has already been accounted for, let me give examples from a few other composers (avoiding slow movements from sonatas):

Bach: Aria from the Goldberg/Anna Magdalena Notebook
Mozart: Rondo in A minor, K511
Schubert: Moment musical D780/6
Brahms: Ballade Op.10/4
Rachmaninoff: Etude-tableau Op.33/3

Anything marked "Allegro con brio"

But if you don't limit to piano pieces, I'd go with lots of great choral works. But I'm really biased with that too, haha.

Schubert's Lieder.

Nice list!!
I don't know about the Anna Magdalena, but the others -- yeah.

Good job particularly mentioning the Schubert, because it's not thought of very much and it's a great example.

Even though I'm still not sure what "spiritual" means.

P.S. You really deserve to have a computer.

Quartet for the end of time.

But that would be too easy!

For starters, just about any choral work of Bach.
Most movements of the Brahms Requiem.

What do you mean, *most* movements? Which one isn't??

Good question.
And you're right.

But, one reason I put it as I did, was.....well, for example, look at Orange Soda King's post.
(Which I assume was a joke.)
Most of the next to last movement doesn't seem to me to fit with what we're talking about, although as I've said I still don't know what that really is.

I almost forgot. The beginning of the Polonaise-fantasy and especially the end of the op. 49 Fantasy.

Bach-Busoni Chaconne.

My guess is that the “spiritual” context in music is ...

“Of or pertaining to the intellectual and higher endowments of the mind; mental; intellectual.”
(From Wikipedia)

But then individual tastes differ ... some loathe
Bach and Chopin but go dilly about "happy-clappy"
from a pew ... others might question the criterion
"higher endowments of the mind" depending on the
parties involved.

For my own part there are times when even a cowboy wants to blubber ... it could be just a passage or perhaps the passion of the pianist ... recently
Debussy's "La Mer" had me gasping for air with tear-filled eyes ... don't tell anybody else.

Regards, btb

+1 for Quator pour la Fin du Temps!!

OK, I'll bite:

Bach: Goldberg Variations (complete); WCT I: C major, C# minor, D# minor, F minor, B minor; WTC II: D major, D# minor, E major; first section of Bb partita and E minor partita; unfinished fugue from Art of the Fugue;

Mozart: slow movement from C major sonata K.545

Beethoven: op.109-111. Large sections of op.106, for me. op.126/3.

Schubert: Should we say every sonata slow movement, or just say everything?

And on and on. Almost everything by Messiaen. But perhaps not so much Debussy (even though he is one of my favorites)?

-J

If we do not limit it to piano music, then I would say just about anything by Bach and Schubert is spiritual, resigned music. Late Beethoven(especially the string quartets and last five sonatas), Brahms late piano pieces, almost anything by Kurtag, and perhaps a few pieces by Chopin.. Although, in my opinion there is always a little bit of crime and conflict in Chopin, he never becomes completely "spiritual" and "wise" in the same way as Bach, Beethoven, Schubert and even Brahms.

I don't think you can define "spiritual" by saying what it is not. You need to be more precise by saying what you mean - if you know what you mean.

Just as beauty is often in the eye of the beholder - already often proven on this forum with similarly open-ended questions - if you don't provide your definition of "spiritual," you will get responses that range from the Goldberg Variations to "Good Night, Irene."

Maybe getting a wide range of responses isn't a bad thing? Maybe the OP's intent was less "let's arrive at a consensus on what spiritual music is", and more "what does 'spiritual music' mean to different people here-- let's see the variety of results".

-J