This musical composition’s high and low pitches will touch your emotions deeply, prompting thoughts of loved ones who have passed away.
This slow and melancholic orchestral piece will quickly make you feel melancholic.
1. Funeral March
Funeral March is one of the most powerful pieces of classical music ever composed, evoking both the sadness of mortality and its inevitability in its powerful musical language. Although originally written as military fanfare by Berlioz, he used its expressive capacity to produce an expressionist work full of despair characterized by its plodding march rhythm, mournful solo trumpet melody and slow chromatic descent in tremolo strings that chills the music adding an air of impending doom to this timeless piece of work.
The opening bars of the march feature a slow, military march rhythm with menacing solo trumpet notes that add tension. Following this is a slow descending figure played by cellos and basses to heighten dread, followed by trumpets playing an ostinato pattern with accented weak beats adding weight and eventually culminating in an abrupt cadence that ends the piece leaving its listeners in total silence.
Chopin’s Funeral March stands out as an iconic piece of orchestral sad music ever created, often used across media such as movies, TV shows, video games and commercials. Its beautiful yet simple melody has been featured prominently in films, shows, video games like Mortal Kombat where Undertaker enters his arena to this piece of heartbreaking music; commercials also often utilize this song to enhance creepy scenes or for dramatic commercial spots.
Funeral March is an orchestral piece written in a major key, yet still considered a funeral march due to its use of dramatic dotted rhythms and slow tempo. It served as the official accompaniment at state funerals such as Queen Mother’s and George VI’s.
2. Moonlight Sonata
There’s something special about piano that makes it the ideal medium to convey emotional states such as sadness. One such piece, Moonlight Sonata, stands out as a powerful yet serene example – no wonder why its use has been featured in such movies as Sid and Nancy, Misery, Crimson Tide, and The Pianist. There’s drama embedded within this sonata which adds momentum while simultaneously offering hope and resolution – this may explain why many connect to this piece of music.
Beethoven was an expert at creating moods through music, particularly his Moonlight Sonata’s first movement which conjures feelings of sorrow and loneliness due to broken minor chords played on the left hand and sparse octaves on the right hand creating an air of melancholy and loss. Meanwhile, its second movement offers much more excitement and vitality – ideal for use during celebrations or parties!
Apart from its mood-enhancing effects, this piece of music is stunning in its beauty. The harmony is simple but builds over time into something truly captivating, captivating us into its spell. No wonder why it remains popular even today.
Another reason this piece of music remains popular is due to the challenges it imposes upon pianists. Beethoven wrote the first movement of this sonata with the instruction, “Suonate tutto delicatissimamente e senza sordino”, meaning the entire piece must be performed with minimal volume – this required delicate touch and steady hand skills which is difficult for many pianists.
3. Love Theme from Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet’s love theme captures the sense of ardent passion that propels two individuals to such extreme measures as self-sacrifice. Additionally, it represents forbidden love and unfulfilled desires – making this timeless tragedy about young love evergreen and touching many hearts over time.
This song conjures feelings of sorrow and melancholy through its haunting melody and orchestral arrangements. Starting off slowly on piano, its simple melodies grow more dramatic as strings and other instruments join in, intensifying emotion as it crescendos towards its conclusion. Numerous artists including Johnny Mathis have covered it and it remains one of the classic romantic ballads today.
Love may bring happiness in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet play, but love can also cause great suffering. Love has even been linked with violence and even suicide – an example being when Romeo threatened Friar Lawrence with violence after being banished from Verona after losing Juliet. Juliet too fell victim to love as she considered her own death which she described as a “petite mort.”
Love and sadness have an enormous effect on humanity, which makes the topic of this article fascinating. Studies have demonstrated that our brains respond more favorably to sad music than cheerful one – perhaps due to being genetically predisposed towards melancholia – so music serves as an outlet to channel these feelings into something positive and enjoyable.
4. Theme from The Sound of Music
This song from The Sound of Music conjures mixed emotions of nostalgia, sentimentality, longing, and grief. It follows a young nun as she joins a windowed navy family to teach them music-only to find love and ultimately tragedy in teaching it; its theme serves as a reminder that even during tough times music can help us reconnect to both the past and those we have lost.
This slow music orchestra song contains low and high tones that will tug at your heart strings, creating an intoxicating tune in what’s known as minor key, adding sadness and melancholy feelings to its tune. No wonder this classic piece has become such a beloved component of classical music history; many movies use this composition to convey feelings of sorrow or loss.
Once you experience this piece of classical music for yourself, its powerful voice and melancholic violins create an immediate emotional response. Considered one of the most well-known pieces in history, this timeless work must definitely be included on your list of must-hear pieces!
This classical music piece’s second movement is undoubtedly its most moving and stirring passage, reflecting on the sorrow and heartache caused by World War II and its conclusion. So profound was its effect that many credit it with inspiring the anti-war movement in America – it’s an absolute must-listen for any fan of classical music, guaranteed to bring tears to your eyes!
5. Theme from The Lion King
This moving orchestral piece will leave you teary-eyed, making this song ideal for remembering those times and people you miss. The combination of lower notes with percussion creates an up-tempo progression which builds to an emotional crescendo before abruptly stopping, leaving only melancholy emotions behind.
This classic film’s opening theme, composed by Hans Zimmer, symbolizes Simba’s innocence as he watches his father Mufasa die during a stampede. Reappearing again at the end of the film during Simba’s presentation of his newborn cub, it shows that life’s balance has returned.
It was originally written as a demo song for the movie, yet has become one of cinema’s most iconic tunes. No matter who hasn’t seen or experienced the film yet, nearly everyone knows these lyrics! Even those unfamiliar with it likely know its famous phrase: “Hakuna Matata!”
The 2019 remake of this timeless movie featured many original composers and songwriters such as Sir Elton John and Tim Rice, along with Beyonce as Nala. For Ilya Salmanzadeh, working on its soundtrack was like coming full circle; this was his first cinematic experience 20 years prior; now, to work on such an iconic version is an honor; its soundtrack has been described as a “love letter to the original film,” promising both old fans as well as those newcomers!