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The saddest [instrumental] music you've ever listened to?

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princess ida said:
great find! the music's sibelius, of course. the animation is Bruno Bozetto from his movie Allegro Non Troppo, which I haven't seen in 30 years or so - but I still remember it (unforgettable).

thanks.
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I cried during that scene at the theater, so long ago...
 
When I read your thread title I was gonna come in a say something from Schindler's List but you beat me to it.
 
Six Days at the Bottom of the Ocean, by Explosions in the Sky. For years this has been the most depressing song I've ever heard, and I don't think any of your guys's suggestions can top it. It has this feeling of sadness and dread that I've never heard in any other song before. It's also a tribute to the Russian Navy soldiers who died in the Kursk submarine explosion.

Listen to it, at least the first couple minutes.
 
Locut0s said:
My vote would go to one of several classical music pieces that I sadly (no pun intended) can't remember the names of. For modern music some contenders would be:

Eric Clapton - Tears in Heaven - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AscPOozwYA8
(Written about the death of his young son)

Grave of the Fireflies - To the Ocean
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XT2oE7WBYs&feature=related

The sleeping tune - played on strings
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_z4E75sjBiE
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From the Deer Hunter
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6gpa8nUa70
 
 
princess ida said:
As a pianist, I go for Chopin
Nocturnes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVqNvgWXlfY b minor Op 9 No 1 (Pollini, the pianist)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dT2NFNuDeg&feature=fvsr C minor Op 72 No 1 (Rubenstein)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5bGOnx-YCs C# minor Op 27 No 1 (Horowitz)

The lovely Prelude
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-0_7J-n9qQ Op 28 No 4 (Cortot)

And of course the Funeral March
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TbIBqTBM4Q Chopin Sonata Op 35 No 2 - The Funeral March (played by Rachmaninoff)
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Pianist, you say! Chopin, you say! He's been my favorite composer since the first time I heard him. I think most people play him way too quickly. You should very pick this up:

http://www.amazon.com/Best-Chopin-Da.../dp/B000GEFUV4

The recording quality is poor, but the interpretation is soulful. Unlike almost everyone else playing Chopin, she never sounds like she's trying to impress or hurry to the end of the song. I can barely listen to most people play Chopin anymore- it's like watching a toddler playing with an old cat.

I used to play that nocturne and prelude. I wish I hadn't quit piano for fifteen years. It's coming back slowly and painfully. Aside from the brilliant Ms. Dechenne on that CD, check out Yeol Eum Son, Valentina Igoshina, Lang Lang, and Krystian Zimermann on Youtube. They tend to play Chopin the way I think he should be played.
 
One that I find more sad than even Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings:

Virgil Fox's transcription of J.S. Bach's "Komm, süßer Tod" for the Pipe Organ.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xje4OYalB5Q

The lyrics of the original non-instrumental version:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Komm,_s%C3%BC%C3%9Fer_Tod,_komm_selge_Ruh

When listening to a higher quality version on a reasonably good stereo and room, the ultra low frequencies (down to 23hz at roughly -6dB from reference) seem to force a strong sad uncontrolled emotional feeling in addition to the undulating voice of the solo flute and vox humana. A piece of music written for the largest operational pipe organ in the world - shows off how quiet an instrument can be and how loud it can be all within the last few measures of the piece.
 
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It is not an instrumental but Bright Eyes by Art Garfunkel from the Watership Down soundtrack is the saddest for me. It reminds me of my mother's final struggle. And for instrumental another vote for Moonlight Sonata. Also listening to and knowing the origin of Taps is pretty sad. Also Jethro Tull Elegy for another instrumental.
 
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