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Yo Rick, If you are in a mood to hear some somber but beautiful music, in addition to the piece you shared and the several other composers and works being suggested in this thread - like Gorecki and Vaughn Williams (which are also faves of mine too) - I also have a couple of additional suggestions. Check out some the works of Estonian composer Arvo Pärt (mostly to be found on ECM but not entirely) much of his work could be so described. Another composer you might try is Alan Hovaness (his piece "Mysterious Mountain" in particular) not so much sad as somber and majestic. And some of the saddest music I have ever heard is on a disk by Armenian duduk player Djivan Gasparyan called "I Will Not Be Sad in This World" - quite possibly one of the most profoundly moving CDs in my entire collection. Sadly (!) that last one is out of print . . . but is still available used here and there. It's a "desert island" disk for me. Makes me weep every time. Remember . . . sad is just like happy . . . but for "deep" people (LOL). Cheers, Ted On Jan 5, 2009, at 2:50 AM, Rick Walker wrote: > My apologies for the plethora of off topic posts here at L.D.lately > but I just feel really close and safe in this > community and wanted to share with you all. I'll knock it off, if > anyone is bugged by the OT nature of some of them. > > (((((()))))))) > anyway: > > I came back home tonight in a very melancholic mood. > > The great Russian poet, Yevtushenko, said, "It's good to have a > healthy melancholic attitude > towards life." > > My father and I both loved that quote and both had a strong sense and > love for things, melancholic > in life and, particularly, in music. > > Anyway, I was missing my dad tonight, big time and wanted to share > with you > all some of my musical memories of his influence on both mine and my > siblings' life. > > My dad was a clarinet player, professional, in a small big band that > toured around > Texas during World War 2. He loved orchestration and he had a very > strong mentor > in a university professor who turned him on to the world of Classical > orchestral arrangement........ > > ........He told my father, "If you love Benny Goodman, you have to > come listen to this." > and proceeded to show my father the score and play for him, a > recording of "Le Sacre Du Printemps" (The Right of Spring) > by Stravisnsky. He went on to teach him about classical music and > my father fell in love with > Bartok, Mozart, Stravinsky, Dvorak, Beethoven, Bach, Debussy, Ravel, > Ralph Vaughn Williams, Charles Ives, and > Aaron Copland, amongst many many others. He had an encyclopedic > knowledge of Classical music which was > amazing given his humble roots growing up in a small town in East > Texas during the depression. > > He, along with a wonderful 3rd grade teacher , Mr. Balantine (who > made us chill out every day for 30 minutes in school and gave a short > lecture on the history of a different classical music > composer giving me tons of knowledge for a child of 8/9 years of age) > gave us an incredible education about classical music. > > Thinking about him, I asked my wife if she had ever heard the > exquisitely sad and beautiful, Aaron Copland 'Concerto for Clarinet' > which was a piece of music that my father dearly loved and turned me > onto. I played clarinet myself , formally, from the ages of > 8-13 in the school orchestra....................that was, until, I > was seduced by the rebellious energy of Rock and Roll and started to > teach myself how to play the drums at the onset of puberty. > > She said no so, I found this marvelous and emotional clip of > Michael Tilson Thomas conducting this beautiful sad piece > with the amazing Richard Stotzman playing the lead clarinet. > > 'Andante' section for 'The Concerto for Clarinet' by Aaron Copland > > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACO5DjpS8YM > > If you have a moment, please listen to it > I love it and I wish to pay homage to my wonderful and dearly departed > father. > > If you enjoy this music and don't know Copland very much, I"d highly > recommend that you eschew the things he was most famous for > (including things like the ballet for 'Billy the Kid") and head > straight for the masterful '3rd Symphony' and , of course, > 'Appalachian Spring' > > If you still want a bit of a melancholic fix......................look > up 'The Lark Ascending' by the 20th century British neo-classicist, > Ralph Vaughn Williams (his 3rd Symphony is also a masterpiece of > melancholia imho). >