Jump to content

Works that convey anxiety, fear, restlessness, etc?


dscid

Recommended Posts

I'm hoping for a list of works that specifically aimed at anxiety, or a frenzy. I imagine many film scores cover that, but I'm only really interested in 'art music' that expresses it. However, if you truly think it deserves recognition, list it. :)

Thanks

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 5 months later...

The first pieces that come to mind are Shostakovich's String Quartet No. 8 (particularly the 2nd movement) and Symphony No. 5. As mentioned previously, Penderecki and Ornstein both have plenty of pieces that would fit the bill. George Flynn's Wound also portrays similar emotional qualities.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Suicide in an Airplane! That's an awesome suggestion, and the piece is kinda notationally sexy with all those splayed stems.

I'd suggest Nanking! Nanking! (originally titled something like Rape of Nanking) by Bright Sheng. It's another threnody and it serves as a reminder of the Nanking Massacre of 1937-38.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The entirety of Ekkehard Ehlers' A Life Without Fear is another great one for this -- a lot of tense moments that aren't resolved, not quite in a harmonic way. I feel the same way about the early albums of Talking Heads too... "nervous energy" is how Allmusic describes it; and defs an apt explanation.

Eh, I think the Threnody's just on the shortlist of "crazy music"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

How long have you got? The majority of post-classical works dwell on anxiety at some point, such is the Romantic flavour. Let's see...

- Mahler Symphonies 1,2,3,5,6,7 and 9, along with the Kindertolenlieder

- Near enough every note of Rachmaninov, save perhaps certain movement of the symphonies and piano concerti. Particularly anxious are the opening of the Second, Isle of the Dead, The Bells, most of the piano preludes (especially Op5 C# Minor; Op.32 nos 2 and 10)

- Tchaikovsky 4,5,6, Manfred, Swan Lake, Eugene Onegin,

- Bartok Duke Bluebeard's Castle; Miraculous Manderin; Music for Strings, Percussion and Celeste; Concerto for Orchestra mvts 1 and 3; String quartets

- Every Shostakovich symphony from 4 onwards, and no.1; string quartets (especially 8), violin concerto no.1,

- Leonard Bernstein On the Waterfront score, and much of West Side Story and his symphonies (one is called 'The Age of Anxiety')

- Britten Peter Grimes, Turn of the Screw, War Requiem, Nocturne, Sinfonia da Requiem.

- Sibelius Tapiola, Symphony 1,5 mvt. 1 and Kullervo

As for a frenzy:

- Beethoven Grosse Fugue

- Shostakovich 10 mvt. 2

- Mahler 9 mvt. 3

- Sibelius The Tempest music

- Final sections of The Rite of Spring

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...