Music Video Lesson: The Importance of Death in Music

Hi, I'm Robert Estrin and this is LivingPianos.com come with a very weighty subject today, the importance of death in music. Today's subject seems somber yet it can transcend into something much greater. You may be wondering what death has to do with music. A lot. Just look at some of the most magnificent pieces of music ever created, from Mozart's Requiem to Chopin's Funeral March Sonata. In fact, you could trace death in music back to Gregorian chant. The Dies Irae dates back to at least the 13th century, and maybe much older than that, perhaps going back to Saint Gregory the Great in the year 604. This medieval Latin poem, the Day of Wrath, describes the Last Judgment, summoning souls before the throne of God. You may know this theme from Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique.

I'd like to read to you a quote from Carlos Castaneda. "Death is the only wise advisor that we have. Whenever you feel, as you always do, that everything is going wrong and you're about to be annihilated, turn to your death and ask if that is so. Your death will tell you that you're wrong, that nothing really matters outside its touch. Your death will tell you, 'I haven't touched you yet.'" You may wonder what Castaneda meant by this. Ideally, there would be a word that means both life and death since it's all two sides of a coin. You may wonder why composers have been so entranced with projecting death in their music, from Schubert to Shastakovich.

I want you to be the judge of how expressing incredibly dark emotions can make great music. I've chosen to play for you a movement from a relatively early Beethoven Sonata. It's Opus 10 #3. This was his seventh piano sonata out of 32 sonatas Beethoven composed between 1795 and 1822. And the Opus 10 #3, in his second movement, Beethoven explore dark emotions in a profound way. Although he didn't specifically reference death in the title of the piece, I believe this is a great way to demonstrate for you the power of expression of tragedy in music, which certainly evokes death. (music)

You may have noticed that even in this dark movement, Beethoven couldn't help but have glimmers of beauty and even hope. After all, we must all tackle these weighty subjects and with some perspective. Death is universal, it's something that we all can share in a personal way with our music. I hope this presentation provided something meaningful for you today. Thank you for joining me. I'm Robert Erstin here at LivingPianos.com.

Find the original source of this video at this link: https://livingpianos.com/the-importance-of-death-in-music/

Automatic video-to-text transcription by DaDaScribe.com

Thank you for your comment, question or request!

Comment/Question deleted successfully.

Post a comment, question or special request:

Comments or questions must be between 3 and 10,000 characters long.

You may: Login  or  

Otherwise, fill out the form below to post your comment:

Add your name below:


Add your email below: (to receive replies, will not be displayed or shared)


For verification purposes, please enter the word MUSIC in the field below

---