[Masterpiece Classics] A special showcase of gem-like masterpieces so beautiful they’ll move you to tears
Masterpieces of classical music are played on TV, in movies, and in shopping malls, permeating our daily lives as background music.
There are many times when a piece that mysteriously brings you to tears turns out to be a work of classical music.
This time, from among such classical works, we’ve carefully selected timeless masterpieces under the theme “so heartbreakingly beautiful they’ll make you cry.”
Please enjoy to your heart’s content the profound sonorities unique to classical music, which combines both delicacy and boldness.
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[Masterpiece Classics] A showcase of gem-like masterpieces so beautiful they’ll move you to tears (81–90)
Summer MorningHeino Kasuki
This is a piano piece by the Finnish composer Heino Kaski, known as Op.
35-1 “Summer Morning.” The work features a beautifully transparent melody that seems to capture the pure air of a Nordic morning in sound.
Its delicate trills evoke the sparkle of sunlight filtering through leaves, and the gentle yet gradually broadening brightness will refresh the listener’s heart.
It has a cool, invigorating quality that makes you forget muggy heat, and it’s perfect for quietly enjoying music.
Believed to have been composed in the early 1920s, it is also included in pianist Izumi Tateno’s acclaimed album “Piano Works.”
Elegy for Piano and String OrchestraAlla Pavlova
A native of Russia now residing in the United States, Alla Pavlova is a female composer renowned for the romantic quality of her music, which invariably captivates listeners.
The title “Elegy” refers to a literary or musical work that laments sorrow; in Japanese it is rendered as “hika” or “aika” (songs of lament).
The music, dramatic yet imbued with a wistful Russian melody scattered throughout, speaks directly to the audience’s hearts with its sadness and moves them to tears.
It is a piece that combines flowing lyricism with poignant anguish.
Ave MariaCamille Saint-Saëns
Camille Saint-Saëns, one of France’s most celebrated composers, was known as a prodigy—said to have mastered the piano by the age of two and begun composing at three.
He was also an organist, and his works for keyboard instruments were highly esteemed even in his own time.
Among his renowned masterpieces is this “Ave Maria.” There are many versions of Ave Maria, but Saint-Saëns’s setting is crafted with a particularly otherworldly, dreamlike quality.
Rather than evoking sorrow, it is a piece that moves listeners to tears through its beauty.
24 Preludes, Op. 28 No. 15 in D-flat major “Raindrop Prelude”Frederic Chopin
Often called the “poet of the piano,” the genius Chopin has written works that even those not well-versed in classical music have likely heard at least once, and because many of his pieces feature beautiful melodies, they’re quite approachable for beginners.
Among Chopin’s many masterpieces, the piece introduced here is the Prelude in D-flat major, Op.
28, No.
15, commonly known as the “Raindrop” Prelude.
The Op.
28 set consists of relatively short pieces, and the “Raindrop” is the longest among them.
The Japanese nickname “Amadare” (raindrops) has a romantic yet somewhat wistful ring that seems to foreshadow the character of the piece.
There’s an anecdote that Chopin conceived it while imagining the sound of rain on the island of Mallorca; the solemnly repeated A-flat in the left hand is said to evoke falling raindrops, which is how the nickname arose—though it was not given by Chopin himself.
The way the music shifts from a somewhat heavy, oppressive mood in the middle back to the quiet sound of rain at the end is profoundly lyrical and poetic, and it can move listeners so deeply that tears may well up without their even realizing it.
Joy of LoveFritz Kreisler
Here is a piece composed by the world-renowned violinist Fritz Kreisler, who was born in Vienna in 1875.
It incorporates elements of the Viennese waltz and is often performed together with his composition Liebesleid (Love’s Sorrow).
Both are famous works, so many of you have likely heard them.
It’s a piece that truly conveys the violin’s charm—something only a violinist could write—while also featuring memorable, catchy elements.
Kreisler is also known for his friendship with Sergei Rachmaninoff, and their collaborative recordings are highly recommended.
Barcarolle No. 2 in F-sharp minor from Songs Without Words, Book IIFelix Mendelssohn
Felix Mendelssohn, a German composer who left behind many delicate and graceful works, is especially known for his collection of short piano pieces called Songs Without Words.
The collection is divided into eight volumes, and the melancholy melody of Venetian Boat Song No.
2 in F-sharp minor, included in the second volume, is a celebrated piece that brings tears to the eyes.
Although all 48 pieces have titles, Mendelssohn himself named only five of them.
Venetian Boat Song No.
2 in F-sharp minor is one of those and is cherished as an exceptionally beautiful and striking work among the Songs Without Words.
[Masterpiece Classics] A comprehensive introduction to gem-like masterpieces so beautiful they bring you to tears (91–100)
Barcarolle No. 1Gabriel Urbain Fauré
Gabriel Fauré, a French composer known as a pupil of Camille Saint-Saëns, is a composer whose Romantic musical style has been loved worldwide to this day.
His Barcarolle No.
1 is one of his representative works and, among his piano pieces, is known as a challenging piece on par with his Nocturnes and Fantasies.
The first half features a poignant melody, while, reflecting its maritime theme, the second half unfolds into a beautiful and grandiose melody.