[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 comprehensive selection of exquisitely beautiful gems that will move you to tears (21–30)
VocaliseSergei Rachmaninov
“Vocalise” is a musical term referring to a lyricless vocal exercise sung on one or more vowels.
In vocal performance, vowel-based exercises are essential for producing a beautiful singing voice, and many collections of vocalise studies were published in the 19th century.
From around the late 19th century, however, vocalises began to be treated not merely as exercises but as works of art.
Though they have no lyrics, their melodic beauty and wistfulness seem to speak directly to the heart.
La CampanellaFranz Liszt
This is a piano piece arranged and written on the theme of the rondo “La Campanella” from the third movement of Italian violinist Niccolò Paganini’s Violin Concerto No.
2.
Paganini was particularly famous for his transcendental virtuosity; his playing was said to be so extraordinary that people claimed he had obtained his skill at the price of selling his soul to the devil.
His advanced techniques are clearly reflected in this piece as well.
“La Campanella” means “the little bell” in Italian, and from the opening melody you can easily imagine the sound of bells ringing.
“Lacrimosa (Day of Tears)” from the RequiemWolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Mozart’s final work was this Requiem.
“Lacrimosa,” the eighth movement, was the last piece he completed—he finished it up to the eighth bar, and that marked the end of his life.
From the ninth bar onward, it was written by Mozart’s pupil.
The persistently heavy, heartrending melody almost sounds as if Mozart’s soul is reluctant to part from his body.
Meanwhile, the chorus prays as if for its own peace for the dead, who approach a painful judgment in tears, and at the end the piece concludes with the word “Amen.”
Ave verum corpusWolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Hailed as a “miraculous masterpiece” in the world of classical music, this work’s profound piety and serene beauty resonate deeply with listeners.
Though it spans only 46 measures, the power of prayer contained within is immeasurable.
Beginning in D major and modulating deftly through A major, F major, and D minor, its technique attests to the composer’s extraordinary skill.
At its premiere on June 23, 1791, in a small church on the outskirts of Vienna, many in the audience were moved to tears by its beauty.
This piece is recommended not only for those interested in sacred music, but also for anyone who wishes to engage with music in quiet contemplation.
Come, sweet deathJ.S.Bach
This is the first movement of a six-part church cantata said to have been composed in 1716 for worship by Johann Sebastian Bach, a quintessential Baroque classical composer.
A cantata is a vocal work with instrumental accompaniment, for solo or multiple voices, that developed from the 17th to the 18th century, the period during which Bach lived.
Remarkably, Bach left behind more than 200 cantatas.
Please enjoy the world of church music, with its beautifully layered textures.
Lascia ch’io pianga (Let me weep) from the opera RinaldoGeorg Friedrich Händel
An opera based on Tasso’s Jerusalem Delivered, with a libretto by Giacomo Rossi, Rinaldo tells the story of the Crusader hero, the knight Rinaldo, who nearly loses himself under the sorcery of the enemy witch Armida, but with the help of those around him ultimately defeats his foes.
This aria is sung in the scene where Almirena, a woman captured by the enemy sorceress, laments her misfortune while thinking of her beloved.
It is a moving piece in which Almirena’s heartrending cry—forced by her youth and beauty to walk a merciless path—resonates deeply.
Nocturne No. 1 from Three NocturnesSergei Rachmaninov
Sergei Rachmaninoff was a Russian pianist and composer active from the 19th to the 20th century.
Remarkably, he wrote these Three Nocturnes at the age of fourteen.
The music brims with youthful freshness and drive, conveying Rachmaninoff’s innermost feelings in a direct, unfiltered way.
It captures the anxieties, conflicts, and forward momentum unique to adolescence, poised between childhood and adulthood.
The piece also overflows with Russian sentiment, reminiscent of Tchaikovsky—another Russian composer who recognized Rachmaninoff’s talent.
Slavonic Dance, Op. 72 No. 2Antonín Dvořák
It’s a piece written by the Czech composer Antonín Dvořák in June 1886, included in the Second Series of Slavonic Dances.
Although it was originally composed for piano four hands, Dvořák himself completed the orchestral arrangement between November 1886 and January 1887.
He was discovered by Brahms—the creator of the Hungarian Dances—who recognized his talent, and it was through Brahms’s introduction that the Slavonic Dances came to be written.
Indeed, the two composers may share a similar appeal.
It’s enjoyable to compare their works side by side.
Pavane for a Dead PrincessMaurice Ravel
The model for the “dead princess” in the title is said to be Princess Margarita of 17th-century Spain.
Ravel is said to have seen her portrait in the Louvre and drawn inspiration from it.
He described the piece not as “a memorial for a dead princess,” but as “a piece like the kind a little princess might have danced to in the old days at the Spanish court.” Ravel deeply loved his mother, and after her death he even wrote to a friend that “with each passing day, my despair grows deeper.” The sentimental tone that seems to yearn for a bygone era may reflect Ravel recalling memories of his childhood with his mother.
String SerenadePyotr Tchaikovsky
Many of the melodies in works by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, the world-renowned composer born in Russia, are both beautiful and suffused with sorrow.
There are many Tchaikovsky pieces suitable for introduction in this article, but the one featured here is a work for string ensemble that he composed in 1880.
While Swan Lake and The Nutcracker may be better known, the melodic beauty and poignancy of this piece are equally remarkable, unfolding with a flowing, melancholic character centered on the rich sonorities of the strings.
Frequently used on Japanese TV, this work offers an excellent opportunity to engage with classical music.