Which of the two powers can raise men to a higher sphere? Love or music? But why separate one from the other? The soul soars on the wings of both!
~ Hector Berlioz
Is there any emotion that music cannot express? Indeed, where words fail, music is there to fill the void of the human condition, including our deep longing for light and love, for hope and peace. For want of a better word, I call this genre of music “soul music,” and it is what I like to share with you today. To keep my curated list of soul music manageable, I focus mainly on classical music, primarily for its richness of rhythm and harmony, but I also a few works of modern music that draw inspiration from classical music. My choice is obviously not exhaustive; it is also subjective (I choose pieces that speak to me), but I believe there are enough works on the list to satisfy most tastes. Composers on my list includes Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Chopin and Schubert as well as less familiar names such as Marcello, Shostakovich, Barber and the contemporary Estonian composer, Arvo Pärt among others.
As you pick through the pieces, I have no doubt that you will have “aha” moments of coming across pieces you’ve heard before but couldn’t name them at the time. I provide titles for each piece and brief notes for context. Great music has the enduring power to express the inexpressible, and bring us into our “inner garden,” a place of longing, searching, and hope. May this selection of soulful music speak to you and send you back to the music you love.
Cantata BWV 156: Arioso (Arrangement for two cellos) by J.S. Bach (1685-1750)
Bach needs no introduction. In his lifetime, this prodigious composer wrote a huge volume of music for the keyboard, violin, cello and oboe. Air on a G-string is perhaps the most often-heard piece of “popular Bach” but the stately and sublime Cantata BWV 156 Arisio deserves to be as well-loved. The label Arioso attached to the piece signifies that it is meant to be a solo vocal piece, usually performed in an opera or oratorio, falling somewhere between recitative and aria in style. Literally, arioso means song-like. Bach wrote it as a song for the church, specifically to commemorate the third Sunday after Epiphany, the time when Jesus was revealed to guests at the wedding in Cana of Galilee.
Concerto in D minor BMV 974 by Alessandro Marcello (transcribed by J.S. Bach)
The lovely Concerto in D minor was originally composed for oboe and strings by Alessandro Marcello (1673-1747), a contemporary of Bach who transcribed the piece for the keyboard. It is Bach’s version which is often performed today. The recording here is the second (adagio) movement performed with great sensitivity by the gifted pianist, Khatia Buniatishvili.
‘Adagio’ by Secret Garden
This modern adagio is by the classically-trained new age band, Secret Garden. It’s silky melody bears resemblance to Baroque music, especially the music of Bach, who has an outsized influence on the Norwegian composer Rolf Løvland, who leads the band along with singer Fionnuala Sherry.
Clarinet Concerto in A Major, K. 622 II Adagio by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto in A major, K. 622 was written in 1791 for the clarinetist Anton Stadler. It was one of Mozart’s last completed works, and his final purely instrumental work (he died shortly after its completion). The concerto consists of the usual three movements, in a fast–slow–fast form (Allegro-Adagio-Rondo) and is notable for its delicate interplay between soloist and orchestra. The beautiful adagio movement was chosen as the soundtrack for the 1985 movie Out of Africa.
Impromtu No. 3 in G-flat major, Op. 90 by Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
Schubert tragically died young, at 31, possibly from complications arising from syphilis, yet in his short life he, like Mozart, Chopin and Mendelssohn, produced a phenomenal amount of work, much of it sublimely beautiful and absorbing. The Impromptu Opus 90 was a series of works born out of the tumult of his struggles. The third Impromptu, in G-flat major, is probably the best-loved of the set, with its serene, nocturne-like melody redolent of his Ave Maria. Here is the piece played by the incomparable Khatia Buniatishvili. Listen carefully for the “storm” – the bass trills, and a shadowy middle section – before the music returns to the flowing calmness of the opening.
Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor Op. 13 (“Pathetique”), 2nd Movement by Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
The Piano Sonata No.8, Pathétique, is one of the most celebrated of Beethoven’s works from the Classical period. It was written in 1798, when Beethoven was 27, and published in 1799. The work is so-named due to the solemn and expressive nature of the music.
Piano Sonata No. 14 in C sharp minor (“Moonlight Sonata”) by Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
The sonata form dominates everything Beethoven imagines and composes. Of the 32 piano sonatas composed by Beethoven, this one is neck-to-neck with the Pathetique in the popularity stakes. In the Moonlight Sonata, Beethoven chose to open with a slow, hypnotic set of arpeggios (notes of a chord that are broken up and played one after another instead of all at the same time). The storm and drama certainly come, but not until the first movement which is sublime, calm and reflective.
Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-Flat Major, Op. 73: Adagio un poco mosso by Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Beethoven’s aptly named Emperor Piano Concerto is music of magnificent, heroic nobility matching the composer’s legend. It portrays intense struggle resolving into victory, a theme that echoes the composer’s forceful musical temperament. The lovely adagio movement comes after the feisty first movement, achieving a sublime rest that suggests the hero’s victory. The following recording is by the brilliant pianist, Krystian Zimerman with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (conductor: Leonard Bernstein).
Next are three pieces by Frederic Chopin, a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist who wrote some of the most deeply introspective and emotionally charged music ever. His works, often characterized by their lyrical melodies and expressive harmonies, are a testament to his profound understanding of the power of the piano as an instrument of emotional expression. Here are three pieces that I love, composed when Chopin was only in his twenties.
Nocturne in C Sharp Minor, Op. 20 (1830) by Frederic Chopin (1810-1849)
Although he never published it during his life, the stately and beautiful Nocturne in C sharp minor remains to this day one of Chopin’s most notable works, with a melody that captures a sense of despair but also of hope at the same time. It was chosen as the theme music for the Holocaust film, The Pianist (2002).
Nocturne No.2 in E flat major, Op. 9 by Frederic Chopin (1810-1849)
Nocturne in E flat major, Op. 9, No. 2 was composed when Chopin was around 20 years old. It is without a doubt among the most beloved of Chopin’s nocturnes, a dreamy work that weaves arabesques of tones that become more elaborate with each repetition.
Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor, Op. 11 by Frederic Chopin (1810-1849)
Chopin was unparalleled in his ability to make the piano sing in a way that more closely resembled the heartfelt melodies of bel canto operas than other piano compositions. In fact, his ability to bend bittersweet harmonies surpassed that of the opera composers who inspired him. Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor is a magnificent example of his highly intuitive approach to composition. This piece was composed in 1830, at about the same time he worked on his set of three nocturnes known as Nocturne Op. 9. The second movement marked “Romanze,” is a masterpiece of lyrical contemplation. It is performed here by Daniil Trofonov, regarded by many as one of the finest pianists of his generation.
Symphony No. 2 Op. 27 III. Adagio: Adagio (in A Major) by Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943)
The Russian composer, Sergei Rachmaninoff composed his Second Symphony from 1906 to 1907, a decade after the First Symphony, whose failure with critics and the public resulted in one of the most storied nervous breakdowns in musical history. After recovering from his depression, he wrote his Second Symphony which proved to be immensely popular throughout his life, and remains one of his most beloved orchestral works. The work consists of four movements. It opens with an extended slow-tempo with a motif that repeats in various guises throughout the entire piece. Then follows a quick-tempo section and a beautiful 3rd movement (the Adagio) that recalls two melodies presented at the outset before the piece ends in an exuberant close.
Here is the lovely 3rd movement of Rachmaninoff’s magnificent Second Symphony, performed by the Moscow City Philharmonic (conductor: Kazuki Yamada). Duration: 14 minutes.
Prelude in B minor for Two Cellos and Piano by Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975)
Some of the most sublime classic music are small works, like the achingly beautiful Prelude in B Minor for Two Cellos & Piano by the modern Russian composer, Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975), who is considered by many as the most brilliantly inventive of all Soviet composers. Here is a snippet of the prelude, performed by cellists of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Here’s a full recording of the prelude by two young French cellists.
Adagio for Strings (1936) by Samuel Barber (1910-1981)
Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings, written when he was only in his twenties, debuted on Nov 5, 1938, when America was still hurting from the Great Depression and Europe was sliding into war. It gained public prominence again in the 1986 Vietnam war film Platoon. Since then, the Adagio has become an unofficial anthem of very sad events such as the September 11 2001 attack. The piece starts with a very long melodic line in the violins, which then goes over to the violas and then goes over to the cellos, reaching a very strong climax, followed by what seems like an interminable silence. And then the music reappears for one last time and we hear, at the very end, two chords that might as well be saying ‘Amen. “I don’t know what’s the saddest piece of music ever written,” says Leonard Slatkin, former conductor of the BBS Symphony Orchestra, “but this piece, the way it ends, gives you a glimmer of hope. Not sadness at all.”
Intermezzo, from Cavalleria Rusticana by Pietro Mascagni (1865-1945)
Pietro Mascagni was 27 years old when he composed his one-act opera Cavalleria Rusticana (which translates as ‘Rustic Calvary’). He won the Sonzogno publisher prize for the best opera of 1890, and was soon on the lips of the musical elites of the day. His hit opera contains one of the most attractive tunes in operatic history – the Intermezzo. There are no words to accompany this part of the opera; instead the audience is treated to a sublimely melodic piece of interval music that was used by Mascagni to denote the passage of time. Here is Intermezzo, visually set to landscape images of Tuscany.
Benedictus by Sir Karl Jenkins (b. 1944)
Benedictus is a choral work composed by the Welsh composer, Sir Karl Jenkins which appeared in his 2001 Album The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace. Jenkins dedicated the album to the tragic victims of wars in Ireland and Yugoslavia at the time he wrote the composition. Benedictus is widely regarded as one of Jenkin’s best-known tracks in the album and certainly one of the most soulful pieces of choral music from the last 50 years.
Here is Benedictus, performed here by the Croatian cellist, Stjepan Hauser with the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra.
Evenstar, from the Lord of the Rings Motion Picture, by Howard Shore (b. 1946)
JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings Trilogy are beautiful, spectacular films, but the experience is much enhanced by the incredible score composed by Howard Shore, of which Evenstar gets my vote as one of the most sublime tunes in the entire series and indeed in recent film scores.
Here is Evenstar, presented by the beautiful and angelic voice of the Austrian soprano, Emerelle. The lyrics are in Sindarin, one of the elvish languages created by Tolkien.
Spiegel im Spiegel by Arvo Pärt (b. 1935)
Arvo Pärt is an Estonian composer of contemporary classical music. Since the late 1970s, Pärt has worked in a minimalist style that employs tintinnabuli, a compositional technique he invented that is inspired by Gregorian chant. Spiegel im Spiegel (Mirror in the Mirror) is probably Pärt’s best-known work. The piano accompanies the melody at each step like a “guardian angel”, as the composer likes to say. In addition to the accompaniment, the piano part includes tintinnabuli notes – little bell-like sounds that alternately rise and dip around the melodic line in a fixed pattern. The overall effect is a sonic purity that has been the signature of Arvo Pärt’s music. As he once said, “Everything redundant must be left aside … the composer has to reduce his ego when writing the music, (and) the musician too must put his ego aside when performing the piece.”
Elegy for the Victims of the Tsunami of March 11, 2011 in Japan by Nobuyuki Tsujii (b 1988)
Described by The Observer as the “definition of virtuosity” Japanese pianist Nobuyuki Tsujii (Nobu), who has been blind from birth has won many awards, including the joint Gold Medal at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2009. In addition to being a pianist, Tsujii is a film music composer, and the recipient of the 2011 Japan Film Critics Award for Film Music. In the following video, Nobuyuki plays his own composition “Elegy for the Victims of the Tsunami of March 11, 2011in Japan” at Carnegie Hall in 2011. Compared to most classical works, the Nobuyuki’s composition is simple and devoid of ornamentation. This is music that goes straight to the heart!