The Godfather Movie Theme

Today’s piece of sad classical music is the theme to the iconic, infamous, brilliant movie ‘The Godfather’. If you have never seen this movie, I suggest you stop what you are doing right now and do so. I mean it, stop reading. Like, right now. Go and see the movie! In fact see the whole series of movies. You will not regret it!

OK, so if you are still reading this I will assume you have seen the movie, or movies for that matter.

Frank Martin: Agnus Dei

I thought I would change gears today with a choir piece of sad classical music. This piece is entitled Agnus Dei and was written by the perhaps lesser known, but brilliant composer Frank Martin somewhere between 1922 and 1926. It is an acapella mass for double choir, and in the video above is being performed by the University of Southern Mississippi Chorale and directed by Dr. Gregory Fuller. This appears to be part five of the entire Mass work. If you know more about this beautiful piece of sad classical music please post a comment  below.

If you would like to purchase a great album that includes Agnus Dei, might I suggest the Frank Martin: Mass for Double Choir; Ildebrando Pizzetti: Messa di Requiem (Special Edition) CD.

Sergei Rachmaninoff: Vocalise

Sergi Rachmaninoff is surely one of the greatest piano players and composers ever to have lived. This piece of sad classical music is sombre, powerful and complex. It was published in 1912 as the last of his Fourteen Songs and was originally arranged for vocals. The piece above is a solo piano arrangement and I simply love it! Expect to see a lot more of Rachmaninoff here on sad classical music .com

I hope you too enjoy today’s instalment of sad classical music.

Arvo Part: Summa for String Orchestra

Summa by Arvo Part is a piece of sad classical music arranged in 1991. The original Summa was written by Part in 1971 but as a work for chorus (and organ).

I really like this piece of sad classical music. What do you think? Please provide comments below.

If you like this piece, the best CD around is this one from Amazon.

Until next time, keep searching for the great music of the world!

Remo Giazotto – Adagio in G minor

Now this is my kind of sad classical music – grand, epic, emotional, powerful. This truly is a fantastic piece – absolutely one of my favorites. I hope you enjoy this piece of sad classical music.

Samuel Barber: Adagio for Strings, Op.11

Today’s piece of sad classical music is Adagio for Strings by Samuel Barber. The raw emotion of this piece was seized on by the famous DJ Tiesto, who remixed it into an iconic dance tune. If you thought you didn’t know of Adagio for Strings, but the main theme sounded familiar, it is probably because you have heard Tiesto’s remix of this piece of sad classical music on the radio or TV before. Check out the video below for this remix (you first hear the main theme from Adagio for Strings at 2:19):

Books Adagio for Strings is featured in:

Adagio for Strings is featured in the book 1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die. You can read more about the feature in this book for Symphony No 3  here.

Henryk Gorecki: Symphony No. 3, Op. 36 “Sorrowful Songs”

“perhaps people find something they need in this piece of music…. Somehow I hit the right note, something they were missing. Something, somewhere had been lost to them. I feel that I instinctively knew what they needed.” – Henryk Gorecki

Symphony No 3 by Henryk Gorecki is presented in three movements. The video above is of the second movement, which is my personal favourite. I selected this particular video for the fact that the soprano is performed by Dawn Upshaw. She provides a brilliant interpretation of this piece – the best I have heard. The entire symphony runs for approximately 53 minutes.