# "Angry" Classical Music? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 30, 2003, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/angry-classical-music/178450 "2003-05-30T04:00:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sqube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aca169/32.png) [@Sqube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sqube)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/angry-classical-music/178450/1 "2003-05-30T04:00:41Z")
I don’t know much about classical music, but I know a song can make you feel differently based on instruments used, etc etc etc. So I was just wondering: could somebody give some examples of classical music that would make you feel angry? ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/angry-classical-music/178450/2 "2003-05-30T04:20:52Z")
Igor Stravinsky’s _Le Sacre du printemps_ (The Rite of Spring) caused a riot in the audience at its premiere performance in 1913. ---
**Author:** ![RedDawgEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/dbc845/32.png) [@RedDawgEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedDawgEsq)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/angry-classical-music/178450/3 "2003-05-30T04:26:39Z")
I could be wrong but I believe the emotion engendered by “The Rite of Spring” was not so much anger as it was astonishment at its blatant evocation of visceral and sexual instincts. ---
**Author:** ![Satisfying\_Andy\_Licious](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Satisfying\_Andy\_Licious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satisfying_Andy_Licious)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/angry-classical-music/178450/4 "2003-05-30T05:13:37Z")
“Mars, God of War” from Holtz’ “The Planets” has a kind of angry feel to it, but I don’t know if it would necessarily make a listener feel angry. ---
**Author:** ![jovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/0ea827/32.png) [@jovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jovan)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/angry-classical-music/178450/5 "2003-05-30T05:38:02Z")
A lot of avant-garde, or semi-avant-garde music from the first half of the twentieth century has strong “angry” colours. I would say more “violent” than “angry” per se, though. Other than _Rite of Spring_, there is also Stravinsky’s _Firebird_, but like I said, that’s more violent than angry. Edgar Varese also wrote fairly violent music, such as _Amériques_. You might also say that there is some anger in Beethoven’s _Appasionata_ sonata, though there’s a whole bunch of other emotions in there as well. ---
**Author:** ![captainQwark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e68b1a/32.png) [@captainQwark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/captainQwark)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/angry-classical-music/178450/6 "2003-05-30T05:47:40Z")
the opening of Mozart’s 39th symphony has been called angry, but I don’t think Mozart had that in mind. The first movement of Beethoven’s fifth symphony, which just about everyone has heard, is thought to be full of rage. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/angry-classical-music/178450/7 "2003-05-30T05:50:49Z")
The right arrangement of Greig’s In The Hall of The Mountain King can have the desired effect, I think. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/angry-classical-music/178450/8 "2003-05-30T05:51:37Z")
Do you mean ‘angry’ in the sense of “impassioned, revved up”, e.g. Queen’s “we will, we will rock you!” – a piece that makes you feel stirred/energized – “yo! Fuckin’ A!” ? Or a piece that literally pisses you off? If the former, there’s quite a few. For example, try Bach’s _Toccatta and Fugue in Dm_, preferably on the largest pipe organ in the universe, stereo cranked to 11. Remove small animals and breakables beforehand, please. If the latter, I’m at a loss. The only classical pieces that pissed me off were because I hated them so badly I threw the CD on the floor and stomped on it vigorously. ---
**Author:** ![klockwerk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/klockwerk/32/6475_2.png) [@klockwerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/klockwerk)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/angry-classical-music/178450/9 "2003-05-30T06:20:43Z")
Orff’s Carmina Burana has some ‘angry’ moments. I’ll guarentee that you’ve heard the introduction “O Fortuna” somewhere before. It’s hard to tell what your talking about when you say ‘angry’ music, but if I’m thinking what I think your thinking, then here’s some other titles: Holst - Mars: The Bringer of War Berlioz - Symphony Fantastique, Mvt. 5: Songe d’une Nuit de Sabbat Mozart’s Requiem (arious parts) Berlioz’ Requiem (arious parts Wagner - Ride of the Valkyries Many of Beethoven’s Symphonies were quite ‘angry’ and powerful in nature. Check out the stuff listed above and tell me if that’s what you’re looking for. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![klockwerk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/klockwerk/32/6475_2.png) [@klockwerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/klockwerk)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/angry-classical-music/178450/10 "2003-05-30T06:23:32Z")
:smack: That’s “various parts” inside those brackets. Don’t ask my why they didn’t show up in my OP. ---
**Author:** ![TheFunkySpaceCowboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a9a28c/32.png) [@TheFunkySpaceCowboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheFunkySpaceCowboy)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/angry-classical-music/178450/11 "2003-05-30T06:23:37Z")
_O Fortuna \* from Carl Orff’s \* Carmena Barana_ is a pretty angry piece, read the translation to the Latin poem it’s based on, the author is angrilly cursing Fate and her mistreatment of him. Prokokiev’s \* Montagues and Capulets \* from his ballet of _Romeo and Juliet_ certianlly has an angry and confrontational feel to it. I would also suggest Arnold Shoenburg’s string quartets, particularly the 3rd and 4th if you’re looking for a powerfully emotional sound. Not quite an angry sound, more of a disjointed, schizoid feeling, but quite violent sounding at times. Good stuff. He also has a piece, the name of which escapes me, which is part symphonic, part spoken word that describes an attempted Jewish escape from the Gestapo in a Polsih ghetto. It has all of the anger and fear you would expect, given the subject. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Kentzel-Griffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ccd318/32.png) [@John\_Kentzel-Griffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Kentzel-Griffin)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/angry-classical-music/178450/12 "2003-05-30T06:25:40Z")
Off to Cafe Society. **DrMatrix** - GQ Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/angry-classical-music/178450/13 "2003-05-30T06:51:02Z")
Try _Allegro Barbaro_ by Béla Bartók. The loudest, most furious, violent, headbanging piano piece ever composed. I used to wail this on the piano a lot; very effective for releasing your frustrations and blind rage. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/angry-classical-music/178450/14 "2003-05-30T08:11:19Z")
I’ll second **TheFunkySpaceCowboy** on the Schoenberg quartets; it’s fabulous, angry stuff, and the first thing that leapt to mind when I saw the thread title. Also, there’s a classical guitar piece called “Capricho Arabe” by Tarrega that’s got some serious boiling going on if played correctly–look for Christopher Parkening’s recording if possible; it’s on his album _In the Spanish Style_. ---
**Author:** ![Tusculan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Tusculan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tusculan)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/angry-classical-music/178450/15 "2003-05-30T10:14:46Z")
Perhaps the beginning of Mahler’s 6th Symphony. It vaguely reminds me of Holst’s Mars, which was already mentioned. And what about Beethoven: Rondo a capriccio “die Wut uber den verlorenen Grosschen” Op.129 = [“Rage over a lost penny”](http://www.midiworld.com/cgibin/x.cgi/mid/beethoven/rondo.mid)? ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/angry-classical-music/178450/16 "2003-05-30T10:41:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by squeegee \* > \*\*Do you mean ‘angry’ in the sense of “impassioned, revved up”, e.g. Queen’s “we will, we will rock you!” – a piece that makes you feel stirred/energized – “yo! Fuckin’ A!” ? > > Or a piece that literally pisses you off? > > If the former, there’s quite a few. For example, try Bach’s _Toccatta and Fugue in Dm_, preferably on the largest pipe organ in the universe, stereo cranked to 11. Remove small animals and breakables beforehand, please. > > If the latter, I’m at a loss. The only classical pieces that pissed me off were because I hated them so badly I threw the CD on the floor and stomped on it vigorously. \*\* I agree. There are heaps of works that fit into the former category; some well-known, some not. I personally recommend: - “Battle on the Ice” from Prokofiev’s _Alexander Nevsky_ - various bits of Franz Schmidt’s _Das Buch mit Sieben Siegeln_ (“The Book of Seven Seals”) – some good raping and pillaging music there. - “Dies Irae” from Verdi’s _Requiem_ And I’m with **squeegee** on the latter category too: there have been classical works which have made me angry because they were generally awful, because they had clear potential to be much better and weren’t, or because the works themselves were good and the performance was shit. None of which have anything to do with any inherent affect of the work. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/angry-classical-music/178450/17 "2003-05-30T11:11:21Z")
Might I suggest [http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/index=music&field-keywords=heavy%20classix&search-type=ss&bq=1/104-3729900-1314342](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/index=music&field-keywords=heavy%20classix&search-type=ss&bq=1/104-3729900-1314342) Heavy Classix. Fun, until I realized I was driving a german car while Ride of the Valkyries played. I started looking for a used cop car nearby after that, and was very careful about the bridges and overpasses I drove on. ---
**Author:** ![karomon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@karomon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/karomon)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/angry-classical-music/178450/18 "2003-05-30T13:01:57Z")
Well, Chopin’s “Revolutionary Etude” makes me feel indignant. ---
**Author:** ![klockwerk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/klockwerk/32/6475_2.png) [@klockwerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/klockwerk)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/angry-classical-music/178450/19 "2003-05-30T13:43:20Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by jr8_ > **"Dies Irae" from Verdi’s _Requiem_** Oh, just about any piece out there which uses the famous chant (or the melody) of Dies Irae tends to be either end up being really spooky or really… angry. As I mentioned before, Berlioz’ Symphony Fantastique uses this in it’s 5th Movement. There’s Verdi’s arrangement of it, Mozart’s Requiem Mass uses it (I think any Mass out there uses it?), Michael Daugherty uses it in his Metropolis Symphony (somewhere, I’m not sure because I haven’t heard the piece for ages) and it comes up all the time in the background of many a musical work. I’m sure a quick Google could give some hints as to what Dies Irae is, and where and how many times it has been used. ---
**Author:** ![Exoskeleton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@Exoskeleton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exoskeleton)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/angry-classical-music/178450/20 "2003-05-30T14:31:18Z")
Krzyzstof Penderecki’s _Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima_ . Dmitri Shostakovich’s _String Quartet #8_ . [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/angry-classical-music/178450.md?page=2)