# Recommend some sad instrumentals. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 22, 2006, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-sad-instrumentals/345565 "2006-02-22T01:48:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2006, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-sad-instrumentals/345565/41 "2006-02-23T19:55:25Z")
> [@Azadeh](#): > > Itzak Perlman and John Williams - the theme to Schindler’s List. Breaks my heart every time. Not only the main theme, but “OFYN Pripetshok Nacht Aktion” (except it has lyrics, so it doesn’t qualify) is absolutely haunting. And “Auschwitz-Birkenau” never, ever, _ever_ fails to creep me out and make me cry. ---
**Author:** ![ryobserver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b2d939/32.png) [@ryobserver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ryobserver)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2006, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-sad-instrumentals/345565/42 "2006-02-24T02:26:44Z")
Handel, “Dead March” from Saul. Edward Elgar, “Nimrod” from the Enigma Variations. There’s a march from Purcell’s “Music for the Funeral of Queen Mary” which is not tear-jerking sad, but is very impressive if you can get the right recording. ---
**Author:** ![Mapache](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/58956e/32.png) [@Mapache](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mapache)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2006, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-sad-instrumentals/345565/43 "2006-02-24T03:05:19Z")
Ravel’s Pavane for a Dead Princess they can play at my funeral, although I’m not really a princess, or even a prince…Ry Cooder’s Feelin’Sad Blues from Crossroads is about as sad as a blues guitar can get. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2006, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-sad-instrumentals/345565/44 "2006-02-24T12:58:01Z")
Fleetwood Mac: Albatross The soundtrack from The Big Blue. ---
**Author:** ![ryobserver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b2d939/32.png) [@ryobserver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ryobserver)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-sad-instrumentals/345565/45 "2006-02-26T02:07:26Z")
Can’t believe I forgot this one, can’t believe no one else put it up: “Going Home”, a/k/a Largo from the New World Symphony, by Dvorak. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-sad-instrumentals/345565/46 "2006-02-26T07:26:29Z")
> [@II Gyan II](#): > > Gorecki’s 3rd Symphony, first movement. I’ll second that. It is kind of the Adagio for Strings, if the Adagio for Strings was writing a suicide note. I love it. It was used to great effect in Fearless, a fantastic movie, and in a one man show I saw. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Big\_Cheese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8baadc/32.png) [@The\_Big\_Cheese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Big_Cheese)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-sad-instrumentals/345565/47 "2006-02-26T14:02:40Z")
\*\*Trista Pena \*\*by Gipsy Kings. I think Trista means ‘sad’, but have no idea what it’s about since it’s in Spanish, but it sounds so sad and beautiful. \*\*In My Time Of Dying \*\*- The Be Good Tanya’s I always think some mandolin doing some old timey music can be so sad too, a la \*\* Saint Judas\*\* by Matalie Merchant, \*\* Annabelle\*\* by Gillian Welch, or\*\* ‘I Wish My Baby Was Born’ \*\*like the version in Cold Mountain movie. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-sad-instrumentals/345565/48 "2006-02-26T14:19:24Z")
One peice I am reminded of that has not yet been mentioned is “God Moving Over The Face of the Waters,” by Moby. ---
**Author:** ![Scupper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Scupper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scupper)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-sad-instrumentals/345565/49 "2006-02-26T16:33:32Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > One peice I am reminded of that has not yet been mentioned is “God Moving Over The Face of the Waters,” by Moby. Damn you, that was just the thing I came in here to mention! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-sad-instrumentals/345565/50 "2006-02-26T17:59:20Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > _Incident at Neshabur_, by Carlos Santana Huh? I’m listening to this one right now, and it’s a fairly upbeat, jazz piece. It’s got some nostalgic overtones, sure, but it doesn’t get me crying or depressed. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-sad-instrumentals/345565/51 "2006-02-26T18:36:06Z")
> [@Scupper](#): > > Damn you, that was just the thing I came in here to mention! 🙂 Yeah, that’s a good one. There are probably other sad Moby songs, but I can’t think of any others that are intrumentals. ---
**Author:** ![Bomzaway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e480ec/32.png) [@Bomzaway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bomzaway)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-sad-instrumentals/345565/52 "2006-02-26T18:39:36Z")
> [@ryobserver](#): > > Edward Elgar, “Nimrod” from the Enigma Variations. Wow. I find this piece to be uplifting and joyous, far from sad. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-sad-instrumentals/345565/53 "2006-02-26T19:30:44Z")
> [@Kythereia](#): > > Huh? I’m listening to this one right now, and it’s a fairly upbeat, jazz piece. It’s got some nostalgic overtones, sure, but it doesn’t get me crying or depressed. It doesn’t get me crying, I just think it’s very lonely- particularly in the first half or so. ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-sad-instrumentals/345565/54 "2006-02-26T19:50:56Z")
> [@Kythereia](#): > > Huh? I’m listening to this one right now, and it’s a fairly upbeat, jazz piece. It’s got some nostalgic overtones, sure, but it doesn’t get me crying or depressed. I thought the same thing, but I didn’t want to say anything in case I’d found the wrong song. I forgot about Dvorak’s “Largo” from the New World Symphony. Thanks again, everyone. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-sad-instrumentals/345565/55 "2006-02-26T20:21:46Z")
Gustav Mahler. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2006, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-sad-instrumentals/345565/56 "2006-02-27T15:30:21Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > It doesn’t get me crying, I just think it’s very lonely- particularly in the first half or so. Now you’ve really got me confused, because the first half is the most energetic and driven–the nostalgic overtones all come in around the second half. We _are_ talking about the same song? Incident at Neshabur, Carlos Santana? ---
**Author:** ![Wartime\_Consigliori](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9d8465/32.png) [@Wartime\_Consigliori](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wartime_Consigliori)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2006, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-sad-instrumentals/345565/57 "2006-02-27T17:16:27Z")
**Last Date** by Floyd Cramer. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2006, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-sad-instrumentals/345565/58 "2006-02-27T22:16:11Z")
> [@ryobserver](#): > > Can’t believe I forgot this one, can’t believe no one else put it up: “Going Home”, a/k/a Largo from the New World Symphony, by Dvorak. Heh. I came in to post “Going Home (Theme from Local Hero)” by Mark Knopfler. It’s not technically sad so much as nostalgic and longing, which to me = sad. ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2006, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-sad-instrumentals/345565/59 "2006-02-27T23:04:15Z")
I guess the saddest instrumental I know is “The Battle of the Somme” by Fairport Convention, on “Full House.” “Pavane for a Dead Princess,” mentioned earlier, is a good runner-up. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-sad-instrumentals/345565/60 "2006-02-28T04:54:05Z")
I’ve always found the theme to **Exodus** sad (in an uplifting kind of way). Although Dvorak was mentioned below regarding the _largo_ from his New World Symphony, I would cast my vote for another of his pieces. Specifically, the 2nd movement of his “American Quartet” (String Quartet #12) is “beautifully sad” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-sad-instrumentals/345565.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-sad-instrumentals/345565.md?page=4)