Writer's Block: More than words

[vvvexation]

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I'm not sure there are any lyrics that do that. There are some that resonate with me, but mostly in a head-nodding "ah yes" kind of way rather than a shivery kind of way.

No, what I get shivers from is the music itself. The "Die mit Tränen" bit in the first movement of Brahms' Requiem? Oh gods. And don't get me started on Biebl.

And yes, there are more "modern" songs that can have a little of the same effect on me; synthesizers often hit an interesting spot in my brain, and so do strings in the right context. But it really isn't the lyrics that tend to do it.

Comments

[darthsunshine.livejournal.com]

*nodnodnod*
The Dies Irae from Verdi's Requiem does it for me, especially the beginning when the trumpets call back and forth.

[vvvexation.livejournal.com]

Heh. That's the only part of that Requiem that really grabbed me the one time I heard it.

[flwyd.livejournal.com]

A few years ago, I listened to Ali Farka Touré's Diaraby and had to stop working for a few minutes while I cried at the sadness and beauty in the song, even though it's in a language far away from any family I know.

[vvvexation.livejournal.com]

Huh. I thought I caught a little French or French creole in there.

[the-xtina.livejournal.com]

The ones that get me shushing people so I can hear 'em:

Agnus Dei, Samuel Barber.  (Sung by the Trinity College Choir.)

Cantique de Jean Racine, Gabriel Fauré.  (Sung by the Bow Valley Chorus.)

I wouldn't refer to that as lyrics-oriented music, not in the way this question is going about it, I think.

[vvvexation.livejournal.com]

Oh, wow. I was already familiar with the Adagio for Strings, but that never grabbed me like this just did. And I'm glad to learn there's more to Fauré than his Requiem, which I just sang last night and found pretty bland.

And yeah, it's definitely less lyrics-oriented, although I don't know if the intent that one focus on the music or the lyrics necessarily affects my likelihood of being moved by one or the other.

[aliothsan.livejournal.com]

Try the Duruflé Requiem too. I haven't listened to Fauré's all the way through, but it pushes some similar buttons and I certainly don't find it bland :) *shivers* There's lots of different moments, and my favorite will probably not coincide with anyone else's... but there's a section in the Lux Aeterna that's like getting a hug from the spirit of the cello.

I'm also very fond of Ralph Vaughan Williams...