what music makes you cry?
Stephen Hough the pianist asks the question – and wonders whether it's the beauty of the music itself, or just the associations, that give you the lump in the throat.
Me? The second movement of Bach's violin concerto always gets me. So does Crowded House singing Together Alone. Every single time.
Different genres, both amazingly beautiful. But I cry, unfailingly, when I hear the theme tune to Thomas the Tank Engine, and that's definitely association – I let my toddler son watch it for about three hours non-stop on the saddest day of my life.
Just as interesting, though, is what music makes you feel deliriously happy. My antidote to the blues is Paul Simon's Graceland. I defy anyone not to get up and dance when they hear that.
so what music makes you cry? and what makes you dance?
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Maggi has kept a blog since September 2003, writing about theology and faith, the arts and literature, and a little about life and random nonsense...
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Can’t resist attempting to answer this:
Cry? – I don’t cry often. For some reason Kathleen Ferrier’s recording of the Abschied from Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde unexpectedly recently brought a tear to my eyes. (Though actually I prefer Janet Baker).
Also Beethoven can do the tears bit for me as well. Often with his most joyful music. Slow movement of the Archduke, for example.
Happy/dance. Dire Straits – Walk of Life. Brilliant! Such an uplifting song.
Dvorak: Symphonic variations – also very uplifting especially at the end – almost riotous fun.