Music that gives you chills?
March 4, 2018 4:47 AM Subscribe
I was recently introduced (by a Mefi comment, natch), to Max Richter's re-composing of Vivaldi's Four Seasons. I can't stop listening to the incredible Spring 1. I want to listen to more music that does the same things for me.
There's something about this track that really, really gets under my skin. The building pace and tone, the high notes. I dunno - but it's quite a thing.
I'm not just interested in classical re-composings like this, but any music that has a real emotional and physiological effect like this, that makes your heart go faster and catches your breath. Obviously I've been diving into Max Richter's other work via Spotify and Youtube, but I would love to hear other songs, albums and compositions that do similar things for other Mefites.
So, please, your recommendations on pieces of music that give you chills down your spine and bring tears to your eyes. Music that leaves you breathless. Spotify availability a plus but not a deal-breaker.
There's something about this track that really, really gets under my skin. The building pace and tone, the high notes. I dunno - but it's quite a thing.
I'm not just interested in classical re-composings like this, but any music that has a real emotional and physiological effect like this, that makes your heart go faster and catches your breath. Obviously I've been diving into Max Richter's other work via Spotify and Youtube, but I would love to hear other songs, albums and compositions that do similar things for other Mefites.
So, please, your recommendations on pieces of music that give you chills down your spine and bring tears to your eyes. Music that leaves you breathless. Spotify availability a plus but not a deal-breaker.
Sigur Ros does this for me.
posted by backwards guitar at 5:26 AM on March 4, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by backwards guitar at 5:26 AM on March 4, 2018 [4 favorites]
Gorecki's Third Symphony. The gradual build is haunting and wonderful at the same time.
posted by Major Matt Mason Dixon at 5:48 AM on March 4, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by Major Matt Mason Dixon at 5:48 AM on March 4, 2018 [2 favorites]
It may partly be the context (dude playing Vivaldi on accordion on the streets of Warsaw), but I have that reaction to parts of this.
posted by FencingGal at 5:59 AM on March 4, 2018
posted by FencingGal at 5:59 AM on March 4, 2018
Seconding Arvo Pärt. Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings is a classic for chills, though it has a very different feel to it.
This is a leap but you could also try John Cage. Here's Einstein on the Beach.
posted by bunderful at 6:37 AM on March 4, 2018
This is a leap but you could also try John Cage. Here's Einstein on the Beach.
posted by bunderful at 6:37 AM on March 4, 2018
Richter is a Postminimalist composter. So if you specifically like the repetition/building on repetition of that piece, you might want to check out...
John Adam's works, particularly Shaker Loops, Short Ride in a Fast Machine, Harmonielehre, and The Chairman Dances.
If you accidentally end up finding stuff by John *L* Adams, that's also good; Become Ocean won the Pulitzer recently and is lovely.
Philip Glass is the original; I love his Violin Concerto, and Aguas da Amazonia.
Minimalism also is very similar to /borrows from techniques in traditional Balian/Javanese Gamelan music.
A lot of the background music in This American Life is minimalist/post-minimalist/minimalist-esque. There's a bunch of Glass in there; some NIN (from the "Ghosts" album)/Trent Razor and Atticus Ross; a lot of Penguin Cafe Orchestra Here's a Spotify Playlist.
posted by damayanti at 6:45 AM on March 4, 2018 [2 favorites]
John Adam's works, particularly Shaker Loops, Short Ride in a Fast Machine, Harmonielehre, and The Chairman Dances.
If you accidentally end up finding stuff by John *L* Adams, that's also good; Become Ocean won the Pulitzer recently and is lovely.
Philip Glass is the original; I love his Violin Concerto, and Aguas da Amazonia.
Minimalism also is very similar to /borrows from techniques in traditional Balian/Javanese Gamelan music.
A lot of the background music in This American Life is minimalist/post-minimalist/minimalist-esque. There's a bunch of Glass in there; some NIN (from the "Ghosts" album)/Trent Razor and Atticus Ross; a lot of Penguin Cafe Orchestra Here's a Spotify Playlist.
posted by damayanti at 6:45 AM on March 4, 2018 [2 favorites]
Allegri's Miserere - Tallis Scholar's recording (ignore the Orthodox visuals - this is as Catholic as you get). The high notes and the harmonies are just incredible.
Vaughan Williams' Fantasia on a theme of Thomas Tallis - recording in Gloucester Cathedral (this is on one of the lists that SaltySalticid linked to, but worth highlighting)
I'll second Sigur Ros - though not all of it hits that emotional chord for me, songs like Untitled #4 certainly do.
posted by Vortisaur at 6:50 AM on March 4, 2018 [2 favorites]
Vaughan Williams' Fantasia on a theme of Thomas Tallis - recording in Gloucester Cathedral (this is on one of the lists that SaltySalticid linked to, but worth highlighting)
I'll second Sigur Ros - though not all of it hits that emotional chord for me, songs like Untitled #4 certainly do.
posted by Vortisaur at 6:50 AM on March 4, 2018 [2 favorites]
Ekkehard Ehlers Plays - John Cassavetes (2) does it to me.
posted by DelusionsofGrandeur at 7:10 AM on March 4, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by DelusionsofGrandeur at 7:10 AM on March 4, 2018 [1 favorite]
Perhaps you might like Vladimir Martynov's Beatitudes or his piece Come In!; or Flowering Jasmine & Lilac Gardens by Georgs Pelēcis.
posted by misteraitch at 8:01 AM on March 4, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by misteraitch at 8:01 AM on March 4, 2018 [1 favorite]
I was also going to suggest Barber's Adagio for Strings. And I see Arvo Pärt's been recommended a couple times, let me add "Sarah Was 90 Years Old" to the list, with the caveat that the magic depends on being able to give it your full attention without distractions.
I also get it from "Mountains and Rivers Without End" and the Mount St. Helens Symphony (#50) by Alan Hovhaness as well as Ralph Vaughan Williams' Symphony No. 6.
Leonard Bernstein's overture to Candide really gets me going. And once I listened to it enough to get over the Lone Ranger connection, Rossini's overture to William Tell became a reliable musical thrill for me.
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 8:03 AM on March 4, 2018
I also get it from "Mountains and Rivers Without End" and the Mount St. Helens Symphony (#50) by Alan Hovhaness as well as Ralph Vaughan Williams' Symphony No. 6.
Leonard Bernstein's overture to Candide really gets me going. And once I listened to it enough to get over the Lone Ranger connection, Rossini's overture to William Tell became a reliable musical thrill for me.
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 8:03 AM on March 4, 2018
You may enjoy Passacaglia by Bear McCreary from the Battlestar Galactica soundtrack. After hundreds of listenings, it still moves me to tears with its beauty. (And if you do like it, then you may also want to check out his Prelude to War as well!)
Instrumental soundtracks can be a great source for these swelling pieces that grab you by the heart and MAKE you feel something, even if you're not familiar with the movie or show they were meant to accompany.
posted by Ann Telope at 8:17 AM on March 4, 2018 [1 favorite]
Instrumental soundtracks can be a great source for these swelling pieces that grab you by the heart and MAKE you feel something, even if you're not familiar with the movie or show they were meant to accompany.
posted by Ann Telope at 8:17 AM on March 4, 2018 [1 favorite]
Seconding Sigur Ros, and “Con te partirò” by Andrea Bocelli has always done this for me.
posted by sucre at 8:29 AM on March 4, 2018
posted by sucre at 8:29 AM on March 4, 2018
On preview, agreeing with Vortisaur about that particular Sigur Ros song, Untitled #4!
posted by sucre at 8:32 AM on March 4, 2018
posted by sucre at 8:32 AM on March 4, 2018
Opening bars of the Stravinsky's Rites of Spring. Every time.
Also Silent Sound by Iain and Jane.
posted by feelinglistless at 8:43 AM on March 4, 2018 [1 favorite]
Also Silent Sound by Iain and Jane.
posted by feelinglistless at 8:43 AM on March 4, 2018 [1 favorite]
Change of pace, Pat Metheny's Phase Dance
Nice long (Stick with it. Give it a chance to get going.) joyous build.
posted by leafwoman at 8:53 AM on March 4, 2018
Nice long (Stick with it. Give it a chance to get going.) joyous build.
posted by leafwoman at 8:53 AM on March 4, 2018
It's beyond cliche and a lot of people have a hard time getting past "kill the wabbit," but Ride of the Valkyries, for sure.
posted by mollymayhem at 11:39 AM on March 4, 2018
posted by mollymayhem at 11:39 AM on March 4, 2018
Hmmm, this may be less breathtaking than you're looking for, but Erasure - My Heart... So Blue (orchestral version)?
björk - jóga
The Fear by µ-Ziq
posted by beigeness at 12:46 PM on March 4, 2018
björk - jóga
The Fear by µ-Ziq
posted by beigeness at 12:46 PM on March 4, 2018
Response by poster: Amazing answers, thanks folks! Lots of room for more, if anyone has anymore. SaltySalticid, thanks for giving me the right language to look for more. That's a term I had heard before, but I guess not really experienced in such an intense way.
posted by Happy Dave at 1:35 PM on March 4, 2018
posted by Happy Dave at 1:35 PM on March 4, 2018
Response by poster: Also in listening to the recommendations here, I remembered another song that gives me this feeling - Sunshine (Adagio in D Minor) from the film of the same name.
posted by Happy Dave at 1:49 PM on March 4, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by Happy Dave at 1:49 PM on March 4, 2018 [2 favorites]
(I think your title is fine. My dad used to call this "thrills and chills.")
The last movement from Rossini's "Petite Messe Solennelle," where the soloist phrase turns to the major key. Movement from minor to major seems to do this to me in general actually: see also the last movement of Brahms' Third Symphony. Not just any key change; that sense of having gone through hard times and come out on the right side.
About 1:50:00 here: (YouTube) in Wagner's Meistersinger.
The jazzy last movement of Beethoven's piano sonata no. 32.
posted by huimangm at 2:03 PM on March 4, 2018
The last movement from Rossini's "Petite Messe Solennelle," where the soloist phrase turns to the major key. Movement from minor to major seems to do this to me in general actually: see also the last movement of Brahms' Third Symphony. Not just any key change; that sense of having gone through hard times and come out on the right side.
About 1:50:00 here: (YouTube) in Wagner's Meistersinger.
The jazzy last movement of Beethoven's piano sonata no. 32.
posted by huimangm at 2:03 PM on March 4, 2018
I have always gotten that feeling from the second movement of Bach's Double Violin Concerto in D Minor, especially every time one violinist overlaps and takes over from the other.
posted by Mchelly at 3:25 PM on March 4, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by Mchelly at 3:25 PM on March 4, 2018 [2 favorites]
Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven by Godspeed You! Black Emperor is full of frisson for me.
posted by workerant at 3:39 PM on March 4, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by workerant at 3:39 PM on March 4, 2018 [1 favorite]
From the Titanic soundtrack, "Hard to Starboard" beginning about 3 minutes in, and more so at 4:10, evokes the movie scne and in turn the disaster.
Mozart Requiem in D minor, K. 626, I. Introitus. Unfortunately I can't find it, but I recall seeing an amateur video of the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy with this as background.
For those of the faith, Every Praise (Radio Edit) by Hezekiah Walker. Definite chills.
posted by forthright at 4:55 PM on March 4, 2018
Mozart Requiem in D minor, K. 626, I. Introitus. Unfortunately I can't find it, but I recall seeing an amateur video of the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy with this as background.
For those of the faith, Every Praise (Radio Edit) by Hezekiah Walker. Definite chills.
posted by forthright at 4:55 PM on March 4, 2018
Best answer: Ha, I think that was my link that got you started - or else someone else on MeFi is a hopeless Richter/Reimagined addict. I have just a few of these, as they are pretty much a lifelong obsession, though I am really enjoying reading other people's suggestions here too. I will stick to things others haven't suggested so far.
You may have already discovered these other Richter pieces, but just in case: Dinah Washington singing "This Bitter Earth" with Richter's "On the Nature of Daylight" is bloody amazing. Also Infra 5. But it is hard to know where to stop with Richter.
Holst's St Paul's Suite, especially the final movement - though the entire thing really is just superb.
Rachmaninoff's Vocalise (that's a cello version, there are plenty of violin versions about as well, and as you might expect, also vocal (but wordless) versions.
Prokofiev's Lieutenant Kijé Suite. Ravel's Pavane pour une infante défunte and, completely different yet somehow not, Bolero.
Moving away from the strictly classical, Peter Gabriel has done some fantastic orchestral remixes of both his own and others' music. Particular highlights: Heroes (Bowie cover); Mirrorball (Elbow cover); In Your Eyes; Downside Up which is very very close to the feeling of Spring 1. Also pretty much the entirety of Passion though it is different from the others.
The Scandinavian crowd seems to do the frisson thing very well. Sigur Rós has been mentioned, but not Glósóli which has an awesome video to boot. Amiina's What Are We Waiting For?, which starts out like a music box but turns into the same rising swell, and Efterklang's Mirador. Björk has already been covered. Olafur Arnalds' Old Skin. Múm's Green Grass of Tunnel.
A group I shall call falsetto men, which is in no way a denigration: Bon Iver's Holocene. M83's Wait. Radiohead's Let Down. Sufjan Stevens (previously mentioned) in Pittsfield.
And finally, the band Lamb nails this in a bunch of their tracks as well, especially Gabriel, Heaven and (I think the title of the track is no coinicidence) Gorecki.
posted by Athanassiel at 5:22 PM on March 4, 2018 [2 favorites]
You may have already discovered these other Richter pieces, but just in case: Dinah Washington singing "This Bitter Earth" with Richter's "On the Nature of Daylight" is bloody amazing. Also Infra 5. But it is hard to know where to stop with Richter.
Holst's St Paul's Suite, especially the final movement - though the entire thing really is just superb.
Rachmaninoff's Vocalise (that's a cello version, there are plenty of violin versions about as well, and as you might expect, also vocal (but wordless) versions.
Prokofiev's Lieutenant Kijé Suite. Ravel's Pavane pour une infante défunte and, completely different yet somehow not, Bolero.
Moving away from the strictly classical, Peter Gabriel has done some fantastic orchestral remixes of both his own and others' music. Particular highlights: Heroes (Bowie cover); Mirrorball (Elbow cover); In Your Eyes; Downside Up which is very very close to the feeling of Spring 1. Also pretty much the entirety of Passion though it is different from the others.
The Scandinavian crowd seems to do the frisson thing very well. Sigur Rós has been mentioned, but not Glósóli which has an awesome video to boot. Amiina's What Are We Waiting For?, which starts out like a music box but turns into the same rising swell, and Efterklang's Mirador. Björk has already been covered. Olafur Arnalds' Old Skin. Múm's Green Grass of Tunnel.
A group I shall call falsetto men, which is in no way a denigration: Bon Iver's Holocene. M83's Wait. Radiohead's Let Down. Sufjan Stevens (previously mentioned) in Pittsfield.
And finally, the band Lamb nails this in a bunch of their tracks as well, especially Gabriel, Heaven and (I think the title of the track is no coinicidence) Gorecki.
posted by Athanassiel at 5:22 PM on March 4, 2018 [2 favorites]
Philip Glass’s String Quartet No. 5, fifth movement. It literally did bring tears to my eyes when I first heard it.
posted by hhc5 at 8:18 PM on March 4, 2018
posted by hhc5 at 8:18 PM on March 4, 2018
Gustav Holst's 'The Planets' does this to me, particularly Jupiter and particularly the bit that starts at about 2:50. I could listen to this forever.
posted by h00py at 1:52 AM on March 5, 2018
posted by h00py at 1:52 AM on March 5, 2018
The Ecstasy of Gold from "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly". That video is the clip from the film, but it's just as effective on its own.
Mladic, by Godspeed You! Black Emperor. I couldn't find a live one on YouTube, but there are some on archive.org.
posted by curiousgene at 10:15 AM on March 5, 2018
Mladic, by Godspeed You! Black Emperor. I couldn't find a live one on YouTube, but there are some on archive.org.
posted by curiousgene at 10:15 AM on March 5, 2018
Mention upthread of Sufjan Stevens reminded me of "Neptune" in the Planetarium series. The series is a collaboration with Bryce Dessner, James McAlister, and one of my favorite contemporary composers, Nico Muhly. Moments of frisson sprinkled throughout, but my favorites are at 1:00 and 2:40.
Thank you for asking this question! I'm so excited to dig into these recommendations.
posted by MrBobinski at 5:14 PM on March 5, 2018
Thank you for asking this question! I'm so excited to dig into these recommendations.
posted by MrBobinski at 5:14 PM on March 5, 2018
"Journey to the Line" by Hans Zimmer was the first thing that came to me, but there are hundreds of others that impact me the same way as the Richter piece.
posted by turbid dahlia at 6:10 PM on March 5, 2018
posted by turbid dahlia at 6:10 PM on March 5, 2018
Caetano Veloso - Cucurrucucu Paloma, featured in the Almodovar film Hable Con Ella (Talk to Her). Here's a montage with full audio.
posted by hydrophonic at 7:48 PM on March 6, 2018
posted by hydrophonic at 7:48 PM on March 6, 2018
There is a really interesting article about musical frisson and its causes here: "The Strange Phenomenon of musical skin orgasms" (you might want to be careful with that as a search term!) - it features an interview with Psychologist - and musician (link) - Psyche Loui who researches the topic - there is also a Youtube playlist of songs which have been cited with respect to eliciting frisson.
I think the essence of the musical cause is to do with unexpected changes: in terms of dynamics, harmony or melody. The change should be teasing but not jarring - like a good caress.
posted by rongorongo at 1:54 AM on March 7, 2018
I think the essence of the musical cause is to do with unexpected changes: in terms of dynamics, harmony or melody. The change should be teasing but not jarring - like a good caress.
posted by rongorongo at 1:54 AM on March 7, 2018
A Thousand Tongues by Victoire (Missy Mazzoli's band) does this for me at various points.
posted by taltalim at 8:01 AM on March 7, 2018
posted by taltalim at 8:01 AM on March 7, 2018
The Jeff Buckley version of Hallellujah in popular music. Berlioz's Damnation of Faust for classical music. And the Queen of the Night's aria in The Magic Flute. All for different reasons, but those are the ones that transport me.
posted by wnissen at 10:18 AM on March 7, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by wnissen at 10:18 AM on March 7, 2018 [1 favorite]
Well, Julia Holter's Have You In My Wilderness has this slow, poetic gravitas and self-contained but oddly profound soundscape that really sends chills down my spine.
Also a joke one is "I like what you're doing to me" by Young and Company considering the lyrics. A guilty listen for sure but a groove I love with all my heart.
posted by Wildernessy at 4:50 PM on March 7, 2018
Also a joke one is "I like what you're doing to me" by Young and Company considering the lyrics. A guilty listen for sure but a groove I love with all my heart.
posted by Wildernessy at 4:50 PM on March 7, 2018
Shostakovich Piano Concerto No. 2, second movement. All of it, but in particular the entry of the piano.
posted by chill at 1:03 PM on March 11, 2018
posted by chill at 1:03 PM on March 11, 2018
It's worth noting that some of the suggestions here appeared in the soundtrack to The Leftovers (which had a soundtrack by Max Richter). I've a slightly edited version of a playlist from the show, if anyone wants a butcher's. A lot of frisson here.
posted by chill at 1:14 PM on March 11, 2018
posted by chill at 1:14 PM on March 11, 2018
Where even to begin? I’ll just suggest Mahler, whose music is filled with devastating and revelatory moments. For me, the ending of the first movement of the insane 8th Symphony or Das Irdische Leben From Des Knaben Wunderhorn in very different ways. Also the Abschied, the very long last movement of Das Lied von der Erde, to the extent that I won’t listen to it but once every half a dozen years. But it’s so individual, these recommendations may leave you utterly cold.
posted by Smearcase at 10:27 PM on March 20, 2018
posted by Smearcase at 10:27 PM on March 20, 2018
This thread is closed to new comments.
I get frisson at various parts of Dvorak’s New World.
I recall back when the movies came out lots of people went on and on about John Williams’ Duel of Fates
It seems the classical/non-vocal stuff is more reliable, e.g. that reddit list above has pop/rock stuff that does very little for me.
posted by SaltySalticid at 5:05 AM on March 4, 2018 [3 favorites]