Melancholy Mixtape / May 2024
Eight moments of melancholy music to help you cultivate calm, connection, and healing throughout the month.
Good lord, do I miss making mixtapes.
In those pre-playlist days of the '90s, sharing music with friends and loved ones was part musical curation and part craft project. You had to gather the physical media for every track you wanted to transfer to the mixtape, analyzing track lengths to ensure the music didn't cut off abruptly at the end of each side of the cassette. Then you needed to title the mix, execute any doodles that served as "cover art," and strategically determine the perfect handwriting size for writing out the artist and title for each track.
Whether they expressed ephemeral fancies — "New Favorites, January 1995" — or profound personal truths — "Songs Forever Etched onto My Soul" — mixtapes were love letters to music and its important role in our lives. Over an hour or so, you'd make new connections across artists, genres, and (in the case of classical music) centuries, weaving together seemingly disparate works into a tapestry of collective emotion.
Although today's digital playlists eliminate much of the work I loved about creating mixtapes, they're still a great way to bring together the music I'm obsessed with at any given moment. And now, I want to share these musical selections with you.
Every month on Shades of Blue, I'll assemble an hour of melancholy moments in classical music for you to enjoy. Regardless of how you consume these Melancholy Mixtapes — getting to know each work one by one here on Substack, or binging them all at once on YouTube, Spotify, or Idagio — I hope the selections I offer in this series help you to cultivate calm, connection, and healing whenever you listen.
Robert Schumann / Im wunderschönen Monat Mai (In the magnificent month of May)
Ian Bostridge, tenor Julius Drake, piano (Follow along with the German poem.)
After a long, cold winter, the warm breezes of spring ignite feelings of desire in a young poet, the blooming flowers around him mirroring the love and longing growing in his heart.
In the magnificent month of May, As all buds began to bloom, There in my heart Love blossomed. In the magnificent month of May, As all the birds were singing, There I confessed to her My longing and desire. Poet: Heinrich Heine English translation: Michael Cirigliano II
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky / Symphony No. 6, II. Allegro con grazia
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Manfred Honeck, conductor
Don't be fooled by the lilting quasi-waltz sung by the cellos in the opening bars — shadows soon encroach upon Tchaikovsky's tender-hearted dance.
Maurice Ravel / Un barque sur l'ocean (A boat on the ocean)
Bertrand Chamayou, piano
Sun and sea shimmer in Ravel's portrait of a solitary boat making its way across the vast ocean, delicate breezes and lapping waves guiding the vessel to its far-off destination.
Florence Price / String Quartet No. 2, II. Andante cantabile
Catalyst Quartet
Strains of Black spirituals and Chicago blues float through Price's stirring slow movement, which moves between moments of resigned sadness and radiant hope.
Franz Schubert / Impromptu in G-flat Major
Radu Lupu, piano
A melody of sublime simplicity floats above a babbling brook of pianistic filigree, as Schubert dances upon that fine line between love and heartache.
Jean Sibelius / The Swan of Tuonela
Jukka Hirvikangas, English horn Lahti Symphony Orchestra Osmo Vänskä, conductor
Based on a spine-tingling tale from the Kalevala, Finland's national epic, the solitary Swan of Tuonela guards the inky waters of the River of Death that separates the land of the living from the land of the dead.
Learn more about this haunting portrait of loneliness in a Shades of Blue essay published last fall.
Josquin des Prez / Mille regretz (A thousand regrets)
Hilliard Ensemble Paul Hillier, conductor (Follow along with the French poem.)
Despite its cruel brevity (just two minutes of music), this 16th-century French song of lament plumbs a depth of emotion — gentle tears of loss and nostalgia manifested in sound.
A thousand regrets for deserting you and leaving behind your loving face, I feel so much sadness and such painful distress, that it seems to me my days will soon end. Poet: Unknown Translation: Courtesy of Wikipedia
Richard Strauss / Beim Schlafengehen (Going to sleep)
Jessye Norman, soprano Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig Kurt Masur, conductor (Follow along with the German poem.)
The Herman Hesse poem Strauss set to music in 1948 speaks not of our nightly slumber, but the great sleep that awaits us all — when we can leave our earthly toils behind and experience the grace of eternity.
Now that day has made me weary, My yearning desire shall Gently greet the starry night. Hands, leave your actions behind, Mind, forget all of your thoughts, All of my senses now Want to descend into slumber. And my soul, unguarded, Longs to freely take flight, So that, in the night's enchanted circle, It may live deeply, one thousand times more. Poet: Herman Hesse Translation: Michael Cirigliano II
Listen to this month's Melancholy Mixtape on YouTube, Spotify, and Idagio.
Want to share your experience with one of the works I've shared this month? I'd love to hear about it! Leave a comment below or reply to this email. (And if you enjoyed your time here today, would you ever so kindly tap that little heart below? 👇🏼)
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Looks like you gave me this week's listening, Michael. Thanks!
You had me at Mixtape!! A melancholy classical mixtape? Yes please! I just loved the Ravel and Schubert pieces. Florence Price sounded so unique but so familiar. You know how I felt about Josquin des Prez (yes, much too short!) And when I cued up The Swan, it felt like coming home to an old flame! My heart swooned! 💙 I love this idea…can’t wait for the next one!