Melancholy Strings

Melancholy Strings

Apple Music Classical

Updated 2 weeks ago

It makes sense that strings are commonly associated with sadness: No other instrument—be it wind, percussion, brass or otherwise—captures the curvature and tone of a human cry in quite the same way. What follows is a mix of gently melancholic classical music led by stringed instruments—a mood you can sink into. Our classical experts regularly update these selections. If you like a piece, add it to your library.

The Lark Ascending

Norwegian Chamber Orchestra, Pekka Kuusisto

16:19

No. 4, Noctune (Arr. Lozakovich for Violin and Piano)

Hélène Mercier, Daniel Lozakovich

4:00

Sober

4:01

RAIN (feat. ARKAI) [Orchestral Version]

3:34

Variation IX. Adagio "Nimrod" (Arr. for String Quartet by Christoph Slenczka)

Barbican Quartet

3:59

With Malice Toward None (Version for String Quartet)

Calidore String Quartet

4:56

Sentimental Value

4:47

Movement V

Francesca Guccione

3:37

Fathers and Sons

Armin van Buuren

3:26

Wake

Gautier Capuçon, Capucelli

4:12

Never Meant To Belong

NDR Radiophilharmonie, Michael England, Andrea Cicalese, Louis Philippson

3:39

Moon (Télès Music Session)

Bryan Raets

2:51

For Goodbyes

4:40

II. Andante

2:45

Non-Eternal (Pt. 3, Faded)

Max Ruisi, Max Richter, Louisa Fuller

3:45

III. Allegro)

Norwegian String Quintet, Eldbjørg Hemsing, Martynas Levickis, Tim Allhoff

3:11

Notturno for Cello & Piano

Jonathan Slaatto, Martin Qvist Hansen

2:28

No. 3, Asturiana (Transcr. Llobet & Pujol for Violin & Guitar)

Randall Goosby, Plínio Fernandes

2:55

I. Aria. Lent

Philharmonia Orchestra, Charlie Siem, Susanna Stefani Caetani, Oleg Caetani

2:01

V. The Beech Tree

Norwegian Chamber Orchestra, Pekka Kuusisto

2:49

A Time for Us (Love Theme)

HAUSER, London Symphony Orchestra

3:41

No. 1, in der Fremde (Arr. for Cello & Piano by Juliette Herlin)

Juliette Herlin, Kevin Ahfat

2:06

Tanti anni prima (From "Enrico IV") [Arr. for Piano Trio by El Cielo 2020 Triptyque]

El Cielo 2020 Triptyque

5:15

Sonic Samba

Armin van Buuren

2:56

No. 13, The Swan

HAUSER, London Symphony Orchestra

3:20

No. 3 in E Major "Tristesse" (Arr. in F Major for Cello and Piano by C. Thomas)

Camille Thomas, Julien Brocal

1:52

II. Peaceful Eyes

Nils Liepe, NDR Radiophilharmonie, Joseph Bastian

2:08

III. Elegie

Ensemble MidtVest

3:06

Erindi

Hildur Guðnadóttir

2:49

Last Fall

Michael Torke, East Coast Chamber Orchestra, Siwoo Kim

4:25

Aria Goldberg Variation (After Goldberg Variations, BVW 988: Aria) [Arr. for Violin, String Quintet & Piano by Tim Allhoff]

Norwegian String Quintet, Eldbjørg Hemsing, Tim Allhoff

1:48

No. 5, Nana (Transcr. Llobet & Pujol for Violin & Guitar)

Plínio Fernandes, Randall Goosby

2:47

Patterns / Solo (Pt. 2, Faded)

Natalia Bonner, Max Richter, Louisa Fuller, Nicholas Barr, Zara Hudson-Kozdoj, Max Ruisi

2:51

II. Ballada

Matthias Kirschnereit, Francisco Fullana

4:58

I. Prélude

Anastasia Kobekina

4:29

No. 2, Nuit féconde, aux portes de l'extase

Chloé Dumoulin, Frédéric Lambert

3:41

Der du bist drei in Einigkeit, BWV 293 (Perf. by String Quartet)

1:20

No. 2, Devotion (Live)

Christian Tetzlaff, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Nicholas Collon

3:21

Valse triste

Appassionato, Mathieu Herzog

5:28

Elegy

Caroline Sypniewski, Xavier Phillips, Héloïse Luzzati, Yan Levionnois

3:09

Très tendrement et très lentement

Ronald Martin Alonso, Ensemble Vedado

1:46

Hold Me Close (feat. Peter Gregson)

2:35

Cranes

4:19

Ertönt uns durch dein Güte Variation (After Jesus nahm zu sich die Zwölfe, BWV 22, No. 5: Ertöt uns durch dein Güte) [Arr. for Violin, String Quintet & Piano by Jan-Peter Klöpfel]

Norwegian String Quintet, Tim Allhoff, Eldbjørg Hemsing

2:57

II. Andante

Konzerthaus Orchester Berlin, Antony Hermus, Ning Feng

7:00

Nacht und Träume, D. 827 (Transcr. for Cello by Pablo Ferrández)

Julien Quentin, Pablo Ferrández

3:27

Du liebst mich nicht, D. 756 (Arr. for Violin and Piano by Charlotte Saluste-Bridoux and Joseph Havlat)

Charlotte Saluste-Bridoux, Joseph Havlat

3:51

III. Clair de lune (Arr. for String Quartet by Hao Zhou)

4:39

Writing's On The Wall

London Symphony Orchestra, HAUSER

4:31

Passacaglia (From "La storia vera della signora dalle camelie", Mauro Bolognini, 1981) [Arr. for Lute by Simone Vallerotonda]

Simone Vallerotonda

2:46

No. 1, Laetare anima mea (Live)

Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Christian Tetzlaff, Nicholas Collon

5:07

No. 1, O sehntest du dich so nach mir (Arr. for Double Bass and Piano by Lorraine Campet)

Nathanaël Gouin, Lorraine Campet

3:03

Impromptu for Viola & Piano, Op. 33

Maxime Desert, Mariane Marchal

1:40

No. 6, Valse sentimentale (Arr. by Viktor Kubatsky for Cello and Piano)

Julien Quentin, Pablo Ferrández

2:06

Le printemps

Jadran Duncumb, Lina Tur Bonet

2:29

II. Adagio

Seraphim Trio, Stephen King

4:44

Brazilian Sadness No. 7

Access Core, Quarteto Topázio

5:59

Overture (Shortened Version)

Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire, Sascha Goetzel

9:45

Medhel an Gwyns

Esther Abrami, Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien, Irene Delgado-Jiménez

2:49

Romance, Op. 23

Himari, Chelsea Wang

6:17

No. 2 in A Minor. Lento (Arr. for Violin and Piano by Maya Magub)

Maya Magub, Matthew Schellhorn

6:29

III. Siciliana

Marianna Terteryan, Gleb Dontsov

3:15

Sequence

Ludovico Einaudi

6:17

Song to the Moon (Transcr. for Cello by Pablo Ferrández)

Svenska Kammarorkestern, Pablo Ferrández, Martin Fröst

5:03

No. 23, Ohne Dich (Transcr. Sonnenmoser for Violin & Piano)

Thomas Hoppe, Bomsori Kim

2:48

Sérénade mélancolique, Op. 26, TH 56

Valery Polyansky, The Russian State Philharmonic, Natalia Lomeiko

9:36

Dark Velvet for String Quartet

Žebeljan Orchestra, Arethusa Quartet, David Cohen, Daniel Rowland

5:26

Lua branca (Arr. for Violin and Piano by Esther Abrami)

Kim Barbier, Esther Abrami

3:40

Berceuse in G Minor

Benjamin Shwartz, Lea Birringer, Staatsorchester Rheinische Philharmonie

3:25

II. Romance. Andante

Arcadia Quartet

3:59

Morgenlich leuchtend im rosigen Schein (Walther's Prize Song) [Arr. for Cello and Piano by August Wilhelmj]

Richard Fu, Zlatomir Fung

5:11

No. 16, Herbst-gefühl (Arr. for Double Bass and Piano by Lorraine Campet)

Nathanaël Gouin, Lorraine Campet

3:16

Brazilian Sadness No. 7

Quarteto Topázio, Access Core

5:59

Chanson triste

Chu-Yu Yang, Eric McElroy

4:29

No. 2 in E-Flat Major. Andante (Arr. for Cello and Piano by Pablo Ferránndez and Julien Quentin)

Pablo Ferrández, Julien Quentin

4:07

III. Largo (Transcr. Beyer 2 Cellos & Piano)

Mariatu Kanneh-Mason, Isata Kanneh-Mason, Sheku Kanneh-Mason

3:32

Dark Clouds (feat. Ardie Son)

3:12

IV. Intermezzo "Garden Scene" (Arr. Spindler for Violin & Orchestra)

Bomsori Kim, Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, Jakub Hrůša

5:01

Ar Lan y Môr (Arr. Isata Kanneh-Mason for Ensemble)

The Kanneh-Masons

2:34

No. 3, Dreaming (Version for Cello & Piano)

Marilies Guschlbauer, Julia Rinderle

5:11

Vague

Django Bates, Dave Holland, Anja Lechner, Anouar Brahem

3:13

El noy de la mare (Arr. for Guitar, Percussion & String Quintet by Krzysztof Meisinger)

Krzysztof Meisinger, Patrycja Betley, Meisinger Soloists

6:02

Cinema Paradiso

Stéphanie Fontanarosa, Les Trilles Du Diable, Nemanja Radulović

5:14

Solitude (Arr. for Violin and Piano by Esther Abrami)

Kim Barbier, Esther Abrami

3:49

III. Elegia. Adagio

6:39

III. Largo

Edgar Moreau, David Kadouch

3:24

No. 3, Ave Maria

Irina Zahharenkova, Sol Gabetta

4:00

No. 1, Allegro moderato

Grace Park, Prague Philharmonia, Emmanuel Villaume

3:21

Hai Luli!, VWV 1106 (Arr. for Violin, Harp and String Quintet by Jan-Peter Klöpfel)

Esther Abrami Ensemble, Lavinia Meijer

3:18

First Impressions (Instrumental)

Mark O'Connor, Yo-Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer

4:07

Beau soir, L. 84 (Transcr. for Cello by Pablo Ferrández)

Julien Quentin, Pablo Ferrández

2:41

II. Andante cantabile

Liya Petrova, Alexandre Kantorow

8:28

II. Nocturne

Xénia Maliarevitch, David Haroutunian

4:20

Softly Awakes My Heart (Transcr. Anon. for Cello & Harp)

Alis Huws, Sheku Kanneh-Mason

3:55

III. Andante

Renaud Capuçon, Paul Zientara, Julia Hagen, Guillaume Bellom

9:10

IV. Barcarole

Viktoria Grynenko, Roger Admiral

3:55

Igiul

Abel Selaocoe, Manchester Collective

4:39

Sonatina per l'elevazione (Arr. for Violin & Piano by Anonymous)

Gianluca Angelillo, Hans Liviabella

2:10

Adoration (Arr. for Violin, Cello & Ensemble by Simon Nebout)

Ensemble Nouvelle Vague, Clara Germont, Florestan Raës

2:56

III. Lento

Ismaël Margain, Clémence de Forceville

6:01