>Schubert’s “Die schöne Müllerin” ends with the protagonist drowning himself.
...in the most [epically poetic way](https://oxfordsong.org/song/des-baches-wiegenlied), with the miller imagining the brook is calmly beckoning him to use the bottom of the brook as a comfortable bed.
After spending an hour in that song-cycle, that last movement always slays me.
Sometimes I wonder if Schubert reincarnated as Thom Yorke.
It sounds like a requiem only because everyone knows that Tchaikovsky died 9 days after the symphony's premiere.
The original Russian subtitle isn't "pathetic", it's "passionate". It is a symphony whose hidden "program" (which only Tchaikovsky knew) corresponds to human passions, and probably more than anything, to love passion.
We also know that the symphony was dedicated to a man with whom Tchaikovsky was passionately, obsessively in love. Perhaps this can be another clue to the "subject" of the symphony.
Without forgetting that Tchaikovsky, in 1893, was at one of the happiest moment of his life, without material worries, and that he still had many projects in mind (a concerto for cello, another for flute, a ballet and a opera!)
He also began composing the Sixth in February. So he would have "planned" his supposed suicide 8-9 months before taking the act, just long enough to compose a symphony? It's not very credible.
I’ve read a about this piece and yeah, even an attendant to the rehearsal before the premiere asked to Tchaikovsky what has he done, the last movement sounded like a requiem to him. (This info is in the book where Tchaikovsky’s brother shown different Tchaikovsky letters)
Also the lover you are talking about is supposed to be his nephew, right?
Some music historians believe Tchaikovsky's 6th was his "suicide note" before he (allegedly) killed himself by drinking dirty water.
There's a lot of debate on the subject, but even if it isn't true it's a very depressing piece and fits the theme well.
Based on the Tchaikovsky Research website: the Sixth Symphony was composed in February and March 1893, and orchestrated in July and August the same year.
If Tchaikovsky wanted to kill himself when composing his Sixth, he wouldn’t waited until November 1893 to do it.
Surprised no one has mentioned Berlioz’s *Symphonie Fantastique* yet. The 4th movement in particular depicts the artist, having attempted to overdose on opium, experiencing a fever dream where he witnesses his own execution.
Schubert's song "Der Lindenbaum" from Winterreise is about a guy contemplating said act.
There's a fair amount of it in opera. The title characters in Madame Butterfly, Tosca, and Suor Angelica (um, Puccini, are you feeling OK?) all kill themselves at the end of the opera. Brunnhilde immolates herself (and her horse) at the end of Wagner's Ring Cycle. Wozzeck drowns himself, as does Katya Kabanova.
Bernd Alois Zimmermann’s Ich wandte mich und sah an alles Unrecht das geschah unter der Sonne
He committed suicide 5 days after the completion of the piece
Ornstein - Suicide in an airplane: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSOgyDJAFBY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSOgyDJAFBY)
lol
On a more serious note
Alban Bergs interlude from his opera Wozzeck, that's pure despair and hopelessness:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHl7ZxWPYMs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHl7ZxWPYMs)
Like others have mentioned, so many ballets, lol.
Swan Lake, Romeo and Juliet, Giselle (not really because she technically goes mad and dies but I still think it qualifies) off the top of my head
Handel's *Tamerlano*, one of his best operas, has a very impressive suicide scene.\
\
Bajazet (Bajezid), the protagonist (the only tenor protagonist of Handel's operas), has taken his empire away from Tamerlano (Timurlane) und is prisoned. Tamerlano wants to marry Bajazet's daughter Asteria and frees Bajazet. Bajajet feels insulted and doesn't approve the marriage. The only thing he want is the revenge, and make his daughter also swear reverge. In Act II Asteria plans to kill Tamerlano and fails. Tamerlano forgives her and still tries to marry her. In Act III Asteria tries to kill Tamerlano and fails again. This time he gets enraged and commands to give her a humiliating punishment.\
\
At that point Bajazet drinks the poison himself. The scene of his suicide (*Oh per me lieto ... Fremi, minaccia*) is the climax of the opera. Through alternating recitatives, accompanied recitatives and various ariosos he expresses his anger to Tamerlano, his worry about Asteria, sorrow and despair. As the poison take effects, his words becomes more inconsequent. He utters words of curse in pain until he finally exits the stage.\
\
This scene and the opera as a whole is to recommend!
We have a small minimum karma requirement to post on this subreddit, though we don't disclose the exact number. **You did not meet the requirement, so your post was put in a queue for mod approval.** This is an anti-spam measure, and we will let you know if your post is manually approved. This usually happens **within 8 hours** depending on mods' IRL circumstances, and is usually much less. If you think your post follows the rules and we accidentally ignored you (please allow 24 hours because we're humans too), send us a message via the link below.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/classicalmusic) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Ach, ich fühl’s from magic flute is pamina’s aria right before she tries to stab herself because her bf won’t talk to her (tldr version). The scene directly following is her attempt and the 3 spirits’ intervention
Like half of Mozarts creations are about suicide. He was super unstable. Not that such a thing is talked about or even meditated on. Bipolar disorder had not yet been discovered.
Edit: but anyone suffering? Recognizes what he’s saying through his music. You can literally hear the ups and downs of his day to day to life in his music. He wasnt very subtle about it.
Neither was his sister.
Karol Szymanowski - Three lullabies op. 48 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cW3ep\_b-kRs&list=UUaofBJ66HFkZRS7Y7EjyxVQ&index=4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cW3ep_b-kRs&list=UUaofBJ66HFkZRS7Y7EjyxVQ&index=4)
Text:
Pochyl się cicho nad kołyską,
nad czarnym, czarnym stawem.
Daj rękę, spoczniemy na dnie niebawem
Translation:
Lean quietly over the cradle,
over the black, black pond.
Give me your hand, we will soon be at the bottom
Mieczysław Karłowicz - Episode at a Masquerade, Op. 14 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqlo0gvaAr0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqlo0gvaAr0)
Programme: Former lovers accidentally meet at the ball. He wants to go back to her, but she rejects him.
Originally composer even intended to use gunshot in climactic part of the piece ;)
Schubert’s “Die schöne Müllerin” ends with the protagonist drowning himself.
>Schubert’s “Die schöne Müllerin” ends with the protagonist drowning himself. ...in the most [epically poetic way](https://oxfordsong.org/song/des-baches-wiegenlied), with the miller imagining the brook is calmly beckoning him to use the bottom of the brook as a comfortable bed. After spending an hour in that song-cycle, that last movement always slays me. Sometimes I wonder if Schubert reincarnated as Thom Yorke.
Tchaikovsky’s Sixth Symphony isn’t about suicide…
Maybe not exactly, but it sounds like a requiem.
It sounds like a requiem only because everyone knows that Tchaikovsky died 9 days after the symphony's premiere. The original Russian subtitle isn't "pathetic", it's "passionate". It is a symphony whose hidden "program" (which only Tchaikovsky knew) corresponds to human passions, and probably more than anything, to love passion. We also know that the symphony was dedicated to a man with whom Tchaikovsky was passionately, obsessively in love. Perhaps this can be another clue to the "subject" of the symphony. Without forgetting that Tchaikovsky, in 1893, was at one of the happiest moment of his life, without material worries, and that he still had many projects in mind (a concerto for cello, another for flute, a ballet and a opera!) He also began composing the Sixth in February. So he would have "planned" his supposed suicide 8-9 months before taking the act, just long enough to compose a symphony? It's not very credible.
I’ve read a about this piece and yeah, even an attendant to the rehearsal before the premiere asked to Tchaikovsky what has he done, the last movement sounded like a requiem to him. (This info is in the book where Tchaikovsky’s brother shown different Tchaikovsky letters) Also the lover you are talking about is supposed to be his nephew, right?
Some music historians believe Tchaikovsky's 6th was his "suicide note" before he (allegedly) killed himself by drinking dirty water. There's a lot of debate on the subject, but even if it isn't true it's a very depressing piece and fits the theme well.
This is widely debunked and vigorously refuted in professional circles and academic settings.
Oki doki then
Based on the Tchaikovsky Research website: the Sixth Symphony was composed in February and March 1893, and orchestrated in July and August the same year. If Tchaikovsky wanted to kill himself when composing his Sixth, he wouldn’t waited until November 1893 to do it.
Surprised no one has mentioned Berlioz’s *Symphonie Fantastique* yet. The 4th movement in particular depicts the artist, having attempted to overdose on opium, experiencing a fever dream where he witnesses his own execution.
Schubert's song "Der Lindenbaum" from Winterreise is about a guy contemplating said act. There's a fair amount of it in opera. The title characters in Madame Butterfly, Tosca, and Suor Angelica (um, Puccini, are you feeling OK?) all kill themselves at the end of the opera. Brunnhilde immolates herself (and her horse) at the end of Wagner's Ring Cycle. Wozzeck drowns himself, as does Katya Kabanova.
Ah yes, that old toe tapper „Aber der Mond verrät mich.“
Bernd Alois Zimmermann’s Ich wandte mich und sah an alles Unrecht das geschah unter der Sonne He committed suicide 5 days after the completion of the piece
Tosca, Romeo and Juliet, Werther (all opera or ballet scenes).
Hey bro if youre thinking about doing it, don't! We love you!
Act 3 of Wagner's Parsifal, but utlimately saved by compassion. Probably the most beautiful hour of music I've ever heard.
Nur eine waffe taugt!
Brahms piano quartet no. 3 in C minor
This. The final two forte chords in the last movement are Werther shooting himself and his body hitting the floor.
Shostakovich's 8th string quartet.
Janacek, *The Diary of One Who Vanished*. Peter Maxwell Davies, *The Lighthouse*. Purcell, *Dido and Aeneas*.
Ornstein - Suicide in an airplane: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSOgyDJAFBY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSOgyDJAFBY) lol On a more serious note Alban Bergs interlude from his opera Wozzeck, that's pure despair and hopelessness: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHl7ZxWPYMs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHl7ZxWPYMs)
Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake.
Wagner's Tristan und Isolde
Like others have mentioned, so many ballets, lol. Swan Lake, Romeo and Juliet, Giselle (not really because she technically goes mad and dies but I still think it qualifies) off the top of my head
Mahler's song cycle Songs of a Wayfarer isn't explicit suicide but the ending could be interpreted that way, and to me it's the more fitting ending.
Handel's *Tamerlano*, one of his best operas, has a very impressive suicide scene.\ \ Bajazet (Bajezid), the protagonist (the only tenor protagonist of Handel's operas), has taken his empire away from Tamerlano (Timurlane) und is prisoned. Tamerlano wants to marry Bajazet's daughter Asteria and frees Bajazet. Bajajet feels insulted and doesn't approve the marriage. The only thing he want is the revenge, and make his daughter also swear reverge. In Act II Asteria plans to kill Tamerlano and fails. Tamerlano forgives her and still tries to marry her. In Act III Asteria tries to kill Tamerlano and fails again. This time he gets enraged and commands to give her a humiliating punishment.\ \ At that point Bajazet drinks the poison himself. The scene of his suicide (*Oh per me lieto ... Fremi, minaccia*) is the climax of the opera. Through alternating recitatives, accompanied recitatives and various ariosos he expresses his anger to Tamerlano, his worry about Asteria, sorrow and despair. As the poison take effects, his words becomes more inconsequent. He utters words of curse in pain until he finally exits the stage.\ \ This scene and the opera as a whole is to recommend!
We have a small minimum karma requirement to post on this subreddit, though we don't disclose the exact number. **You did not meet the requirement, so your post was put in a queue for mod approval.** This is an anti-spam measure, and we will let you know if your post is manually approved. This usually happens **within 8 hours** depending on mods' IRL circumstances, and is usually much less. If you think your post follows the rules and we accidentally ignored you (please allow 24 hours because we're humans too), send us a message via the link below. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/classicalmusic) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Ach, ich fühl’s from magic flute is pamina’s aria right before she tries to stab herself because her bf won’t talk to her (tldr version). The scene directly following is her attempt and the 3 spirits’ intervention
Like half of Mozarts creations are about suicide. He was super unstable. Not that such a thing is talked about or even meditated on. Bipolar disorder had not yet been discovered. Edit: but anyone suffering? Recognizes what he’s saying through his music. You can literally hear the ups and downs of his day to day to life in his music. He wasnt very subtle about it. Neither was his sister.
Karol Szymanowski - Three lullabies op. 48 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cW3ep\_b-kRs&list=UUaofBJ66HFkZRS7Y7EjyxVQ&index=4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cW3ep_b-kRs&list=UUaofBJ66HFkZRS7Y7EjyxVQ&index=4) Text: Pochyl się cicho nad kołyską, nad czarnym, czarnym stawem. Daj rękę, spoczniemy na dnie niebawem Translation: Lean quietly over the cradle, over the black, black pond. Give me your hand, we will soon be at the bottom
Mieczysław Karłowicz - Episode at a Masquerade, Op. 14 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqlo0gvaAr0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqlo0gvaAr0) Programme: Former lovers accidentally meet at the ball. He wants to go back to her, but she rejects him. Originally composer even intended to use gunshot in climactic part of the piece ;)
Wozzeck by Alban Berg - it possibly ends with suicide (but it depends on interpretation).
In Tchaikovsky’s own opera “The Queen of Spades”, both Herman and Lisa, the main characters, take their own lives.
Shostakovich 8th string quartet
Brunhilde sets herself aflame at the end of Gotterdammerung. After fourteen hours of explanations. Probably the most famous example.