‘Deathly Melodies’: 5 Best Classical Compositions About Human Mortality

When you think about deeply moving songs, one might immediately conjure examples that have a subject matter like love, such as Brahms' "Cradle song" and the maternal love it features.

That said, digging deeper people might find themselves gravitating towards songs about death and the concept of mortality. Indeed, it is a haunting yet captivating idea that countless musicians from time immemorial have tried capturing, but which of their songs is best?

Thus, we rounded up five incredibly moving and powerful compositions surrounding the topic of finality and death, including both classical pieces, and put them in a list below.

Franz Schubert's 'Das Wirtshaus' From His 'Winterreise'

Schubert's "The Inn" is arguably the gloomiest and most striking piece amongst his 1828 song cycle which tells the tale of a dejected nomad that finds his way to a graveyard after wanting to enter it

He then fails to do so, as the "rooms" within the "inn" are all occupied which prompts him to return to his travels, with a trusty walking-stick as his only companion.

The metaphors served within the composition pertain to the troubles of individuals who are given a life they no longer want to live in.

Schubert embodies this message in the "tired" bellowing of the lead singer as underscored by the melancholy of the keys' tone, which effectively depicts the "hurt" of it all.

Gustav Mahler's 'Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen' From His 'Rückert-Lieder'

The "Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen" is an earnest love song which Mahler poured all of his heart into, and is one of the composer's "final" songs.

Part of the Romantic composer's five-song collection called "Rückert-Lieder," this particular piece paints a scene depicting a lonely figure that has withdrawn from the chaos of the world, which the persona considers he wasted "so much time" dealing with.

When examined closely, the lyrics of the song come across as piercing in their downcast reminiscence of life.

That said, once melded together with Mahler's genius orchestration, the completed piece offers the perspective of acceptance in letting go and the peace that comes with it.

Giuseppe Verdi's 'V'ho Ingannato, Colpevole Fu' From His 'Rigoletto'

Nothing embodies the emotional vibrancy of death more than the scene in which the titular character of Verdi's Italian opera "Rigoletto" has been presented the lifeless body of his daughter, following his assassination order against the wicked Duke character.

When translated, the title means "Father, I deceived you" which belongs to a song that Rigoletto's daughter, Gilda, sings after she is briefly revived.

Despite the fantastical aspects of Gilda's shortlived resurrection, the song still possesses a potent and vivid poignancy to it that makes the scene hard to stomach, especially when the singers incorporate acting into the performance to drive home the overall despair injected in the piece.

Benjamin Britten's 'Funeral Blues'

Britten's song dubbed "Funeral Blues" is based on W.H Auden's poem of the same name, also known as "Stop all the Clocks," first made its appearance in the 1936 play "The Ascent of F6."

The poem itself plays on themes that are ever-present in any individual's life, the loss of love and the mourning that succeeds it, which gives it an almost deceptive simplicity that hides its internal depth through narrative cliches surrounding grief.

Such elements are what struck Britten, who is a contemporary and close creative companion to Auden, to his core.

This poem inspired the famed English composer to score a vocal and piano arrangement to accompany Auden's striking words, opting to enhance the original message with a pulled-back approach.

Traditional Scottish Ballad, 'The Cruel Mother'

Unique to this list is the traditional Scottish tune dubbed "The Cruel Mother." The ballad itself chronicles the tale of a mother who births "bastard" children in the encasement of the woods, before killing them and subsequently burying them.

As the mother returns to her abode she runs into a group of playing children, which prompts her to say that if she were their mother, she would care for and adorn them with a beautiful array of clothing.

The children respond by compelling the mother to face her actions of killing her children as represented by the imagery of the forever blood-stained knife which is classic in Scottish folklore.

This particular ballad has stood the test of time due to its incredibly gripping story of guilt and death and has been sung by a cavalcade of different folk musicians even up til this day.