10/23/2025
https://www.facebook.com/share/17Z38ePmDF/
No, classical music is NOT relaxing.
Whoever decided it was “soothing” clearly never listened past the two minutes mark of a Spotify “Peaceful Classical” playlist…
Yes, there are a few calm pieces like Satie’s “Gymnopédies” or Arvo Pärt’s “Spiegel im Spiegel”, if you’re trying to pretend you live in a minimalist flat with white curtains and inner peace.
But most classical music pieces are full of drama, chaos, heartbreak, anxiety, joy, madness.. everything except calm.
Beethoven for example. Everyone thinks of him as noble and inspiring but the man was angry. You would not use his “Symphony No5” as your morning alarm.. You would not use his “ Appasionata” Sonata to calm an anxiety attack either..
With Tchaikovsky, most of the time you’ll need tissues at the end of the piece. Personally, I can’t listen to his 6th symphony without crying a little bit.. Even the cheerful “Nutcracker” has moments of panic. I also never seen anyone doing yoga while listening to the “Russian Dance”..
Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring” provoked a rioted at its premiere.. That’s not a metaphor, chairs were thrown… hats were lost.
This is not relaxation music.
Baroque composers get blamed for being “peaceful” but they were maniacs of order and precision.
Bach’s “Toccata and Fugue in Dm” is what you play for halloween. There’s nothing soothing about it. Any toccata really.. whether it’s Bach’s, Widor’s Toccata (from Symphony No5), Poulenc’s, Capustin’s, Prokofiev’s..etc.. You would not play these as a lullaby..
Romantic composers were even worse.
Franz Liszt’s “Mephisto Waltz”.. I mean.. It’s in the title..
Chopin’s “Ballade No1” starts with a poetic sadness and it ends with a total emotional mess.
Rachmaninov’s “Études Tableaux”, his concertos etc.. They are incredibly beautiful but.. it’s not a spa treatment.. To be fair, you always feel good after a good cry..
Paderewski (the Polish pianist who also became a prime minister) wrote pieces like “Toccata in A major” that look innocent on paper but will stress you out after two pages.
Even the French can’t help turning beauty into turmoil. That’s the way we are.. ahah
Debussy’s “La Mer” sounds calm for about thirty seconds but then you’re in a hurricane.
Ravel’s “Gaspard de la nuit” is based on creepy poems about death and water demons.If you think “Boléro” is relaxing.. that same melody repeats 169 times..
Fauré’s “Requiem” is soft, yes.. but it’s literally about death.
Also, forget about modern music..
Shostakovich’s “Symphony No10” will tighten your stomach even if you don’t know why.
Ligeti’s “Atmosphères” is what anxiety would sound like if it had a string section…
Penderecki’s “Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima” gave me panic attacks when I studied it every Mondays morning for several weeks while I was a student at the Royal College of Music.. Let’s just say you won’t be using it as sleep music.
Even the “gentle” ones betray you.
Mahler’s “Adagietto” sounds tender until you realise it’s a love letter written during emotional exhaustion.
Einojuhani Rautavaara’s “Cantus Arcticus” includes real birds from the Arctic Circle but somehow it still manages to sound slightly apocalyptic.
So no, classical music is not relaxing. At least, not always..
Many times I feel that it’s all the emotions at once..This is what happens when humans try to fit every possible feeling into sound.
Perhaps, when someone says they “put on classical music to unwind”, ask which piece. Because unless it’s Satie, Pärt or maybe a polite Fauré nocturne, they’re probably meditating to revolution or emotional break down and calling it “calm”.
My definition would be: classical music is everything your nervous system can handle in surround sound.
And yes, I know this post is fully biased.
Maybe I’ve just had one too many intense practise sessions this week…
Feel free to prove me wrong: recommend me something genuinely relaxing…
I clearly need the help. 🤣
