{"id":47997,"date":"2024-09-23T16:02:27","date_gmt":"2024-09-23T14:02:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/b60257e0-1b9d-463c-bd95-ab42f421def0"},"modified":"2024-09-24T18:07:18","modified_gmt":"2024-09-24T16:07:18","slug":"to-die-for-you-the-pieces-composers-penned-to-win-back-lost-lovers","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/rss_feed\/to-die-for-you-the-pieces-composers-penned-to-win-back-lost-lovers\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;To die for you!&#8217;: The pieces composers penned to win back lost lovers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"rssexcerpt\"><\/p><p class=\"rssauthor\">By <\/p><p class=\"rssbyline\">Published: Monday, 23 September 2024 at 14:02 PM<\/p><hr class=\"no-tts wp-block-separator\"\/><?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"UTF-8\" standalone=\"yes\"?>\n<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><body><p><strong>Read on to discover the composers and artists who used music to win back a lost love&#8230;<\/strong><\/p><p>Heartbroken Luke Howard hit the headlines in late 2017 when he sat at a \u2018<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.streetpianos.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Play Me, I\u2019m Yours<\/a><\/strong>\u2019 <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/instruments\/piano-parts\">piano<\/a><\/strong> on Bristol\u2019s College Green for hours on end. The aim? A desperate bid to win back his ex-girlfriend\u2019s affections. <\/p><p>&#8216;I\u2019m a musician, I don\u2019t now what else to do,&#8217; Howard said soon before his solitary watch began.<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Man vows to play piano non-stop until ex of four months takes him back\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/YdrF1KeJWuI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Heartbroken Luke Howard attempts to win back his former girlfriend by playing the piano<\/figcaption><\/figure><p>The hopeless romantic vowed not to stop until his former paramour \u2013 known only as &#8216;Rapunzel&#8217; \u2013 gave him a second chance. But his attempt ended in failure. She didn\u2019t return, and he was punched in the head following a torrent of online abuse. <\/p><p>But he was by no means the first person to turn to music in a bid to win back a lost love&#8230;<\/p><ul><li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/composers\/composers-love-lives\">These 6 composers had miserable love lives &#8211; but forged sublime music from them<\/a><\/strong><\/li><\/ul><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Music to win back a lost love&#8230; Gustav Mahler<\/h2><p>When <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/composers\/gustav-mahler\">Mahler<\/a><\/strong> learnt of his wife <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/composers\/who-was-alma-mahler\">Alma<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s liaisons with Walter Gropius (following the death of her daughter Maria Anna at the age of five), he was quick to react. Surely, he reckoned, dedicating his epic Eighth Symphony to her would remind her of their former wedded bliss? <\/p><p>Alas no, and by the time he began his Tenth Symphony in 1910, the feelings of desperation had, if anything, increased \u2013 his scrawled \u2018To live for you! To die for you!\u2019 and \u2018Almschi!\u2019 on the final page of the score tells its own sad tale. <\/p><ul><li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/works\/best-love-songs-in-opera\">These are the most moving love songs in all of opera<\/a><\/strong><\/li><\/ul><p>Before his death in 1911, Gustav had even taken an interest in Alma&#8217;s composing &#8211; which he had demanded she abandon when they married. Under his guidance, Alma prepared five of her songs for publication, which were issued in 1910 by Gustav&#8217;s own publisher,\u00a0Universal Edition.<\/p><p>Following a tumultuous affair with the artist\u00a0Oskar Kokoschka between 1912 and 1914, Alma resumed contact with Gropius, and in August 1915, they married. <\/p><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Music to win back a former lover&#8230; Hector Berlioz<\/h2><p>Twenty years later, <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/composers\/hector-berlioz\">Berlioz<\/a><\/strong> found a similar lack of success when he wrote his orchestral work <em>L\u00e9lio<\/em>, this time directed at Marie Moke, who had broken off their engagement in favour of Camille Pleyel. <\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"III. Chanson de brigands - &quot;L\u00e9lio, ou le retour \u00e0 la vie&quot; - H.Berlioz - Adolfo Corrado Bass\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/u7fAFCeCnCU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Adolfo Corrado sings &#8216;Chanson de brigands&#8217; (Song of the Bandits) from Berlioz&#8217;s <em>L\u00e9lio<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><p>Camille Moke was just 18 when Berlioz first met her, and already one of the most brilliant <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/artists\/20-greatest-pianists-all-time\">pianists<\/a><\/strong> of her generation. Berlioz was eight years older, and reeling from a disastrous attraction to the Irish actress Harriet Smithson.<\/p><p>Camille fell quickly for the brooding, impressionable Berlioz but he did not immediately reciprocate. Camille persisted, though, and her \u2018slim and graceful figure, magnificent black hair and large blue eyes\u2019 (Berlioz\u2019s description) could not forever be resisted. \u2018I yielded,\u2019 Berlioz wrote, \u2018and let myself find consolation for all my sorrows in a new passion.\u2019<\/p><ul><li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/works\/pains-unrequited-love-classical-music\">How the pains of love have found their way into these heartbreaking pieces of classical music<\/a><\/strong><\/li><\/ul><p>From that point on, things moved with dizzying rapidity. The couple declared their intention to marry, rendering Camille\u2019s mother furious. Berlioz was penniless, she objected. At the very least he must have an opera performed successfully before the marriage could happen.<\/p><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Berlioz&#8230; a rival proposal<\/h3><p>Worse was to follow, when an alternative proposal of marriage arrived at the Moke household from \u2018someone with a large fortune\u2019. In 1831, Mme Moke sent a letter to Berlioz: Camille, she wrote, would be marrying Camille Pleyel, heir to the prestigious piano manufacturing company and 30 years her senior.<\/p><p>An ill-conceived plan to shoot dead the faithless Camille Moke, her mother, Pleyel and then himself was thankfully abandoned. Instead, Berlioz poured his heartbreak into <em>L\u00e9lio<\/em>.<\/p><ul><li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/works\/romantic-classical-music-inspired-love\">Romantic classical music &#8211; the best pieces inspired by love<\/a><\/strong><\/li><\/ul><p>But here, there\u2019s a twist. It was on hearing <em>L\u00e9lio<\/em> that Harriet Smithson, the beautiful actress who had previously inspired Berlioz\u2019s lovelorn <em><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/articles\/love-story-behind-berliozs-symphonie-fantastique\/\"><em>Symphonie fantastique<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/em>, decided to get back in touch. <\/p><p>Soon after, she decided that the composer was, indeed, the man for her.\u00a0They were married at the British Embassy in Paris on 3\u00a0October 1833.<\/p><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Music to win back a lost love&#8230; Tony Blackburn<\/h2><p>In 1976, British DJ Tony Blackburn fell to pieces when his wife Tessa Wyatt, star of hit sitcom <em>Robin&#8217;s Nest<\/em>, left him. The marriage had not been a happy one, marred by infidelity on both sides. Nonetheless, the news hit Blackburn hard.<\/p><p>&#8216;I was distraught. Opening myself a bottle of wine, I swallowed several Valium and sat down to watch <em>Fawlty Towers<\/em>,&#8217; he told the <em>Evening Standard<\/em> in 2012. &#8216;The idea was that I&#8217;d die laughing \u2013 though in truth I knew I hadn&#8217;t taken enough tablets to cause myself any lasting harm.&#8217;<\/p><p>Blackburn was soon back behind the mic, holding a press conference in which he tearfully announced &#8216;I still love her&#8217;, and playing Chicago&#8217;s &#8216;If You Leave Me Now&#8217; over and over on his Radio 1 show.\u00a0<\/p><p>&#8216;I found it painful to listen to,&#8217; he recalled, &#8216;and sometimes told my listeners why.&#8217;<\/p><p>Alas, the song was not enough to move Tessa, and the divorce was granted in November 1977. <\/p><ul><li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/works\/best-love-songs\">Best love songs: 10 of the most famous love songs of all time<\/a><\/strong><\/li><\/ul><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Music to win back a former lover&#8230; Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart<\/h2><p>Not a real love affair, perhaps, but <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/composers\/mozart\">Mozart<\/a><\/strong>&#8216;s beautiful music at the end of his <em><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/works\/mozarts-marriage-of-figaro-guide\">Marriage of Figaro<\/a><\/strong><\/em> was enough to reconcile fictional lovers. <\/p><p>The Count has spent much of Mozart&#8217;s opera attempting to bed the servant Susanna, who is engaged to Figaro \u2013 much to his wife, the Countess&#8217;s, distress. In the aria &#8216;Porgi, amor, qualche ristoro&#8217;\u00a0(Grant, love, some comfort) she pours out her heartbreak.<\/p><ul><li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/articles\/musics-great-romantics\">Music&#8217;s great romantic couples<\/a><\/strong><\/li><\/ul><p>By the end of the opera, however, the Count is thoroughly chastened and sings, &#8216;Contessa perdono!&#8217; (Countess, forgive me!) to win back his wife&#8217;s good favour. Amazingly, it works, and all is well. <\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Le nozze di Figaro: 'Contessa perdono' ('Countess, forgive me') \u2013 Glyndebourne\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/KmTcYiuwYCE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Sally Matthews and Audun Iversen perform &#8216;Contessa perdono&#8217; in the Glyndebourne Festival 2012 production of <em>Le nozze di Figaro<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><p>Such is the power of music.<\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n<hr class=\"no-tts wp-block-separator\"\/>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Published: Monday, 23 September 2024 at 14:02 PM Read on to discover the composers and artists who used music to win back a lost love&#8230; Heartbroken Luke Howard hit the headlines in late 2017 when he sat at a \u2018Play Me, I\u2019m Yours\u2019 piano on Bristol\u2019s College Green for hours on end. The aim? [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":47998,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"5"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/09\/to-die-for-you-the-pieces-composers-penned-to-win-back-lost-lovers.jpg",1200,800,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/09\/to-die-for-you-the-pieces-composers-penned-to-win-back-lost-lovers-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/09\/to-die-for-you-the-pieces-composers-penned-to-win-back-lost-lovers-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/09\/to-die-for-you-the-pieces-composers-penned-to-win-back-lost-lovers-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/09\/to-die-for-you-the-pieces-composers-penned-to-win-back-lost-lovers-1024x683.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/09\/to-die-for-you-the-pieces-composers-penned-to-win-back-lost-lovers.jpg",1200,800,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/09\/to-die-for-you-the-pieces-composers-penned-to-win-back-lost-lovers.jpg",1200,800,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Published: Monday, 23 September 2024 at 14:02 PM Read on to discover the composers and artists who used music to win back a lost love&#8230; Heartbroken Luke Howard hit the headlines in late 2017 when he sat at a \u2018Play Me, I\u2019m Yours\u2019 piano on Bristol\u2019s College Green for hours on end. The aim?&hellip;","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/47997"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47998"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}