History Main / PlayingTheHeartStrings

** Rue and Woe of the High Charity Suite is a prime example, as is the solemn strings in Respite.

* [[ItWasHisSled Aerith's death]] in ''FinalFantasyVII'', and the battle against JENOVA immediately after, are set to Aeriths' Theme.

** Also, "Ghostly Galaxy" theme from the first ''SuperMarioGalaxy'' and ''SuperMario3DLand''.
* The intro of ''{{Castlevania 64}}''.
* The background music to Yormgen from "TalesOfVesperia".

* "True" and "Theme of Laura Reprise" from ''SilentHill 2'' use both this and TheLonelyPiano.

*** Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 also has a bit of an attempt, and this one works wonders. The song Courtyard Apocalypse is played as the trio fight their way through the Hogwarts courtyard, and they see some pretty vicious stuff. The sound is slightly muted, but it is noticeable.

* Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. The song Courtyard Apocalypse is played as the trio fight their way through the Hogwarts courtyard, and they see some pretty vicious stuff. The sound is slightly muted, but it is noticeable.

* ''TheLordOfTheRings'' features this on a Hungarian fiddle, especially when the riders of Rohan join a battle.

* As [[DoctorWho the Doctor]] is [[spoiler: forced into [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E12ThePandoricaOpens the Pandorica]]]], only the [[SoundtrackDissonance triumphant strings]] can be heard.

* The World 1 background music from ''SuperMarioGalaxy2''.

* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzA9mv9B9S4&feature=related Sgt. Johnson's death]] in ''{{Halo}} 3''.

* Adagio for Strings, one of the saddest, most moving pieces of music out there, fits this trope to a T.

* AvatarTheLastAirbender. The finale has an epic (and glowy) firebending duel between siblings, accompanied by this trope.

** In [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Film/SherlockHolmes the 2009 film]], Watson gets one of these when [[spoiler:caught in an explosion]].
* {{Fist of the North Star}} had a specific string-only piece for particularly tragic scenes, usually involving ManlyTears.
* Final episode of MaisonIkkoku had the original opening song play in the background in a string version.
* ''Platoon''. Sgt. Elias' death scene used Samuel Barber's ''Adagio for Strings''. See it on [=YouTube=], [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ue8VS-bcj88 starting at 2:00]].
* TheLordOfTheRings features this on a Hungarian fiddle, especially when the riders of Rohan join a battle.
* HarryPotter and the Order of the Phoenix does this, after [[spoiler: Sirius' death]].
** The Half Blood Prince also has a go.

* Used in the [[Film/{{Spider-Man}} the first Spiderman movie]] when Peter comes home to Aunt May after [[spoiler: Uncle Ben's death.]]
* ''The Departed'' [[spoiler:as Queenan is tossed off the building in slow-motion.]]
* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-7c0U9t9oc This]] is the music that plays during the opening CurbStompBattle / HeroicSacrifice in ''[[StarTrekXI Star Trek]]''. Oh, yeah.
* In ''Three Kingdoms'' Phoenix Heights battle between the Zhao and Cao's top commanders, the dramatic strings with bass beats are diegetic; Cao Ying herself plays the zither while her soldiers beat the drums. A few other times Cao plays to unnerve the defenders, and it works, since even Zhao finds her sinister.

* ThePrinceOfEgypt uses this to truly [[TearJerker heart-rending effect]] after Moses has confronted [[AntiVillain Pharaoh Rameses]] who's son has just died in the tenth plague of Egypt.

Compare with ViolinOfWoe, a type mentioned in MoodMotif, and OneWomanWail, which is often used in the same way. See also LonelyPianoPiece.

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