Why Sealed Vessel was the hardest song to play on Piano

Sealed Vessel is the magnum opus of the Hollow Knight soundtrack and it turned out to be a much deeper emotional journey than I was prepared for. It's one of the most complex musical pieces I've ever encountered in any game and an absolutely devastating composition. This is not an easy listening experience, and that is a deliberate and brilliant choice. The penultimate encounter of the game between The Knight and his older sibling, The Hollow Knight, is separated into three distinct stages, just as this accompanying piece consists of three distinct movements. Christopher Larkin did not title them, but I felt it necessary for my own emotional pacing to do so. The first movement is Rage. The Hollow Knight is consumed by it and cannot control it, thrashing and lashing out at the world around him. This is by far the most technically challenging movement, culminating in a frenetic, chromatic descent that builds unbearable tension until it lands with the most violent impact — the sound of all the hurt and pain being exhausted at once. The second movement is Despair. The Hollow Knight knows he's broken and cannot be saved, but tries to resist regardless, to aid you in his tragic but necessary destruction. Musically, this Despair begins with a fragile, weeping lament, a quiet grieving before the storm. But Despair is terminal and will consume itself. It builds, and swells, and keeps building until it reaches a breaking point where it literally collapses on itself with devastating force, crumbling down and burying all the Rage beneath it. The third and final movement is Regret. Regret for what could have been. Regret for a future that never was. Regret for a life not lived. I'm not talking about Hollow Knight anymore here. My hands are shaking in this section because I just couldn't hold it together anymore. I can't say this has ever happened to me before when performing a piece of music, but Sealed Vessel just touched something in me that no other composer ever could. Thank you, Christopher Larkin. Your music filled a void I didn't know was there.