Melpomene

Melpomene, was the Muse of tragedy. Her name means "To celebrate with dance and song". To create beautiful lyrical phrases, it was traditional to call on Melpomene for inspiration. This Muse is the mother of several of the Sirens, the divine handmaidens of Persephone, who were cursed by her mother when they were unable to prevent Persephone's abduction by Hades. She is usually depicted with a “tragic mask” and wearing the boots traditionally worn by tragic actors or holding a knife or sword in one hand and the tragic mask in the other.

To say Melpomene means "choir" is far too simplistic. According to Wikipedia and the Theoi Greek Mythology website, the name Melpomene means 'to sing' or 'the one that is melodious'. It was derived from the Greek verb melpô or melpomai meaning "to celebrate with dance and song." [noted -ed]

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Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melpomene

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A bit more info on the Muse herself: Melpomene was originally the Muse of Singing, hence her name. However, at some point in history, she was "reassigned" to be the Muse of Tragedy, for which she is most well-known. Why this happened I have no idea, and I'm not sure if anyone knows why and how this reassignment happened. :P But the original musical meaning of her name still stands.

Although Melpomene was the muse of tragedy, she was not doleful or self-pitying; in fact, she was highly revered by the ancient Greek civilsiation for being an inspiration to people in times of trouble, as although Melpomene had a great deal of tragedy in her myths, she always pulled through and had a great love of music and dance.