The most intense ending in a piece of music

[Allegro ben articolato]

Personally I have never been very fond of the 5th's finale I love the first movement, though. My favorite intense Nielsen ending would be the Piano Suite's. Anyway, my vote is for the blinding coda of Lyatoshinsky's 1st.

[Opus106]

Brahms - Piano Quartet in G minor, Op. 25

Yep. 

[Diletante]

The finale of Mahler's Second Symphony is the only piece of music I currently know that leaves my eyes watery.

[Renfield]

The finale of Mahler's Second Symphony is the only piece of music I currently know that leaves my eyes watery.

Have you encountered the finales of his Eighth and Ninth, yet?

[Tapio Dmitriyevich]

I think someone mentioned the dramatic and intense ending of the Sibelius 7th.

Much more intense, powerful and dramatic ending: Sibelius - The Wood Nymph (Skogsrået). An earth shaking drama.

[Herman]

Prokofiev Symphony nr 6

Humongeous tutti's and nervewracking silences.

[alkan]

Just noticed this thread ...

Three endings spring immediately to mind ... all symphonies

Mahler's 6th ..... total desolation after all the heroic struggle.

Bruckner's 9th, end of 1st movement .... all of Bruckner's endings to first and last movements are climactic, but I always find the end of the first movement of the 9th literally awe-inspiring.     The build up creates a sensation of something immense and dreadful heading straight towards you, then suddendly the gates are thrown open and you are looking at the end of the world .... it's terrifying (the screaming trumpet dissonance cutting through the roar !!).    Karajan's version is magnificent here.     I once experienced a total solar eclipse, and this music always brings back the sensation .....

Shostakovich, end of the 4th symphony.    One of the greatest of all orchestral cataclysms ever written (those repeated four note dissonances !) followed by a sustained, eerie, magical twilight.       I think the only way to experience something similar is to survive an atomic explosion ....

[Tapio Dmitriyevich]

Shostakovich, end of the 4th symphony.    One of the greatest of all orchestral cataclysms ever written (those repeated four note dissonances !) followed by a sustained, eerie, magical twilight.       I think the only way to experience something similar is to survive an atomic explosion

Yes. yes. YES. I couldn't agree more.

[alkan]

Yes. yes. YES. I couldn't agree more.

Thanks Wurstwasser (what a great name !!).

Since we are in-tune on the 4th, what about some of the other Shostakovich symphony endings?

The 15th is truly appalling in the sense that we are listening to someone die in hospital.     It's quite chilling as the monitoring instruments keep clicking as a life expires.  Eventually there is a final death rattle and the heart rate graph becomes flat .....

The 5th is quite spectacular too, but I really like Kurt Sanderling's interpretation here which gets slower and slower so that it is absolutely clear that this is NOT a triumphant ending, despite the bombast.     The first time I heard this (after Kondrashin) it was quite a shock !!

Not on the same level, but also very exciting is the "tocsin" ending to number 11.     Bells clanging, the side-drum hammering away .... you can almost smell the excitement and gunpowder ...

[Lethevich]

Bruckner's 9th, end of 1st movement .... all of Bruckner's endings to first and last movements are climactic, but I always find the end of the first movement of the 9th literally awe-inspiring.     The build up creates a sensation of something immense and dreadful heading straight towards you, then suddendly the gates are thrown open and you are looking at the end of the world .... it's terrifying (the screaming trumpet dissonance cutting through the roar !!).   

Indeedie - in a live setting (complete with reverb) that ending surely cannot be beaten, or even equaled.

[alkan]

Indeedie - in a live setting (complete with reverb) that ending surely cannot be beaten, or even equaled.

Hi Lethe,
I regret never having heard Bruckner 9 in a concert.    It must be quite overwhelming .....       Also, one of my other favourites, Shostakovich 4, is one of those works that is so spectacular that a live performance must be electrifying!   

[RJR]

I was in a hurry...but the first 3 movts. are memorable, to say the least.

I hope the ending of the symphony is loud...I don't like quiet, fading endings 

To Bonehelm,
You might like the last movement of Roussel's 3rd Symphony. Try it.

[Marc]

Sometimes, when a piece is intense from start to finish, it needs a skilled musician to make that finish just a tad more intense ....

http://www.mediafire.com/?80e31cmd83noj2a

J.S. Bach, Choralbearbeitung Jesus Christus, unser Heiland BWV 665.
Organist: Bram Beekman.
Instrument: Schnitger/Timpe organ, Der Aa Kerk, Groningen, NL.

After being in a whirlpool for almost too long, after about 3:00 minutes the piece seems to come to an end. But it isn't .... and Bram Beekman's inexorable performance is engraving in my soul again, for another minute and a half.

Jesus Christ, our Saviour,
who turned God's anger away from us
through his bitter suffering,
helped us out of the torments of hell.

As with f.i. the final chorus of Mahler 2 or the final movement of Tchaikovsky 6, I'm always very shaky after listening to this, in this particular performance none the less.

[Marc]

[....]
Bruckner's 9th, end of 1st movement .... all of Bruckner's endings to first and last movements are climactic, but I always find the end of the first movement of the 9th literally awe-inspiring.     The build up creates a sensation of something immense and dreadful heading straight towards you, then suddendly the gates are thrown open and you are looking at the end of the world .... it's terrifying (the screaming trumpet dissonance cutting through the roar !!).    Karajan's version is magnificent here.     I once experienced a total solar eclipse, and this music always brings back the sensation .....
[.....]

Just listening to Herbert and his forces ..... thumbs up!

[Popov]

The ending of my beloved Popov's 6th is insanely intense:

http://www.youtube.com/v/h3_oMsTFUQI


On the other hand, Varese's Ameriques hasn't been mentioned for quite a while. Let's have our ears cleaned

http://www.youtube.com/v/gAogpFbaAW0

[PaulSC]

Two not yet mentioned:

Chopin: Ballade No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 23

Schumann: Frauenliebe und -leben (the final song, ""Nun hast du mir den ersten Schmerz getan," and the solo piano reprise of the first song that serves as a coda to the entire cycle)

[RJR]

Brahms Fourth Symphony, first movement. Bruno Walter.
Schubert Ninth, fourth movement. George Szell.
Bartok Concerto for Orchestra, fifth movement. Heinrich Hollreiser.
Liszt Les Préludes. Wilhelm Furtwangler
Beethoven 3rd piano concerto, first movement.
Tchaikovsky Fourth Symphony, first movement. Willem Mengelberg, 1928.

[jochanaan]

Right at the top with the rest: Lutoslawski's Symphony #3.

[Ten thumbs]

Ah, we have Chopin's 1st Ballade, an opening into the field of piano music.
I see many works mentioned, each o f which is hard to beat. It is the same on the piano and when playing, you know it. You have to stop and take some deep breaths. The idea of 'most' is of course a delusion but a delightful one, or if you like, an awesome one. Here then is an awesome piece of music that very likely none of you will know
Backer-Grøndahl: Opus 60.1 Praeludium in C# minor
This opens as a prelude in the Bachian tradition on a C# pedal ending with a climactic passage with falling chromatics leading with C#C B. Next follows a development with hand crossing leading to a powerful climax based on the main theme. The opening material returns with an accelerated climax of great ferocity culminating in a deluge of notes. The coda is of the kind developed by the Mendelssohns with a relentless downward drive (in this case chromatic) countered by explosive rising arpeggios. After the fianl blow (fff) the silence is broken by a few bars of deep rumination ending on a bare C# and then (pp) C#C and a long held B. Here the music ends.

[TheGSMoeller]

Reviving old thread....

Barber: Symphony no. 1
Respighi: Church Windows
Shostakovich: Symphony no. 11 "Year 1905"
Vaughan Williams: Symphony no. 4
Martinu: Piano Concerto no. 4 "Incantation"
Nyman: MGV - (Musique à Grande Vitesse)
Prokofiev: Symphony no. 3

these are pieces that end loudly, so I will pick some endings with a soft intensity.