Six symphonies where the final movement is the best.

Started by vandermolen, October 04, 2015, 11:46:26 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Sergeant Rock

Quote from: vandermolen on October 16, 2015, 07:47:52 AMI agree about all the others but don't know the Mozart well enough to comment.  :o

Get thee to the Jupiter, pronto! Seriously, that last movement is terrific.

Sarge
the phone rings and somebody says,
"hey, they made a movie about
Mahler, you ought to go see it.
he was as f*cked-up as you are."
                               --Charles Bukowski, "Mahler"

vandermolen

Quote from: Sergeant Rock on October 16, 2015, 03:01:28 PM
Get thee to the Jupiter, pronto! Seriously, that last movement is terrific.

Sarge
VMT Sarge ( very many thanks ).  :)
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

ComposerOfAvantGarde

I would actually say the second movement is on par with the fourth of Mozart's 41st....but those are two of my favourite symphonic movements ever composed so I had to mention it. 8)

jochanaan

Quote from: ComposerOfAvantGarde on October 16, 2015, 03:58:55 PM
I would actually say the second movement is on par with the fourth of Mozart's 41st....but those are two of my favourite symphonic movements ever composed so I had to mention it. 8)
No argument from me.  That Andante cantabile is truly some of the loveliest music ever. ;D
Imagination + discipline = creativity

Jo498

yes, the andante is also great it's the first and 3rd mvmts of #41 that feel somewhat generic (of course still on a very high level - "standard" mature Mozart is still better than a lot of other artist's supreme efforts) compared to e.g. the ones from 39 and especially 40. Maybe Mozart wrote a slightly bland first movement on purpose so that the great finale would really shine...
Tout le malheur des hommes vient d'une seule chose, qui est de ne savoir pas demeurer en repos, dans une chambre.
- Blaise Pascal

ComposerOfAvantGarde

Quote from: Jo498 on October 17, 2015, 01:16:37 AM
yes, the andante is also great it's the first and 3rd mvmts of #41 that feel somewhat generic (of course still on a very high level - "standard" mature Mozart is still better than a lot of other artist's supreme efforts) compared to e.g. the ones from 39 and especially 40. Maybe Mozart wrote a slightly bland first movement on purpose so that the great finale would really shine...

I actually find the first and third movements of 41 to be much more interesting than all of no. 40...and all of his other symphonies. And all of Haydn's and Beethoven's symphonies too whilst I'm at it!

Jaakko Keskinen

#66
Brahms 1
Dvorak 9
Sibelius 6
Mahler 4
Mahler 5 (don't care yet much for the other movements, in fact)
Haydn 45 or Beethoven 5
"Javert, though frightful, had nothing ignoble about him. Probity, sincerity, candor, conviction, the sense of duty, are things which may become hideous when wrongly directed; but which, even when hideous, remain grand."

- Victor Hugo

vandermolen

#67
+ C.V. Stanford symphonies 3 and 5.

Vaughan Williams: 'A Sea Symphony' by far the best movement.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

kyjo

#68
Sibelius 5
Mahler 1/3/9
Tchaikovsky 6
Rachmaninoff 1
Braga Santos 4
Tubin 4

"Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music" - Sergei Rachmaninoff

SymphonicAddict

I'm very sure about these ones:

Brahms 4
Bruckner 9
Glière 3
Mahler 2
Saint-Saëns 3
Sibelius 2

kyjo

Trying to avoid ones that have already been mentioned:

Atterberg 3
Bax 7
L. Glass 5
Goldmark Rustic Wedding
Parry 3
Rachmaninoff 1
"Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music" - Sergei Rachmaninoff

André


Symphonic Addict

Updating...

Elgar 1
Holmboe 8
Mahler 6
Nielsen 4
Raid 1
Steinberg 2
Part of the tragedy of the Palestinians is that they have essentially no international support for a good reason: they've no wealth, they've no power, so they've no rights.

Noam Chomsky

vandermolen

Quote from: Symphonic Addict on August 05, 2020, 05:17:37 PM
Updating...

Elgar 1
Holmboe 8
Mahler 6
Nielsen 4
Raid 1
Steinberg 2
Great choices Cesar and nice to see the Steinberg included with its 'tolling bell' redemptive conclusion. I'd totally forgotten that I started this thread  ::)
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

vandermolen

"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

relm1

Bruckner 4
Shostakovich 4, 15
Sibelius 7
Prokofiev 7
RVW 9
Mahler 2

vandermolen

Quote from: relm1 on August 06, 2020, 05:22:35 AM
Bruckner 4
Shostakovich 4, 15
Sibelius 7
Prokofiev 7
RVW 9
Mahler 2
With VW Symphony No.9 the first and especially the last movements are the best.
+1 for both Shostakovich symphonies as well.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

vandermolen

Let me see (again  ::))

Vaughan Williams: A Sea Symphony
Bax: Symphony No.3
Rootham: Symphony No.2
Moroi: Symphony 3
Sibelius: Symphony No.3
Rubbra: Symphony 7
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

relm1

Quote from: vandermolen on July 18, 2021, 05:30:23 AM
Let me see (again  ::))

Vaughan Williams: A Sea Symphony
Bax: Symphony No.3
Rootham: Symphony No.2
Moroi: Symphony 3
Sibelius: Symphony No.3
Rubbra: Symphony 7

One thing I am struggling with from your list is RVW Sea Symphony.  Not because the final movement isn't wonderful but part of what makes it so wonderful is it's the powerful and transcendent culmination of what preceded it. It's such a natural and mature transition from the other works that I see it as the culmination of the other movements, something very rare.  Not that it isn't the best but it's even greater when heard in its contextual totality. 

Mirror Image

#79
Quote from: relm1 on July 18, 2021, 06:12:52 AM
One thing I am struggling with from your list is RVW Sea Symphony.  Not because the final movement isn't wonderful but part of what makes it so wonderful is it's the powerful and transcendent culmination of what preceded it. It's such a natural and mature transition from the other works that I see it as the culmination of the other movements, something very rare.  Not that it isn't the best but it's even greater when heard in its contextual totality.

I remember a member here telling me something similar about Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde. It's a work that must be heard in its entirety to understand how it all comes together. And my response was that I didn't care. If I want to play Der Abschied, which is one of Mahler's most compelling musical utterances, and that's all I want to listen to, then I will. One doesn't need context to enjoy a piece of music in purely abstract terms. I don't care what anyone else says. The same applies with Vaughan Williams' A Sea Symphony. I never liked this piece, but I think the last movement is miraculous and worth the price of admission.