Favourite "low" moments (Please read. Probably not what you think.)

[Maestro267]

What are your favourite passages in music scored for the lowest bass instruments? One of my favourites is in the first movt. of Reinhold Gliere's Symphony No. 3. After the climax (complete with tam-tam stroke et al.), the music sinks right down into the depths, with contrabassoon very prominent; this is followed by rumbles on bass drum, pianissimo tam-tam strikes and the timpani striking (again pianissimo) one of the main rhythms of the movement.

[Spineur]

Easy: the counterbassoon introduction to Ravel left hand concerto.  Makes me shiver each time..

[Jo498]

Easy: the counterbassoon introduction to Ravel left hand concerto.  Makes me shiver each time..

This was also what jumped into my mind immediately.

[North Star]

The ending of Nunc Dimittis from Rakhmaninov's All-Night Vigil certainly hits the depths, so to speak... I hope the instrument that is the human voice is allowed.
https://www.youtube.com/v/Oh4UTdyansM

[Karl Henning]

Opening of the Shostakovich a minor symphony.

Opening of L'oiseau de feu.

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[Brian]

Easy: the counterbassoon introduction to Ravel left hand concerto.  Makes me shiver each time..

Oh heck yeah.

Or what about the double bass party scherzo of Beethoven's Fifth?

Or the comical "snoring" bassoon in Smetana's Šarka.

Very beginning of Ravel's Daphnis - and the bit right before the sunrise where the basses have to go sliding up and down their entire note range (physical slides of the hands up and down the whole instrument).

[PerfectWagnerite]

Oh boy where do I start too many to count. My all time favorite is the bass clarinet in Dvorak's Noonday Witch. Honorable mention to the bassoon in the 2nd mvt of Rimsky-Korsakoff's Scheherazade. Also the Prelude to Act I of Die Walkure.

[EigenUser]

Easy: the counterbassoon introduction to Ravel left hand concerto.  Makes me shiver each time..

This.

Also, there is a part of Ligeti's Lontano that has a really loud "eruption" from the double-basses (happens at 4:08): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnZqZmcyvvI&feature=youtu.be&t=237

[Mahlerian]

The beginning of Der Abschied, of course.

[(poco) Sforzando]

The tuba/timpani writing in the third section of Elliott Carter's Concerto for Orchestra.

[violadude]

The beginning of Der Abschied, of course.

Speaking of Mahler, there's also the tuba solo near the beginning of the 6th symphony finale, and just a good portion of that section in general.

I also really like the moment in Shostakovich's 5th symphony, 3rd movement, right before the beginning of the climax, where the main theme is scored for low woodwinds.

[XB-70 Valkyrie]

Some of the later moments in R. Strauss' Metamorphosen featuring the cellos and basses.

[some guy]

Nicola Sani, Elements

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GylWfcwMSI&list=PLg5f8G5V0m6EUg212aj4kz6xREZevqk5n

[zamyrabyrd]

I don't know if this goes low enough but the introduction in Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5 is quite dark sounding.

[ritter]

The prelude to Das Rheingold. Starting with that sustained chord in E-flat major in the "deepest depths" of the orchestra and then gradually rising and winning in complexity.

Great on record, great live, but particularly magical in Bayreuth, where the sound (almost imperceptible at the beginning) seems to rise out of nowhere (due to the covered orchestra pit)...

[Mirror Image]

The beginning of Der Abschied, of course.

+1

[PerfectWagnerite]

The prelude to Das Rheingold. Starting with that sustained chord in E-flat major in the "deepest depths" of the orchestra and then gradually rising and winning in complexity.

While we are on the subject of nature, the beginning of Alpensinfonie is awesome.

[(poco) Sforzando]

I don't know if this goes low enough but the introduction in Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5 is quite dark sounding.

The intro to 6 is even darker.

[PerfectWagnerite]

I don't know if this goes low enough but the introduction in Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5 is quite dark sounding.

That's a tough one, the main melody is in the clarinets but a lot of lower bassoon, contrabass and cellos in the accompaniment.

Speaking of which, if there is ever such a thing as "idiomatic" in this work check out Lenny:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2JBT0HC98I

[pjme]

An old favorite of mine - André Jolivet's Concerto for ondes Martenot and orchestra

https://youtu.be/OfhAKLUp_LE

or Lily Boulanger's Du fond de l'abime...

https://youtu.be/s75_1G5cx2A

Honegger: Jeanne d'Arc and Une cantate de Noël... https://youtu.be/shTDEWgHNgQ