8 favorite symphonic endings

[Roasted Swan]

Eight additional choices off the top of my head, not supplanting the above ones:

Ben-Haim 1: Festive and breathlessly energetic, with a really catchy rhythmic ostinato.
Bruckner 5: A supremely majestic and logical conclusion which the entire work is building towards.
Dvořák 7: Triumphant, but also with also an undertone of defiant struggle!
Kalinnikov 2: The way he combines multiple themes from previous movements in such an ingenious and celebratory fashion is just wonderful!
Lloyd 5: Unstoppably energetic and joyous beyond words!
W. Schuman 3: Absolutely coruscating in its sheer brilliance - it's like a huge percussion-driven freight train!
Suk Asrael: A movingly redemptive and suitably exhausted conclusion after such an emotionally turbulent journey.
Weinberg 5: This unique ending manages to be ethereal and creepy at the same time, with its prominent part for the celesta.

As others have said - this is an excellent list and I enjoy the added comments.  I must check out the Weinberg which I don't know at all.

One of my favourite symphonic movement endings (not of the symphony) is the first movement of Walton 1 - a kind of flinging down of the gauntlet of "I'm still here" after all the convulsions that went before.

[vandermolen]

As others have said - this is an excellent list and I enjoy the added comments.  I must check out the Weinberg which I don't know at all.

One of my favourite symphonic movement endings (not of the symphony) is the first movement of Walton 1 - a kind of flinging down of the gauntlet of "I'm still here" after all the convulsions that went before.

Yes, you have to hear the Weinberg! Kondrashin's version is best (Russian Disc/Melodiya). For me it stands alongside Shostakovich's 4th Symphony and Popov's 1st Symphony. Totally agree about Walton - despair turns to defiance.

[DaveF]

One of my favourite symphonic movement endings (not of the symphony) is the first movement of Walton 1 - a kind of flinging down of the gauntlet of "I'm still here" after all the convulsions that went before.

Makes me think of a small, defenceless creature being beaten to death and, after you think it's finally, mercifully dead you notice it's still twitching.  Or, for a less gruesome comparison, for those of us who remember the Monty Python "Death of Mary Queen of Scots" sketch: "Ah thunk she's deid."  "No, ah'm no'!"

If non-final movement endings were allowed, definitely the end of the Judex movement of The Gothic, brass bands, football rattle and all.  But for real endings:

Sibelius 3 - that wall of sound!
Stravinsky 3 Movements - nice scrunchy added 2nds & 6ths.
Beethoven 6 - because it doesn't go on for 450 bars.
Mozart 39 - the movement without which (IMO) Beethoven 7 wouldn't have been possible.
Nielsen 6 - bitter humour indeed.
Shostakovich 15 - which has been described as a death-rattle, but which sounds to me like absolute peace and serenity.
Franck - nice and concise.
Martinů 4 - the coda sounds almost like Ives's Country Band March, with everyone out of step.

[kyjo]

As others have said - this is an excellent list and I enjoy the added comments.  I must check out the Weinberg which I don't know at all.

One of my favourite symphonic movement endings (not of the symphony) is the first movement of Walton 1 - a kind of flinging down of the gauntlet of "I'm still here" after all the convulsions that went before.

Thank you RS! I totally agree about the ending of the first movement of Walton 1 - great as the whole work is, that movement is in a magnificent class of its own and is basically a one-movement symphony in itself, such is its epic narrative quality. As refined and atmospheric as Walton's later works (e.g. the 2nd Symphony) are, they never really manage to recapture the raw power and emotionality of the 1st Symphony. BTW, a similarly memorable and defiant first movement ending is that of the contemporaneous Moeran G minor Symphony.

[Roasted Swan]

Makes me think of a small, defenceless creature being beaten to death and, after you think it's finally, mercifully dead you notice it's still twitching.  Or, for a less gruesome comparison, for those of us who remember the Monty Python "Death of Mary Queen of Scots" sketch: "Ah thunk she's deid."  "No, ah'm no'!"

If non-final movement endings were allowed, definitely the end of the Judex movement of The Gothic, brass bands, football rattle and all.  But for real endings:

Sibelius 3 - that wall of sound!
Stravinsky 3 Movements - nice scrunchy added 2nds & 6ths.
Beethoven 6 - because it doesn't go on for 450 bars.
Mozart 39 - the movement without which (IMO) Beethoven 7 wouldn't have been possible.
Nielsen 6 - bitter humour indeed.
Shostakovich 15 - which has been described as a death-rattle, but which sounds to me like absolute peace and serenity.
Franck - nice and concise.
Martinů 4 - the coda sounds almost like Ives's Country Band March, with everyone out of step.

Another excellent list!

[Brian]

If non-final movement endings were allowed, definitely the end of the Judex movement of The Gothic, brass bands, football rattle and all.

Definitely the most amazing musical moment I have ever seen live.

Beethoven 6 - because it doesn't go on for 450 bars.
Shostakovich 15 - which has been described as a death-rattle, but which sounds to me like absolute peace and serenity.

Beethoven 6 - I recently learned that almost everyone plays this ending wrong, that the final two chords should be the same length, both regular old quarter notes. So many performances stretch the very last chord out to make it sound more "ending-ish" but Beethoven fills the rest of the bar with rests so he really doesn't want people doing that. Strange that the proper way of playing it should be so rare - but once I'd heard it done right, I was so excited by the breeziness and classicism of that ending. A special ending to a special work.

Shostakovich 15 - having just seen it last night - in that performance at least, the final resolving C sharp was so deeply satisfying. It felt like a release or a blessing almost.

[DaveF]

Beethoven 6 - I recently learned that almost everyone plays this ending wrong, that the final two chords should be the same length, both regular old quarter notes.

Had to check my half-dozen recordings - yeah, even the purest of the pure (Norrington, Savall) hold that last chord (although not as shamelessly as does Wyn Morris in my favourite non-HIP cycle).  Only one who really get it "right" is Claire Huangci in the Liszt arrangement.

But in any case my inclusion of the Pastoral was a slightly tongue-in-cheek comment on the excesses of nos. 3, 5 and 8, so splendidly parodied by Dudley Moore:

What I really meant to say was Turangalîla!

[atardecer]

These come to mind:

Brahms 2 - The ending to this work is musical perfection
Prokofiev 2 - Love the final haunting chord
Ives 1 - In the performance the timpani has to be loud and triumphant like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvyLZDIkCpc
Ives 2 - A great surprise ending

[classicalgeek]

My list as of right now, in no particular order - maybe chronological?

Beethoven 7 (thrilling and full of energy - the high horns really help carry it though)
Brahms 2 (one of my favorite symphonies and one of my favorite endings - what puts it over the top is that blast on the trombones!)
Tchaikovsky 4 (just crazy!)

How could I pick just one of Mahler's? All of his endings are perfection! I guess I can choose two:
Mahler 2 (just overwhelmingly emotional)
Mahler 9 (I can't help but think of life ebbing away...)

Saint-Saens 3 (an overwhelming 'wall of sound', thanks in large part to the organ)
Rachmaninov 2 (he sure knew how to write endings!)
Copland 3 (triumphant and celebratory)

[LKB]

My list as of right now, in no particular order - maybe chronological?

Beethoven 7 (thrilling and full of energy - the high horns really help carry it though)
Brahms 2 (one of my favorite symphonies and one of my favorite endings - what puts it over the top is that blast on the trombones!)
Tchaikovsky 4 (just crazy!)

How could I pick just one of Mahler's? All of his endings are perfection! I guess I can choose two:
Mahler 2 (just overwhelmingly emotional)
Mahler 9 (I can't help but think of life ebbing away...)

Saint-Saens 3 (an overwhelming 'wall of sound', thanks in large part to the organ)
Rachmaninov 2 (he sure knew how to write endings!)
Copland 3 (triumphant and celebratory)

Solid list. If l were to change anything at all, I'd swap out the end of Rachmaninoff 2 for Rachmaninoff 1 a la Ashkenazy and the RCO.

But it's a great list, just as it stands. 

[atardecer]

These come to mind:

Brahms 2 - The ending to this work is musical perfection
Prokofiev 2 - Love the final haunting chord
Ives 1 - In the performance the timpani has to be loud and triumphant like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvyLZDIkCpc
Ives 2 - A great surprise ending

To complete my 8 choices:

Schoenberg - Chamber Symphony 2: Masterful conclusion from my favorite Schoenberg work.
Mahler - Das Lied von der Erde: A very powerful ending, emotionally draining, spiritually uplifting.
Mozart - Symphony 41: Contrapuntal brilliance and excellence.
Bernard Herrmann - Symphony: Beautiful harmonies, dynamics and timbres close out this under-rated symphony.