Favorite moments in a Sibelius symphony

[karlhenning]

Whenever the harp appears in the Sixth, for one thing.

[paulb]

Whenever the harp appears in the Sixth, for one thing.

I'll listen for that today.
ahh, but do i havea   recording of the 6th?

My favorite in Sibelius would also be the harp . Throughout the 1st sym.
Man, that is some beautiful, beautiful harp composition.
You need to geta   recording where the orch doesn't drown out the humble harp, some engineers do a  good job, others have no clue at all.
I've heard almost every 1st, can't recall them all.
But I'd love to get my hands again one day on the Rozh/London SO, had it on Quintessense LP. One word :Powerful.

[karlhenning]

The hemiola (and hemiola-ish) internal rhythm changes in the middle movement of the Third.

[Florestan]

The whole second movement of the First. Ah, the muted trumpets and the clarinets... pure bliss.

[not edward]

Too many to list, but the one that towers above all others: the opening bars of the Sixth.

[vanessa_zang]

The ending of the 5th. I have never heard an ending like it, and like I think most first timers to the piece, it was unforgettable.

[johnQpublic]

The trombone solo towards the end of the 7th.

[karlhenning]

Too many to list, but the one that towers above all others: the opening bars of the Sixth.

Man, I get chills just thinking of the start of that Allegro molto moderato!

[Brian]

- the great string tune at the end of the second movement, Second Symphony
- the great string tune in the finale, Second Symphony
- last moment of the Second Symphony beginning with the pizzicato cello (?) notes
- Fifth Symphony, third movement, run-up to the very end
- Seventh Symphony. Uh ... drat ... I have to choose part?   

[Ephemerid]

The hemiola (and hemiola-ish) internal rhythm changes in the middle movement of the Third.

OHHHH YESSSS!!!! That just KILLS me!  That whole movement mesmerises me (I often walk around humming that beautifully simple waltz)

[Tapio Dmitriyevich]

OHHHH YESSSS!!!! That just KILLS me!  That whole movement mesmerises me (I often walk around humming that beautifully simple waltz)

["Hemiolish rhythm change", what is this?] Are you taking about this moment?
[mp3=200,20,0,left]http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/9/21/1446950/Sibelius3Andante.mp3[/mp3]
This is btw Segerstam, with a ritardando here. Blomstedt SFSO doesn't do a rit... I love the Segerstam approach more, but don't know what the Composers will is...

Another moment is the ending of Symphony No. 4.

[karlhenning]

["Hemiolish rhythm change", what is this?] Are you taking about this moment?

That's one of a variety of rhythmic games I have in mind.

This is btw Segerstam, with a ritardando here.

Hmm.  I don't like that, actually.  But then, FWIW, I think Segerstam takes the Valse triste too languidly, too.

[Ephemerid]

["Hemiolish rhythm change", what is this?] Are you taking about this moment?
[mp3=200,20,0,left]http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/9/21/1446950/Sibelius3Andante.mp3[/mp3]
This is btw Segerstam, with a ritardando here. Blomstedt SFSO doesn't do a rit... I love the Segerstam approach more, but don't know what the Composers will is...

Another moment is the ending of Symphony No. 4.

One of those "hemiola" sort of passages is in where it shifts into more of a major key and underneath the main melody there's some kind of 2 against 3 things happening in the lower strings.  That clip is awfully slow!

[Mark G. Simon]

["Hemiolish rhythm change", what is this?] Are you taking about this moment?

No, this isn't the moment. There is a place in that movement Where the pizzicato bass ascends in duplets over the threes in the woodwinds.

[(poco) Sforzando]

From the 5th: the opening introduction and then the steady accelerando over some 8-9 minutes to the end of the movement. Then the last six chords of the finale with their widely separated rests and the final unison. I haven't heard that many recordings, but I have yet to hear one where the conductor gives those rests their full value, though.

[Mark G. Simon]

Basically Symphonies no. 3-7 are one extended favorite moment for me.

But among all that favorite music, a especially favorite moment is in the 7th, during the "stormy sea" episode where all the strings in octaves are playing that string of eighth notes that surges up and down like waves in a turbulent sea, and the trombone tune emerges in the brass while the strings continue to surge, and there's a tense string of suspensions and the woodwinds come in with the first recognizable appearance of the motive which characterizes the "scherzo" episode. What a powerful moment!

[lukeottevanger]

From the 5th: the opening introduction and then the steady accelerando over some 8-9 minutes to the end of the movement. Then the last six chords of the finale with their widely separated rests and the final unison. I haven't heard that many recordings, but I have yet to hear one where the conductor gives those rests their full value, though.

Just what I'd have said! The opening of 5 is magical, only slightly ruined by being used as the startup music of Sibelius notation software! But there is a moment towards the end of this movement where all of a sudden all the tensions seem to click into place (four bars before N, the change to a B major key sig), from which point the music surges into the Scherzo with a sense of momentarily carefree release which is hard to put into words.

But, yes, it would be easy to give many more - Sibelius is full of such exquisite moments of this type, real marvels of symphonic pacing, due in some part to the sense of momentum his movements build up. With all due respect to Mahler, who excels in other areas, IMHO I don't think he often managed such effortless, seamless formal control, partly because he tends to subdivide his (usually longer) movements into many smaller areas, each with their own character, and often divergent in tempo etc.

[karlhenning]

Basically Symphonies no. 3-7 are one extended favorite moment for me.

Hearty agreement.  (I mean, in applyng the sentiment to my own experience; I don't mean that I agree that they are one extended favorite moment for Mark.)

[karlhenning]

Though I agree to that, too.  It would be foolhardy for me to try to contest that  0:)

[Tapio Dmitriyevich]

OT. Favourite Finlandia performance