Quote from: RexRichter on August 20, 2009, 01:00:47 PM
I thought we agreed on this thread (http://www.good-music
The only way we can resolve this is with a duel - pistols or sabres?
Quote from: Lethe on August 20, 2009, 01:03:26 PM
The only way we can resolve this is with a duel - pistols or sabres?
pistols please, as long as i get the first shot. ;D
LvB Op 111 – The perfect end to the perfect (?) sonata
LvB Op 132 – Same as above, but for string quartet
Bruckner 8 – How else could the work end?
Mahler 9 – Fading away into oblivion.
Tristan und Isolde – The Liebestod is what it's all about.
Brahms 2 – Such a glorious end.
Quote from: Todd on August 20, 2009, 01:06:30 PM
LvB Op 111 – The perfect end to the perfect (!) sonata
Fixed. :)
One I forgot: Ravel's
La Valse!
Quote from: Lethe on August 20, 2009, 12:55:20 PM
6. Schnittke - Piano Quintet - like a butterfly with damaged wings attempting to fly. Not ugly, just sad.
What a beautiful description.
--Bruce
Sibelius's 5th - One of the most distinctive and and "final" endings in all of music. I remeber when I firt heard it, I thought it so so odd. But I have come to appreciate its unique power.
Salome by Ifukube - A ballet based on Oscar Wilde's play. The ending has some of the most bombastic, pounding music one is ever likely to hear. The strings swirl with maniacal fervor, the brass bellows and sneers like wild animals and the crushing percussion never lets up. Goosebumps evey time.
Beethoven's 9th - The way the music whips itself into extacy one more time after the big "Ode to Joy" tune to conclude the work gets me every time.
Mahler's 2nd - Need I explain this?
Pictures at an Exhibition - Need I explain this, too?
Sibelius's 2nd - The brass rises to that triumphant 'amen' and I am nearlt reduced to tears.
Elgar's first symphony. Not the greatest symphony ever written, but my favourite by a long way; and to hear the great theme returning at the end, so satisfyingly, so optimistically, so nobly, and with such lofty aspirations, has been a major source of inspiration for most of my life.
Suor Angelica. Some find the ending sentimental and cloying. I don't. It can be approached either as a genuine dying vision, or as a psychological illusion; either way, Angelica leaves the world comforted and believing that she's reunited with her son, and the music conveys this perfectly, with heartrending tragedy and hope mingled together.
Gotterdammerung. How could anyone compose an ending to a cycle of four operas of such vastly ambitious scope, and make it not seem like an anticlimax? Yet Wagner did it.
These three were easy. The next three need more thought.
Quote from: Lethe on August 20, 2009, 12:55:20 PM
Great idea - a new spin on the list format :P
1. Dvořák - Symphony No.7 above all - such an unusually tragic conclusion from a Romantic-Classicist. Super gravitas!
2. Sibelius - Symphony No.3. I feel an unusually personal reaction to this work, and this movement is the crown of that. It's not that it is strongly emotional in any direction - it is the combination of the mind expecting an emotional resolution after the bold opening movement, and charming middle one, but the finale resolutely avoids any obvious devices to this end. It simply moves in an inimitable way - feeling like a homecoming, but neither glorious or tragic, just ambiguous or resigned. The very final seconds are fittingly only a small rise from the orchestra, then it's snuffed out, as if in a puff of smoke.
3. Holst - The Planets (Neptune), and its logical successor,
4. Vaughan Williams - Symphony No.6, and yet another similar one;
5. Vasks - Symphony No.1 - the finale building to the dissonant crescendo, then whispers.
6. Schnittke - Piano Quintet - like a butterfly with damaged wings attempting to fly. Not ugly, just sad.
Honourable mentions: Petterson and Dopper - Symphony Nos.7, for entirely opposite reasons.
Oh Yes, Sibelius symphony No 3 - Sibelius 'becomes Sibelius' in this work I think. There is something about that last movement - some connection with the elemental power of nature. This is one of the few works I can listen to regardless of how I feel.
Mahler's 9th, Holst's Neptune are also choices I agree with. Miaskovsky Symphony No 6 - deeply moving and poignant (see it in London next April :))
Very interesting replies - thank you. Sibelius Symphony No 2 ending yes,yes,yes. I'd have chosen Vasks Symphony No 2, which has a most eloquent and haunting ending.
Beethoven's 9th
Sibelius 7th (WOW! :o)
Bruckner's 8th (it's the best, but only when performed at the "just right" tempo, it can't be too slow or too rushed)
Haydn's Seven Last Words of Christ
Mahler's 2nd (of course!)
Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition
Quote from: Tapkaara on August 20, 2009, 01:34:17 PM
Beethoven's 9th - The way the music whips itself into extacy one more time after the big "Ode to Joy" tune to conclude the work gets me every time.
Mahler's 2nd - Need I explain this?
Pictures at an Exhibition - Need I explain this, too?
Quote from: ChamberNut on August 20, 2009, 05:13:47 PM
Beethoven's 9th
Mahler's 2nd (of course!)
Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition
I think you cheated, Ray ;)
My 6 plus 1:
Beethoven's 9th - IMHO the most exciting coda ever written.
Beethoven's 7th - those sudden fffs at the climax are fantastic
Dvorak's 7th - power in this organ-like ending
Shostakovich's 5th - BOOM BOOM BOOM CRASH love it.
Copland's Appalachian Spring - peaceful, serene, full of contentment.
Holst's Planets, Mars - relentless in aggression.
Mendelssohn VC - fast and fun
Quote from: hornteacher on August 20, 2009, 07:26:50 PM
My 6 plus 1:
Beethoven's 9th - IMHO the most exciting coda ever written.
Beethoven's 7th - those sudden fffs at the climax are fantastic
Dvorak's 7th - power in this organ-like ending
Shostakovich's 5th - BOOM BOOM BOOM CRASH love it.
Copland's Appalachian Spring - peaceful, serene, full of contentment.
Holst's Planets, Mars - relentless in aggression.
Mendelssohn VC - fast and fun
Love your description of the end of DSCH Symphony No 5 - No 10 is also exciting. I'd have chosen Copland's Third Symphony - declamatory - sense of ultimate triumph over dark forces (that's how I see it anyway :))
False ending: The Art of the Fugue
For now, only one: La Boheme
I love it when those brass chords begin - so perfect.
Interesting thread - personally prefer quiet or anti climax endings
Shostakovich 8 - after the carnage and emotion it ends on a kind of uneasy peace - its like being emotionally drained
Prokofiev 6 - fascinating final movement starts like a movement from Haydn and ends in a tragic and abrupt fashion
Honegger 3 - after the discordant barrage its like a trip to paradise
Vaughan Williams 4 - 2nd movement - so bleak and the final woodwind lament is so poetical
Vaughan Williams 5 - the ending just fades away - so beautiful
Sibelius 4 - probably the most negative ending of all but such atmosphere :)
1. Bruckner 9 - 3rd Movement. I had the unfortunate occasion to be taking antidepressants for a few months (not that I needed them, but that's another story) and I could not get the ending out of my head, and for some reason this made me feel very low. So great ending in music? Definitely powerful.
2. Shostakovitch 4 - Final movement. The basses sound like a heartbeat that gradually disappears. Perfect ending given the Symphony's history.
3. Pettersson 7. I think there's a theme emerging!
4. Mahler 9 - 4th movement - I feel as though I'm not allowed to breathe during the fading away.
5. Hartmann - Concerto Funebre.
6. Hmmmm Tchaikovsky's 6th or Mahler's 2nd I suppose. Now which one to choose .........?
Berlioz - Symphonie Fantastique
Bartók - Concerto for Orchestra
Mahler - 2nd Symphony
Dvořák - Cello concerto
Shostakovich - 5th Symphony
And of course, Mahler's SIXTH!!!
If I can choose an ending to a specific movement, then it's Bruckner's 9th, first movement. It has an immensity that I have not encountered in any other music, but without the rooting-tooting qualities that, say, the end of the 8th does.
Also, not to forget the end of the opening movement of Dvořák's cello concerto. It's just so much more grand than the work's actual conclusion.
Quote from: Lethe on August 21, 2009, 09:13:24 AM
Also, not to forget the end of the opening movement of Dvořák's cello concerto. It's just so much more grand than the work's actual conclusion.
Yes, I remember that for a time I was obsessed with that high note on the string section before the final brass fanfare. Every time I listen to a recording of it I pay special attention to that fanfare, because I find it completely anticlimactic if it's done weakly or too fast.
Quote from: offbeat on August 21, 2009, 07:22:35 AM
Interesting thread - personally prefer quiet or anti climax endings
Yes, quiet endings can be very powerful. One of my favorites is the ending to Bartok's second violin sonata. The piece closes with the violin playing solo, which then floats up the register to end on a single sustained note.
Rather impressive.
Quote from: offbeat on August 21, 2009, 07:22:35 AM
Interesting thread - personally prefer quiet or anti climax endings
Shostakovich 8 - after the carnage and emotion it ends on a kind of uneasy peace - its like being emotionally drained
Prokofiev 6 - fascinating final movement starts like a movement from Haydn and ends in a tragic and abrupt fashion
Honegger 3 - after the discordant barrage its like a trip to paradise
Vaughan Williams 4 - 2nd movement - so bleak and the final woodwind lament is so poetical
Vaughan Williams 5 - the ending just fades away - so beautiful
Sibelius 4 - probably the most negative ending of all but such atmosphere :)
Agree with all of these! I should have included the Honegger (wonderful birdsong ending) and Shostakovich's 8th Symphony in my original list. Have just listened to Honegger's film score 'L'Idee' (Naxos) the end echoes that of the Liturgique Symphony.
There are 4 Wagner Ring operas that end great, and
LvB op. 95, 1st mvt. That intensity, and fade.
Schubert Death and the Maiden Qt, finale. Over the cliff's edge we charge!
Quote from: Elgarian on August 20, 2009, 02:22:08 PM
Elgar's first symphony. Not the greatest symphony ever written, but my favourite by a long way; and to hear the great theme returning at the end, so satisfyingly, so optimistically, so nobly, and with such lofty aspirations, has been a major source of inspiration for most of my life.
The ending of Elgar's 2nd symphony is much better imo. The first symphony has maybe stronger
beginning.
surprise me!
I'm gonna refine things a bit, and say that one of the things that makes an ending great is that it is surprising.
Great and surprising endings:
1. Shostakovich Symphony #15 - the percussion drizzle turns the finale from morbid to magical
2. Hindemith Kammermusik #1 - that police siren just comes out of nowhere
3. Schnittke Symphony #8 - after 35 minutes in the depths, a feeling of liftoff
4. Sibelius Symphony #4 - neither one thing nor another; unnerving
5. Brahms Symphony #3 - you didn't think he could end all 4 mvts. softly, eh? Well he did
6. Nielsen Symphony #6 - a loud bassoon fart is always a great way to end something
Quote from: Spitvalve on August 22, 2009, 06:46:56 AM
Schnittke Symphony #8 - after 35 minutes in the depths, a feeling of liftoff
I forgot about this spooky one.
Endings???...don't I usually lose inter....oh, right....
JUST ONE:
Stravinsky...the symphony (3mvmts?, in C?) that ends in that extended "putting down"...along with that final string chord that just shivers me timbers...reminds me of washingtonD.C. on the brink of the cold war (I wonder if Stravinsky's reading is the only one that captures that "sound"?).
HONORABLE MENTION:
Haydn Op.33/2 "Joke" SQ... at first I thought it was cheezy, but it has a great structural effect.
(It does bother me that I can't think of ANY endings of any music...Jeff Buckley's "Vancouver" has an awesome ending...and Roy Orbison ALWAYS had a cool ending, very dramatic and cinematic)
Reply 24 DD
re Bartok Violin Sonata - never heard this - sounds really interesting
Reply 28 Spitvalve
Re Shostakovich 15 - it always amuses me the very last note is i think on the triangle or celesta (not sure which)
reply 30 sntprrr
re Stravinsky in 3 movements - love the warlike chant in the strings in first movement
Excuse my reply not sure how to do quotes
Quote from: offbeat on August 22, 2009, 01:38:35 PM
Reply 24 DD
re Bartok Violin Sonata - never heard this - sounds really interesting
Reply 28 Spitvalve
Re Shostakovich 15 - it always amuses me the very last note is i think on the triangle or celesta (not sure which)
reply 30 sntprrr
re Stravinsky in 3 movements - love the warlike chant in the strings in first movement
Excuse my reply not sure how to do quotes
All you have to do is press the "quote" button on the upper right hand corner of each post. If you mean to quote 3 people (as you have done above) I would quote 1 post, copy it, quote another post, paste the original quote, copy all of it, quote the third post, and then paste the other 2 quotes. You will be automatically transfered to the "Post reply" screen. I hope you follow me ???
Beethoven 7th is the best ending in any piece.
Berlioz - Symphonie Fantastique - pick any mvt you like! Yes, it's a concert hall workhorse and overplayed. But, perfect classical masterpieces tend to suffer that fate.
Le Corsaire - lowest fat content of any great overture ever written.
Bartok - Concerto for Orchestra - Mvt 5 finale. Bartok was dying from AML when he wrote this his final masterpiece. I like to think he decided to tone down the cerebralness [neologism] a tad and in an effort to be more accessable wound up writing arguably his greatest work.
Robert Schumann - Concertstuck for Four Horns and Orchestra - the coda in the final frenzied third mvt proves that Schumann was truly insane and a genius. Any Horn player who has played this work, particularly the principal horn part (I have) can attest to Schumann also having to little regard for the limitations of the horn or hornplayers!
Quote from: RexRichter on August 22, 2009, 02:02:49 PM
All you have to do is press the "quote" button on the upper right hand corner of each post. If you mean to quote 3 people (as you have done above) I would quote 1 post, copy it, quote another post, paste the original quote, copy all of it, quote the third post, and then paste the other 2 quotes. You will be automatically transfered to the "Post reply" screen. I hope you follow me ???
For multiple quotes: keep doing what you did for a single quote, i.e. click on the
Quote seen on the top-right of each post until all the quotes appear in the
Quick Reply box at the bottom of the page -- there is no need to copy and paste. :)
You can also use
Insert Quote (for a limited number of posts among the most recent) from the editor/Post Reply page.
to Rex Richter/Opus106
tks to both of y re quotes - next time i have to quote i will give it a go although bit of a computer novice ;D
Not all great endings are loud and earth-shattering. My favorite finales include some very quiet moments:
Ives: Symphony No. 4. The chorus gently fading in the distances, the violins descending in fourths and fifths. Haunting, and a great spirutal comfort.
Ives: String quartet No. 2. Beautiful. Top strings fly off into the either, whle the cello slowly sinks into the earth.
Mahler: Das Lied Von der Erde. Ewig ... ewig ...
Some, of course, are upbeat:
Brahms: Symphony No. 2. The finale to end all finales, a sure fire crowd pleaser. Eugene Ormandy believed it was the best piece with which to end a concert.
Wagner: Das Rheingold. Better known as the entrance of the gods into Valhalla. The most stirring of all orchestral marches. Almost makes the rest of
the opera retroavctively bearable.
Nielsen: Symphony Nos. 4 and 5 (tie). For the sheer wow factor.
Pyotr Tchaikovsky: Concerto for Violin, Op. 35
I'm posting them as and when they pop into my head. :)
Quote from: Berlioziphile on August 22, 2009, 09:05:45 PM
Berlioz - Symphonie Fantastique - pick any mvt you like! Yes, it's a concert hall workhorse and overplayed. But, perfect classical masterpieces tend to suffer that fate.
Le Corsaire - lowest fat content of any great overture ever written.
Bartok - Concerto for Orchestra - Mvt 5 finale. Bartok was dying from AML when he wrote this his final masterpiece. I like to think he decided to tone down the cerebralness [neologism] a tad and in an effort to be more accessable wound up writing arguably his greatest work.
Robert Schumann - Concertstuck for Four Horns and Orchestra - the coda in the final frenzied third mvt proves that Schumann was truly insane and a genius. Any Horn player who has played this work, particularly the principal horn part (I have) can attest to Schumann also having to little regard for the limitations of the horn or hornplayers!
I'm sure you're right about the Bartok Concerto for Orchestra - the ending of his Piano Concerto No 3 (completed by one of his students) is also moving in the same way I think.
Many of the above examples are endings which are probably designed to make the listener comfortable with the way the argument has gone - which is fine of course. However there are other solutions which may be rather more subversive or striking which may or may not be lateral.
Scriabin - Prometheus (ends on a loud unexpected chord)
Busoni is a composer who specialises in unlikely solutions - like modulating in the last bar eg., Carmen fantasy (Sonatina 6) and that's not the only example. Not many composers make a habit of this apart (peculiarly?) from Duke Ellington, another master of the unlikely solution.
Ives is a master of the fizzle-out, but also the extended tonic pedal. Medtner's 1st piano concerto also.
For its sheer preposterousness, the Gary Graffman performance of Korngold's left hand Piano Concerto takes some beating. A dog-with-a-bone repetition of an unlikely cadential progression rounded off with over-the-top trills from the brass. I've heard a couple of other versions which inexplicably attempt to cover up this up.
Two by Bach:
A chorus from the B Minor Mass: Cum Sancto Spiritu. IMO, one of the most powerful allegro movements ever composed, with a stunning ending climax highlighted by repeated triplets from the Baroque trumpet.
The Chaconne, on piano
By way of variation, here are some of my favorite endings in piano music.
Where else can I start but with Beethoven: Sonata Op. 110. So triumphant!
Next: Schubert, Sonata Op. 42 (D845) with its frenetic accelerando.
Now something beautiful: Fanny Mendelssohn: Melody Op. 3/4 No. 6, the simple melodic line floating down to end not on doh but on soh.
A piece that ought to be as well known as Claire de Lune: Bonis' Phoebe. Begins and ends in the black note pentatonic. Unearthly ending on Ab Bb Db.
Real finality: Scriabin's preludes Op. 74. The last crashing down onto Eb Db G. No wonder he died thereafter!
Lastly the entry into heaven: Medtner's Skaska Op. 43 No.4. If only those cross rhythms weren't so diabolical to play!
Quote from: vandermolen on August 20, 2009, 02:22:24 PM
Oh Yes, Sibelius symphony No 3 - Sibelius 'becomes Sibelius' in this work I think. There is something about that last movement - some connection with the elemental power of nature. This is one of the few works I can listen to regardless of how I feel.
Mahler's 9th, Holst's Neptune are also choices I agree with. Miaskovsky Symphony No 6 - deeply moving and poignant (see it in London next April :))
Very interesting replies - thank you. Sibelius Symphony No 2 ending yes,yes,yes. I'd have chosen Vasks Symphony No 2, which has a most eloquent and haunting ending.
So many works have been mentned. I just wanted to add Bax's 3rd ending. Quiet, enigmatic, tranquil and somehow transcendental, not unlike an epilogue to the trials and tribulations of life.
The coda of last movement of Bruckner's 5th Symphony.
The last movement of Beethoven's string Quartet opus 131.
The coda of the last movement of Brahms First Symphony.
The "crescendo" and coda in the first movement of Beethoven's 9th Symphony.
The "crescendo" and coda of the last movement in Sibelius 2nd Symphony.
The coda of the last movement of Beethoven's Sonata opus 53.
Quote from: Dax on August 24, 2009, 01:59:05 AM
Ives is a master of the fizzle-out, but also the extended tonic pedal.
But also in the 2nd symphony he ended with a chord where all 12 notes of the chromatic scale are sounded within the framework of a relatively conservative, solidly tonal, work.
Two that immediately spring to mind:
Pettersson 7: delicate, muted, ambiguous, haunting. A small ray of hope amidst the gloom?
and on the opposite end of the spectrum
Mahler 2: a totally over-the-top, Grand Romantic, quasi-religious sonic apotheosis
Quote from: erato on September 23, 2009, 12:33:24 AM
But also in the 2nd symphony he ended with a chord where all 12 notes of the chromatic scale are sounded within the framework of a relatively conservative, solidly tonal, work.
this reminds me of another totally off the wall ending by Ives in the highly dissonant second movement of the fourth symphony - theres no attempt at an ending but just stops as if in the middle of an argument - totally insane but pretty cool
You know, I've a feeling we've done this topic before...But it's always great fun. My 6 today would be:
1. Vaughan Williams: Symphony No.2 - after the harp does the 'Big Ben' thing, the symphony changes direction completely and meanders it's way to a lovely, somehow distant, conclusion.
2. Ravel: La Valse - manic race to the end stuff with pounding bass drum; like banging your head against a wall (which is how I feel much of the time).
3. Prokofiev: Symphony No.5 - that clockwork, factory-type, absolute rhythm. For me it is essential that the two bass drum / cymbal accentuated chords prior to the quiter 'ticking' just before the slightly off chord at the end, are really hit hard. That's the proper end; the rest is the subversive stuff.
4. Shostakovich: Symphony No.15. Others have mentioned this - I loved the description of percussive drizzle! An astonishingly original ending which has a ray of light amid the gloom by turning minor to major with just a note from the glockenspiel. Delicately brilliant.
5. Shchedrin: Anna Karenina. Thoroughly descriptive music; the best orchestral representation of a thundering steam train, complete with Doppler effect! Scary, effective and devastating.
6. Mahler: Symphony No.2 - What more is there to say? However so many get this completely wrong. Examples of how this works perfectly; listen to Oleg Caetani, Leif Segerstam, even Antoni Wit...
Quote from: erato on September 23, 2009, 12:33:24 AM
But also in the 2nd symphony he ended with a chord where all 12 notes of the chromatic scale are sounded within the framework of a relatively conservative, solidly tonal, work.
The dissonant ending was not added until 1952, just before Bernstein premiered the work. There is no manuscript source for it. Ives may have dictated the ending to Cowell, or Cowell may have made it up. Lou Harrison did the orchestration. Ives's original ending, from about 1904, was a standard V
7-I cadence.
I'd have to echo a few of these choices-- Pictures at an Exhibition, Shostakovitch 4 and 5, RVW 6 without a doubt. Here are some others that come to mind.
Scriabin had several memorable ones-- Prometheus was mentioned, but Poem of Ecstasy is also up there. Wagner on acid.
I also love the ending of the 9th Sonata ( I would have loved to hear that puppy orchestrated)-- totally cataclysmic, but then the hit of a brief mysterious coda at the end.
Vers La Flamme gives me chills-- the ending is so apocalyptic and fiery. May be his best.
Penderecki's Polymorphia for 48 strings. After several minutes of avante-garde freakout, it ends on a simple major chord.
Orthel's 3rd Symphony has a fantastic ending. The first movement starts with a wonderful brooding theme. (It was written during the German occupation, FWIW). The last movement has this really powerful march that very edgy and discordant- it's hard to tell if its trying to sound heroic, or its power out of control. 3 or 4 great minutes of this, and THEN it returns to the brooding theme the symphony opened with, making a circular structure. The first time I listened to it on repeat it flipped me out.
The ending of Prokofiev's seventh symphony is a tale of two endings. ALthough I'm not nuts about this work as a whole, the ending is one of Prokofiev's most brilliant statements-- a wistful, elegaic, valedictory farewell (VANDERMOLEN ALERT!). The proferred soviet ending added a happy recap from the first theme that totally killed the mood. I love the original version.
A couple by Stravinsky. I'll never tire of the ending of the Firebird (and the Berceause(sp?) before that). The percussion at the end of the Soldiers Tale lingers in the mind long after the peace is over. And, although Apollo tends to bore me, the last couple of minutes are, to me, some of the most profound music Stravinsky ever wrote.
If we have to pick the favorite ending for a movement, I'd have to take the middle movement of Atterberg's 5th for write now. At the end a nice, slow elegaic it has a terrific climax that pulls everything together, and then has a more mysterious fade.
(Outside of "classical" -- you have to love the sudden ending to She's So Heavy by the Beatles!)
Nice thread :)
- Tchaikovsky String Sextet op.70, that's some finale!
- Sibelius 5th symphony, i'm speechless- that's my "numero uno" i guess
- Sibelius Violin Concerto, hahaa i like his endings apparently: kind of abrupt but cool... and suprising gestures :o
- perhaps when I was younger it was Tristan und Isolde definately- well it is amazing how that love-theme hymn just penetrates everything little by little. And then: "...mild und leise...". Gave me shivers :-*
-Beethoven 9th
Quote from: jowcol on October 02, 2009, 05:03:30 AM
Orthel's 3rd Symphony has a fantastic ending. The first movement starts with a wonderful brooding theme. (It was written during the German occupation, FWIW). The last movement has this really powerful march that very edgy and discordant- it's hard to tell if its trying to sound heroic, or its power out of control. 3 or 4 great minutes of this, and THEN it returns to the brooding theme the symphony opened with, making a circular structure. The first time I listened to it on repeat it flipped me out.
Thanks for the tip! One doesn't read that often about Léon Orthel's music, let alone his martial Third Symphony. I tried it out immediately and yes, you're rigth, the finale after that brutal march is sheer magic.
Oh, one more;
- Berg Wozzeck- after that culmination and big orchestral intermezzo those children playing, among them a boy of Marie's; "Du, dein mutter ist tot" and "....hop hop-hop hop..." :'(
I'll add, as I think these hasn't been mentioned:
Brahms - Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor, Op.25
Dvorak - Cello Concerto
Quote from: Elgarian on August 20, 2009, 02:22:08 PMGotterdammerung. How could anyone compose an ending to a cycle of four operas of such vastly ambitious scope, and make it not seem like an anticlimax? Yet Wagner did it.
And if we are judging on a purely empirical basis, it has the longest stage-direction in the entire operatic repertoire ;)
Six Great Final Curtains:
I) Janacek, THE CUNNING LITTLE VIXEN - when you realise we are all caught in a cycle of death and rebirth
II) Wagner, THE FLYING DUTCHMAN - never has "
Screw you all!" been said with such glorious suicidal conviction...
III) Poulenc, DIALOGUES OF THE CARMELITES - gripping, terrifying, compulsive viewing to those final pianissimo chords.
IV) Ligeti, LE GRAND MACABRE (original version) - a real
danse macabre, including the scatalogical closing couplets
V) Menotti, THE TELEPHONE -
verismo meets
film noir, as the curtain falls on a woman who hasn't just shot an entirely innocent boy, but is shaking his dead body to find out if he rigged the seance? Pitiless stuff.
VI) Verdi, FALSTAFF - the most generous of farewells to the stage, as the older generation graciously pass the baton to the bright young things... the world may be nuts, but it's a grand place to be :)
[And the original "Quincy" ending, where we're all in the restaurant afterwards laughing off all that's happened.]
I agree with some of those mentioned, but no mention yet of Schumann 3, Tchaikovsky 5...and let's not forget earlier ones like Mozart (symphony 41).
I'll restrict it to one composer per piece.
1. Prokofiev - Symphony No. 5. My all time favorite!
2. Popov - Symphony No. 5. My favorite quiet ending (Prokofiev's 7th and Shostakovich's 15th come close). Absolutely blissful music.
3. Shostakovich - Symphony No. 4. The most fascinating ending I know. What a wonderful way to end such a symphony.
4. Beethoven - Piano Sonata No. 30. Dawww!
5. Martinu - Symphony No. 3. I love how the chord in the piano disrupts that placid solution in the strings. I feel it somehow sums up the atmosphere of the work.
6. Tishchenko - Symphony No. 5. Those two flutes make for one awesome ending!
Must listen to the Orthel which I have. Thanks Jowcol for the 'VANDERMOLEN ALERT' (hehe). Actually I love the end of Prokofiev's 5th Symphony, which sounds (to me) like a couple of drunks interrupting a plenary meeting of the soviet politburo. Nielsen's 6th - YES, great fart-like ending (excuse language), Pettersson VC No 2 (inevitably has me in tears - after all that despair a wonderfully lyrical conclusion). Bartok PC No 3, very moving in the circumstances. Tchaikovsky 'Francesca da Rimini' - just gets more and more exciting, especially in Stokowski's famous old recording.
Quote from: vandermolen on August 20, 2009, 12:25:53 PM
What are your six (or so) favourite endings in a piece of music - and why?
1 Shostakovich Symphony No 4 - ends in the deepest gloom, haunting, very moving and powerful, especially in its historical context of The Great Purges of the 1930s in which millions disappeared into gulags or died. (also his Piano Quintet)
2 Havergal Brian Symphony No 8 - haunting, enigmatic - wonderful.
3 Tchaikovsky Symphony No 6 Pathetique - heartbreaking - ends in glowering darkness.
4 Vaughan Williams Symphony No 6 'We are such stuff as dreams are made on' ends on the up chord - drifts off into eternity 'like an Amen which does not resolve itself' (Stephen Johnston). His choral work 'Hodie' ends with a wonderfully life-affirming section 'Ring out ye crystal spheres). His Symphony No 9 I find very moving at the end where three huge monolithic chords rise up and then drift away to the sound of harps.
5 Mahler Symphony No 6 - earth-shattering, epic conclusion
6 Shostakovich Symphony No 11 'The Year 1905' - just very noisy and exciting.
Daft topic but there you go :)
This is a former thread, and I was perusing the one on great openings. I just finished listening to several Bax works, and I am still mesmerized by the wonderful ending to his 3rd. So I thought I'd simply add this. Then I recalled i mentioned the Bax before. Wonderful symphony the 3rd. As indeed are all seven symphonies of Bax.
I never posted on this thread the first time around, so time to cheat!
Ravel: La valse. After all the buildup of dissonance and tension, the change of time signature for the final bar is a stroke of genius.
Stravinsky: Requiem Canticles. The bell-like Postlude is an amazing way to end a composing career.
Beethoven: op 111. Needs no explanation.
Prokofiev: 7th symphony. The perfect ending to a bittersweet, emotionally ambiguous work. The flourish he was bullied into adding at the end is an abomination, and any conductor who plays it in this day and age should have their license revoked on the spot. :-)
Scriabin: Vers la flamme. We have liftoff!
Honegger: Symphonie liturgique. And in the ruins of Europe, birds still sing.
My thoughts today:
Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique
Vaughan Williams: Symphony No 9 (those harps)
Delius: Requiem
Bax: Symphony No 5 (wonderful sense of 'homecoming')
Arnold: Symphony 9
Arnell Symphony 5
What! No mention of Bolero? Concerto for the left hand? Daphnis and Chloé? l'Enfant et les sortilèges? Ravel was a master in great endings!
And:
for sheer power : Pijper symphony nr 2 ( organ, 3 piano's, 8 horns...)
unsuspected: Honegger's pianoconcertino
Pompous & crazy : Respighi's Feste Romane
Frank Martin : Petite symphonie concertante
Dutilleux : pianosonata
Ligeti : Requiem
Beethoven: Egmont and Leonore overture no.3
Rimsky Korsakov: scheherazade
Ravel: Bolero
Quote from: edward on July 22, 2010, 06:58:36 PM
Scriabin: Vers la flamme. We have liftoff!
Great call. This may be the greatest ending to a piano work I've ever heard.
Le sacre, of course.
Both Shostakovich's Fourth & Eighth, an especially impressive coup, as the latter is in some ways modeled upon the former.
The ending of Prokofiev's Romeo & Juliet always gives me chills, and not just as a result of following the story.
Hindemith's Opus 49 Konzertmusik (piano, brass, two harps) has an especially satisfying, inventive ending.
J. S. Bach, Passacaglia in C
Mozart, Symphony No. 35 "Haffner"
Beethoven, Symphony No. 9
Mussorgsky-Ravel, Pictures at an Exhibition
Sibelius, Symphony No. 5
Ippolitov-Ivanov, Caucasian Sketches, first series (Procession of the Sirdar)
Deems Taylor, Through the Looking Glass
My next thread will be '6 great symphonic middle bits' - so get thinking ;D
Quote from: vandermolen on July 25, 2010, 01:10:57 AM
My next thread will be '6 great symphonic middle bits' - so get thinking ;D
Even more likely great slow. elegaic middle movements!
Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring-- the rising flute / silence / cataclysm! Speechless.
Beethoven: the hymn-like ending of Symphony No. 6 brings me to tears every time.
Sibelius: The broad plagal numinous ending of Tapiola-- what a swan song for Sibelius!
Takemitsu: The haunting, forlorn, almost perverse oboe solo trailing off at the end of Tree-Line.
Bach: The Art of Fugue --if you can call it an ending! Its still such a shock to me to hear this.
Debussy: La Mer-- absolutely stirring and tumultuous, like the sea itself.
Quote from: jowcol on July 25, 2010, 05:32:26 AM
Even more likely great slow. elegaic middle movements!
How true ;)
Quote from: Acediac on July 25, 2010, 02:03:18 PM
Bach: The Art of Fugue --if you can call it an ending! Its still such a shock to me to hear this.
Are you referring to the fact that Bach died before finishing it?
Quote from: Acediac on July 25, 2010, 02:03:18 PM
Debussy: La Mer-- absolutely stirring and tumultuous, like the sea itself.
I quite agree but I've been castigated for this opinion.
Janacek's Glagolitic Mass ends with a triumphant ...Intrada!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p36leeTGjF4 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p36leeTGjF4)
Quote from: vandermolen on July 25, 2010, 01:10:57 AM
My next thread will be '6 great symphonic middle bits' - so get thinking ;D
Just finished listening to the Butterworth 4th. I've commented on it before. Just wanted to state That the ending in the last movemen t is intensely dramatic. Quite a finale!
Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on July 23, 2010, 05:05:42 AM
The ending of Prokofiev's Romeo & Juliet always gives me chills, and not just as a result of following the story.
Completely agree with Karl.
So my 6 (fine I cheated and included 8!! ;) ) favourite endings are:
Prokofiev Romeo and Juliet - So hauntingly beautiful, I always feel like weeping when I hear that beautiful C Major chord enter with the Juliet theme in the winds accompanied by the beautiful chords on strings and piano!
Elgar Symphony no.2 - Such a magical ending... perfection!
Respighi Feste Romane/Pini di Roma For the festivals, such a thrilling ending with mindblowing orchestration and jollity! For the pines, such a powerful, glorious finish!
Bruckner Symphony no.5 So powerful! After all those fugal episodes, the brass chorale theme bursts through, absolutely glorious!
Tchaikovsky Francesca da Rimini Absolutely thrilling!
Mahler Symphony no.8/9 Such powerful endings, in such different ways. The glory of the final movement of no.8 makes me shiver with the immense power! The serenity and beauty of the end of no.9 always leaves me with a tear in my eye. Mahler wrote his death through music in these final passages, and it is just like I am actually weeping for him when I am listening to it...
Arnold Cooke, Fourth Symphony from 1974. One of those discoveries I made on the Unsung Composers forum. 8)
Quote from: pjme on July 22, 2010, 11:26:48 PM
What! No mention of Bolero? Concerto for the left hand? Daphnis and Chloé? l'Enfant et les sortilèges? Ravel was a master in great endings!
And:
for sheer power : Pijper symphony nr 2 ( organ, 3 piano's, 8 horns...)
unsuspected: Honegger's pianoconcertino
Pompous & crazy : Respighi's Feste Romane
Frank Martin : Petite symphonie concertante
Dutilleux : pianosonata
Ligeti : Requiem
I'll second Honegger's tendency to poke fun at endings. I love that humorous piece.
Harris Symphony 3- three tragic chords
Stravinsky- Sym in C- oh, that ending... those strings... the very last chord (only Stravinsky/Sony)
Totally agree with Sergei Sergeyevich's Romeo & Juliet (The piano piece set's ending, too!), Sibelius Tapiola, Stravinsky Rite
Others:
Stravinsky's Firebird
Schubert's Death & Maiden quartet, 21st piano sonata, D.960
Schumann: violin sonata no.1, no.2, too
Beethoven: 5th Symphony, from the transition from 3rd movement, SQ Op.59 No. 1, SQ No. 14 in C sharp minor, Op. 131 – VII. Allegro, SQ No. 15 in A minor, Op. 132 – V. Allegro appassionato, PS's No. 14, Hammerklavier, Appassionata, Waldstein, Pathetique, Der Sturm
Chopin: 24 Prelludes - No. 24
Prokofiev: Piano Sonata No. 6
Debussy: Khamma
Bach: Ciaconna from Partita No. 2 for solo violin
I thought that this looked like an interesting thread - and then realised that I'd started it myself - which is a bit worrying :-\
Still, today's list:
Stanley Bate Symphony No 4 (hopeless defience - right up my street)
Honegger Symphony 5 (The Three Ds) - just sort of peters away - oddly moving
Vaughan Williams 'Hodie' ('Ring out ye crystal spheres') - one of the most inspiriting endings I know of.
Walton Symphony No 1: Very exciting jagged explosions - influenced by the ending of Sibelius's Symphony No 5.
William Schuman: Symphony No 6 - visionary and darkly moving - I think that it's his greatest work.
Shostakovich: Symphony No 15 - movingly brings back the tick-tock percussion pattern from his 4th Symphony (a final defiant gesture?)
Quote from: vandermolen on October 26, 2011, 01:47:31 PM
I thought that this looked like an interesting thread - and then realised that I'd started it myself - which is a bit worrying :-\
Still, today's list:
Stanley Bate Symphony No 4 (hopeless defience - right up my street)
Honegger Symphony 5 (The Three Ds) - just sort of peters away - oddly moving
Vaughan Williams 'Hodie' ('Ring out ye crystal spheres') - one of the most inspiriting endings I know of.
Walton Symphony No 1: Very exciting jagged explosions - influenced by the ending of Sibelius's Symphony No 5.
William Schuman: Symphony No 6 - visionary and darkly moving - I think that it's his greatest work.
Shostakovich: Symphony No 15 - movingly brings back the tick-tock percussion pattern from his 4th Symphony (a final defiant gesture?)
Great list. And yes: the endings of Honegger's Fifth and Shosta's Fifteenth are comparable expressions of a `nearing death awareness'. The same applies to Nielsen's Sixth, perhaps even as a whole but also its finale. These three symphonies are clearly valedictory, perhaps intuitively, and therefore very moving. They end as if the heart stops pounding.
Quote from: vandermolen on October 26, 2011, 01:47:31 PM
Stanley Bate Symphony No 4 (hopeless defience - right up my street)
And yes, you are right about Bate's Fourth too. Hopeless defiance. At first, I thought that his energetic Third - comparable to Walton's First IMHO - is the better symphony. But the more I play the Fourth, the more it grows and the more it becomes a tragic and quite unique piece of music - unique because of its special `tone' that you catch well here.
I love lists! But why only 6? ;D
Britten: Gloriana - in the final moments of Britten's opera, several of the lines are spoken rather than sung, melodies from the previous acts reoccur, and an offstage choir ends it all as it fades into silence...incredibly dramatic.
Prokofiev: Symphony No.7 - I've already seen it listed on this thread, but I had to give it another vote. If you haven't already, listen to Tennstedt's recording, it's almost Wagnerian.
Berlioz: La damnation de Faust / Requiem - I know I chose two, but they are similar and equally heavenly (bad pun). Marguerite's acceptance into heaven in Faust, and the over-a-minute long "amen" ending the Requiem are both very powerful.
Adams: Harmonielehre - Not sure where to actually label the "ending" of this piece, the final movement feels like a race that may never end, quite exhilarating.
Berg: Wozzeck - A heavier than heavy interlude leads the story into the brief final scene of kids playing on the street, including the son of Maria...absolutely chilling.
Haydn: Symphony No.45, "Farewell" - Whether live (with the performers leaving) or heard on a recording, the final dissolving minutes of this piece compliment the first 3 1/2 movements perfectly.
Quote from: Christo on October 26, 2011, 02:14:15 PM
And yes, you are right about Bate's Fourth too. Hopeless defiance. At first, I thought that his energetic Third - comparable to Walton's First IMHO - is the better symphony. But the more I play the Fourth, the more it grows and the more it becomes a tragic and quite unique piece of music - unique because of its special `tone' that you catch well here.
Very well put Johan - I totally agree.
Quote from: TheGSMoeller on October 26, 2011, 07:48:09 PM
I love lists! But why only 6? ;D
Britten: Gloriana - in the final moments of Britten's opera, several of the lines are spoken rather than sung, melodies from the previous acts reoccur, and an offstage choir ends it all as it fades into silence...incredibly dramatic.
Prokofiev: Symphony No.7 - I've already seen it listed on this thread, but I had to give it another vote. If you haven't already, listen to Tennstedt's recording, it's almost Wagnerian.
Berlioz: La damnation de Faust / Requiem - I know I chose two, but they are similar and equally heavenly (bad pun). Marguerite's acceptance into heaven in Faust, and the over-a-minute long "amen" ending the Requiem are both very powerful.
Adams: Harmonielehre - Not sure where to actually label the "ending" of this piece, the final movement feels like a race that may never end, quite exhilarating.
Berg: Wozzeck - A heavier than heavy interlude leads the story into the brief final scene of kids playing on the street, including the son of Maria...absolutely chilling.
Haydn: Symphony No.45, "Farewell" - Whether live (with the performers leaving) or heard on a recording, the final dissolving minutes of this piece compliment the first 3 1/2 movements perfectly.
I must listen to the Adams and the Prokofiev. The limit to six is totally arbitrary. It dates from my student days when I joined a fine music library in High Street Kensington (London). You were only allowed three LPs at a time - so I got my dad to join too - which gave me six LPs - so I was constantly having to limit myself to this number. But please feel free to choose more. :)
Quote from: vandermolen on October 27, 2011, 01:25:46 PM
I must listen to the Adams and the Prokofiev. The limit to six is totally arbitrary. It dates from my student days when I joined a fine music library in High Street Kensington (London). You were only allowed three LPs at a time - so I got my dad to join too - which gave me six LPs - so I was constantly having to limit myself to this number. But please feel free to choose more. :)
My library is the same, and 6 is fine, I would actually prefer it over something like
45 Great Endings in Music, for that I would need a bottle of wine and pull an all-nighter. ;D
And yes, listen to Prokofiev's 7th, and make sure it's with the original soft ending (Tennstedt, Ozawa).
Not sure if these have been mentioned yet....
Tchaikovsky - Piano Concerto 1 (1st movement)
Beethoven op132 (1st movement)
Beethoven - Symphony 9 (1st movement)
Holst - Planets - Jupiter
Pijper - piano concerto
An "I've just run out of manuscript paper" ending.
Quote from: TheGSMoeller on October 26, 2011, 07:48:09 PM
tic.
Prokofiev: Symphony No.7 - I've already seen it listed on this thread, but I had to give it another vote. If you haven't already, listen to Tennstedt's recording, it's almost Wagnerian.
I have to agree with Edward's rant a page of so back that the happy ending that tacked on at the very end of the 7th in some versions undermines one of the greatest valedictory statements made by a composer, IMO.
Quote from: jowcol on October 28, 2011, 01:19:21 PM
I have to agree with Edward's rant a page of so back that the happy ending that tacked on at the very end of the 7th in some versions undermines one of the greatest valedictory statements made by a composer, IMO.
And the reason that Prokofiev added the
"happy" at the end of the symphony validates this even more.
Last movements of
Schubert Ninth
Prokofiev 7 & 8th Piano Sonatas
Debussy La Mer
Brahms 1st Symphony
Roussel 3rd
Beethoven Fifth
Beethoven Op. 57
Stravinsky Rite of Spring
My list could be:
Wagner Der Ring des Nibelungen
Beethoven Symphony No.9
Mahler Symphony No.6/No.8
Tchaikovsky 1812 Ouverture
Respighi I Pini di Roma
Ravel Daphnis et Chloé
Apart from those, I could also include Wagner's Tristan, Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet, Liszt's Les Preludes, Rachmaninov's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini and Stravinsky' The Firebird :)
Quote from: Lisztianwagner on November 09, 2011, 05:33:41 AM
My list could be:
Wagner Der Ring des Nibelungen
Beethoven Symphony No.9
Mahler Symphony No.6/No.8
Tchaikovsky 1812 Ouverture
Respighi I Pini di Roma
Ravel Daphnis et Chloé
Apart from those, I could also include Wagner's Tristan, Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet, Liszt's Les Preludes, Rachmaninov's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini and Stravinsky' The Firebird :)
Great choices Ilaria! The ending to
Der Ring des Nibelungen is certainly one I should have included on my list, so beautiful and powerful. Couldn't imagine a more perfect ending!
Quote from: madaboutmahler on November 09, 2011, 09:57:20 AM
Great choices Ilaria! The ending to Der Ring des Nibelungen is certainly one I should have included on my list, so beautiful and powerful. Couldn't imagine a more perfect ending!
Daniel, which recording did you finally decide upon for
Der Ring des Nibelungen? :)
Quote from: ChamberNut on November 09, 2011, 10:06:31 AM
Daniel, which recording did you finally decide upon for Der Ring des Nibelungen? :)
Hi Ray, I still have not got one of my own :( I managed to borrow the Karajan off a friend, and listened to Gotterdammerung which was excellent. So it will probably be the Karajan on my Christmas list! Read that you have just brought the Solti - enjoy! :)
Some pieces, you're not particular how they end, but you're grateful when they do end ; )
Quote from: karlhenning on November 09, 2011, 10:24:29 AM
Some pieces, you're not particular how they end, but you're grateful when they do end ; )
Bite your tongue, Monsieur Henning! 8)
Quote from: madaboutmahler on November 09, 2011, 10:18:43 AM
Hi Ray, I still have not got one of my own :( I managed to borrow the Karajan off a friend, and listened to Gotterdammerung which was excellent. So it will probably be the Karajan on my Christmas list! Read that you have just brought the Solti - enjoy! :)
If I ever get a 3rd set, it will be the Karajan Ring, for sure. :)
Still waiting for the Solti Ring to arrive in the mail. Should be very soon. :)
Quote from: madaboutmahler on November 09, 2011, 10:18:43 AM
Hi Ray, I still have not got one of my own :( I managed to borrow the Karajan off a friend, and listened to Gotterdammerung which was excellent. So it will probably be the Karajan on my Christmas list! Read that you have just brought the Solti - enjoy! :)
That's great, Karajan's Ring Cycle is certainly one the best I've ever heard, it is definitely worth buying :) But you have to start listening from Das Rheingold, the first of the Ring operas.
Also the Solti is excellent though, very passionate overwhelming, and so is the Barenboim too :)
Quote from: Lisztianwagner on November 09, 2011, 01:14:25 PM
That's great, Karajan's Ring Cycle is certainly one the best I've ever heard, it is definitely worth buying :) But you have to start listening from Das Rheingold, the first of the Ring operas.
Also the Solti is excellent though, very passionate overwhelming, and so is the Barenboim too :)
Yes, I suppose I should have started with
Das Rheingold... :( But I so desperately wanted to hear
Gotterdammerung after being amazed by the excerpts I had heard, such as the Immolation Scene! I shall start from the beggining next time :)
Karajan, Solti and Barenboim are the three I am considering at the moment - if you had to pick one, Ilaria, which one would it be? ;)
Tabula Rasa. The individual instruments fall into silence as they're unable to keep with the tonal descent and then it's only the double bass drifting into eternity..
Quote from: madaboutmahler on November 09, 2011, 01:36:36 PM
Yes, I suppose I should have started with Das Rheingold... :( But I so desperately wanted to hear Gotterdammerung after being amazed by the excerpts I had heard, such as the Immolation Scene! I shall start from the beggining next time :)
Karajan, Solti and Barenboim are the three I am considering at the moment - if you had to pick one, Ilaria, which one would it be? ;)
I think the answer is expected, of course it would be Karajan ;)
I can share the feeling,
Gotterdammerung is absolutely poetic and powerful, with that sublime, passionate finale (indeed, my favourite Ring opera alongside
Siegfried)......but I think if you start from
Das Rheingold and continue listening to the whole cycle, at the end you'll be more thouched and involved by the extreme beauty of
Gotterdammerung :)
Holst The Planets, Neptune, what a way to end a work!, a female chorus that ends in eerie nothingness.
Dudes! Dudettes!
I have just skimmed the pages, and must agree with the choices, with which I am acquainted (except for Prokofiev's Seventh Symphony, for which I have a blind ear, but that is another story.)
I am amazed, however, that the name Arnold Schoenberg has not yet appeared! (Unless my skimming eyes missed it!)
Allow me to offer for your consideration the endings of:
Arnold Schoenberg: Verklärte Nacht
Arnold Schoenberg: Pelleas und Melisande
Arnold Schoenberg: Erwartung
and possibly the most amazing ending in opera:
Arnold Schoenberg: Moses und Aron
and possibly the most amazing and beatific ending in a cantata:
Arnold Schoenberg: Jakobsleiter
Quote from: Lisztianwagner on November 09, 2011, 01:55:48 PM
I think the answer is expected, of course it would be Karajan ;)
I can share the feeling, Gotterdammerung is absolutely poetic and powerful, with that sublime, passionate finale (indeed, my favourite Ring opera alongside Siegfried)......but I think if you start from Das Rheingold and continue listening to the whole cycle, at the end you'll be more thouched and involved by the extreme beauty of Gotterdammerung :)
Oh, of course :) How silly of me to even doubt it would be anyone apart from Karajan! ;)
I see what you mean, I can understand that the finale to Gotterdammerung would be even more touching after listening to the whole cycle! :)
Hope you are well Ilaria!
Quote from: Octo_Russ on November 09, 2011, 04:16:52 PM
Holst The Planets, Neptune, what a way to end a work!, a female chorus that ends in eerie nothingness.
Certainly agree... perfect, magical ending.
Quote from: Cato on November 09, 2011, 05:05:45 PM
I am amazed, however, that the name Arnold Schoenberg has not yet appeared! (Unless my skimming eyes missed it!)
and possibly the most amazing ending in opera:
Arnold Schoenberg: Moses und Aron
Certainly, Schoenberg did write many great endings. Pelleas und Melisande and Verklarkte Nacht in particular for me, as you mention.
Although surely the most amazing ending in opera has to go to
Gotterdammerung?!
Quote from: madaboutmahler on November 10, 2011, 08:10:47 AM
Oh, of course :) How silly of me to even doubt it would be anyone apart from Karajan! ;)
I see what you mean, I can understand that the finale to Gotterdammerung would be even more touching after listening to the whole cycle! :)
Hope you are well Ilaria!
Certainly agree... perfect, magical ending.
Certainly, Schoenberg did write many great endings. Pelleas und Melisande and Verklarkte Nacht in particular for me, as you mention.
Although surely the most amazing ending in opera has to go to Gotterdammerung?!
I'm fine, thank you, hope you're well too :) I suppose you're very excited for the concert this Saturday, I wish you all the best :)
I agree about Neptune as well, what a sublime ending, so evocative and mysterious!
Well, if it couldn't go to
Gotterdammerung,
Tristan und Isolde would certainly have the most beautiful ending in opera, haha ;)
Quote from: Octo_Russ on November 09, 2011, 04:16:52 PM
Holst The Planets, Neptune, what a way to end a work!, a female chorus that ends in eerie nothingness.
If you like that, I'd suggest Debussy's Nocturnes (which I've always liked better than La Mer).
Similar eerie ending-- sans chorus, would be RVW's 6th.
Quote from: jowcol on November 10, 2011, 12:26:30 PM
If you like that, I'd suggest Debussy's Nocturnes (which I've always liked better than La Mer).
This. ;D
Quote from: Lisztianwagner on November 10, 2011, 12:09:40 PM
I'm fine, thank you, hope you're well too :) I suppose you're very excited for the concert this Saturday, I wish you all the best :)
I agree about Neptune as well, what a sublime ending, so evocative and mysterious!
Well, if it couldn't go to Gotterdammerung, Tristan und Isolde would certainly have the most beautiful ending in opera, haha ;)
Glad you are well! I am rather happy as well, thank you! :) Yes, very excited about the concert on Saturday - although a little nervous about what the response from the audience will be! I hope they will like it! :) Also happy because of A. (see facebook! ;) ) :) Thank you Ilaria!
Another great ending! Other amazing operatic endings would be those of Strauss!
Quote from: madaboutmahler on November 11, 2011, 09:02:14 AM
Glad you are well! I am rather happy as well, thank you! :) Yes, very excited about the concert on Saturday - although a little nervous about what the response from the audience will be! I hope they will like it! :) Also happy because of A. (see facebook! ;) ) :) Thank you Ilaria!
Another great ending! Other amazing operatic endings would be those of Strauss!
And specifically the ending to
Elektra! 0:)
Quote from: Cato on November 11, 2011, 11:13:22 AM
And specifically the ending to Elektra! 0:)
Oh, yes! And
Salome.
Three more exquisite (the last one, brilliantly understated) operatic endings off the top of my head: Schreker's
Die Gezeichneten, Zemlinsky's
Eine florentinische Tragödie and Schoeck's
Penthesilea.
And why not also Die Frau ohne Schatten? ;)
Quote from: Lisztianwagner on November 11, 2011, 02:11:21 PM
And why not also Die Frau ohne Schatten? ;)
Definitely again! ;D That would certainly be one of my all time favourite operatic endings! :)
Quote from: madaboutmahler on November 11, 2011, 02:14:39 PM
Definitely again! ;D That would certainly be one of my all time favourite operatic endings! :)
It would be one of my favourites too, and moreover, absolutely my favourite Strausses opera :)
Quote from: Lisztianwagner on November 11, 2011, 02:20:31 PM
It would be one of my favourites too, and moreover, absolutely my favourite Strausses opera :)
Would be hard for me to pick an absolute favourite Strauss opera! Love them all so much!