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.
Easy: the counterbassoon introduction to Ravel left hand concerto. Makes me shiver each time..
Quote from: Spineur on November 17, 2016, 11:15:50 AM
Easy: the counterbassoon introduction to Ravel left hand concerto. Makes me shiver each time..
This was also what jumped into my mind immediately.
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
Opening of the Shostakovich a minor symphony.
Opening of L'oiseau de feu.
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Quote from: Spineur on November 17, 2016, 11:15:50 AM
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).
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.
Quote from: Spineur on November 17, 2016, 11:15:50 AM
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
The beginning of Der Abschied, of course.
The tuba/timpani writing in the third section of Elliott Carter's Concerto for Orchestra.
Quote from: Mahlerian on November 17, 2016, 05:45:23 PM
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.
Some of the later moments in R. Strauss' Metamorphosen featuring the cellos and basses.
Nicola Sani, Elements
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GylWfcwMSI&list=PLg5f8G5V0m6EUg212aj4kz6xREZevqk5n
I don't know if this goes low enough but the introduction in Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5 is quite dark sounding.
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)...
Quote from: ritter on November 17, 2016, 11:27:24 PM
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.
Quote from: zamyrabyrd on November 17, 2016, 09:17:31 PM
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.
Quote from: zamyrabyrd on November 17, 2016, 09:17:31 PM
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 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2JBT0HC98I)
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
Arnold Schoenberg's Gurrelieder: Part III, after Waldemar's last song, where his army sings that they must return to the grave ("O koennten wir in Frieden schlafen"). At the end the music descends to an incredibly low C# in the Contrabass Tubas, Contrabass Bassoons, etc. (I do not have my score handy for the bar number), right before the start of Des Sommerwindes Wilde Jagd.
Quote from: North Star on November 17, 2016, 11:49:04 AM
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
What an excellent answer - great piece :)
Quote from: violadude on November 17, 2016, 06:34:43 PM
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.
Yes, that really dark chorale for low winds, the very low harp writing, and so forth are all wonderful examples of Mahler's skill at opening up colors that had been rarely exploited in earlier music.
Here's a good one https://youtu.be/DxOdi3atdBY
Quote from: PerfectWagnerite on November 18, 2016, 06:35:29 AM
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 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2JBT0HC98I)
Indeed, Tchaikovsky gradually increases the range in the Allegro, not only sonority but pitch. I actually did refer to that video yesterday and enjoyed some of it.
Coming in on the backside with something for *gulp* piano:
Liszt's Il Penseroso from Années book 2. In fact, Liszt utilizes the bottom register to excellent effect throughout the entirety of Années. Check it out. 8)
Quote from: Dancing Divertimentian on November 18, 2016, 09:45:39 PM
Coming in on the backside with something for *gulp* piano:
Liszt's Il Penseroso from Années book 2. In fact, Liszt utilizes the bottom register to excellent effect throughout the entirety of Années. Check it out. 8)
Oh gosh, Liszt's
Funerailles plumbing the depths of the lowest octave of the piano, sounding the mournful bells, a truly impressive piece!
Quote from: zamyrabyrd on November 18, 2016, 10:06:06 PM
Oh gosh, Liszt's Funerailles plumbing the depths of the lowest octave of the piano, sounding the mournful bells, a truly impressive piece!
Yes, another great example!
Quote from: zamyrabyrd on November 18, 2016, 08:51:14 PM
Indeed, Tchaikovsky gradually increases the range in the Allegro, not only sonority but pitch. I actually did refer to that video yesterday and enjoyed some of it.
Glad you did.
There is also a cool couple of moments in the beginning of the second mvt right before the horn enters with the main melody.
Quote from: ritter on November 17, 2016, 11:27:24 PM
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 knowhere (due to the covered orchestra pit)...
+1!
from that low E flat an entire world will be born.
I like to think that, somehow, that low E flat is the foundation, the "ground bass" of the whole Ring cycle.
Quote from: (poco) Sforzando on November 17, 2016, 06:11:43 PM
The tuba/timpani writing in the third section of Elliott Carter's Concerto for Orchestra.
I'll have to listen to that again. I've got a recording, but I've only ever listened to it once. *makes mental note*
I'm a little bit surprised that no one's included the organ in any of their favourite "low" moments. Opening of Strauss' Also Sprach, Schnittke's 3rd Symphony etc.
There's a fantasia by the elder Ferrabosco called Di sei bassi which is, as it says on the tin, for 6 bass viols. Could be the dream-music of a herd of sleeping Apatosauruses.
Quote from: Maestro267 on November 17, 2016, 11:11:58 AM
What are your favourite passages in music scored for the lowest bass instruments?
So many - ottomh:
Tchaik Sym #6 - opening bassoon/basses
Stravinsky - Firebird - opening
Rite of Spring - "Kiss of the Earth" [just before "Dancing out of the Earth", final section of Part I - wonderfully creepy, spooky four-bar passage with two contrabassoons playing over sustained Bb-C-E triad in bassoons...amazing effect
Wagner - Siegried - opening - bassoons in thirds..
same opera - Fafner's Awakening to Siegrfried, [following famous horn call]
Schuman Sym #3 - Fugue section, conclusion of Part I, after the big timpani solo - the bass trombone pedal Ebs - which persist at length as Schuman "stacks up" the sonorities on top of it - higher trombones, horns, trumpets, etc...great effect, and tremendously strenuous for the bass trombonist, who must maintain a sustained FFFortissimo, with loud passages immediately preceding and following it. great sonority!!
The end of the 2nd movement of Sofia Gubaidulina's Pro et contra has about 3-4 minutes of really low sounds from basses, bass drums, trombones, tuba, contrabassoon etc. (peppered with a few tam-tam scrapes and the like)
Quote from: Maestro267 on November 17, 2016, 11:11:58 AM
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.
+1
Also, I agree about the Ravel PC and the opening of Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra.
The opening of the two following...
https://www.youtube.com/v/jRDTcrprBiQ
if we're allowing (gulp:-) piano music, then
https://www.youtube.com/v/uDNy4YuCxdk
Quote from: Maestro267 on November 25, 2016, 10:40:18 AM
The end of the 2nd movement of Sofia Gubaidulina's Pro et contra has about 3-4 minutes of really low sounds from basses, bass drums, trombones, tuba, contrabassoon etc. (peppered with a few tam-tam scrapes and the like)
There's a similar passage in Corigliano's Sym #1 - Mvt II Tarantella - c. ms. 203 - contrabassoon, contrabass clarinet, tuba - a very low rising line over sustained timpani percussion...it depicts the creeping, swelling madness and mental dissolution brought on by AIDs dementia...
Mahler 10th, final mvt, bass drum and tuba.
Quote from: Heck148 on November 27, 2016, 05:57:32 AM
There's a similar passage in Corigliano's Sym #1 - Mvt II Tarantella - c. ms. 203 - contrabassoon, contrabass clarinet, tuba - a very low rising line over sustained timpani percussion...it depicts the creeping, swelling madness and mental dissolution brought on by AIDs dementia...
Yes, that's another recent favourite of mine. Along with the climax of the 3rd-movt. Chaconne. Absolutely overwhelming and crushing music!
The opening of Tchaikovsky symphony no 6 also featured growling of instruments in low register. Quite effective.
My all-time favorite low passage tho, has to be Berlioz "Symphonie Fantastique" mvt V - the Dies Irae tune sounded forth by 4 bassoons [lowest register], and 2 tubas, an octave higher...This makes a huge sound if done right - the tubas provide enormous resonance, while the low bassoons can put plenty of bite, "edge" on the sound...you have a very centered sound, plus huge resonance around it...wonderful effect.
forget the ophicleides, they sound like crap - Berlioz ditched them ASAP as soon as the valved tubas became available.
Another one, because why not:
Havergal Brian, Symphony No. 1, third movt., the trombones (including a contrabass), with some very low notes, both pianissimo (near the beginning, with harp octaves), and fortissimo (during the famous xylophone solo, building up to the martial climax).
Oh boy! Lots of low moments! Let's see:
Bartok: Piano Concerto #1, opening
Bartok: Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion, opening
Debussy: La Mer, opening of first and third movements
Haydn: Symphony #3 "Drumroll", opening
Mahler: Symphony #1, opening of third movement
Mahler: Symphony #2 "Resurrection", any number of moments in the first and last movements, plus the very end of the third movement
Ravel: Mother Goose Suite, Conversations of Beauty and the Beast, contrabassoon solo
Shostakovich: Symphonies #2 and 10, openings; Symphony #4, opening of third movement, and especially #13 "Babi Yar", opening of fourth movement
Tchaikovsky: Piano Trio, closing; Symphony #6, opening and especially closing
Trivia note: In the aforementioned Tchaikovsky #5, the instruments playing are clarinets, violas, cellos (divided in 2), and basses.