Golden moments

[Gerhard Griesel]

A recent discussion about unsung Rachmaninovian PCs has helped me to add some valuable unsung PCs to my collection.

I would therefore like to introduce a new question: If you are listening to a piece of music in the background while doing something else, say reading, what music has the power to make you stop what you are doing and listen intently, tapping your feet or nodding your head, and saying Wow!? Let's try to confine ourselves to examples that are generally shorter than 5 minutes.

I have just listened to such a piece: Kurt Atterburg's Symphony No. 2, 2nd movement, from about 12'00 to the end at 15'55 on the cpo recording. Note how the brass, timpani and strings combine to make this a winner.

More examples?

Gerhard

[sdtom]

The ending of Tchaikovsky's 4th Symphony is one that always grabs my attention, the opening immediately gets you into the piece. It is so full of energy that unless you're feeling ill it leads you into a vivacious work. Again I have way too many CD's of this work but a favorite is the Naxos recording with Alsop conducting the Colorado Symphony, a seldom heard ensemble.
Tom

[mbhaub]

I cannot listen to most classical music as background. Great music demands (and gets) my close attention. If I'm listening I can't read, watch TV, paint, make reeds, or do anything else. I listen. When I am driving long distances, I sometimes will put the Glazunov symphonies in, or the Widor organ symphonies, or wind band marches. But for working around the house, cooking, whatever, it's country/western around here. Yes! You can be a devotee of classical and still enjoy c/w. I would prefer to listen to Alabama or Patsy Cline any time to anything by Stockhausen, Berio, Nono, Carter and that ilk.

[Fronder]

Funny when I've read your question I immediately thought about the 3rd Atterberg's symphony Particularly the second part of the second movement (again... ).

[sdtom]

Another that grabs my attention is the opening of Schubert's Unfinished Symphony.
Tom

[leonagy]

Well, I've four sons, so ALL the music I heard is backgorund!
My great golden moment is the finale of first movement of Bruckner 9th symphony, when the trumpet sound like  a flash

[Dave]

There are plenty of golden moments that spring to mind:
-Raymonda, esp. coda of Act II, Entracte for Act III, Entracte for Scene II, Act I (Glazunov)-esp. if you listen to Svetlanov's rendition with the Bolshoi.
-Slow movements of Myaskovsky's 2nd, 16th, 17th, 20th, & 27th Symphonies.
-Coda of Myaskovsky's 25th Symphony
-First movement of Glazunov's 4th & 6th Symphonies, slow movements of the 1st, 2nd, 7th, and 8th.
-Second movement of Bax's 2nd Symphony, or the finale of his 6th.
-Last movement of Bax's Piano Sonata no. I
-Atterberg's Second Symphony, the second movement of his First, the coda of the Third (exhilarating).
-Coda of Sibelius' 2nd Symphony.
-Finale of Tchaikovsky's 5th.
-Codas of Bruckner's 5th & 8th Symphonies.
-Coda of Joly Braga-Santos' 4th Symphony.
-First movement of Glazunov's Piano Sonata no. I & the Three Etudes (the 2nd Etude most of all)
-The Almond Tree (for piano) by John Ireland
-The Chinese Serenade by Cyril Scott
-Japan's Cherry Blossom prelude (from the 24 preludes by Melartin)
-Slow movement of Melartin's 4th Symphony
-Nielsen's Third Symphony
-Merikanto's "Juha" (esp. the confrontation at the end between Juha and Shemeikka with Marja present).
-Tchaikovsky's Souvenir de Florence
-Glazunov's Third String Quartet (last movement in particular)
-Vaughn Williams' "The Sea" (first movement)
-Sainton's "The Island"
-Glazunov's "The Sea"
-Wagner's Ring Cycle & Tristan und Isode
-Palmgren's "Dragonfly" (from Spring op. 27)
-Balakirev's First Symphony (third movement)
-Mussorgsky's "Boris Godunov" and "Khovanschina"
-Joplin's "Treemonisha"

-->And a lot more. But I'll stop here (unless asked to continue on  . ).

[Alan Howe]

Of course, a lot of these aren't moments at all. And regarding those that are, my question is 'why?'

[TerraEpon]

It's the opposite of unsung, but a specific 'moment' that always comes to mind is the flute solo at the beginning of the recapitulation of the first movment of Dvorak's 9th Symphony. It's such a sublime moment that really...I dunno. But it is,.

[eschiss1]

Also the opposite of unsung, but a certain (well-known) "golden" flash of sunlight in the middle of the slow movement of Brahms' first symphony - achieved by instrumentation (clarinet entry during a solo oboe passage - very good ear for color, that..., bar 42), enharmonic writing/shifts (oboe modulates from G# minor to E-flat major during the same bar "under" the clarinet's held E-flat/D# ambiguous note) ... always have thought very well of that, I think- or at least, well, since I noticed it...

[Alan Howe]

Now that's what I call an explanation!

[semloh]

Moments? Well, outside our remit, there are countless moments in Haydn's works that astound me, moments of pure genius that leave me speechless, especially in the chamber works. There are some 'golden moments' in Mahler's smphonies that would melt any heart.

But, within our UC remit its a different matter. For me, it tends to be passages rather than moments, maybe because I don't know the music as well.