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martle
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« on: 23:11:59, 27-02-2007 » |
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Ok, so this is the sort of thread that got some really good discussion going in the 'old days', back over there.
For various reasons I've been thinking about beginnings and endings recently. What would you consider your top openings and endings? (yes, yes, I know, it'll all be different tomorrow, but hey...) Name them and say why.
I've been thinking operas (but don't feel confined to that). For me:
Great opening: Verdi, Otello. That storm thing! It just keeps going, and 'bleeds' into the action after O has safely landed, like a constant threat (and of course a foreboding of the impending tragedy). I like it because there's scarcely anything so BIG in the rest of the opera, and it's as if Verdi had planned it so that the energy of that opening resonates for the next three hours.
Great ending: Berg, Wozzeck. Heard it for the first time in years on Private Passions a few weeks ago, and blown away all over again. Something about the boy's voice counterpointed against the 'ticking', amorphous, empty triplets, which then just stop, like a film reel running out... wow.
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Green. Always green.
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Ron Dough
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« Reply #1 on: 23:45:31, 27-02-2007 » |
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Top beginning? The opening of Tippett's Midsummer Marriage; it's as if the force of his inspiration is erupting like a volcano; the overflow of its nervy, excited joie de vivre with those bounding syncopations against ecstatic lyricism is just the most exhilarating kick-off to any piece I know...
Top end's a tad more difficult, though on many days it will be one of a quartet of Britten operas: Billy Budd, Turn of the Screw, Noye's Fludde or Midsummer Night's Dream; in each case, it's not the final bars but what leads up to them: sequences with devastating harmonic twists. In Budd it's the overlaying of Billy's vision of redemption soaring over the chords that seal the understanding of his fate; in Screw it's the ineffable sweetness of the high string triads which open the passacaglia sequence which counterpoints the crux of the drama; in Noye it's the combination of the Tallis Canon with the opposing tonalities of the bugles and the handbells, and in MND the bewitching and beguiling setting of "Now until the break of day" with the magic of Tytania's phrases soaring over everything else...
On other days of course it must be the head-banging climax to Le Sacre, and I've just been reminded while posting in the other place of the extraordinary end to David del Tredici's Final Alice, a brilliantly clever aural pun as a sign-off after a passage of affecting yet unaffected beauty. Hair-on-the-back-of-the-neck-stuff, without a doubt.
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reiner_torheit
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« Reply #2 on: 23:59:57, 27-02-2007 » |
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Did you know Verdi originally wrote an Overture to OTELLO, then struck it in favour of the current opening? Nor did I, until Rob Cowan played the overture (which still survives) in December last year. It's a very decent work, in fact. Fabulous starts... GIANNI SCHICCHI... OEDIPUS REX... Astounding ends... Robert Ward's THE CRUCIBLE... SUOR ANGELICA*... Ullmann's THE EMPEROR OF ATLANTIS (a heretical parody of Ein Feste Burg) ... KHOVANSCHINA for being the most ghastly ending... (I am still amazed no-one has tried to reset the location of this with Jim Jones giving the final orders...)... Tchaikovsky's MAZEPPA (surely the sickest ending imaginable, but set to utterly serene music...)... MADAM BUTTERFLY (the final chord)... and the gorgeously anarchic ending of FALSTAFF, with a fugue declaring "everyone's nuts!"  * although this very much depends on how you interpret the final stage-direction! PS I suppose the opening of RHEINGOLD is remarkable in setting the boundaries of scope for what is to follow... |
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« Last Edit: 00:05:21, 28-02-2007 by reiner_torheit »
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They say travel broadens the mind - but in many cases travel has made the mind not exactly broader, but thicker.
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roslynmuse
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« Reply #3 on: 00:14:57, 28-02-2007 » |
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When I read Martle's post, I immediately thought - "top opening - Midsummer Marriage" - and then found that Ron had got there before me! Ron, you've got it exactly right! A close operatic second for me is the opening of Les Troyens (the curtain-up immediately version). And, Martle, the end of Wozzeck does it for me too. I must confess to being wiped out by the end of Bluebeard's Castle every time too!
Turning to instrumental music - the opening of Rachmaninov Symphony No 2 always stirs up something inside me, as does the opening of Mahler 1; the last three notes of the Chopin 24 Preludes and the last two chords of the B flat minor Sonata still thrill (and horrify) me, as does the end of the Ravel left hand concerto. And, speaking of Ravel, the end of Miroirs; the openings of L'enfant et les sortileges and L'heure espagnole...I could go on, being a complete Ravel addict!
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SimonSagt!
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« Reply #4 on: 01:29:00, 28-02-2007 » |
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"...as if the force of his inspiration is erupting like a volcano; the overflow of its nervy, excited joie de vivre with those bounding syncopations against ecstatic lyricism..."
Gulp! Whatever you're on, Ron - please may I have some?  |
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The Emperor suspected they were right. But he dared not stop and so on he walked, more proudly than ever. And his courtiers behind him held high the train... that wasn't there at all.
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Kittybriton
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« Reply #5 on: 01:34:52, 28-02-2007 » |
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I rather like the opening of Dvorak's Symphony "From the New World" (no. 9?). It promises something immense, but what you get is Hovis.  |
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Click me -> About meor me -> my handmade storeNo, I'm not a complete idiot. I'm only a halfwit. In fact I'm actually a catfish. |
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stuart macrae
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« Reply #6 on: 16:52:07, 28-02-2007 » |
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Openings:
Parsifal - especially in Bayreuth where the first sounds appear like some utterly new substance floating up from the depths of the building.
The Cunning Little Vixen - just captivating, edge of the seat stuff.
Endings: (hmm, trickier as it tends to depend on context, doesn't it?)
Sibelius Symphony 5 (and actually the 4th and 6th Symphonies, and Tapiola have pretty special endings too...)
Bartok String Quartet no.3 - frenetic and definitely leaves me wanting more.
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martle
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« Reply #7 on: 18:27:12, 28-02-2007 » |
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Ron, interesting you should have chosen Tippett, Midsummer Marriage, because I very nearly gave King Priam as my top opener! In a way it has the same effect, for me, as the storm music of Otello in that those terrifying fanfares, which seem to come from everywhere, resonate well into the act and beyond the length of time they're literally present. Both Tippetts are pretty special! (For the life of me I can't think how The Knot Garden begins. I'll have to root it out and listen...)
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Green. Always green.
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Ron Dough
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« Reply #8 on: 18:52:32, 28-02-2007 » |
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Martle, Priam could easily also have been my top beginning (though it lacks the sensual, sexual embrace of MM). Its ending, as if it's just disappeared into another dimension, is pretty striking too. As I've mentioned elsewhere (a place that once was Eden but is now a Waste Land) Priam's opening may owe something to Schoek's Penthesilea - the language is very different, but there's a striking similarity between the idea of antiphonal fanfares and offstage voices. There's a leading character in common, too.....
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Martin
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« Reply #9 on: 19:25:06, 28-02-2007 » |
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Opening of Die Walkure is a winner for me; the stormier the better!
The start of Elektra is also pretty good (well, 'pretty' isn't really the word).
The end of Die Frau ohne Schatten, though it's a long time since I heard it, remains strong in my memory. I don't know if it's just the ending itself, or the sense of emotional exhaustion that comes after all that has gone before.
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pim_derks
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« Reply #10 on: 20:49:34, 28-02-2007 » |
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Ullmann's THE EMPEROR OF ATLANTIS (a heretical parody of Ein Feste Burg) And don't forget the beginning! He used the famous theme from the Asrael Symphony by Suk for it. I heard once that this theme was played constantly on the Czechoslovakian radio during the Munich conference in 1938. I was listening to Der Kaiser yesterday!  |
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"People hate anything well made. It gives them a guilty conscience." John Betjeman
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reiner_torheit
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« Reply #11 on: 20:57:46, 28-02-2007 » |
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Wow, Pim, you've told me something absolutely new to me - thank you! I will go and find that Suk work immediately! Do you mean that "leitmotif" in "DER KAISER" (played on a trumpet - a rising diminshed fifth, then a falling diminished fifth... is from Suk?
[I mean this melodic pattern in the attached pic file ]
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« Last Edit: 21:14:43, 28-02-2007 by reiner_torheit »
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They say travel broadens the mind - but in many cases travel has made the mind not exactly broader, but thicker.
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pim_derks
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« Reply #12 on: 21:35:24, 28-02-2007 » |
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Wow, Pim, you've told me something absolutely new to me - thank you! I will go and find that Suk work immediately! Do you mean that "leitmotif" in "DER KAISER" (played on a trumpet - a rising diminshed fifth, then a falling diminished fifth... is from Suk?
Yes, I mean the "Hallo! Hallo!"-theme. Suk was married to the daughter of his teacher Dvorak. Otylka died only fourteen months after her father. Suk was devastated and he extended this memorial symphony to Dvorak with extra movements to commemorate his wife. He would use the famous Asrael-theme also in other pieces. Recently, I recorded an excellent feature on this beautiful symphony made by WDR 3: http://www.wdr.de/radio/wdr3/sendung.phtml?sendung=Ariadne&termineid=358624&objektart=SendungI have two recordings of the piece, one on CD and one on LP. The CD is by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Libor Pesek. This is not a really good performance. The LP is by the marvelous Vaclav Neuman on SUPRAPHON. It was re-issued on CD not so long ago. I think it's is the best Asrael around: http://www.amazon.de/Asrael-SummerS-Tale-V-Neumann/dp/B000EBFVJU/ref=sr_1_2/302-3571625-0229608?ie=UTF8&s=musicThe first audio clip is the beginning of the symphony and you will hear that it opens with the famous theme. The finale (clip 5) opens also with the theme. The symphony is really a masterpiece. You may find it difficult to listen to, but if you're into the grand late romantic symphonic repertoire, you will certainly like it. What more can I say about Asrael? Well, last year I bought a very cheap DVD of a mini-series called The Nightmare Years about the famous American journalist William L. Shirer, who reported the signing of the German armistice with France on June 22, 1940 to the American people before the news had even been announced by the Germans. Goebbels was furious!  When I was watching this film, I suddenly heard some very familiar music: it was Suk's Asrael Symphony (as a matter of fact the Andante, audio clip 2). Please enjoy this marvelous music! |
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"People hate anything well made. It gives them a guilty conscience." John Betjeman
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reiner_torheit
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« Reply #13 on: 04:43:23, 01-03-2007 » |
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Thanks again for this, Pim - I've ordered the Neuman recording on your strong recommendation :-) I wish I had known this information 3-4 months ago! But I do like the late romantic symphonies, so I am expecting to enjoy this when it arrives!
By the way, which recording of DER KAISER were you listening to? I've only found one recording, the American one, in which the entire thing is (rather badly) translated into English?
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They say travel broadens the mind - but in many cases travel has made the mind not exactly broader, but thicker.
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karl meyer
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« Reply #14 on: 06:56:37, 01-03-2007 » |
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Beginning of Psymphony of Psalms - that wonderfully distinctive E minor chord followed immediately by the Bb7 arpeggio. What? Why? Where is it going?
Ending of Ps of Ps - as the choir finishes, the orchestra holds the C major chord.
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