Most moving piece of classical music?

[Paragon]

For me, it's Debussy's "Clair de Lune (from Suite Bergamasque)". Most beautiful piece of music EVER written.

For the uninitiated, that's the orchestral piece used in the remake of Ocean's 11 when the crew was staring at the fountain in Vegas.

It also showed up again on piano in Denzel Washington's Man On Fire, which I finally saw on DVD this weekend.

[demnan]

1. Brahms Symphony #4

n/t

[On the Road]

2. Hey, That's Mine!

I love Debussy.

[Paragon]

6. Nuh-uh. I called it.

Get your own. :silly:

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

3. Rachmaninovs 3rd Piano Concerto

or Mozart's Requiem.

[VelmaD]

30. It's Rachmaninov's 2nd for me...

1st movement in particular.

[shanti]

44. rachmaninoff it is

but i like the "rhapsody on a theme of paganini", from the movie, "somewhere in time".

[liberalitch]

4. Ode to joy....

a movement in Beethoven's 9th

[BurtWorm]

5. Mahler's Fifth, Fourth Movement, Adagietto

Best known as the theme from Visconti's Death in Venice.

Alternatively, Beethoven's Seventh, Second Movement. Or the Ninth, Fourth Movement. Or Samuel Barber's "Knoxville: Summer of 1915."

[bif]

That's a good one too!

Used to be my fave until I heard Der Rosenkavelier.

[mairceridwen]

15. oh yes

mahler's 5th

simpley lovely

[Minstrel Boy]

25. oh yeah, that's nice n/t

[molly]

7. I love the Humming Chorus from Madame Butterfly by

Giacomo Puccini - also Tchaikovsky Concerto for Piano No. 1 In B flat minor, Op. 23 - also Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue

[otohara]

8. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Concerto No. 21 In C

so lovely

[bif]

9. Trio from the end of Der Rosenkavelier

No question. The duet from Tales of Hoffman is second.

[troublemaker]

10. Beethoven's 7th

runners up:
Rach. 3rd piano conc.
Vaughn Williams 2nd sym. (odd kind of moving, but it's a grabber)

[SidDithers]

11. I love Carmina Burana...

O Fortuna has been used everywhere, but I still love the way it builds.

Sid

[mairceridwen]

12. barber's adagio

bach's jesu joy of man's desiring is pretty moving (though a little too recognizable) as is the third movement from beethoven's 9th

[BurtWorm]

13. The Adagio is gorgeous!

[kodi]

68. Barber's piece gets my vote, although Gabriel Faure's Pavan is a close 2nd

.

[JohnKleeb]

73. that song always gets to me

Too many I cant name sorry.

[Huckebein the Raven]

14. I second "Clair de Lune"

also Ride of Valkyries (sp ?) and Hungarian Waltz #9 (I think that's right)

[KurtNYC]

16. Mozart

Concerto for Piano No 21 in C Major, K 467: 2nd Movement, Andante

from Elvira Madigan.

[redqueen]

17. Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata

Most moving piece for me... it absolutely thrills me.

Something about the calmness of it... it's like the sea... it is so calm but you know, you can sense there is such turbulence underneath... such passion.

I love playing that... sublime!!!!

[Gildor Inglorion]

18. Most moving? The "Sanctus" from Berliotz' "Requiem"

It's almost unbearably beautiful.

[blue neen]

19. Pachelbel: Canon in D major.

I am also partial to Bach: Overture No. 3

[GreenPartyVoter]

22. That and Brandenberg concerto, and um... Vivaldi's concerto for 2 trumpets

and everything by Mozart.

Thought to be honest, I don't really listen to a lot of classical music. Just the, erm, top 40 of it, as it were.

So I am sure there are pieces out there that I would just fall madly in love with if I ever heard them, but won't because I don't listen to that that genre on a regular basis.

[DelawareValleyDem]

24. In the Hall of the Mountain King

Grieg

[lgreen]

48. Canon in D is

my favorite, too. I walked down the aisle to at my wedding to that piece played on a piano.

[Phillycat]

60. Pachelbel is also my favorite.

[Richardo]

20. Pavane for a Dead Princess - Ravel

One of the most beautiful melodies I've ever heard.

[NoSunWithoutShadow]

33. I love that piece too

Also, Mozart's Serenade For Winds, No.10 in B flat K.361 the "Gran Partita" is probably my most favorite of all.

[pagerbear]

21. Finale from Marriage of Figaro

"Contessa perdono"...you can hear forgiveness and love in the music!

[Squeech]

23. Quartet for the End of Time

Olivier Messiaen, church organist and composer, was fighting in the French Resistance in WW2, and got caught. He was incarcerated in a particular prison camp the Nazis maintained to show the Red Cross how nicely they treated their POW's, to which they directed all the intelligentsia and anybody who might have press connections. In that camp with Messiaen were a world class clarinet player, violinist, and cellist. Messiaen wrote this piece for that ensemble, plus piano, played by himself.

Even being the nicest Stalag there was, conditions sucked. The food was especially inadequate, and Messiaen (and presumably everybody else) suffered from malnutrition. In Messiaen's case, he began to experience "synesthesia," the scrambling of the senses, where he began to associate specific chords and timbres with colors-- a trait he seems to have retained throughout his life.

Remarkably, considering the circumstances, the Quartet is one of the most transcendent pieces of music I know, as timeless and lovely as La Mer or Brahms' Fourth or Bach's Ricercar or... The theme of it is what is supposed to happen at the end of the world, when Gabriel blows his trumpet and God declares the onset of eternity.

[redqueen]

37. Synaesthesia is thought to be genetic

or at least that's what I thought.

[Squeech]

50. Nature/nurture again

Synesthesia is a syndrome. Some cases are the result of weird brain chemistry that may have a hereditary basis. Some cases are caused by environmental effects like malnutrition-- or, in the fabulous '60s, by having consumed too many sugar cubes from a guy named Owsley.

Kinda like cancer-- some of them have genetic markers, some have been linked to certain viruses, some are caused by specific chemical contaminants, etc.

[redqueen]

58. Interesting... thanks

I did not know that.

:hi:

[Minstrel Boy]

26. For some reason, Holst's "Jupiter"

always makes me verklempt.

[Minstrel Boy]

27. "The Resurrection" movement in John Tavener's "The Protecting Veil"

is goosebumps-thrilling.

[alexisfree]

28. carmina burana,

[lpbk2713]

29. Wagner's Tannhauser Suite.

Claire de Lune is a good choice also.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

31. A whole bunch of them

Adagio for Strings by Samuel Barber

Variations on a Theme by Tallis by Ralph Vaughan-Williams

Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence by (Somebody) Bairstow

Fratres by Arvo Part

Au Fond du Temple Saint from The Pearl Fishers by Berlioz

Domine Deus from Bach's Missa Brevis in A

Symphonie Pathetique by Tchaikovsky

and a host of others

[Lindsey]

32. Beethoven's Moonlight Sonta brings me

to tears. My favorite without question.

[mac56]

34. Mozart's "Quintet For Clarinet and Strings"

The one used on the last episode of M*A*S*H. Sappy, I know, but I love it.

[CBHagman]

35. Too many to name, but here's a start...

The Lark Ascending by Ralph Vaughan Williams

The duet from The Pearl Fishers

Nimrod from Elgar's Enigma Variations

And too many choral pieces to name....

:-)

[terrya]

36. Mahler's Ninth...the adagio.

I believe that's the one that is a love letter to his wife, Alma. Do correct me if that's the wrong one.

It is the most beautiful piece of music ever written. The CSO performed it a few years ago, and I was privledged to be there. I had tears in my eyes listening to it.

[ironflange]

57. OK, I'll correct you

It's the final section of the Tenth Symphony that is the love letter to Alma. I've studied the reprint of his sketches, and the last bit is full of little asides to his wife, scribbled in the margins.

In the Ninth Symphony, Mahler faces up to his mortality, knowing he hadn't long to live. In the Tenth, the struggle continues, but he finds peace. The irony is he didn't live to finish it. Too bad, but the realizations of the Tenth are way way better than nothing.

I am a big big Mahler fan, does it show?

[BurtWorm]

59. I thought it was the fourth movement of the Fifth Symphony

that was the love letter to Alma?

[ironflange]

61. I'll be damned, you're right!

http://jsundram.freeshell.org/ProgramNotes/Mahler_Adagietto.html

Fine work, young man.

[BurtWorm]

75. Thank you for calling me "young !"

:toast:

[Gothic Sponge]

38. I love Rimsky Korsakov's Sherezade!

One of my favorites! Also Gustav Holst's The Planets.

[VOX]

39. Intermezzo from Mascagni's opera "Cavalleria Rusticana'"...

This piece makes me weep **every** time. I have to be careful when I play it!

[Burma Jones]

40. Let's see.........................

Barber - Agnus Dei (vocal arrangement of Adagio for strings)
Thompson - Alleluia
Beethoven - Emperor Concerto (second movement in particular)
Beethoven - Ninth Symphony (The part with the chorus after the Turkish march and tenor solo in particular)
Bach - Et Exspecto Ressurexit (B minor mass)
Brahms - Deutches Requiem, third movement
Britten - Young Person's Guide - the fugue at the end
Bernstein - "Somewhere" in the Dance Episodes for West Side Story
Bernstein - Overture to Candide
Bruch - Scottish Fantasy
Holst - Planets
Shostakovitch - Last Movement, ninth symphony

OK, I've written enough.....................

[Ladyhawk]

54. We sang Thompson's "Alleluia" last year. n/t

I also like these selections from Peaceable Kingdom:

"The Paper Reeds by the Brooks"
"Ye Shall Have a Song"

[stopbush]

41. Intermezzo from Notre Dame by Franz Schmidt.

That's right. Give it a listen. Lots of good choices here. It's impossible to pick one.

[barb162]

42. Mahler's First (the Titan) and Puccini's Turandot

[catzies]

43. Mozart: his Ave Verum Corpus,and the "Laudamus Te" from the Great Mass

in C.

[allalone]

72. I second your choices

Ave Verum is amazing

[Bluebear]

45. Barber Violin concerto, mvt. 2

Gets me right here. (pointing)

[skippysmom]

46. Elgar's Nimrod from the Enigma Variations

Also:

Beethoven Symphony No. 7 Mvt. 2
Beethoven Symphony No. 9 Mvt. 3
Mozart Piano Concerto No. 20 Mvt. 2

[Spider Jerusalem]

47. The "Ode to Joy" from Beethoven's Ninth.

And, possibly, "Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi" from "Carmina Burana".

[WilmywoodNCparalegal]

49. All of Mozart's "Requiem" and/or

Samuel Barber's "Adagio" (you can hear it in Platoon)

[Bundbuster]

51. Beethoven's Symphony #3 - "Eroica"

Chopin's Piano Concerto #1 ain't too shabby either.

[Ladyhawk]

52. The Second Movement of "The Chichester Psalms" by Bernstein (listen!).

It isn't classical, per se, but it is the single most moving piece of choral music I've ever sung.

It was originally written for a boys' choir. A boy soloist sings the 23rd psalm, then the altos and sopranos come in and sing the same melody in a round. Then the mood changes drastically. The tenors and basses sing Psalm 2, recalling the warfare of nation against nation.

The song is a fight between war and peace. Who wins out in the end depends upon your perspective.

Click Here to Listen!

[noonwitch]

53. Dvorak-"Song to the Moon" and "Romance for Violin and Orchestra"

1. A beautiful aria from "Russalke". Renee Fleming recorded it for her greatist hits cd, Amici (The Opera Band) recorded it on their album, and Sarah Brightman changed the words to italian and sang it on her "La Luna" cd. It's originally in czeck.

2. I love this piece. It's so beautiful. The recording I have is of Isaac Stern, but I know Perlman also recorded it.

[ironflange]

55. My list

Mahler - Das Lied von der Erde
Mahler - Symphony #9
Mahler - Symphony #10 (what the hell, let's go for the hat trick)
Mozart - Symphony #40 in G minor
Haydn - Symphony #44 in E minor, "Trauersymphonie"
Beethoven - Piano Concerto #4
Beethoven - Any of the late quartets
Chopin - Ballade in G minor (because Mrs. Ironflange played it)
Bartok - Concerto for Orchestra
Shostakovich - Symphony #15
Havergal Brian - Symphony #7

I could go on all day. . .

[BlackVelvetElvis]

56. The 2nd movement of J. Haydn's 61st symphony. n/t

[marigold20]

62. My current favorite is Williams' Dives and Lazarus

I also love Barber's Adagio and Mozart's Requiem.

[greatauntoftriplets]

63. The Liebestod....

from Wagner's Tristan und Isolde.

[Endangered Specie]

64. Beethoven's 9th...

I know, obvious choice, but still.

[hippiechick]

65. The Unfinished Symphony n/t

:)

[EstimatedProphet]

66. Depnds on what mood I'm in really

I'm very fond of Wagner's ring cycle, especially the Death of Siegfried. I also like Lizst's Les Preludes. Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, Holst's Planet's Suite...there's a bunch of them I find especially moving, depending on what kind of mood I'm in.

[Endangered Specie]

67. Mouret - Rondeau (best known on Masterpiece Theater)

[timtom]

69. Tough decision!

At this moment, I'll cite 2 killers.

The first is a snippet I saw on The Arts channel. It was a violinist with an Italian or Spanish name (Iremembered it for a couple of months after, but have since forgetten it.) He played the fourth movement from Mendelssohn"s Violin Concerto. The music, of course is indescribably beautiful and powerful. But what made this a signal event for me (I blew some tears) was the attitude and stance of the violinist. His presentation of control of the music...his almost stoic stance...he demonstrated a deep commitment to the music. And he had the technical wherewithal to pull it off. Had he been a tad more emotional or the least bit self-conscious, this would have been another version of one of my favorites.

'Nuff said about THAT. Now, for one that gets me any time, any place, is Sarastro's aria immediately followed by the chorus of priests (The Magic Flute). Consummate piece of music!

I have to tip my hat to pagerbear for his selection of the consummation of the Marriage of Figaro, as well.

[speedoo]

70. Sibelius: Finlandia

Beautiful and inspiring.

[roguevalley]

71. between that shoah music from shindler's list and largo

[Swamp Rat]

74. "When I Am Laid In Earth" from "Dido and Aeneas" By Henry Purcell.

I love Debussy too. His music is very dreamy - I went to sleep for years listening to "La Mer."