# Musical clichés you secretly enjoy



## EarthBoundRules (Sep 25, 2011)

Just like in movies, poems and novels, classical music has many clichés that we've heard time and time again, making us groan with overfamiliarity. But with such a wide array of platitudes, there must be some that we find enjoyable.

One favourite of mine is the 'overblown finale', such as the final movements of Beethoven's _9th Symphony_, Brahms' _1st Symphony_ or Mahler's _2nd Symphony_. No matter how cheesy they seem to be, those blazing horn themes, misty chorales and exploding crescendos give me a rush that is hard to find anywhere else in music.

Another cliché I love is the reoccurance of a theme from a previous movement in the final movement, like in Brahms' _3rd Symphony_, Dvorak's _9th Symphony_, or Brahms' _Clarinet Quintet_. It really ties the whole piece together and makes me want to listen to the piece again in order to understand why it ended that way.

So don't be embarassed and post one of your guilty pleasures. I won't judge you for it... much.


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## Kopachris (May 31, 2010)

...

If you must know, it's rather embarrassing, but I actually like Alberti bass.


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

I- [iv] - I ....................


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## EarthBoundRules (Sep 25, 2011)

Oh yeah, I've got another one: contrapuntal pieces ending on a picardy third. I'm actually quite upset if a Bach fugue doesn't end on a major chord. :lol:


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## AndyS (Dec 2, 2011)

climactic high notes at the end of an aria


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## tgtr0660 (Jan 29, 2010)

At what point does the anti-cliche become cliche? 

I don't find cliches embarrasing. If they are used properly and when they are needed, I love them. The symphonies you mention couldn't have finished anyway else, in my opinion. Now, if you compose a weak last movement for example and you try to make it better with a senseless explosion at the end, that's not using cliches; that's being a poor musician.


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## Lunasong (Mar 15, 2011)

Viola jokes.


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## kv466 (May 18, 2011)

I love 'em all!


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

I was wondering about this just now, listening to Tom Waits' album "Closing Time," which in the light of the rest of my musical tastes ought to be too sentimental for me to enjoy - but I love it as much as I've ever loved an album. Perhaps for no reason other than that his voice on this album reminds me of an uncle I admired as much as I've ever admired anyone. That kind of thing probably trumps other matters.


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## Jeremy Marchant (Mar 11, 2010)

EarthBoundRules said:


> Another cliché I love is the reoccurance of a theme from a previous movement in the final movement, like in Brahms' _3rd Symphony_, Dvorak's _9th Symphony_, or Brahms' _Clarinet Quintet_. It really ties the whole piece together and makes me want to listen to the piece again in order to understand why it ended that way.


Well, you must love the ending of Bruckner 8 which is not only grand, but reprises the main themes of all four movements simultaneously.


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## EarthBoundRules (Sep 25, 2011)

Jeremy Marchant said:


> Well, you must love the ending of Bruckner 8 which is not only grand, but reprises the main themes of all four movements simultaneously.


Oh yes, that's one of my favourite symphonies!


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## aphyrodite (Jan 9, 2012)

Lunasong said:


> Viola jokes.


That, and also Vivaldi's Spring.


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## AndyS (Dec 2, 2011)

science said:


> I was wondering about this just now, listening to Tom Waits' album "Closing Time," which in the light of the rest of my musical tastes ought to be too sentimental for me to enjoy - but I love it as much as I've ever loved an album. Perhaps for no reason other than that his voice on this album reminds me of an uncle I admired as much as I've ever admired anyone. That kind of thing probably trumps other matters.


I wouldn't say it was too sentimental at all, it's a great late night album. The follow-up The Heart of Saturday Night is definitely too sentimental though


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## humanbean (Mar 5, 2011)

Alberti bass.

There is also one I can't think of the term of (if there even is one), but it's a Classical era cliche in symphonic music where the string sections will do a short, fast tremolo for half a bar. Haydn, and Mozart especially both use this a lot.

An example of this would be from 0:30-0:37 in this piece.

I also enjoy the classical era minuet style, which some may classify as a cliche.


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

The ending to Saint-Saens organ symphony, what a building of crescendo !!


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## mmsbls (Mar 6, 2011)

I'm not sure this counts, but my favorite 3 composers are Mozart, Beethoven, and Bach. I'm just not so secret about it.


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

moody said:


> The ending to Saint-Saens organ symphony, what a building of crescendo !!


No one should be ashamed of liking that fantastic piece. Plus the 4th concerto has a very similar finale theme, but its not overplayed for some strange reason.


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## Praeludium (Oct 9, 2011)

Interrupted cadences at the end of a piece - and then the cadenza - and then the end !
I love so much this V - Vi, it sounds so "wide".

Neapolitan sixths (don't know how it is called in english, never understood these french/german/whatever sixths thing).
IIb (6) - V - I 

Chromatic ricercar/fantaisies/fugues


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## Cnote11 (Jul 17, 2010)

A Minor is one of my guilty pleasures.


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## Conor71 (Feb 19, 2009)

nevermind


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

violadude said:


> I- [iv] - I ....................


zOMG YOU LIKE COUNTRY AND WESTERN MUSIC!!!!!


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