# What is the longest note you have heard?



## mud (May 17, 2012)

I have seen parodies of long notes being sung artificially, but wonder if any were composed to be held as long as possible.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

mud said:


> I have seen parodies of long notes being sung artificially, but wonder if any were composed to be held as long as possible.


The score indicates that the oboist has to hold the note for as long as possible (found near the end of the movement):





Lasts for about 23 seconds in that recording

As for longest note I have heard, I wouldn't be able to remember but I think I heard a piece possibly by La Monte Young with a huge drone held for ages.


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## mud (May 17, 2012)

You know, this is actually convoluted to search for, because it is becomes a pissing match between all kinds of vocalists. The longest one I can recall is at the end of this song (about 9 seconds from the 3:01 mark), although I don't know if that is specified by the composer.


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## mud (May 17, 2012)

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> The score indicates that the oboist has to hold the note for as long as possible (found near the end of the movement)


That was something, it kept getting louder too.


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

The final part of Langgaard´s "Music of the Spheres" has a fortissimo chord for the choir lasting 1 1/2 minutes, the orchestra embellishing that chord somewhat though. The work also ends with tone-clusters.
There are several recodings of the work, the John Frandsen is probably the most impressive, especially as regards the end section.


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## mud (May 17, 2012)

Interesting, maybe we should say by a soloist, or sustained (I would imagine the choir alternates between vocalists).


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## Moira (Apr 1, 2012)

One of my favourite parodies in this regard was the vocal duel in Farinelli (the movie). I really must make a plan to see that movie again.


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## mud (May 17, 2012)

The scene is online, it sounded authentic. I know that a recording could fake a really long note though, so you never know. That's why I'm curious if composers specify the length of vocal finales.


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## Moira (Apr 1, 2012)

Derek Lee Ragin (the countertenor whose voice was one of the two voices that was blended to make the voice of Farinelli) recently visited South Africa where I saw him in Purcell's The Fairy Queen.


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## samurai (Apr 22, 2011)

How about the ending to The Beatles _A Day In The Life _from *Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band? *Or would that be considered a chord, as opposed to a note


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

Here you are!


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## AlainB (Nov 20, 2011)

I was going to mention Montserrat, but it seems Couchie already did. 

Nevertheless, there are also a few other amazing ones I've heard. Perhaps not as long as Caballe there, but certainly close to it. Well, not written by the composer I think, but still.. super nice. 

The high B for *13* seconds long in Celeste Aida by Luciano Pavarotti (absolutely great!):

[video=youtube;XP1vp_G9mLc#t=4m08s]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XP1vp_G9mLc#t=4m08s[/video]

The *13* seconds long legato high C + Bb (I believe) in Nessun Dorma (Three Tenors concert 1998) by Pavarotti:

[video=youtube;NUKgN-nC93c#t=2m34s]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUKgN-nC93c#t=2m34s[/video]


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## Sequentia (Nov 23, 2011)

Removed due to an error.


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## Jimm (Jun 29, 2012)

Well once you enter into the world of electronic music fresh new realities can be realized. A re-occuring theme in Stockhausen's work is that of time. Time in motion studies .. _Stimmung_ is an extremely colourful work, 75 minutes of a single 6 note chord sung by 6 vocalists, with various subtle harmonic fields applied to the notes. The epic opera .. _Freitag aus LICHT_, about the marriage of people & machines, and his reaction to the advent of computers .. it's breathtaking slow moving electronic music; like clouds that move in all directions. At it's core, it is made of 2 principle melodies; The Lucifer melody & the Eve Melody. Appropriate, as the opera itself focuses primarily on the temptation of Eve by Lucifer. *These melodies which usually last a 1 minute in real time to perform are in this electronic work expanded-to ca.147 minutes and determine the whole harmonic/melodic system and framework of the entire composition.* It's not yet possible for us to hear these melodies over such long, long time intervals, but you can catch snatches of them if you are already familiar with Licht's melodies/music & if you listen closely; for instance, you can hear particularly in the bass (the Lucifer melody) at the outset of the music. Additionally, due to this large expansion of individual notes of these melodies Stockhausen was able to like never before, get deep into the sound atoms themselves and develop the microtonal movements of the pitches in a plethora of fascinating ways. The timbres chosen are for clarity, to hear all this going on in the music.


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## dionisio (Jul 30, 2012)

Through information that survived, the castrati had, among others, the hability to sustain long phrases in one breath. "Qual guerriero in campo armato" by Broschi, for instance, has a phrase, if properly sung, the singer should do it in one breath and lasts quite a minute long.

Also one of the most beautiful techniques, specially developed in baroque opera, was/is _mezza di voce_. For fine control of this techinque, one must be able to gain a considerable hability to sustain notes for a long time.


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## Arsakes (Feb 20, 2012)

Maybe it's not the place to ask but do you know what are the works like Beethoven's Egmont or Schumann's Manfred called?

And I really want to be introduced similar works, only in German and English. Thanks


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## nikola (Sep 7, 2012)

The longest singing note ever starting at 6:10:


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## principe (Sep 3, 2012)

If not to the point and way off the mark, it was entertaining enough. Cartoons work well with you, I see.
On a thread on Hungarian Liszt No.2, you may refer to the Academy award cartoon of Tom and Jerry "The Cat Concerto". (Brilliant, but a bit over the top.)

Principe


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## nikola (Sep 7, 2012)

principe said:


> If not to the point and way off the mark, it was entertaining enough. Cartoons work well with you, I see.
> On a thread on Hungarian Liszt No.2, you may refer to the Academy award cartoon of Tom and Jerry "The Cat Concerto". (Brilliant, but a bit over the top.)
> 
> Principe


Oh yes... I love that cartoon and that Rhapsody too 
I love old cartoons. I grew up on them and nothing came ever close to those old cartoons like Bugs Bunny, Tom & Jerry, Walt Disney cartoons etc.
I've never managed to find such version with piano and orchestra. It's always only piano or only orchestra. I guess that Tom was inventive


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## zeszut (Aug 9, 2012)

Arsakes said:


> Maybe it's not the place to ask but do you know what are the works like Beethoven's Egmont or Schumann's Manfred called?
> 
> And I really want to be introduced similar works, only in German and English. Thanks


Egmont was written by Goethe; Manfred by Lord Byron. I would call Beethoven's Egmont and Schumann's Manfred incidental music to those works.

Not sure what you're really asking here tho.


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## rickywtn (Sep 26, 2012)

mud said:


> That was something, it kept getting louder too.


Supernal man.!!!!!!


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## mud (May 17, 2012)

This is my personal favorite:


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## JamesBond (Mar 22, 2013)

mud said:


> This is my personal favorite:


Great


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## MagneticGhost (Apr 7, 2013)

Don't know about Classical
But in the pop world - Morten Harket holds a high note for about 20 seconds in their single "Summer Moved On". And their is no studio trickery involved because I saw him do it live twice. In 2002 and 2011


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## laeo222 (May 23, 2013)

Hello guys..I see the article which is too long in this article a lot of information i gain which i utilize at that time in the professional life..What did you see?


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## zeshantahir (May 25, 2013)

*http://fancytvlive.blogspot.com/2013/05/mtv-usa-live-streaming.html*

:lol::devil::tiphat:


mud said:


> I have seen parodies of long notes being sung artificially, but wonder if any were composed to be held as long as possible.


http://fancytvlive.blogspot.com/2013/05/mtv-usa-live-streaming.html


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## Op.123 (Mar 25, 2013)

Arsakes said:


> Maybe it's not the place to ask but do you know what are the works like Beethoven's Egmont or Schumann's Manfred called?
> 
> And I really want to be introduced similar works, only in German and English. Thanks


They are overtures.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Burroughs said:


> They are overtures.


Careful! "Egmont, Op. 84, by Ludwig van Beethoven, is a set of incidental music pieces for the 1787 play of the same name by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. It consists of an overture followed by a sequence of nine additional pieces for soprano, male narrator and full symphony orchestra."


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## Guest (May 31, 2013)

I've been listening to this for the last few years now (even though I sometimes forget to listen):
*La Monte Young* : _Composition 1960 #7_.
The score comprises two notes (a B, an F#, a perfect fifth) to be held simultaneously and with the instruction "To be held for a long time."


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## Op.123 (Mar 25, 2013)

KenOC said:


> Careful! "Egmont, Op. 84, by Ludwig van Beethoven, is a set of incidental music pieces for the 1787 play of the same name by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. It consists of an overture followed by a sequence of nine additional pieces for soprano, male narrator and full symphony orchestra."


Ahh yes, oops...


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## Bix (Aug 12, 2010)

Cecilia Bartoli - having a funny five minutes at an encore at the Barbican UK - *21 seconds*


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