# Greatest Symphonic Brass Chorales of all Time



## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

One of my unexpected and, perhaps, guilty pleasures is the use of a brass chorales in the middle of Symphonic works, usually symphonies, but really any symphonic work. Trombones are always at the heart of the great chorales imo. <3

To name a few:

1. Brass chorale in the anthem of the Brahms Symphony no. 1 IV
2. Middle slow section of the Brahms Symphony no. 4 IV
3. Near ending of Tchaikovsky Symphony no. 6 IV
4. Near ending of Rachmaninoff Symphony no. 2 II
5. Middle of Mahler Symphony no. 2 III (I think)
6. Beginning of the Dvorak Symphony no. 9 Largo

Share other great ones you know!

This one has recently impressed me very much of late:

[video=youtube;dXGt45-04RY#t=264s]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=dXGt45-04RY#t=264s[/video]


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Lots of BIG noisy brass stuff in the Dies Irae of Britten's War Requiem.


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## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

Huilunsoittaja said:


> 5. Middle of Mahler Symphony no. 2 III (I think)


You mean Mahler 2 IV. It's the short movement with the mezzo solo. That is indeed a great chorale. I like your other choices too.

Also from Mahler, there's a great chorale that features prominently in the finale of the 6th. I also love the one that appears throughout the finale of Bruckner's 5th. Stunning, especially when it reappears at the end.


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## rrudolph (Sep 15, 2011)

How about the Adagio from the Mahler 10th, right before the long trumpet note? I always enjoyed that greatly.


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## Bone (Jan 19, 2013)

It's short, but the ending of "Mathis der Maler" is a really great little chorale. Nothing quite comes close to the Mahler 2 chorale, though.


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## vertigo (Jan 9, 2013)

The one around 3/5ths of the way, in the first movement of Tchaikovsky's 6th.


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## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

Mahlerian said:


> You mean Mahler 2 IV. It's the short movement with the mezzo solo. That is indeed a great chorale. I like your other choices too.
> 
> Also from Mahler, there's a great chorale that features prominently in the finale of the 6th. I also love the one that appears throughout the finale of Bruckner's 5th. Stunning, especially when it reappears at the end.


Yeah, that's it. Since I saw Mahler 2 live, the movements lost distinction after the 3rd mvmt. If I had a CD recording I would definitely have known where it is.


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## Aries (Nov 29, 2012)

What about this:

[video=youtube;h3Xus7OGK10#t=1266s]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3Xus7OGK10#t=1266s[/video]


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## DrKilroy (Sep 29, 2012)

As far as I am concerned, the best brass chorales were written by Sibelius! (I am not sure, however, which work I specifically mean.  It is not Finlandia, probably one of the symphonies).

Best regards, Dr


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## Ramako (Apr 28, 2012)

Surely this? (about 1:10)


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## waldvogel (Jul 10, 2011)

The lovely chorale in the third movement of Ernest Chausson's Symphony in B-flat that recapitulates the introduction of the first movement. In this clip it begins at 30:12.


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## Norse (May 10, 2010)

I've always found the triumphant brass 'chorale' at the end of Mahler's 5th exhilarating.


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## GraemeG (Jun 30, 2009)

The whole COlogne Cathedral (4th) movement of Schumann 3...
GG


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## howards (Aug 14, 2016)

I realize this thread is years old but I just stumbled on it.

A couple weeks ago I had the pleasure of playing trombone on a performance of Mahler's 2nd. The low brass chorale is IMO the hands down winner of "best symphonic brass chorale."

In addition to the original poster's mention of Dvorak's 9th symphony chorale in the Largo, the 8th Symphony opens with a beautiful trombone chorales.

I'd also recommend the immediately previous poster's mention of Schumann's Rhenish Symphony (No. 3). To add to the excitement of the trombone players, they are tacet for three movements, and then the 4th movement starts with their chorale (which goes to a high Eb for the first trombone - I think most trombone players perform it on alto. The Rhenish is on one of my orchestra's schedules for the coming year!


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

howards said:


> I realize this thread is years old but I just stumbled on it.
> 
> A couple weeks ago I had the pleasure of playing trombone on a performance of Mahler's 2nd. The low brass chorale is IMO the hands down winner of "best symphonic brass chorale."
> 
> ...


Welcome to Talk Classical .


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## Hildadam Bingor (May 7, 2016)

Berlioz, right here, starting at 0:38, everybody else can go home: 




(Yeah, the whole symphony is for brass & winds, but it still counts.)


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## Pat Fairlea (Dec 9, 2015)

Not strictly symphonic, but the brass chorale late in Sibelius' Night Ride & Sunrise is pretty damn fine.


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## Bruckner Anton (Mar 10, 2016)

Then you need to check through Bruckner's symphonies.


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## Azol (Jan 25, 2015)

Bruckner Anton said:


> Then you need to check through Bruckner's symphonies.


No list of symphonic brass chorales is complete without at least mentioning Bruckner's Fifth! You get the goosebumps just anticipating it right after generalpause in the Finale!


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

There' wondrous big ringing brass chord -- out of which the trombones burst like the sun coming out from behind a cloud -- in one of the variations (I think the fifth) of the Passacaglia that forms the final movement of the Vaughan Williams Fifth. This is especially striking in the Previn recording with the LSO.


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## TwoFlutesOneTrumpet (Aug 31, 2011)

Two instances in the Eroica symphony: in the B section of the scherzo and in the slow variations section of the finale.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Has anybody mentioned the brass and organ chorale in the last movement of the Saint-Saens Organ Symphony? Impressive. Of course, some of us will think of pigs.


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## R3PL4Y (Jan 21, 2016)

I really like the chorale theme in the 4th movement of Bruckner 8


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