# Perpetual Motion! Post Your Favorite Examples



## christomacin (Oct 21, 2017)

In music, perpetuum mobile (Latin for "perpetual motion" in English, moto perpetuo in Italian, or mouvement perpétuel in French), carries two distinct meanings: first, as pieces or parts of pieces of music characterized by a continuous stream of notes, usually at a rapid tempo; and also as whole pieces, or large parts of pieces, which are to be played in a repetitious fashion, often an indefinite number of times. Many musical toccatas have similar features

Perpetuum mobile as a genre of separate musical compositions was at the height of its popularity by the end of the 19th century. Such pieces would often be performed as virtuoso encores, in some cases increasing the tempo along the repeats.

There a lots of examples to chose from, but I'll star with these two which might be less well-known:

Dohnanyi: Three Singular Pieces, Op. 44. No. 3 Perpetuum mobile





Cui: Kaleidoscope, Op. 50, 12. Spiccato (Perpetuum mobile)


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Strauss - Perpetuum mobile - Karajan
let me add the most famous one then.


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## christomacin (Oct 21, 2017)

This may rival the Strauss piece in terms of fame, although it isn't called a perpetual motion per se. I like this recording of The Flight of the Bumblebee because it's the full version from the opera, and it if anything accentuates the perpetual motion aspect of the piece


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## BiscuityBoyle (Feb 5, 2018)

One of the most famous virtuoso encors of the 19th century, and still extremely popular in the Golden Age of piano playing in the first half of the 20th, was the final of Weber's first piano sonata, indeed popularly known as Perpetuum Mobile with its cascades of scales and arpeggios in the right hand.






Personally, though, I love the sonata as a whole too much to listen just to the final


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## christomacin (Oct 21, 2017)

It's a shame Weber's Piano Sonatas (are hardly any of his music for that matter) seems to get played anymore.


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## BiscuityBoyle (Feb 5, 2018)

christomacin said:


> It's a shame Weber's Piano Sonatas (are hardly any of his music for that matter) seems to get played anymore.


True, though there are a few classic recordings such as this one by Vedernikov or of the ones of the other sonatas by Gilels, Cortot and Richter. I like him a lot (at least as much as Mendelssohn, who seems the composer closest to him in style and temperament - something of a Romantic classicist, if that makes sense), there's this wonderful freshness to his music.


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## christomacin (Oct 21, 2017)

BiscuityBoyle said:


> True, though there are a few classic recordings such as this one by Vedernikov or of the ones of the other sonatas by Gilels, Cortot and Richter. I like him a lot (at least as much as Mendelssohn, who seems the composer closest to him in style and temperament - something of a Romantic classicist, if that makes sense), there's this wonderful freshness to his music.


Yes, and speaking of Mendelssohn:


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## RICK RIEKERT (Oct 9, 2017)

Yui Morishita plays near the third rail in this electrifying performance of Alkan's prescient musical depiction of the Train à Grande Vitesse, 'Le chemin de fer'.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

Final movement of Ravel's 2nd violin sonata (from about 12:55). The whole work is great, but what a way to finish!


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese (Jan 8, 2013)

4'33" !


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## RICK RIEKERT (Oct 9, 2017)

4'33" !

Inerzia perpetua.


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## regenmusic (Oct 23, 2014)

Francis Poulenc - Trois Mouvements Perpétuels


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## christomacin (Oct 21, 2017)

4'33, aka Air on the Z String....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz


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## christomacin (Oct 21, 2017)

I forgot all about the Poulenc piece. A great 20th century example. 
Here's one from later in the 20th century by John Adams:




and another classic from the 19th by Czech composer Ottokar Nováček:


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## christomacin (Oct 21, 2017)

From the world of light classical music we have Symphony No. 5½ ("A Symphony For Fun") by Don Gillis




From South America, the concluding Toccata from Piano Concerto No. 2 by Alberto Ginastera


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