# Pieces with gripping openings that immediately grab your attention



## EvaBaron (Jan 3, 2022)

I always like when a piece has a gripping opening that pulls me in, because it makes discovering new music so much easier. Then you have a starting point and from there on out you can start getting used to the rest of the music with each listen. I’ll give a few examples:
Grieg: Piano concerto
Mendelssohn: Hebrides overture
Beethoven: Symphony no. 9 (4 and 5 also easily qualify)
Mozart: Symphony no. 40
Bach: Violin concerto in a minor (also keyboard concerto in d minor)
Brahms: Symphony no. 1
I hope you can share some of your favourite pieces with gripping openings and if I don’t know them already, I will of course listen and see if I agree and hopefully discover some new music


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## ORigel (May 7, 2020)

Today, I am listening to Mendelssohn symphonies. Symphony no. 1 and Symphony no. 4 "Italian." Both have gripping openings.

Other Mendelssohn works with gripping openings:
--Elijah
--Piano Trio no. 2
--Piano Concerto no. 1
--Violin Concerto
--String Symphony no. 8
--String Quartets nos. 2 & 6


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## Mister Meow (10 mo ago)

Try Haydn's string quartet Op. 76 No. 2 in D minor. At least I think that's the one that I was thinking about.


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## tortkis (Jul 13, 2013)

Haydn: Symphony No. 43
Beethoven: String Quartet No. 12 in E-flat major, Op. 127 (the opening was so refreshing when I first heard it, as if I had been transported to another world.)
Mahler: Symphony No. 5
Langgaard: Symphony No. 11 "Ixion" (a strange short piece with relentless repetition)
Cage: Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano


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## Shoskofiev (5 mo ago)

Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 1
Honegger: Symphony No. 5
Beethoven: String Quartet No. 11
Smetana: From Bohemia's Woods and Fields
Strauss: Also sprach Zarathustra
Vaughan Williams: Symphonies 1, 4 and 6
Mahler: Symphonies 2, 3 and 8
Tchaikovsky: Piano Concertos 1 and 2


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## Shoskofiev (5 mo ago)

tortkis said:


> Haydn: Symphony No. 43
> Beethoven: String Quartet No. 12 in E-flat major, Op. 127 (the opening was so refreshing when I first heard it, as if I had been transported to another world.)
> Mahler: Symphony No. 5
> Langgaard: Symphony No. 11 "Ixion" (a strange short piece with relentless repetition)
> Cage: Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano


I can't listen to the Langgaard very often because it's insanely catchy, but a good choice nevertheless!


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

Carlos Chavez - 2nd (Sinfonia India)
Kodaly - Hary Janos
Mahler - 3rd, 5th and definitely the 8th
Nielsen - 3rd and, in a very different way, the 5th
Knudage Riisager - Archeopteryx
R. Strauss - Also Sprach Zarathustra
Vaughan Williams - 1st (Sea Symphony)


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## prlj (10 mo ago)

Mahler 2 and 3


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## prlj (10 mo ago)

Becca said:


> Vaughan Williams - 1st (Sea Symphony)


Yes! Good one!


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

Beecke SQ in C


Becca said:


> R. Strauss - Also Sprach Zarathustra


classic.


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## Monsalvat (11 mo ago)

Brahms Tragic Overture and Beethoven Coriolan Overture.


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## Bigbang (Jun 2, 2019)

Haydn symphony no 44 would fit the description.


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## MatthewWeflen (Jan 24, 2019)

Beethoven 5 
Tchaikovsky 4
Holst The Planets


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## level82rat (Jun 20, 2019)

Mendelssohn's first PC leads the way for catchy openings. Try to stop yourself from frantically conducting before the 10th measure


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## Ethereality (Apr 6, 2019)

Pieces with gripping first movements:
Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier
Dvorak: Cello Concerto
Mahler: Symphony No. 1
Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 21
Schumann: Symphony No. 3
Mendelssohn: Midsummer Night's Dream
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 23
Stravinsky: Petrushka
Purcell: Dido and Aeneas
Mozart: Symphony No. 35
Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2
Dvorak: Symphony No. 9

Pieces with insanely unbalanced OP last movement:
Schumann: Piano Concerto in A


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## EvaBaron (Jan 3, 2022)

ORigel said:


> Today, I am listening to Mendelssohn symphonies. Symphony no. 1 and Symphony no. 4 "Italian." Both have gripping openings.
> 
> Other Mendelssohn works with gripping openings:
> --Elijah
> ...


I agree on the 4th symphony, violin concerto, and the 1st piano concerto, the rest of your list I’ve yet to hear


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## oldpete (9 mo ago)

Respighi: St. Michael the Archangel from Church Windows is certainly one!


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

I agree with some (quite a few) of the suggestions. Another for me is the opening of Schubert 9. It's not exactly "gripping" but it's a superb opening to the journey that follows.


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## Animal the Drummer (Nov 14, 2015)

Agreed. Another of similar stripe is the beginning of Balakirev's Symph.no.1.


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## RandallPeterListens (Feb 9, 2012)

Becca said:


> Carlos Chavez - 2nd (Sinfonia India)
> Kodaly - Hary Janos
> Mahler - 3rd, 5th and definitely the 8th
> Nielsen - 3rd and, in a very different way, the 5th
> ...


Funny, but I find the first few bars of Nielsen's 4th Symphony, the "Inextinguishable" even more darn explosive. It goes quiet fairly quickly, but the theme is stated by a fugal passage for brasses after that which is also pretty rousing.


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

Prokofieff Symphony 2
Schmidt Symphony 4
Tchaikovsky Sleeping Beauty
Rimsky-Korsakov Scheherazade


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

Reichardt Trauerkantate


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## ORigel (May 7, 2020)

EvaBaron said:


> I agree on the 4th symphony, violin concerto, and the 1st piano concerto, the rest of your list I’ve yet to hear


Symphony no. 1 is mostly ignored, but it's a fine, energetic, minor-key symphony with lots of contrasts in the movements.

Elijah is an oratorio that was really popular in its day but much less popular now despite containing some really good movements. It starts with the Prophet Elijah announcing that there will be no dew nor rain in Israel, but according to his word. The overture represents the gradually worsening crisis that cumilates in the people pleading for rain. The best part, though, is Elijah's competition with the 450 prophets of Baal that starts shortly after the half hour mark.

Piano Trio no. 2's first movement is quite stormy.

String Symphony no. 8 is an early work (Mendelssohn composed it when he was 13, IIRC) modelled on a Classical Period symphony. I love the introduction. It exists in a version for strings and a version for strings and winds.

String Quartet no. 2 is an early work inspired by Beethoven's String Quartet no. 15 (but not a pastiche).

String Quartet no. 6 is Mendelssohn's final work written after the death of his sister Fanny. It is very dark, even scary.


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## Neo Romanza (May 7, 2013)

It's not a loud, in-your-face opening, but Stravinsky's _Orpheus_ lures me in with it's gorgeous sonorities. The repeating harp melody painted against a bed of sustained strings is one of the most remarkable introductions to a piece of music I've ever heard.

For more of a thunderous introduction, Vaughan Williams' _A Sea Symphony_ certainly grips me as well.


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## MatthewWeflen (Jan 24, 2019)

ORigel said:


> Today, I am listening to Mendelssohn symphonies. Symphony no. 1 and Symphony no. 4 "Italian." Both have gripping openings.
> 
> Other Mendelssohn works with gripping openings:
> --Elijah
> ...


Mendelssohn's 1st is strangely underrated. I agree on the opening, and find the rest of it thoroughly engaging as well.


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## EvaBaron (Jan 3, 2022)

Thanks for all the answers so far! I have made a list of the pieces I don’t know yet, and will be listening to them one by one in the coming weeks. I also want to add a few more of my own:
Bruch: Scottish fantasy (just a beautiful introduction that sounds like death before the solo violin comes in, which is also very beautiful on its own)
Schubert: Symphony no. 8 (very mysterious)
Mozart: Symphony no. 25 (dramatic, used to great effect in the movie Amadeus)
Vitali: Chaconne in G minor (simplistic introduction from the organ but amazing nonetheless)


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## MatthewWeflen (Jan 24, 2019)

EvaBaron said:


> Thanks for all the answers so far! I have made a list of the pieces I don’t know yet, and will be listening to them one by one in the coming weeks. I also want to add a few more of my own:
> Bruch: Scottish fantasy (just a beautiful introduction that sounds like death before the solo violin comes in, which is also very beautiful on its own)
> Schubert: Symphony no. 8 (very mysterious)
> Mozart: Symphony no. 25 (dramatic, used to great effect in the movie Amadeus)
> Vitali: Chaconne in G minor (simplistic introduction from the organ but amazing nonetheless)


I just popped in my Adam Fischer/Danish National Chamber Orchestra Mozart 25. Indeed, very exciting and toe-tapping. That's the beauty of threads like these, they can start a listening excursion you might not have otherwise taken.

I'm going to listen to Pachelbel's Canon next. It is by far the most gripping piece ever written ;-)


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## ScottK (Dec 23, 2021)

Bruckner 4th!


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## EvaBaron (Jan 3, 2022)

ScottK said:


> Bruckner 4th!


I have only heard the ending of this symphony actually and I love it so much, should get around to the whole symphony soon! Any recording recommendations?


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## AaronSF (Sep 5, 2021)

Schumann's G-minor piano sonata (#2) has a very exciting opening, especially as Argerich plays it:

Argerich plays Schumann's G-minor sonata


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## golfer72 (Jan 27, 2018)

Elgar Sym # 2. You are immediately drawn in


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## Neo Romanza (May 7, 2013)

golfer72 said:


> Elgar Sym # 2. You are immediately drawn in


And, for me, easily one of the greatest British symphonies ever penned.


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## ScottK (Dec 23, 2021)

EvaBaron said:


> I have only heard the ending of this symphony actually and I love it so much, should get around to the whole symphony soon! Any recording recommendations?


I'm more the guy to request a recommendation than to give it out and, around here, there is no lack of Bruckner lovers nor advice😉😂! But 4 is the one Bruckner symphony that I've sat through going..."this seems the same as usual, then why does it feel so slow?!"


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## Ravn (Jan 6, 2020)

EvaBaron said:


> I have only heard the ending of this symphony actually and I love it so much, should get around to the whole symphony soon! Any recording recommendations?


Karajan & Berlin Philharmonic is very good. As is Celibidache & Münchner Philharmoniker.


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## Ravn (Jan 6, 2020)

Some good examples I believe haven't been mentioned yet.

Schönberg - Pierrot Lunaire
Crumb - Black Angels
Bartok - Concerto for Orchestra
Penderecki - Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima 
Sibelius - Symphony 1


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## haziz (Sep 15, 2017)

Beethoven Symphony No. 5
Grieg Piano Concerto
Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1
Mendelssohn Violin Concerto - a soft lyrical introduction, but it certainly grabs my attention
Mahler Symphony No. 2


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## feierlich (3 mo ago)

EvaBaron said:


> I have only heard the ending of this symphony actually and I love it so much, should get around to the whole symphony soon! Any recording recommendations?


Oh you definitely should. Good recordings to get to know Bruckner 4 would be Böhm and Blomstedt, both on Decca.


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## feierlich (3 mo ago)

Surprised no one mentioned _Der fliegende Holländer_. I mean the moment the overture starts you see a picture of a violent sea before you.


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## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

The opening bars of Salome, Elektra and Die Walküre!😎


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## EvaBaron (Jan 3, 2022)

feierlich said:


> Oh you definitely should. Good recordings to get to know Bruckner 4 would be Böhm and Blomstedt, both on Decca.


Are both of those slow but not as slow as Celibidache? I love the ending of Bruckner’s 4th by Celibidache and it’s something special, but I fear that his over the top slow tempo doesn’t work in the other movements or even other sections of the last movement. But I would still like a slow ending. You see my dilemma?😆


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## Neo Romanza (May 7, 2013)

EvaBaron said:


> Are both of those slow but not as slow as Celibidache? I love the ending of Bruckner’s 4th by Celibidache and it’s something special, but I fear that his over the top slow tempo doesn’t work in the other movements or even other sections of the last movement. But I would still like a slow ending. You see my dilemma?😆


FWIW, I LOVE Celibidache's Bruckner. For me, there are few other Brucknerians that scale those majestic heights better than Celibidache.


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

The great thing about Celibidache is that you have time to go back and forth into the kitchen to prepare dinner between each bar 

Personally I much prefer the Klemperer/Bavarian RSO 4th ... and no, this is definitely not the slow, late Klemperer.


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## Second Trombone (Jan 23, 2020)

Bach: Brandenburg Concerto 4
Bach: St. Matthew Passion
Bach: Toccata and Fugue in D minor
Beethoven: Symphony 3
Brahms: Symphony 4 (not loud, but to me very haunting)
Mozart: Symphonies 40 & 41
Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto 2
Schubert: Symphonies 8 & 9
Schubert: Piano Sonata 21, D. 960
Shostakovich: Symphonies 4 & 5 (and several others)
Sibelius: Symphony 2
Sibelius: Violin Concerto (subtle to start with, but to me very intriguing)
Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto

I could easily add more examples, and I agree with pretty much all of the previous suggestions. Overall, these responses show how many classical pieces have gripping openings.


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## Neo Romanza (May 7, 2013)

Another opening that grabs me right away is Hanson's _Symphony No. 3_. There really are so many other examples I could cite, but I don't have that kind of time.


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## feierlich (3 mo ago)

EvaBaron said:


> Are both of those slow but not as slow as Celibidache? I love the ending of Bruckner’s 4th by Celibidache and it’s something special, but I fear that his over the top slow tempo doesn’t work in the other movements or even other sections of the last movement. But I would still like a slow ending. You see my dilemma?😆


I mean almost no one is as slow as Celi😆 But without considering Celi then yes they are relatively slow, and Skrowaczewski's (with Halle) or Kertesz's would be two of the "fast" ones.


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## EvaBaron (Jan 3, 2022)

feierlich said:


> I mean almost no one is as slow as Celi😆 But without considering Celi then yes they are relatively slow, and Skrowaczewski's (with Halle) or Kertesz's would be two of the "fast" ones.


Cool, I’ll give the Blomstedt a listen because of the better sound quality (probably)


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

EvaBaron said:


> Cool, I’ll give the Blomstedt a listen because of the better sound quality (probably)


Other than a few outliers, there is not a lot of sound quality difference is studio recordings since the 60s.


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## EvaBaron (Jan 3, 2022)

Becca said:


> Other than a few outliers, there is not a lot of sound quality difference is studio recordings since the 60s.


Oh i didn’t realise the Böhm was after the ‘60s. But it’s funny because I have never realised there’s a lot of of truth to that. What would you say are some of the outliers in terms of outliers? On the good side of outliers then


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

EvaBaron said:


> Oh i didn’t realise the Böhm was after the ‘60s. But it’s funny because I have never realised there’s a lot of of truth to that. What would you say are some of the outliers in terms of outliers? On the good side of outliers then


I was being inclusive of the 60s as most companies seemed to have it figured out by then. As to outliers, I can't really tell you as I avoid the bad ones and, unless something is spectacular, I don't pay a lot of attention to the better-than-average. In most cases the performance quality trumps any considerations of sound quality


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## Ethereality (Apr 6, 2019)

The opening salvo


Like the opening sentences of a great novel, a piece of music ought to engage your attention from the beginning, to draw you in and make you want to keep listening. I've been thinking about pieces that really grab your attention from the opening bars, and thought others might want to contribute...




www.talkclassical.com


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## brpaulandrew_586 (8 mo ago)

It's the Mahler 5 for me. The brass fanfare followed by the slow march makes me sit up in my seat and ask "What's next?"


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

One opening that I think is gripping is the beginning of Bruckner's 7th. It has this beautiful melody that gets so caught up in how it is unfolding that it just keeps going and going.


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## bluto32 (Apr 25, 2015)

Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No.1: the opening few bars are dynamite in the right hands. Ashkenazy/Haitink is magical:





Brahms Piano Concerto No.1: again, this one can be explosive. Fleisher/Szell has a great opening:


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