# Examples of classical music that give you goosebumps?



## teej

You know what I mean. Certain notes, or harmonies, or phrasings that provoke a physiological response (goosebumps, shivers down the back of the neck, etc.) 
Major seventh chords _always _have that effect on me. 
Or the way an instrumentalist plays a certain note or phrase. 
Just one example: I'm currently listening to the Strauss E flat violin sonata performed by Sarah Chang (EMI Classics). At the 32 second mark in the second movement the way she swoops up to the high F with perfect intonation gets me _every _time.
It would be interesting to hear about other listeners' examples of "goosebump"-provoking pieces!


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## DrKilroy

I have this frequently while listening to epic moments in British music.  Perhaps a few examples: Holst's The Planets: Mars - when all the instruments play the rythmic motive, also in Neptune - when the choir enters, as long as the choir has got certain, angelic timbre. Also the moment with organ in Vaughan Williams' Sinfonia Antartica; also the ending of Tallis Fantasia by the same composer. And of course the introduction of A Sea Symphony - who does not remember this 'Behooold... the SEA!' 

Best regards, Dr


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## mud

Personally, I am more likely to draw a tear or laugh than get goosebumps. It depends on what kind of mood I am in, but the tonal music can do that, unlike the tedious or obnoxious modern music that has strangely evovled from it. Not to start an argument, I am just saying that most of the actual classical music falls into that category for me.


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## Ukko

The 3rd movement of Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra can cause chills with the first bars, because they've been building since the work started.


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## crmoorhead

I'm no good at technical explanations, but this always gives me goosebumps:


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## Huilunsoittaja

I frequently get chills from Russian classical music. Bell allusions give me chills.

I went to a concert last night and heard this section. It was done with 2 piano arrangement, but I knew the original is performed with these flutes. *Soooo *much chills from this part:


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## DrKilroy

Huilunsoittaja said:


> I frequently get chills from Russian classical music.


Exactly, I forgot a very important piece - the Finale of Stravinsky's Firebird. 

Best regards, Dr


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## Manxfeeder

The first movement of Bruckner's 4th symphony, on this video at 10:00, is transcendent, and a good recording always takes me out of myself - especially Tintner's.


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## Lisztian

I get this quite frequently. Some prominent examples:

2:10 - 6:00. My body simply can't handle so much magnificence.











1:35 - 5:10






11:41 - 25:36






2:09 - 3:20


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## Lisztian

Another one I need to mention, because it affects me no less than the ones I just mentioned, is the start of Liszt's _Totentanz_.


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## hpowders

Well Tempered Clavier Book Two by Bach on harpsichord by Gustav Leonhardt.

Appalachian Spring Suite by Copland with Leonard Bernstein conducting the New York Philharmonic.


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## dzc4627

This part of Brahms Symphony 4:





Literally oh my god when it gets low like that Hnggggg


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## Klassic

Sibelius Symphony No.2, 
Symphony No.4 Largo, 
Symphony No.7.


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## Totenfeier

Slap on the old headphones, crank the end of Mahler's Eighth, and just expire for a little while. Talk about a hit (in all senses of the word)!


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## Guest

Most frequent goosebumps, to the point that I can essentially put the music on with the intent of getting a physical sensation:

Francisco Lopez
Alvin Lucier
Sachiko M


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## Ingélou

There are certain early tunes that make me feel both 'beyond time' & yet also 'connected with history' in a mystical and slightly eerie fashion. Sort of *metaphysical goosebumps*.

One of these is the seventeenth century 'folie' that appears in the music of several baroque masters including Corelli. Here is Lully's 'Folie d'Espagne' as an example:


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## hpowders

Seriously:

ANY classical piece I am listening to when I'm opening the envelope that contains my IRS refund check.


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## Morimur

To name a few...

Bach's Matthew Passion
Stravinsky's Rite
Bartók's Music for Strings, Percussion & Celesta
Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire
Lutosławski's Lacrimosa
Ligeti's Requiem
Kurtág's Signs, Games & Messages


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## Richard8655

Morimur said:


> To name a few...
> 
> Bach's Matthew Passion
> Stravinsky's Rite
> Bartók's Music for Strings, Percussion & Celesta
> Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire
> Lutosławski's Lacrimosa
> Ligeti's Requiem
> Kurtág's Signs, Games & Messages


I thought melancholy was a waste of time? Lots of lacrimosas, requiems, and passions there. Not criticizing as some of those are in my list too.


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## Morimur

Richard8655 said:


> I thought melancholy was a waste of time? Lots of lacrimosas, requiems, and passions there. Not criticizing as some of those are in my list too.


Melancholy has nothing to do with my esteem for the aforementioned music. But I certainly am _morbid_.


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## Strange Magic

Many places in both the Prokofiev #2 and #3 piano concertos. The rushing, whirling coda of the #3 would cause an anvil to leap off the ground. Ravel Daybreak music from Daphnis et Chloe. Brahms 4th already mentioned. Coda of Respighi, _St. Gregory the Great_ in Church Windows. Final movement of Mozart _Jupiter_. Last movement of Bach BB #4..... Endless list (but no Liszt).


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## EarthBoundRules

Brahms' _4th Symphony_ gives me goosebumps more than any other piece. I guess it's the magnitude of it.


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## Pugg

Edward Elgar - Nimrod


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## motoboy

The 8th movement, "Tired" from Langgaard's 4th Symphony. Definitely creepy.

And Boulanger's "Pie Jesu."


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## Simon Moon

> The 3rd movement of Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra





> the Finale of Stravinsky's Firebird





> Stravinsky's Rite


That opening bassoon...



> Bartók's Music for Strings, Percussion & Celesta


The final movement gets me everytime.

Penderecki violin concerto no. 2 "Metamorphosen".


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## starthrower

Anytime I'm listening outdoors on a cool evening with my shirt off.


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## Richard8655

Handel - concerti grossi op. 3 (all 6)
Handel - concerto grosso op.6 no. 6
Handel - coronation anthems
Handel - passacaglia in G minor (harpsichord)
Handel - Lascia ch'io pianga, Rinaldo
Bach - double violin concerto 
Monn - cello concerto in G minor


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## TumultuousHair

Here are th one's I can think of:
Albinoni's Adagio
The fugue from Bach's Toccatta and Fugue in D minor
Tartini's Devils Trill Sonata
Bach's Air
Beethoven's Grosse Fugue
Beethoven's 14th string quartet 
The third movement of Beethoven's Heiligier quartet
The third movement of Beethoven's 16th string quartet


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## hpowders

Shostakovich Symphony No. 4.

Ives Concord Piano Sonata.

Bach Keyboard Partita No. 5.

Bach Passacaglia and Fugue for Organ in c Minor.


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## QuietGuy

Copland's Shaker Variations from Appalachian Spring
Ravel's Daphnis et Chloe Suite #2
Ravel's La Valse 
Ravel's Le Jardin Feerique from Mother Goose Suite -- especially the 6 bars of fanfare at the end.


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## hpowders

QuietGuy said:


> Copland's Shaker Variations from Appalachian Spring
> Ravel's Daphnis et Chloe Suite #2
> Ravel's La Valse
> Ravel's Le Jardin Feerique from Mother Goose Suite -- especially the 6 bars of fanfare at the end.


The coda to Ravel's La Valse has to be the most exciting, electric music ever composed, perhaps rivaled only by the final coda to Stravinsky's Le Sacre.


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## hpowders

Seriously, nothing gives me goosebumps more than a great performance of Bach's magnificent Passacaglia in c Minor for organ.


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## Pugg

Ah! Per sempre io ti perdei - Simon Keenlyside 
I Puritani- Bellini :tiphat:


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## hpowders

Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 3 with Van Cliburn has been giving me goosebumps ever since I was a 15 year old kid.


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## SixFootScowl

hpowders said:


> Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 3 with Van Cliburn has been giving me goosebumps ever since I was a 15 year old kid.


How can that be? Prokofiev completed that concerto in 1921 so you must have been older than 15, no?


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## hpowders

Florestan said:


> How can that be? Prokofiev completed that concerto in 1921 so you must have been older than 15, no?


Ha! Ha! No! The Cliburn performance I believe came out sometime in the mid-1960's.

Still as bubbly as I remember it when I was a kid.

I've listened to many other performances but I find the Cliburn to be the best.

This guy could have been the greatest pianist of the 20th century. Sad.


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## Becca

Just recovering from the goosebumps ... this performance does it to me every time

(a link to the closing few minutes)


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## Haydn man

Mozart PC 23 slow movement
Takes my breath away


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## Becca

A Continuous Positive Airway Pressure device can help with that


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## KenOC

Becca said:


> A Continuous Positive Airway Pressure device can help with that


Haydn could have used one of those (per my very remote diagnosis).


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## Strange Magic

Thanks to Becca for resurrecting this thread ! It gives me an excuse to add: Bach Keyboard Concerto No.1; Ravel Concerto for the Left Hand, especially that beginning ascent out of the primordial chaos; Sibelius Pohjola's Daughter; and my two often-mentioned Hovhaness concertos, No.1 _Lousadzak_ for piano and Violin Concerto No.2.


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## starthrower

Last movement from Bartok's 1st string quartet.
Dance Infernal from The Firebird
Bach's Toccata & Fugue in D minor
Prelude to Le Tombeau de Couperin
Mahler's Adagio from the 10th


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## pianoville

Wotan's Abschied from Die Walküre


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## Enthusiast

Ravel's Ma Mere l'Oye .... :lol:


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## Bluecrab

starthrower said:


> Last movement from Bartok's 1st string quartet.


Yes. There are so many points near the end of the movement where it seems that it is about to conclude, but he takes us back down the path again. And I love the abruptness of the ending-none of that tonic-third-tonic-third-tonic... ad infinitum that is so pervasive in the Classical and Romantic periods.

Also, the first movement of Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celeste. The growing tension as it advances toward the crescendo and climax, then the inversion of the initial theme in a higher register on the strings-similar to what he did in the first movement of SQ1 (without the inversion), when he reprises the initial theme. Bartok at his best, IMO.


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## MusicSybarite

The entrance of the organ in _San Gregorio Magno_ from _Vetrate di Chiesa_ by Respighi. In fact, the whole movement. Tons and tons of goosebumps!!

The epic beginning of _Thus Spoke Zarathustra_. A true classic that never gets old-fashioned.

The Lutoslawski's unique _String Quartet_. Creepy stuff that just fits my tastes.


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## MusicSybarite

Ahh, I almost forget it: the _Coda_ of the Tchaikovsky's _Piano Trio_. The peak of the goosebumps is when suddenly the music changes from the most exhilarating joy to an almost funereal lament: that moment is priceless!!


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## Tchaikov6

The very end of _Gotterdammerung_, the Immolation Scene... especially Solti's recording... no words, really.


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## beetzart

The last movement of Sibelius' 5th symphony. 
The opening to Sibelius' 1st Symphony.
The opening to Mahler's 1st symphony and the first 5 minutes of the the movement.
Schubert's last quartet 1st movement.


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## Larkenfield

I’ve experienced goosebumps as extremely rare. Very rare. A handful of experiences in a lifetime. And I’ve never had goosebumps with the same work ever, because I think it involves an element of surprise, and one can only be surprised once with a particular recording. Just once if it happens at all. But sometimes once is enough... Goosebumps represents the most fantastic synchronicity in the universe when the listener is totally merged with the work and they are somehow in perfect harmony and resonance. The planets just don’t line up like that except extremely rarely, and then one never forgets it. It’s the highest that can be experienced. The tingling goes up-and-down one’s spine like magic, the flesh tingles, and the world becomes a beautiful place. I can’t recall the last time it happened, but the lack of it hasn’t spoiled anything.


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## Strange Magic

^^^^I get gooseflesh and teary regularly and very often while watching/listening to YouTube videos of certain works recorded "in concert". Put me in front of a screen, give me the headphones, and show me the video of Polina Osetinskaya at the keyboard performing the Bach Keyboard Concerto No.1, and I am quickly reduced to jelly. Stream the video and see/hear for yourself....


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## Pat Fairlea

Depending on mood. I get that goosebumps/lump in the throat feeling listening to all sorts of music, but only a few passages in a handful of pieces do it every time. That glorious moment towards the end of Rachmaninoff's 'Vocalise' when the soprano climbs to her top note, holds it just a second or so, then the melody falls away and into the coda. Utterly gorgeous. That one does it every time.

Here's Anna Moffo, taking it slowly and with feeling.






Come to think of it, so does the 'Great Gate of Kiev' passage from Mussorgsky's 'Pictures at an Exhibition'. And that's a fantastic piece to play!


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## tdc

The Netherlands Bach Society is doing stellar work with their project of recording all of Bach, I often get goosebumps watching the videos they put up of Bach's music on their site.

http://allofbach.com/en/bwv/bwv-1048/


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## DeepR

I get goosebumps often and they are a very good indicator that the music is, or will be, among my favorite music.

I still get them after having listened to a piece many, many times... as long as there is a healthy interval. 

For example, how can one not get goosebumps by just about any outburst in Bruckner's 9th, the coda of the first movement especially ? No? Well, try a different recording maybe.


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## DeepR

Here we go, one piece at a time.

Vaughan Williams - Tallis Fantasia






The climax at 11:20... goosebumps for over a minute straight.
Glorious, glorious. That sound, that reverb. I want more of that!


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## regenmusic

Ingélou said:


> There are certain early tunes that make me feel both 'beyond time' & yet also 'connected with history' in a mystical and slightly eerie fashion. Sort of *metaphysical goosebumps*.
> 
> One of these is the seventeenth century 'folie' that appears in the music of several baroque masters including Corelli. Here is Lully's 'Folie d'Espagne' as an example:


Yes, I only think of good things when people say "goosebumps." I get goosebumps with very high spiritual emotions.

It is almost like people cannot play Sheep May Safely Graze by Bach correctly, but the notes of the song seem to play in my mind in a very spiritual way that would give a refreshing experience like I mentioned.


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## leonsm

Some works I'm remembering right now:

Bach: i) Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor (Walcha, Stamm or Alain; ii) Mass in B minor (esp. Kyrie, Crucifixus and Agnus Dei); iii) Chaconne from Violin Partita no. 2; iv) Toccata and Fugue "Dorian"

Brahms: i) Clarinet Quintet; ii) Piano Concerto no. 2; iii) Symphony no. 4

Saint-Saens: Symphony no. 3 (esp. mvt. I.b)

Mahler: mvt. VI from Das Lied von der Erde

Dvorak: Stabat Mater (esp. dolorosa)

Vivaldi: Stabat Mater (esp. dolorosa)


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## juliante

Just a chord change can do it for me...most recently near the start of the second movement of Nielsen's 5th Symphony. I agree, it's a marker of a special piece of music. At a personal level.


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