# Ginormous music



## robertDouglass (Mar 15, 2010)

Hi everyone,

I am writing a series of articles about "Ginormous music" - music that knows how to be big. So far I've written about the Janacek Sinfonietta, Respighi Pines of Rome, Mahler 3rd Symphony, and Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture. What are some other pieces that are humongous larger than life creations that I should discuss? Thanks for the suggestions!


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## emiellucifuge (May 26, 2009)

Mahler 2, mahler 4, mahler 5, mahler 6, mahler 8, mahler 9.
Bruckner 1, Bruckner 2, Bruckner 3, Bruckner 4, Bruckner 5, Bruckner 6, Bruckner 7, Bruckner 8, Bruckner 9, Bruckner 0.
Brian 1
Shostakovich 7, Shostakovich 14
Prokofiev 5

All Grand opera and Wagners operas. 

Sinfonietta's not that big


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## Fsharpmajor (Dec 14, 2008)

emiellucifuge said:


> Brian 1


That one (Havergal Brian's Gothic Symphony) is probably the longest and biggest symphony for which a recording exists.


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## Polednice (Sep 13, 2009)

I suppose it depends on whether or not your talking about the atmosphere it evokes or rather about sheer length and orchestral forces. If the former, I'd suggest Brahms's first Piano Concerto.


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## robertDouglass (Mar 15, 2010)

*Ginormous in any respect*

Brian 1 .... don't know that! Thanks thanks!


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## mueske (Jan 14, 2009)

Beethoven's ninth? C'mon people! There's nothing more larger than life than Beethoven's ninth!

By the way... Mahler 4? Really? 1 is even better suited than 4 and it's not even mentioned.


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## emiellucifuge (May 26, 2009)

Well anything by Mahler is suitable!


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## starry (Jun 2, 2009)

Of the Mahler symphonies I think the second is very large sounding, while still being somewhat accessible to someone new to it.

Of Bruckner I would highlight the 7th. The first movement alone virtually defines what I think of with Bruckner.

One not mentioned is Schubert's 9th, an epic piece in it's way. Mozart's 41st is a huge piece for it's time with it's sound, considered the biggest symphony by some until Beethoven's 3rd (there's another piece).


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

Hmmm - I never considered _Sinfonietta_ to be huge (unless Emnerson, Lake and Palmer are performing it). Maybe becasue its name evokes something small.

How about Verdi's Requiem? That's so huge it hurts.

A really good recording of Liszt's symphonic poem _Les preludes _sounds like the end credits to the entire universe in places. It must have made people faint in its time.

I'm sure I can think of more later.


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## robertDouglass (Mar 15, 2010)

*Sinfonietta*

The Sinfonietta is a wall of brass. It evokes space and majesty. At least the outer movements.

I'm surprised nobody's mentioned Wagner ;-) Nothing more ginormous than the Gods going into Valhalla.


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## robertDouglass (Mar 15, 2010)

By the way, when I write about "ginormous music", perception is important. There are often more people in a marching band than in an orchestra, but it is the imaginative scale and the evocation of space that I'm after. Not pure volume. AC/DC was probably more ginormously loud than Mahler, but the sense of space is not the same.


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## starry (Jun 2, 2009)

robertDouglass said:


> By the way, when I write about "ginormous music", perception is important. There are often more people in a marching band than in an orchestra, but it is the imaginative scale and the evocation of space that I'm after. Not pure volume. AC/DC was probably more ginormously loud than Mahler, but the sense of space is not the same.


That's what I took what you mean. Also Wagner was mentioned.


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## Johnny (Mar 7, 2010)

Are these articles restricted to Classical Music?


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

*Messiaen*'s _Turangalila Symphony _springs to mind. As does *Liszt*'s _Faust Symphony_. Also, *Elgar*'s two symphonies, which each last about an hour (if we are talking about length, all of these pieces fit the bill).


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## nefigah (Aug 23, 2008)

Though obviously symphonies are going to spring to mind most readily, I think certain music in other genres can count if you compare it with other works in that genre. For example, Beethoven's late string quartets were certainly "ginormous" for the time, as was the Hammerklavier piano sonata.


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## Conor71 (Feb 19, 2009)

Richard Strauss comes to mind - Eine Alpinsinfonie, Thus Spake Zarasthrustra, Don Juan, Etc .


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## GraemeG (Jun 30, 2009)

not yet mentioned:
Gurrelieder
Berlioz De Teum and his Requiem.

And for small-scale forces, but epic scope and breadth of imagination;
Quartet for the End of Time
Quintet in C (Schubert)

cheers,
Graeme


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## Grosse Fugue (Mar 3, 2010)

In terms of awe inspiring music, I would have to vote for Le Nozze di Figaro.

I also agree with many of the suggestions above.


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

A few more I thought about:

Probably everyone's favorite cliched ginormous piece, "O Fortuna" from Orff's _Carmena Burana._

And who could forget Copland's_ Fanfare for the Common Man_? Maybe that has already been mentioned. (I can't keep rereading the thread.)

I'll go out on a limb a little and proclaim Bernard Hermann's title music for _The Day the Earth Stood Still_ is just huge. Again it's all the brass, this time mixed with theremin. There must be something about brass that adds scope.

While I'm bordering on cheesy, I may as well go a little farther out on the limb and proclaim Basil Poledourus' soundtrack to _Conan, the Barbarian_ as the largest in scope I have yet heard. It's an orgy of brass and timpani and other loud explosive percussion. Any bigger and we might accidentally set off Ragnorok or something.


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## JSK (Dec 31, 2008)

Pretty much anything by Mahler. Or Gliere's 3rd symphony.


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## bassClef (Oct 29, 2006)

Berlioz Grande Mess des Morts definitely.


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## anacrusis (Mar 21, 2010)

Sorabji's Opus Archimagicum


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## JAKE WYB (May 28, 2009)

Sibelius - *KULLERVO* - always has a final effect of great darkness and power - dont know a male voice choir sound so earthly and epic at the ending


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## Jeremy Marchant (Mar 11, 2010)

Fsharpmajor said:


> That one (Havergal Brian's Gothic Symphony) is probably the longest and biggest symphony for which a recording exists.


Two commercial recordings, now that Boult's fine 1966 account has been issued by Testament


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## Lukecash12 (Sep 21, 2009)

This monolith of a work should do:


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## Josef Anton Bruckner (Mar 22, 2010)

Carl Orff: O Fortuna


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## maestro267 (Jul 25, 2009)

Jon Leifs - Hekla

Apparently the loudest piece of classical music ever composed, depicting the eruption of an Icelandic volcano. He calls for two large percussion sections, including rocks, hammers, iron chains and cannons, totalling around 20 players. The rest of the orchestra is fairly normal-sized, but he also calls for chorus and organ.


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