# Complete opposites



## Waehnen (Oct 31, 2021)

This is a thread for mentioning and discussing pieces of music that in our perception are complete opposites to each other. This is one way of getting to the core of how differently things can be seen.

I will start.

Mahler: Symphony no. 6
Sibelius: Symphony no. 6

Both are symphonies of the same musical era, number sixes, set in 4 movements and in minor key — but that’s where the things in common end. It is actually hard for me to think of symphonies that would be further apart from each other.

The other is stimulating, loud and aggressive, the other is quiet, soothing and calm. The first lasts almost 3 times longer than the 2nd. The other is a show of orchestral colours, the other’s only ”extra” instrument is the Bass Clarinet. I could go on forever, but if you sre familiar with these 2 great but totally different works, you know what I am talking about.


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

Waehnen said:


> It is actually hard for me to think of symphonies that would be further apart from each other.


Howabout
Haydn: symphony no.94
Mahler: symphony no.8


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## Philidor (11 mo ago)

Kaikoshru Sorabji: Opus clavicembalisticum
John Cage: 4' 33" (piano version)

I feel obliged to add some arguments for my choice.

Both have been composed in the 20th century.
Both are written for a pianist.
Both are transcending formerly tacitly accepted limits.
Both tended to overburden some listeners' abilities to grasp the idea.

The pieces are different 
- in the required time for a performance (4' 33" as opposed to nearly 4 hrs 33')
- in the technical skills of instrument handling (in the time of its completion, the "opus clavicembalisticum" was possibly the most technically demanding solo piano work in existence)


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

The Schumann Toccata (an awful lot different of pitches)
The fourth movement of Scelsi’s 8th suite (not many different pitches)


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## Kreisler jr (Apr 21, 2021)

Purcell: When I am laid in earth (Dido's Lament)
Wagner: Mild und leise (Isolde's Liebestod)

Both scenes of women "dying for love" at the end of an opera, one brief and resignative, the other expansive and ecstatic.


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