# Most tempestuous perpetual motions (de facto or titular)



## Fenestella

What pieces titled perpetual motion do you find the most tempestuous?
What pieces not titled perpetual motion do you consider practically perpetual motions and the most tempestuous?

For me-

Chopin 
Etudes Op.25 No.12 
Preludes Op.28 No.8 &16

Rachmaninoff
Moments musicaux, Op.16, No.4 

Sinding 
Suite, Op.10, Mvt.1


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## ahinton

Alkan: Étude Op. 76/3
Étude, Op. 39/7
Sorabji: Piano Sonata No. 5 - II, opening section (pp.63-74 in the Abercrombie edition)
Symphonic Variations for piano solo - Var. 56 (based around the finale of Chopin's Piano Sonata No. 2, Op. 35)
???: Piano Sonata No. 5 - IV, section marked _Alkanique_...


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## hpowders

How about:

Barber Violin Concerto, movement 3

Beethoven Piano Sonata 22, movement 2

Prokofiev Piano Sonata 7, final movement


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## Bettina

Schumann's Toccata. When played at Schumann's indicated tempo, it becomes an exciting whirlwind of notes. Many pianists (Argerich, Kissin, Richter) play it too slowly--it should sound frantic, not meditative! Here's a nice fast rendition by Horowitz:


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## Pugg

Rachmaninov : Moments musicaux, Op.16, No.4 , without a blink.


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## MarkW

Was going to suggest Prokofiev's 7th Sonata, but HP beat me to it. -


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## Retrograde Inversion

Many contemporary works might fit the bill, but one that immediately comes to mind is Berio's _Points on the curve to find..._ .


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## hpowders

MarkW said:


> Was going to suggest Prokofiev's 7th Sonata, but HP beat me to it. -


That happens to me all the time. Tough competition on TC!!! :tiphat:


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## DeepR

I'm not entirely sure what the OP means but here are some stormy piano pieces, the first all have something to do with actual storms in either the title or intent:

Lyapunov - Transcendental Etude No. 6 ("The Storm")




Henselt - Etude Op. 2 No. 1 ("Storm, you cannot beat me!") 




Chopin - Prelude Op. 28 No. 24 ("The Storm")




Chopin - Etude Op. 25 No. 11 ("Winter Wind")!!




Liszt - Orage (Storm)




Scriabin - Sonata No. 2 movement 2 ("The second movement represents the vast expanse of ocean in stormy agitation")




 (starts at 8:30)

Some more favorite tempestuous solo piano pieces:

Scriabin - Etude Op. 42 No. 5 (my favorite of them all, only Horowitz)




Scriabin - Prelude Op. 11 No. 14




Scriabin - Prelude Op. 11 No. 24 (I can play this one myself)




Prokofiev - Etude Op. 2 No. 1




Prokofiev - Etude Op. 2 No. 4




Prokofiev - Toccata Op. 11




Rachmaninoff - Moment Musical Op. 16 No. 4 (already mentioned but here's a great performance)




Rachmaninoff - Prelude Op. 23 No. 2 (only Richter!)




Rachmaninoff - Etude Op. 39 No. 5 (Horowitz' completely neurotic performance)




Rachmaninoff - Etude Op. 39 No. 6 (the only piano piece Lisitsa is best at)




Ravel - Toccata from Le Tombeau de Couperin


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## Fenestella

DeepR said:


> Scriabin - Etude Op. 42 No. 5


Greatest etude ever written. Compare the idiomatic writing of the Etude with the idiomatic writing of Liszt's _Auf dem wasser zu singen_, see the inspiration and transformation.



DeepR said:


> I'm not entirely sure what the OP means


Neither am I the definition of _perpetuum mobile_ is vague.. the marking of Scriabin's Op. 42-5, _affannato_ ("breathless"), might be a good one.


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## Delicious Manager

You haven't specified that you are only after piano music, so here are some orchestral suggestions not yet mentioned:

Adams - _A Short Ride in a Fast Machine_
Ibert - Bacchanale
Mendelssohn - Last movement (Saltarello) from the _Italian_ Symphony
Pärt - _Perpetuum mobile_
Prokofoev - 2nd movement (_Scherzo_) of Piano Concerto No 2
Rimsky-Korsakov - _The Flight of the Bumble Bee_ from _The Tale of Tsar Saltan_
Shostakovich - 3rd movement of Symphony No 8; 2nd movement of Symphony No 10
Johann Strauss II - _Perpetuum mobile_


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## ahinton

Delicious Manager said:


> You haven't specified that you are only after piano music, so here are some orchestral suggestions not yet mentioned:
> 
> Adams - _A Short Ride in a Fast Machine_
> Ibert - Bacchanale
> Mendelssohn - Last movement (Saltarello) from the _Italian_ Symphony
> Pärt - _Perpetuum mobile_
> Prokofoev - 2nd movement (_Scherzo_) of Piano Concerto No 2
> Rimsky-Korsakov - _The Flight of the Bumble Bee_ from _The Tale of Tsar Saltan_
> Shostakovich - 3rd movement of Symphony No 8; 2nd movement of Symphony No 10
> Johann Strauss II - _Perpetuum mobile_


Since you mention Dmitry Dmitreyevich, what about that hair-raising string toccata in the first movement of his Fourth Symphony?


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## Skilmarilion

Ravel: Violin Sonata No. 2, finale.

Bartok: Concerto for Orchestra, finale.

Barber: Violin Concerto, finale.


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## hpowders

Then there's the final movement of Barber's Piano Concerto in which he unsuccessfully attempts to capture the brilliance of the final movement of his Violin Concerto.

Just writing fast music doesn't make it great.


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## jegreenwood

Saw this at City Ballet last night. From the description of the composer Christopher Rouse:

Rather it was my intention to compose a brief orchestral showpiece inspired by the vision of a great self-sufficient machine eternally in motion for no particular purpose. But while this machine is not specifically satanic, it is more than a little sinister. The score is a perpetuum mobile wherein the monster sometimes whirs along in mercurially unconcerned fashion, while at others it sputters or throws off slightly hellish sparks, occasionally grinding as it changes gears.

I can't insert the videos - you'll have to go to the links.

https://www.nycballet.com/season-tickets/16-17-season/spring/170513m/the-infernal-machine.aspx


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## lextune

Delicious Manager said:


> Prokofiev - 2nd movement (_Scherzo_) of Piano Concerto No 2


This was the first piece I thought of.


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