# The Opening Notes



## Avey (Mar 5, 2013)

*A thread for your favorite opening notes, chords, melodies.* And please, not too broad, for I want to narrow it to the _very very opening parts of works_ or _movements_. Those absolutely foremost sounds, not those that appear maybe a few seconds in...


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## Avey (Mar 5, 2013)

Honestly, I heard two works today, quite randomly, that motivated this thread:

*Britten* - Quartet 1

Tragic, but also warm. Passionate, but distant. A truly ineffable thing, that bleared out sound. Without compare.

*Stravinsky* - Violin Concerto

The passport chord, the napkin chord, the unplayable -- how about *the chord*! Indomitable.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Openings can be subtle or arresting. Beethoven was good at the latter. Think about the Eroica, the 5th, and especially the 9th symphonies. Or a dozen other works!

Mozart's opening to his 39th Symphony is of the other type, it just kind of gets you in there, almost unaware.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)




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## Avey (Mar 5, 2013)

KenOC said:


> ... the Eroica...


A preeminent example. Relays far more than you first thought, before hearing the entire piece, or hearing it again, or again. That is, the opening notes are far more stunning and profound after hearing all that follows.


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## Clairvoyance Enough (Jul 25, 2014)




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## Avey (Mar 5, 2013)

Clairvoyance Enough said:


> (i.e., Boccherini's SQ in C)


Very very interesting. Wish you'd say more, like why do you feel that way.......?


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## Avey (Mar 5, 2013)

Pugg said:


>


1. YOU EDITED YOUR ORIGINAL POST!

2. I can't open the image....

3. But I can see it is the overture to La Traviata!

4. You think the opening notes are great alone? Or do the following few measures lend to that sentiment?


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## Steatopygous (Jul 5, 2015)

Far too many to cite. But the one that popped into my mind is the marvellous trumpet opening to Mahler 5, followed by the ominous strings and massed horns. Spine chilling. If this thread flourishes, I'll offer another 30 or so? 

Here's Gergiev and the World Orchestra for Peace:


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Mendelssohn's Italian symphony comes to mind.


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## Azol (Jan 25, 2015)

*Mahler's Second Symphony*. A whirlwind of low strings and you already know what will follow...


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

Brahms: Piano Concerto No.1. We know right away that there is going to be trouble, tension, jangled nerves (in a good way), thrills, chills......


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Avey said:


> 1. YOU EDITED YOUR ORIGINAL POST!
> 
> 2. I can't open the image....
> 
> ...


 1 -Special for you I've made a bigger one.
2-Wasn't suppose to be a attachment.
3- You are right about the work
4-As much as I like the overture, Violetta's first words (my original post) making the whole thing perfect.
:tiphat:
For those who are thinking: what's this all about?
_Flora, amici, la notte che resta _


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## helenora (Sep 13, 2015)

Bruckner's 1 movement and Finale of 4th symphony.


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

Finale of the Mahler Sixth.


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## GreenMamba (Oct 14, 2012)

Avey said:


> Honestly, I heard two works today, quite randomly, that motivated this thread:
> 
> *Britten* - Quartet 1
> 
> ...


Symphony of Psalms is another great opening.


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## Blancrocher (Jul 6, 2013)

Sibelius's 4th, Lutoslawski's Cello Concerto


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## Rhombic (Oct 28, 2013)

Since the Moguchaya Kuchka (the Mighty Handful) in Russia, Russian symphonies tended to build up from a clearly stated motif in the beginning... allowing thus many epic "opening notes".

Myaskovsky 6, 1st movement. Whoever has listened to it knows it.
Lyatoshynsky 3, 1st movement. Just because I'm fond of it.
Borodin 2, 1st movement. By definition.
Myaskovsky 12, 2nd movement. That trumpet.


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

The beginning of Ravel's Concerto for the Left Hand offers us the idea of some vast, inchoate Something emerging slowly, inexorably out of the primordial void and darkness, and then, ascending into the light and air, spreading its mighty wings in splendor and triumph......


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## Heliogabo (Dec 29, 2014)

Mahler's 9th
Adagio from Ravel piano concerto in G
Schoenberg's Transfigurated night


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## Skilmarilion (Apr 6, 2013)

A few pieces / movements where the opening utterances are enough to give me goosebumps (partly on their own merit and partly as precursors for what is about to come):

*Tchaikovsky* Symphony No. 6, i - as haunting and ominous a passage ever written for bassoon
*Vaughan Williams*, Symphony No. 5, iii Romanza - the sound of those strings ...
*Rautavaara*, Symphony No. 7 iii Come un Sogno - see RVW
*Rachmaninov *Piano Concerto No. 3 i - lilting, delicate and acutely aware of the gorgeousness of the melody about to follow
*Part* Tabula Rasa, ii Silentium: Senza Moto - whatever the first two seconds are of this movement, they (and their later appearances) are amazing
*Glass* Satyagraha, Act 3, Scene iii - perhaps the most beautiful set of arpeggios he's written. And then they veer towards the major, and light ...
*Shostakovich* Violin Concerto No. 1, iii Passacaglia - a crash of the timpani, fanfares in the horns ... not usual precursors to something exquisitely beautiful, and yet here they are.


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## The nose (Jan 14, 2014)

The trumpet of Mahler's Fifth
The Bassoon of Stravinsky's Sacre
And Wagner's Tristan und Isolde Prelude


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## Avey (Mar 5, 2013)

Oh, and obviously, this one needs to be mentioned: 




I was listening to this earlier this week and I don't think I had heard it in several months.

My thoughts on review being far too large and complex to relay here. Truly a breathtaking thing.


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## gardibolt (May 22, 2015)

Nothing like the opening of Rhapsody in Blue.


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## Tomas (Aug 23, 2014)

Strauss' Don Juan, the first minute or so!


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

For some reason only the arresting ones come to mind at the moment.

Beethoven: String Quartet No. 11 in F minor, Op. 95, "Serioso" No cheating required. Those first few notes before the pause are an irresistible lure.

Stravinsky: Symphony in 3 movements.  I rarely recover from the opening glissando before the piece rushes on toward other equally memorable phrases and effects.


Poulenc: Flute Sonata  I always finds these five notes peculiar, almost more of an ornament than a motif. It's hard for me to imagine how anyone would come up with such a sequence.


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

Since I'm listening to it right now, the opening notes of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony sort of sound like the orchestra tuning.

I just typed "orchestra tuning Beethoven" into Google and, guess what! I guess it is deliberate, but I never knew. Here's the second entry:

*Beethoven's 9th Symphony - The Glorious Choral Masterwork*

www.favorite-classical-composers.com/*beethoven*-symphony-9.html

The _Beethoven_ Symphony 9 is a life-affirming masterpiece. The joyful ... The mysterious opening mimics the sound of an _orchestra tuning_ up. This suggests to ...

Oh, well. I guess I'll have to try harder for an original thought :lol:


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Pugg said:


>


The opening measures of _La Traviata_ are indeed beautiful, but these are not the opening measures. Here they are:


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## QuietGuy (Mar 1, 2014)

The opening notes of Copland's _Appalachian Spring_. Can't get much simpler or more magical than that!


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## SuperGalaxy (Jul 30, 2015)

I love the opening motif of Haydn's 83rd Symphony (The Hen). It is fast, fierce, forceful. Definitely my favourite out of Haydn's many.


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

I am surprised that nobody has mentioned _Das Rheingold_ ... the low E flat on the basses.

However ... my choice would be opening of Carl Nielsen's 5th Symphony ... formless chaos


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## Stavrogin (Apr 20, 2014)

I'm surprised no one mentioned 4'33 yet


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## Abraham Lincoln (Oct 3, 2015)

Duh duh duh duuuuuhhhhhh


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## isorhythm (Jan 2, 2015)

Tallis - Spem in alium
Byrd - Emendemus in melius
Beethoven - string quartet op. 131
Schubert - string quartet no. 15, 9th symphony
Brahms - clarinet quintet
Ligeti - Lux aeterna, Atmospheres, violin concerto
Xenakis - Metastaseis
Boulez - Pli selon pli


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

The four notes that begin Lutoslawski's 3rd symphony.

The first note of Beethoven's 7th.

Opening to Sibelius no. 2

Opening to Petrushka

Opening notes to all three movements of Prokofiev's 2nd piano concerto.

Bach's Toccata & Fugue in D minor


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## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

Some subtle ones that I think instantly take a listener into another world

All three movements of Debussy's Trio Sonata (Flute, Viola, Harp)
First movement of Ravel's Piano Trio - (maybe my all time favorite musical theme)
Ravel's Introduction and allegro
Middle movement of Bartok's Piano Concerto No. 2


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## Stavrogin (Apr 20, 2014)

Beethoven's Sonata Op.109 of course.


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

Vaughn Williams - Opening of the 1st symphony and 2nd movement of the 3rd symphony

Bartok - opening of the 3rd string quartet

Schnittke - opening Symphony 6 - terrifying chord

Mahler - opening of symphony 1

Vivaldi - Concerto for 4 violins in b minor (op. 3 no. 10), that one note followed by silence is striking.


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## Guest (Nov 6, 2015)

Holst - Mars
Mendelssohn - Italian Symphony mov I.
Prokofiev - Classical Symphony mov. I.
Mozart - Symphony No. 25 mov. I.


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## Blancrocher (Jul 6, 2013)

Beethoven - Piano Sonata 24


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## TwoPhotons (Feb 13, 2015)

Mahler - 1st Symphony, 4th movement, a.k.a. _Crash Scream Bang_


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## senza sordino (Oct 20, 2013)

Many of my favourite openings of pieces have already been mentioned. I've "liked" those.

A couple more: the opening crack of notes to Ravel's piano concerto. The satisfying harmony of Sibelius's fifth symphony. And the piano and orchestra trading notes to Beethoven's Fourth piano concerto. I like that the third symphony of Schumann gets going immediately, no introduction. And the same for the Fifth violin sonata "Spring" of Beethoven, let's get this piece going right away - that's pretty cool.


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## Guest (Nov 8, 2015)

This kind of dramatic arc of epic proportions can only come from greatness:






Within a few seconds, we know pretty damn well we shouldn't have picked a fight with Jesus 






Ok, ok, we get it! She can play!


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