# The Official Favorite Short Musical Moments™ Thread



## Ethereality (Apr 6, 2019)

_Favorite musical moments *must be short moments* from _*3 seconds long*_ to _*30 seconds long*_. Do not exceed or attempt 1 minute. Think instead of the key moments you like therein. Thanks ahead of time for following these rules. Please post in the form of YouTube videos with timestamps preferably._


----------



## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

Wagner,_ Lower Brass_, 1876:


----------



## toshiromifune (May 24, 2019)

Sviatoslav Richter - Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 2






Edit: It's from 6:38 if the timestamp link doesn't work.


----------



## Jacck (Dec 24, 2017)

Bruckner - Symphony No. 8 in C minor - 3 Adagio




though this particular movement has many great moments, another one here


----------



## Portamento (Dec 8, 2016)




----------



## calvinpv (Apr 20, 2015)

Stockhausen's _Kontakte_. Play for about 30 seconds. I always get a little chuckle when I listen to this.






Feldman's _Piano and String Quartet_. Play for about a minute (it's an 80 minute piece, so 1 minute is nothing). For the entirety of the work, the piano and strings move at a snail's pace from one arpeggiated chord to the next. However, at this particular moment, things slow down yet further -- almost to a standstill, it seems -- and the chords are thinned out to four, three and, ultimately, two notes.


----------



## chu42 (Aug 14, 2018)

53 minutes into Busoni's piano concerto, we see a fairly superhuman display of technical prowess.






It's not so much a great "musical" moment as it is great fun watching Hamelin's face turn red through sheer exertion.


----------



## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

chu42 said:


> 53 minutes into Busoni's piano concerto, we see a fairly superhuman display of technical prowess.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Wow, what a performance! Never heard this work before.


----------



## chu42 (Aug 14, 2018)

Phil loves classical said:


> Wow, what a performance! Never heard this work before.


It's not for everybody. I didnt like it much at first, but now I believe that it is one of the greatest concertos ever written and it takes me to exotic lands with every listen. If you do decide to listen to it you must do so with concentration or else it will come out as just noise.


----------



## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

^ Doubtless it is flawed but it is an extraordinary work of huge ambition (and from an unexpected source!?). I'm not sure where I would place it among the great piano concertos but I do like it a lot.


----------



## Bwv 1080 (Dec 31, 2018)

Each one of these


----------



## Gallus (Feb 8, 2018)

The line of Josquin's Inviolata, "O benigna, O Regina, O Maria..."


----------



## Ethereality (Apr 6, 2019)

Here are two


----------



## BrahmsWasAGreatMelodist (Jan 13, 2019)

The whole piece is filled with them, but here are a few (one from each movement):





 (haha, it's also mentioned in the first comment  )











And, of course, the ending (!!!) :


----------



## Ethereality (Apr 6, 2019)

Screw it, I'm breaking my own rules. Almost a 2 minute moment: the whole development from 16:30 - 18:15 to me is unparalleled, in I'd say wonder, whimsicality, beauty. The part at 17:05 - 17:40 is surely the best, if I had to pick 30 seconds. I always come back to this moment throughout the years, it is definitely something of my top favorite in music (while the other 2 above I'd say are lesser favorites.)


----------



## DeepR (Apr 13, 2012)

Bruckner's 5th finale. From 1:09:52 to 1:10:37.






It's such a great moment and makes me so excited that I can't control myself from moving my body one way or another (I usually start "conducting").
Obviously it needs to be heard in context with the rest of the movement.


----------



## Ethereality (Apr 6, 2019)

I love the simple modulation to the resolve here at 5:18. So simple yet catchy.


----------



## Ethereality (Apr 6, 2019)

Beethoven, _summon Wagner!_ 




This whole symphony is loaded with gems. I don't know how Beethoven even came up with this stuff. I mean, Mov 2?


----------



## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

I'll try a hand at this little game!

One of my favorite Glazunov moments of all time, the joyous trumpet fanfare of his 4th symphony which turns into an orchestral sprint:

22:24-22:50






YAHOOOO! :trp: :trp: :trp:


----------



## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

Another glorious moment, from Shostakovich's ballet the Bolt:

1:45 - 2:02 (the section actually has a repeat too, but I'm focusing specifically on the trombones):





Catching a theme here in my favorite moments?


----------



## Ethereality (Apr 6, 2019)

I love the little in-between chords starting at 1:33, it feels like it's building up to something


----------



## Jacck (Dec 24, 2017)

Mozart, Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor


----------



## Ethereality (Apr 6, 2019)

I appear to post a lot of favorite Beethoven moments, but I think Beethoven was good at little moments. I wish I could relive this little pace change at *20:39* over and over again. It's breathtaking. Beethoven sounds so prim and perfect:


----------



## Jacck (Dec 24, 2017)

Bax - Symphony 5


----------



## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

Ethereality said:


> _Favorite musical moments *must be short moments* from _*3 seconds long*_ to _*30 seconds long*_. Do not exceed or attempt 1 minute. Think instead of the key moments you like therein. Thanks ahead of time for following these rules. Please post in the form of YouTube videos with timestamps preferably._


I would never normally reply to this sort of "favourites" thread, but in this case I actually have one. It's a little motif in the first movement of Mozart C major string quintet, K 515 -- this link should take you to it


----------



## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

The first 20 seconds in Stravinsky's 3rd movement of _Symphony of Psalms_, especially the choir's first "Alleluia."


----------



## Ethereality (Apr 6, 2019)




----------



## AaronSF (Sep 5, 2021)

Schmaltz, perhaps, but irresistible. That voice! That control!


----------



## GucciManeIsTheNewWebern (Jul 29, 2020)

Bwv 1080 said:


> Each one of these


I also nominate the Six Bagatelles.


----------



## RobertJTh (Sep 19, 2021)

One of the hidden gems of the baroque organ literature.
The fragment starts with the last 4 bars of the first page. Then, in the 2nd bar of the 2nd page, you get a 7th chord F-A-(C)-E, with the top E not resolving downwards but jumping to the high A and then sliding down. The whole piece is a slice of heaven, but this single effect always gives me goosebumps.


----------

