# What is your favourite last movement?



## beetzart (Dec 30, 2009)

Just listened to Saint Saens' 3rd Symphony finale and wow, it is incredible. But do I love it more then Beethoven's 9th last movement? 

I mean last movement of any piece not just symphonies. Love to read your suggestions.


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## Brahmsian Colors (Sep 16, 2016)

Though there are several, these two immediately come to mind: Mozart's jumpin' "Jupiter" (Symphony 41) and Dvorak's Cello Concerto.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

The final movement of the Ives Concord Sonata is among the most moving pieces I have ever encountered.

I love the final movement of the Fourth Piano Concerto of Beethoven, as well as the final movement of the Brahms Fourth Symphony.

The final movement of the Mahler Fifth Symphony is also awesome.


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## brianvds (May 1, 2013)

Sort of randomly: the last movements from Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra and third piano concerto. Hard to believe that such transcendent joy and irrepressible energy could have come from the pen of a dying man...


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Mahler 9, Bruckner 9 (unfinished version) or Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde.


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## Eschbeg (Jul 25, 2012)

Sibelius's Second Symphony
Berg's Violin Concerto


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Actually my favorite last movement was when my wealthy Uncle George signed me into his will just before he died.


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## gprengel (Dec 21, 2015)

My favourite last movements are probably from:
1. Beethoven 9th symphony
2. Beethoven piano sonata op. 111
3. Mahler 3rd symphony (and 2nd and 9th)
4. Beethoven 3rd symphony
5. Brahms 4th symphony
6. Tschaikowsky 5th symphony
7. Beethoven string quartett op. 131 c#
8. Dvorak 9th symphony
9. Beethoven piano sonata op. 53 (Waldstein)
10. Mozart Jupiter symphony


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## AfterHours (Mar 27, 2017)

Ludwig van Beethoven - Symphony No. 9 in D Minor - 4th Movement (1824)


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## jdec (Mar 23, 2013)

hpowders said:


> The final movement of the Mahler Fifth Symphony is also awesome.


For some reason I always imagine hiking in the Alps when I listen to this wonderful movement.


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## beetzart (Dec 30, 2009)

The final movement of Beethoven's 14th String Quartet in C sharp minor. I love the ending being a picardy third.


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## eugeneonagain (May 14, 2017)

_Favourite_ is always hard. In general Rach's 2nd concerto never fails to satisfy. More recently, the finales to Marcel Tyberg's 2nd symphony and also Eugene Goossens 2nd. They're rather Wagnerian in many ways, but I still like them. The latter has a Holst 'Planets' feel.

Outside symphonies I very much like the final movement of Mozart's Divertimento no.2 (K.131). Also the final rondo from Jean Francaix's string trio.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

jdec said:


> For some reason I always imagine hiking in the Alps when I listen to this wonderful movement.


Yes! That feeling indeed tends to permeate the entire symphony, in my opinion!!

I believe Mahler had a summer home in the Alps and that beautiful surrounding may have been the Fifth Symphony's inspiration!


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

Of course I'm jumping on the Beethoven's 9th bandwagon. 

My slightly more obscure choice is Messiaen Quartet for the End of Time. It can leave me shaken to the core! 

My snarkier answer would be the final movement of the Hebrides Overture.

I'm sure there are many more.


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## Tristan (Jan 5, 2013)

So many great last movements. As much as I love that of Beethoven's 9th, I would have to nominate _Im Tempo des Scherzos_, the 5th movement of Mahler's Symphony No. 2 as my personal favorite last movement.


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## mathisdermaler (Mar 29, 2017)

Beethoven - Les Adieux Sonata
Beethoven - Sonata 32


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

The last movement of the Sibelius 5th is one of the most striking and powerful I know. I can't figure out why those six blows of Thor's hammer at the end work so well, but I wouldn't want the piece to end any other way. It strikes me that following this heroic work with the gentle, poetic 6th symphony is a close parallel to Beethoven's following his 5th with his easygoing "Pastoral." Evidently both composers needed a relaxing walk in the countryside following a strenuous workout.


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## Tchaikov6 (Mar 30, 2016)

Mahler 4 and 6. 
Beethoven Symphonies 6 and 7, piano concerto No. 4, Hammerklavier.
Bach Mass in B Minor, English Suite 4.
Mozart Jupiter Symphony.
Schubert Symphony 9, String Quintet

I haven't even gotten to Brahms, Stravinsky, and other favorites. But I have inumerable favorite last movements.


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## brianvds (May 1, 2013)

hpowders said:


> Actually my favorite last movement was when my wealthy Uncle George signed me into his will just before he died.


Allegro con oro?


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

The whirlwind last movement of the Prokofiev 3rd Piano Concerto. Also the Jupiter. Respighi's Saint Gregory the Great from _Church Windows_. And I concur with the selection of the Bartok _Concerto for Orchestra_. Plus dozens more. As always.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

I can not decide between Mahler 2 and 8 .


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

brianvds said:


> Allegro con oro?


Exactly! Now I can move up to TC Premium membership with access to all the hidden subforums for a hyper-polarizing experience!!


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## CypressWillow (Apr 2, 2013)

I join the ranks of the Mozart "Jupiter." 

In general, I listen to music as "absolute," preferring to ignore all programmatic associations. Sometimes I can't, as in the case of the Beethoven "Pastoral." Sometimes I won't, as with certain composers whose personal and/or political behaviour I find repugnant. 

But in the Jupiter, I always listen not just to the incredible genius, beauty, and life-affirming joy of the music, but add in the knowledge that his time on this earth was soon to be cut tragically short. How can this be, I find myself wondering. So it's the final movement of his last symphony and I think of it as the final movement of the symphony that was his life. I cry tears of gratitude for the music and sorrow for the poignancy of such beauty at almost the last.


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## David Phillips (Jun 26, 2017)

Bax Symphony No.4


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## Judith (Nov 11, 2015)

Have a quite alot of favourites but these are to name a few!

Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto. Love when the cello plays a few bars into the final melody.
Brahms Double Concerto
Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto no 2
Tchaikovsky 6th symphony ( Pathetique) when the music dies at the end
Schumann Cello Concerto


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

Any Brahms or Schumann symphony.
They knew how to do endings.


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## Vasks (Dec 9, 2013)

Mahler's 2nd. Best ending...evah!!


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## distantprommer (Sep 26, 2011)

There are many last movements that I find to be great, most already named above. But for me the most emotionally perfect last movement to any work is the finale, 'Langsam. Ruhevoll. Empfunden' of Mahlers 3rd symphony.

One ending not included above that IMHO requires a mention, is the finale to Britten's Young Persons Guide to the Orchestra.


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## beetzart (Dec 30, 2009)

Itullian said:


> Any Brahms or Schumann symphony.
> They knew how to do endings.


The last movement of Schumann's Piano Sonata I think No. 2 in G minor is very impressive.


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

beetzart said:


> The last movement of Schumann's Piano Sonata I think No. 2 in G minor is very impressive.


Oh! This reminds of Schumann's Piano Concerto. That final movement theme just reinvents the idea of what a theme might be, its melody meandering around in a drunken tarantella of joy.


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## AfterHours (Mar 27, 2017)

Pugg said:


> I can not decide between Mahler 2 and 8 .


Just go with Mahler 9 then


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

AfterHours said:


> Just go with Mahler 9 then


I think the final movement of Mahler 9 is too intense for all but the most musically sensitive.

Give him the 1812 Overture!!!!! :lol::lol::lol::lol:


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## Melvin (Mar 25, 2011)

Without thinking: the 4th movement to the Brahms Piano Quartet No. 3 Op. 60, the "Werther" Quartet...

It seems that this final movement was added on to finalize the piece more than 10 years after Brahms had begun his work on it, making it stand out stylistically. Each movement in this piece is, to me, distinct unique and perfect, and the final movement is magical.

"While its two sister works were completed in 1859 and 1861, Op. 60 was put aside, since neither Brahms nor his associates were satisfied with it. By 1869, he returned to it again and contemplated its publication as his Op. 54. But further extensive revisions followed and the quartet assumed its final shape in the winter of 1873-1874 in Vienna, with minor revisions the following summer. "
(Quote found on allmusic.com written by Michael Jameson)
:cheers:


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## Bettina (Sep 29, 2016)

If I vote for Mozart's Jupiter Symphony, is everyone going to start accusing me of cheating on Ludwig??


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## Klassik (Mar 14, 2017)

Bettina said:


> If I vote for Mozart's Jupiter Symphony, is everyone going to start accusing me of cheating on Ludwig??


No. I will, however, accuse you of being a genius and possessing tremendous taste!


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

AfterHours said:


> Just go with Mahler 9 then


Rather have no 3 then.


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## AfterHours (Mar 27, 2017)

double post ... ... ...


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## AfterHours (Mar 27, 2017)

Bettina said:


> If I vote for Mozart's Jupiter Symphony, is everyone going to start accusing me of cheating on Ludwig??


I won't say a word if you just go with Mahler's 9th -- now that Pugg declined :lol:


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## Animal the Drummer (Nov 14, 2015)

The finale of the "Jupiter" leads the field for me, even despite tough competition.


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## nature (Jun 25, 2017)

I'm very fond of the finale from Bruckner's 8th symphony.


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## DeepR (Apr 13, 2012)

Favorite last movements/endings (I cheated and included some one-movement works for their endings):

Handel - Dixit Dominus
Mozart - Symphony No. 41
Chopin - Ballade No. 4
Liszt - Piano Concerto No. 2
Ravel - Le Tombeau De Couperin (Toccata)
Bruckner - Symphony No. 8 & 9
Mahler - Symphony No. 2 & 8
Scriabin - Symphony No. 1, Poem of Ecstasy, Prometheus
Sibelius - Symphony No. 2 & 7 
Van Hausegger - Nature Symphony

When forced to pick one: Poem of Ecstasy


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

This is a huge topic - so I'll just stick to symphonies - but even there, I'll no doubt omit some very worthy ones - let's take some of the greatest symphonists:
Great final mvts - 

Beethoven #5, #7, #9
Brahms - #2, #4
Mahler - #3, #5, #6
Mozart #38, #41
Bruckner - #3, #8
Sibelius - #5
Prokofieff - #5
Shostakovich - #5, #7
Dvorak - #6, #9
Tchaikovsky - #2
Vaughan Williams - #4


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## Pat Fairlea (Dec 9, 2015)

There are just too many to choose from - it depends what you want from a closing movement. Sibelius 5th has been nominated, and it certainly closes a complex symphonic structure emphatically. Rachmaninov 3rd symph ends triumphantly, rather glorious after the emotional workout that precedes it. 
But the final movement that always gives me pleasure is the 3rd of Arnold's Concerto for 2 Pianos. Yes it's a bit silly - so what?


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## Totenfeier (Mar 11, 2016)

distantprommer said:


> There are many last movements that I find to be great, most already named above. But for me the most emotionally perfect last movement to any work is the finale, 'Langsam. Ruhevoll. Empfunden' of Mahlers 3rd symphony.
> 
> One ending not included above that IMHO requires a mention, is the finale to Britten's Young Persons Guide to the Orchestra.


I find I must agree with this, after having to rip out of my soul Mahler 1, 2, 5, 6, 8, 9, and DLvdE, all tied for second place.


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## T Son of Ander (Aug 25, 2015)

So many! Some of my favorites:

Tchaikovsky Symphony 3
Nielsen Symphony 4
Sibelius Symphony 6
Haydn Symphony 72 (theme & variations moving through different instruments)
Prokofiev Symphony 3
Rachmaninov PC 2
Rautavaara Symphony 7
Respighi Church Windows
Saint-Saens Symphony 3
Saint-Saens PC 2
Shostakovich Symphony 6
Sibelius VC


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

T Son of Ander said:


> So many! Some of my favorites:
> Tchaikovsky Symphony 3
> Nielsen Symphony 4
> Prokofiev Symphony 3
> ...


Some very good ones here!!


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## gprengel (Dec 21, 2015)

gprengel said:


> My favourite last movements are probably from:
> 1. Beethoven 9th symphony
> 2. Beethoven piano sonata op. 111
> 3. Mahler 3rd symphony (and 2nd and 9th)
> ...


What I forgot to mention is Schumann's 4th under L.Bernstein (fantastic !!!) , Schubert's 9th and Mendelssohn's 5th (Reformation symph.).


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