# can you suggest music with soaring strings?



## tolworthy (Oct 17, 2009)

I'm looking for a five second clip of music with soaring strings - something where all the violins go up, up, up and stay there in a dramatic emotional climax. Can you think of any famous pieces that fit the bill?

more details (spoilers ahead!)

I'm making a computer game based on A Tale of Two Cities, and I need a 5 or 10 second clip for the climax where the heroine thinks she has lost everything, and then the "dead" hero returns. The scene immediately changes, so that clip has to be dramatic and unambiguous. All the clips I can find go up and then come down again. I need a string climax that goes up and _stays_ up. Something like the last five seconds of the Hallelujah chorus, but with more strings.

Any ideas?


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## Guest (May 19, 2010)

Barber's Adagio for Strings.


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## tolworthy (Oct 17, 2009)

Thanks - that's not a bad choice. Unfortunately I'm really restricted to works where the original composition is out of copyright, for financial reasons. Barber wrote it in 1936, which puts it right in MCPS territory, and even a five second clip would cost several hundred dollars to license. Music by pre-1900 composers can usually be licensed for a lot less.


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## emiellucifuge (May 26, 2009)

Im not too sure on which specific pieces but try some english composers:
Elgar
Walton
Britten
Vaughan-Williams


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## tolworthy (Oct 17, 2009)

Thanks. I'll focus on Elgar, as the others are a little too recent for my budget.


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## Head_case (Feb 5, 2010)

Schubert - the epic and last of his incredible quartets: the XVth in G Major D887:






PS - I wouldn't have thought Elgar or Williams are particularly 'soaring'. I love the mono era recordings by vintage string quartets of these British guys. Otherwise, the modern recordings I've heard seem to be a little sterile. Maybe someone can recommend some, of the same calibre as the legendary Aeolian String Quartet?


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## Boccherini (Mar 29, 2010)

tolworthy said:


> I'm making a computer game based on A Tale of Two Cities, and I need a 5 or 10 second clip for the climax where the heroine thinks she has lost everything, and then the "dead" hero returns. The scene immediately changes, so that clip has to be dramatic and unambiguous. All the clips I can find go up and then come down again. I need a string climax that goes up and _stays_ up. Something like the last five seconds of the Hallelujah chorus, but with more strings.


I'm not sure if it (yours) is a good idea, but have you tried Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro's Overture?


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## Guest (May 19, 2010)

I would characterize much of VW's Tallis Fantasia as soaring. Plus, the score for that piece is in the public domain.


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## tolworthy (Oct 17, 2009)

Thanks for the suggestion. Yes, the Schubert piece is definitely closer. It's amazing how hard it is to find a single five second piece where strings go up and don't come down. I found a few Elgar pieces, but as you say, they tend to be subdued. The Schubert was more dramatic, but he still won't let the violins do anything exciting without immediately pulling them back again. There are a couple of times in the piece (e.g. at the end) where violins go up and stay up for a couple of seconds, but only when they're so slow and quiet that it could never be mistaken for a crescendo.

I must have listened to a hundred tracks today, and can't count the number of times I've got excited, when the strings start to build and soar, and then _every single time_ they come down again, as if the violins are tied to the floor with elastic. 

I can't afford to spend much more time on this (a whole day trying to find five seconds!) so I may have to admit defeat and just have an anti-climax to the story, musically speaking.


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## Head_case (Feb 5, 2010)

well, you could commission a composer to write you 5 seconds of soaring string music 

Yes - you would have to get stuck right into the middle-late/end of the Schubert XVth to experience the rising crescendo. Have you listened to Shostakovich's famous string quartet no. VIII or specific movements from his string quartet no.3, or 4?

Coming to think of it, have you listened to Penderecki's Threnody? That might not be your thing, since the strings tend to 'throb' rather than saor. I tend to think of Schubert and Shostakovich as 'soaring' although I'm not really a fan of dramatic crescendo and diminuendo type music - that is more orchestral. So I guess it makes sense to look for specific 'string serenades' or chamber orchestra work.

There is a version for string orchestra of Szymanowski's quartet no. II by an Australian orchestra: http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/album.jsp?album_id=55434

but you have to either buy it, or find it on Spotify if you are a member?

Good luck - that must be quite a fabulous game to play once you piece it all together


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## tolworthy (Oct 17, 2009)

re: The Marriage of Figaro

I'm a great fan of Rossini (the first tape I ever bought was by Rossini), but he's a bit too frenetic for a romantic climax. I need music that will freeze the moment.

re: VW's Tallis Fantasia

I agree, that would be great, but none of the affordable sites have any VW. (see below) 

re: Penderecki, Shostackovich, etc. Those are all great suggestions. But they don't feature on the cheap -but-real-music sites unfortunately. That is, either royalty-free-classical-music.org or themusicase.com. Other stock music sites either don't stock real music or charge well over $100 per track (the small print always charges more for games). *

re: paying a composer to create a five second piece is certainly an option, but I'm not sure it would be worth his while for the money I could pay, plus there's the time needed to set up the relationship. It's an important five seconds, but it is only five seconds, and music is only one small part of the mix.

I'll probably end up using a corny melody from Romeo and Juliet - it's not as powerful as I want, but it does have a quick crescendo plus has the love theme. Hopefully I can write the dialog and move the characters so that the player doesn't pay attention to the music at that point.

*The game contains around 200 pieces of music, which will rise to around 500 over the next couple of years. Ad a similar number of art resources. and the fact that I'm not Hollywood studio, and I have to watch the pennies very carefully or the project simply won't happen.


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## Guest (May 19, 2010)

Stockhausen's _Helicopter Quartet._

Oh, you meant soaring figuratively.

Oh.

(Never mind.)


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

Very droll, some guy, very droll (as Sir Humphrey Applebey of _Yes Minister _would say)...

Well two pieces that come to mind (& they are probably in the public domain):

*Bruch* - Violin Concerto No. 1
*Debussy* - Jeux

EDIT: Manotovani (I know he isn't really classical, more easy listening, but anyway) typically used a "cascading strings" sound which could really be of use to you? Maybe some of his stuff sounds too light & not dramatic enough, but outside of the classical realm, there was probably no better composer/arranger for strings...


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## Zanralotta (Jan 31, 2009)

The last minute or so from Mendelssohn's Sting Quartet in F minor Op. 80, which he wrote after the death of his sister. It was the last thing he completed.


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## tolworthy (Oct 17, 2009)

Andre said:


> *Bruch* - Violin Concerto No. 1


THAT'S THE ONE! Many thanks! I've just licensed the 2nd movement and am downloading it right now.

Most people probably think I'm too picky about music. In most other areas I have a brutally functional approach to games - I don't use spoken audio or 3D graphics, for example, because I don't think they justify the time needed (time that must be taken away from creating the story). But for me the best quality music is essential.

Before you recommended the Bruck piece I'd already given up and made a compromise piece using some other music, and the final effect was not bad, but the Bruck piece has that extra something. I suppose it's what separates the "great" composers from the merely talented. Typing this I can still hear the music in my head, which means it's _right_. The other music, though adequate, was forgettable. Even though my budget is miniscule and deadlines are tight, the music really matters to me.

Thanks again.


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

Well I'm glad, tolworthy that my suggestion was of use to you. Yes, the second movement of Bruch's _Violin Concerto No. 1_ immediately came to mind when you mentioned "soaring strings." The moment when that big string crescendo comes in that movement must be one of my favourite (& memorable) parts of any violin concerto. It's just such a release, so upbeat after the moodiness of the first movement. The work is just a masterpiece of it's time, even though it looks back to the style of Mendelssohn rather than forwards to new horizons. But this just proves that it doesn't mean that if something is conservative it has to be bad. For your listening, if you like this work, you may also like his _Scottish Fantasy_, which is a kind of concerto for violin (with harp accompaniment) & orchestra...


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## tolworthy (Oct 17, 2009)

This board has been invaluable to me. I never would have spotted that part myself - I had listened to a large part of that symphony before, but somehow skipped the second movement! So thanks again.


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