# Most effective endings/codas?



## Lisztfreak (Jan 4, 2007)

This is another 'favourite' thread, but the question is a bit different, and I hope interesting. Tell us what are your most thrilling codas of any musical work (orchestral, solo, chamber etc.) - no matter if they're loud, mind-blowing flourishes or just beautiful cadenzas that ebb into the distance...

I'll start with my favourite composer... 

*Liszt* - Piano Concerto No.1 (in his earlier opus, Liszt shows a flair for bravura codas)
*Liszt* - Faust Symphony (glorious)
*Liszt* - Piano Sonata in B minor (that's my 'ebbing into the distance' choice)

*Holst* - The Planets: 'Neptune, the mistic' (my favourite quiet ending - gorgeous)
*Bruckner* - Symphony No.9, 1st mvt. - apocalyptical, other-worldly, magnificent (I always thought that if Dvorak's is 'From the New World', then this symphony ought to be nicknamed 'From the Other World')
*Sibelius* - Symphony No.5, 3rd mvt. (the most original ending I've ever heard)
*Chopin* - Étude Révolutionnaire (only the couple of bangs suits such an agitated work)
*Rachmaninov* - Piano Concerto No.2, 1st mvt. (the orchestra 'trips' over the final piano chord); Piano Concerto no.3, 3rd mvt. (flamboyant - very similar to the No.2)
*Shostakovich* - Symphony No.7, 'Leningrad', 4th mvt. (a murky gladness of victory with the Beethoven's 5th motif)
*Vaughan Williams *- Symphony No.6, 2nd mvt. (the menacing thudding of the ta-ta-ta rhythm on the drum)
*Grieg* - Piano Concerto in A minor, 3rd mvt.
*All of Beethoven's symphonies*

...and many more I can't remember.


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## Saturnus (Nov 7, 2006)

*Beethoven*: String Quartet 'Quartetto Serioso', in f, op.95
*Poulenc*: Oboe sonata 'Prokofiev in memoriam' (my favorite quiet ending, to me it descripes perfectly the emptiness following a loss)
*Tchaikovsky*: Symphonies 4 & 6 (both simply great endings of a completely different sort, the finale of the fourth being the most optimistic finale I know of but the sixth the most pessimistic)
*Danzi*: Wind Quintet op. 68-3, in g (almost impossible not to break into dance when I hear this one)


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## Handel (Apr 18, 2007)

What an interesting thread.

Many of Haydn London symphonies present superb codas. 

I think of the symphonies no. 96, 98, 100 and 104 (4th mouvements).


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## Manuel (Feb 1, 2007)

*Haydn *Piano sonata Nº 59 in E flat major, 1st mov. One of the most delightful codas written for piano.

*Bartok *2nd violin concerto, 3rd movement

*Korngold *violin concerto, 3rd movement

*Brahms *1st string sextet

*Tchaikovsky *Souvenir de Florence

*Prokofiev *fifth symphony, 4th mov


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## MungoPark (Feb 15, 2007)

*In terms of endings ...*

nobody beats Rossini, with his booming and undeniably cheerful finales. Although many of his contemporaries tried to copy his style in their overtures (Verdi, Bellini, even Schubert!), and in so doing pulled off many wonderful pieces, none of them hold a candle to those of Rossini (others will beg to differ, no doubt, and that's fine).
Other endings/finales that I enjoy tremendously include the end of the the first movements of Mendelssohn's octet, Mozart's posthorn serenade, Paganini's first violin concerto, and Beethoven's third piano concerto. And last but not least who can forget Grieg's In the Hall of the Mountain King. And of course there are many more.


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## Kurkikohtaus (Oct 22, 2006)

Here's a vote for *Mozart*'s _Jupiter Symphony_, where the coda in the fourth mvmt has all the themes stacked on top of each other and then some.

*Sibelius*' _5th_ is certainly my favourite, though. Let me expand a little on Lisztfreak's brief description. First of all, the coda consists of more than just the final hammer blows. The coda begins many bars before, where the 2nd theme triumphantly concludes on an E-flat major chord. There is no (harmonic) need for any further music beyond that point, perhaps even a held chord would have sufficed. But Sibelius continues on by adding dissonances (trombones), leading to the real climax of the peice, which is the brief rest _just before_ the first of the hammer blows. Very exciting.

Here's the real treat:

In the original 1914 version of the work, the short chords at the end were actually half notes played sostenuto (with rests in between), and above it all was a _held tremolo B-flat_ in the strings, so there was no silence whatsoever from where the chords begin until the end of the piece. I always find it interesting and helpful to _imagine_ that tremolo, as if it were there in the final version, a _glue_ holding the chords together in one's imagination.


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## Guest (Apr 21, 2007)

Sibelius' 5th would be high on my list, too, for this category, but Rawthorne's 3rd is my favorite. Rawsthorne's 3rd is a great piece throughout, but the ending is exquisite. The piece is mostly mysterioso, with furtive little wind riffs over high, soft string chords, and bass and low brass interruptions from time to time. Even the busy scherzo is mostly soft, small darting about. Bartok "night music" kind of thing. The piece is not entirely so, the last movement least of all. But after a great bit of loud brass and swirling strings, the "ending" is a series of thumps, each softer than the other-- soft, but unmistakably final. 

Then silence. 

Then the exquisite little tune that starts the coda, which is back entirely to the sound world (and the motifs) of the earlier sections.

But much as I enjoy the Rawsthorne, the honors in this category would have to go to the fourth part of Cage's string quartet (the early one, from 1950). Part one is "Quietly flowing along," two is "Slowly rocking," three is "Nearly stationary," and four is "Quodlibet," which zips right along, as it must, since it compresses the preceding twenty+ minutes of serenity into a minute and a half of rollicking goodness.


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## Chi_townPhilly (Apr 21, 2007)

Here are three conclusions that always make an impact with me: 
1) Final movement of Bruckner's Symphony #5. I recognize that there is a "standing-on-the-shoulders-of-giants" element to the piece, as Mozart's _Jupiter_ Symphony & Beethoven's _Hammerklavier_ Sonata provided the models for much of what happens here. 
2) Finale of the 1st movement of Dvorak's _New World_ Symphony. My musicological rudiments fail me in describing what happens. It just has the feeling of a grand interplay between potential and kinetic energy. In the hands of a virtuoso orchestra, it is arresting to the point of stunning in this, arguably the greatest musical composition yet created on my side of the Atlantic.
3) (From the world of Opera) the ending to _Tannhauser_, from the entry of the children's chorus to the final "alleluia!" The music carries the day, as it always does in Wagner, but the text, combined with artful staging, can amplify the experience to the point of moving one to tears.


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## Guest (Apr 22, 2007)

Chi_town/Philly said that Dvorak's New World Symphony is


> arguably the greatest musical composition yet created on my side of the Atlantic.


Yes, that could certainly start a big argument, you got THAT right!!


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## Manuel (Feb 1, 2007)

> arguably the greatest musical composition yet created on my side of the Atlantic.


Don't forget Copland's 3rd.


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## Kurkikohtaus (Oct 22, 2006)

Chi_town/Philly said:


> Finale of the 1st movement of Dvorak's _New World_ Symphony. My musicological rudiments fail me in describing what happens. It just has the feeling of a grand interplay between potential and kinetic energy.


*Kinetic Energy* is a good way to describe the effect here. Just before the final _tutti_ chords, there are 4 syncopated bars that create this sense of motion. ("Syncopated" means that the notes begin off of the beat, so you do not "hear" where the barline is).

This is an age old trick, compare the 1st mvmt allegro of Mozart's _Prague Symphony_. The long melody has very little intrinsic movement, but it is set agains a syncopated background, giving the _feeling _of movement.


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## Edward Elgar (Mar 22, 2006)

Sibelius' 5th has an absolutley immense finale. The keys mutate into Eb minor and the strings have a motif of just two notes while the brass are blaring out chords. The tension increases until the violins break from their ostinato into one of the most beautiful and glorious melodies ever composed. The end chords are quite tricky to pull off effectively, but when they are it's like a baptism of fire! 

That's interesting Kurkikohtaus, about the tremelando Bb. Howver, I am glad he changed it.

Other good codas in my opinion are:
Saint-Saen's Organ Symphony - Last mvt
Elgar's 1st Symphony - 4th mvt
Elgar's Cocaigne Overture (when the organ comes in)


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## Manuel (Feb 1, 2007)

SHOSTAKOVICH's 

The fifth, tenth and seventh symphonies, his first violin concerto, and the first cello concerto too.

Among cello concertos my fav is Kabalevsky's first; as played by Yo-yo Ma.


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## zlya (Apr 9, 2007)

Beethoven String Quartet, op. 59 no. 3. The crazy mad angry exciting fugue suddenly stops, and you think, just for a moment, it's all over. Then, suddenly, it starts again, faster than ever--seems impossible that anyone could actually PLAY that fast--and you get possibly the most exciting few seconds of music ever written.


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## ChamberNut (Jan 30, 2007)

Glad you mentioned that one Zlya. The op. 59 # 3 has a fast and furious ending!

I love the ending of Beethoven's 9th symphony. Such a joyous, boisterous final minute.


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## Manuel (Feb 1, 2007)

The final minutes of Tosca's first act. You have cannons, a children choir, soloists and a voluptuous baritone.


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## Morigan (Oct 16, 2006)

ChamberNut said:


> I love the ending of Beethoven's 9th symphony. Such a joyous, boisterous final minute.


I wanted to avoid the cliché, but this is most probably my favourite coda too. Just the entire climax that builds up in the last minutes and the explosion of joy... the effect it has on me is indescribable.

The other ending that would come close (in my view) are some of Tchaikovsky's works (notably the 4th movements of his 1st, 4th, 5th... the heck, all of his symphonies!! And the violin concerto. I just love when the soloist participates in a triumphant coda).


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## Chi_townPhilly (Apr 21, 2007)

Blatant bump... and a reminder that the "endings" topic is ground on which we have trod before. Surprised that this didn't show up under the "similar threads" box. Still, it remains a good point of discussion. Cheers... CTP


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## Rondo (Jul 11, 2007)

Yeah, I had created one, without realizing that there was already an existing thread about it.  It's just something that Ive always thought about while listening to the music I have. Thanks for bringing this thread up to the front front again, and thus to my attention Chi_town. 

...Maybe creating a thread on openings would be a good topic starter, as the searches Ive done (this time) have not yielded anything of the sort with "openings," "introduction," or "Exposition" as keywords. Though, maybe someone could provide a link to such a thread if there exists one.


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## Keemun (Mar 2, 2007)

Some of my favorite endings:

Beethoven - Symphony No. 9, 4th mvt.
Mahler - Symphony No. 2, 5th mvt.
Mahler - Symphony No. 9, 4th mvt.
Bruckner - Symphony No. 8, 4th mvt.
Sibelius - Symphony No. 2, 4th mvt.
Tchaikovsky - Violin Concerto, 1st and 3rd mvts.


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## alan sheffield (Oct 26, 2007)

Nielsen 5th Symphony - a great end to a great symphony
Walton 1st Symphony 1st Movement - An amazing climax to 15 minutes of the most tense music I know.
Shostakovich 4th - a mysterious end to an enigmatic work
Britten War Requiem - A quiet but uneasy end to a superb choral piece
Sibelius 7th Symphony - Waiting for the final resolution is almost too much
Havergal Brian 9th Symphony - Only Brian could make such an obvious ending sound original
Mahler 2nd Symphony - always end up in tears with this one


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## Lisztfreak (Jan 4, 2007)

alan sheffield said:


> Walton 1st Symphony 1st Movement - An amazing climax to 15 minutes of the most tense music I know.
> Shostakovich 4th - a mysterious end to an enigmatic work
> Britten War Requiem - A quiet but uneasy end to a superb choral piece
> Sibelius 7th Symphony - Waiting for the final resolution is almost too much


I could perfectly agree with everything I quoted from your list!

Walton's Symphony No.1 is an amazing work, it's nice to know that there are more who appreciate it. Electricity, lightning, speed, modern times coming, tension, emotion, temperament - that's Walton's 1st!

I have been desiring for quite a long time to get myself a Brian symphony. His music interests me very much, as I have a particular passion for British music!

P.S. I wouldn't call the ending of the War Requiem uneasy. It's enemies equal and at peace in eternal sleep... wonderful bell chimes and silent chorus.


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## Guarnerius (Oct 15, 2007)

Must say, for the beginning, that wow! What a fascinating theme You have got again, dear Lisztfreak! And as always, it is so difficult to choose ones utmost best choises. My own favourite list would go here:

1. Grieg piano concerto (Finale)
2. Wagner: End of Götterdämmerung & Parsifal Finale
(both have a feeling like circle ended, kind of farewall and C.U. again feeling!)
3. Mahler 2. Resurrection Symphony Finale
4. Brahms piano concerto No. 2, part Allegro appassionato
5. Rachmaninov 2. piano concerto Finale
6. Endings of Tosca, Turandot, La Boheme etc. many many other fine works


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## Gustav (Aug 29, 2005)

Bruckner's 8th


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## Manuel (Feb 1, 2007)

Right at the end of Dvorak's Quintet Op. 81 (I was going to say Dvorak's A major quintet, but that's ambiguous), when the tempo goes calm... the piano playing in octaves.


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## Lisztfreak (Jan 4, 2007)

Hmmm... I'll have to add Shostakovich's Symphony No.11. It ends with 'The Tocsin' movement. After urgent and ominous 'belling' backed by a real storm in the orchestra, the last tone of the whole symphony is a single bell-chime, reverberating and disappearing into the silence... a grand ending!


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## alan sheffield (Oct 26, 2007)

*A Few More*

Janacek - Sinfonietta
Jancek - Taras Bulba
Tchaikovsky - Manfred Symphony First Movement
Debussy - La Mer


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## Morigan (Oct 16, 2006)

alan sheffield said:


> Tchaikovsky - Manfred Symphony First Movement


I wholeheartedly agree! This ending is so powerful and dramatic, it gets me everytime... I only ever listen to the first movement of this, anyway.


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## Forss (May 12, 2017)

Fantastic thread! The coda of the first movement (24:03-27 in this clip) of Mahler's _Symphony No. 6_ produces a most remarkable sound, or effect, upon the ear, such as that I can't stop laughing* whenever I hear it, and it is worth the whole symphony in itself (besides, of course, the overwhelming _Andante_).

*Not because it is funny, but because of some formidable, transcendental, and awe-inspiring feeling. "Ah! The world can be like _this_, also", I sort of think.


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## Gaspard de la Nuit (Oct 20, 2014)

Lisztfreak said:


> Walton's Symphony No.1 is an amazing work, it's nice to know that there are more who appreciate it. Electricity, lightning, speed, modern times coming, tension, emotion, temperament - that's Walton's 1st!





alan sheffield said:


> Walton 1st Symphony 1st Movement - An amazing climax to 15 minutes of the most tense music I know.


Walton's 1st movement of his 1st symphony is one of the greatest works of all time....but it's really hard to find a significantly gutsy performance of it.

A lot of Wagner's acts have really good endings, like Tristan Act 1, Walkure act 1, and so on. I mean they have good endings in that I used to specifically listen to those endings over and over again.


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## Pat Fairlea (Dec 9, 2015)

How about the final 8 bars of Chopin's D minor prelude Op28/24? Insane flourish down the keyboard then those hammered bottom Ds. Lovely.


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## Totenfeier (Mar 11, 2016)

"ewig...ewig..."


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Have we talked about Beethoven yet? I found this in an antique book of verse:

Old Ludwig put lots, a whole loada
Good stuff into every last coda.
They grew to such size
That they won the first prize
In a contest with Carol A. Doda.

Youngsters are advised to look up the historical reference (hint: she advertised her “twin 44s”).


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

First movement of Brahms' Fourth


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## MusicSybarite (Aug 17, 2017)

I'll mention 4 spectacular codas by one of my favorite Danish composers: Rued Langgaard.

Symphony no. 1 _Klippepastoraler_: The impressive power at the end is something incredibly overwhelming. It's a full-Wagnerian coda of titanic proportions. It always moves me.

Symphony no. 4 _Løvfald_: The sense of trascendence that permeates the ending thrills me. Those french horns sound magnificent. I think it's a work with a profound sense of nature and inner feelings about life.

Symphony no. 6 _Det Himmelrivende_: The conflict between good and evil through this 20-minute symphony is resolved in a way really amazing: a meteoric thunder where the main melody appears in a full-blooded conclusion.

Symphony no. 16 _Syndflod af Sol_: This has to be the most blissful symphony by this Danish. The ending can't be more uplifting, life-affirming, optimistic, gorgeous... It's something positively infectious.

Now I'll mention 4 quiet and pensive codas:

Tchaikovsky - Piano trio: Although the coda contains a spirited part, then comes the drama in its highest expression. The pessimistic mood from the _Pezzo elegiaco_ comes back with a sense of despair even heavier than on that specific movement. After an overflowing passion which gradually fades, the main melody of the _Pezzo elegiaco_ reappears in a very calm way, closing the work with a sad ending. Personally, this ending is one of my favorites in the classical music.

Schnittke - Piano quintet: It's touching in a way that is difficult to explain. The music fades in an apparent resignation, in an atmosphere of loneliness.

Pettersson - Symphony no. 6: I could mention more codas or endings by this composer in this category. The painful journey that implies this symphony is just incredible. I can feel how Pettersson tell us his griefs and pains. In that intense suffering, where there is some little rest, at the end we can perceive a kind of redemption/catharsis experimented by a tormented human being.

Rubbra - String quartet no. 4: A spiritual ending very similar to the 3rd movement of Beethoven's String quartet no. 15.


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## dreadnought (Nov 27, 2017)

The Amen in William Byrd's "O Lord Make Thy Servant Elizabeth Our Queen". It gives me chills every time!


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## DeepR (Apr 13, 2012)

The final Gloria part in Handel's Dixit Dominus

Starts at 3:30


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## DeepR (Apr 13, 2012)

Pat Fairlea said:


> How about the final 8 bars of Chopin's D minor prelude Op28/24? Insane flourish down the keyboard then those hammered bottom Ds. Lovely.


Seconded.





Etude Op. 10 No. 9 has a most wonderful ending as well.


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## Guest (Dec 13, 2017)

I like the ending of Mahler's 6th. It seems to end on a dying whisper, then BAM, an explosion of finality and doom.


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## manyene (Feb 7, 2015)

The ending of Rachmaninov's Symphonic Dances, spoiled when people start applauding too early


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## DeepR (Apr 13, 2012)

My favorite ending in all non-classical music, "Something's Moving" from Michael Stearns space music classic Planetary Unfolding:


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## spidersrepublic (Dec 12, 2017)

Keemun said:


> Some of my favorite endings:
> Mahler - Symphony No. 2, 5th mvt.


Great choice. The end of his 1st symphony is pretty excellent too


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## DeepR (Apr 13, 2012)

Liszt - Piano Concerto No. 2 has a very fun and exciting ending.






I haven't even mentioned my biggest favorites yet, as they would be too obvious to me. Most of the time my very favorite pieces also have my favorite endings. As it should be; a great piece deserves a great ending, in fact maybe it wouldn't be so great without a great ending.


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## leonsm (Jan 15, 2011)

The ending of Enescu's Symphony No. 3, mvt I is quite amazing, from 16:00 on:


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## David Phillips (Jun 26, 2017)

The end of Bax's 4th Symphony is joyous and invigorating.


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## arnerich (Aug 19, 2016)

One of the most effective codas has to be the final movement of Beethoven's Appasionata, without question.


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## Tristan (Jan 5, 2013)

I've recently begun to obsess over the finale to _Sleeping Beauty_, by Tchaikovsky. As a kid I never knew the ending was an adaptation of a French folk song, but that's only made me like it more. The ending has to be done right, though. The final G note should be one quick pulse, not dragged out and limp. It loses all its "effectiveness" if dragged out, like Dorati does on his otherwise great recording of this ballet.

Gergiev and the Kirov do it perfectly:






Gives me chills


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

What's "effective"? If it's to get the audience out of their seats, make the blood boil, raise the hair on your neck, then Tchaikovsky is the master. Better than any other composer, he knew how to use a pedal point to create immense harmonic tension and then release it and create electricity that listeners cannot resist. Think of the endings of the First Piano Concerto, the Third and Fourth Symphonies, the Violin Concerto. His works that don't end in a blaze of excitement always close most satisfyingly: the Manfred Symphony, and the breathaking Sixth.
Closing a big, dramatic work quietly is really tough for some composers, but Elgar (2nd Symphony), Bloch (Symphony in C sharp minor) and Franz Schmidt (4th symphony) surely mastered it. And I have to say, that for me, the single most exhilarating and thrilling ending of anything ever written has to be the close of the Brahms' 2nd - if it's done right! Bruno Walter in his old, NYPO mono blows away all competition, with few approaching his level (Jochum does). Some (Maazel, Bernstein, Solti) are surprisingly ineffective.


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## Alfacharger (Dec 6, 2013)

One of my favorite codas is from Bernard Herrmann's symphony. The horns yelping the theme above the orchestra before the final chords, breathtaking.

Starts at about 6.26 in this video.


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