# Which pieces get you to turn the volume all the way up?



## EvaBaron (Jan 3, 2022)

I almost always generally listen to classical music on a pretty high volume. But with some pieces I’m very tempted to put the volume even higher. Good examples are Beethoven’s 9th, Shostakovich string quartets, and Verdi’s requiem


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

But why would you turn the volume all the way up? Just cause you like the music? If so, how would this discussion be any different from <Your favorite pieces>? Wouldn't you want to make it a more interesting discussion by discussing "why would you turn the volume all the way up?"


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## Philidor (11 mo ago)

There are pieces that get me to turn the volume all the way up.

Strauss, An Alpine Symphony.
Stravinsky, Le Sacre du printemps
Ravel, La Valse, Bolero, Daphnis et Chloé, ...
Holst, The Planets
Orff, Carmina Burana

... I think you got the flavour.

Why do I turn up? Because the physical perception is an essential aspect for me with these pieces.

Let me get it the other way round: I wouldn't do it with chamber music or with Lieder. For me, they should stay in a somehow intimate sound. - This might be a possible answer to HammeredKlavier.


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## NoCoPilot (Nov 9, 2020)

"Made loud to be played loud:"

* 1812 Overture
* Fanfare for the Common Man
* Star Wars Theme
* Also Sprach Zarathustra
* The Rite of Spring
* Mars The Bringer of War
* Ride of the Valkeries


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## NoCoPilot (Nov 9, 2020)

EvaBaron said:


> Good examples are..., Shostakovich string quartets....


You should never turn something up beyond a live performance in your living room.


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## Ludwig Schon (10 mo ago)

Or as Stevie Nicks once sang: "But they never told me 'bout the fire!"


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## MatthewWeflen (Jan 24, 2019)

Definitely and "Sonnenaufgang" of Also Sprach Zarathustra.

But yes, "all the way up" for me really means "5% louder than usual."


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

Respighi: _Saint Gregory the Great_ from Church Windows. Also Respighi: _Circenses_ and _La Befana_ from Roman Festivals. These cry out for volume, especially the tam tam in _Saint Gregory_.. The final movement of Saint-Saens Symphony No.3. The huge cadenza of Prokofiev PC 2, and the whirlwind ending of Prokofiev PC 3. There are more....

Like the Presto of Bach's BC No.4--love those recorders _loud!_


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## 59540 (May 16, 2021)

The overture, "Giunse alfin il momento" and final scene from Mozart's Figaro; the trio from Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier; Wagner's Meistersinger prelude; the codas of the Bruckner 8th, Mahler 3rd and Sibelius 5th.
But not all the way up. That's Ziggy Stardust territory (extra points for those who get the reference).


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

None. I don't go to pop concerts either.


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## Olias (Nov 18, 2010)

I was so waiting for someone to make the 4'33" joke.


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## Olias (Nov 18, 2010)

I always find myself turning it up to 11 during the finale of Shostakovich 5th, Saint-Saens 3rd, Dvorak 7th, 8th, 9th, and Beethoven 7th, and 9th.

Also the end of Act II of Le Nozze di Figaro.


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

MarkW said:


> None. I don't go to pop concerts either.


Me neither, in the concert Hal classical or otherwise is also no volume controller.


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## NoCoPilot (Nov 9, 2020)

Strange Magic said:


> The final movement of Saint-Saens Symphony No.3.


Oh hell yes! I forgot about the Organ Symphony! When those great pipes kick in, watch out!


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## NoCoPilot (Nov 9, 2020)

Olias said:


> I was so waiting for someone to make the 4'33" joke.


[ ]


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

*Which pieces get you to turn the volume all the way up?*

I listen to a lot of music: classical, rock, and jazz ... and experimental (what some might term) "noise" music -- and I never find any sane reason to turn up the volume past the half-way marking on my JoLida tube amp. In fact, I rarely have need for that half-way level. Generally, in my listening space, the one-third mark is loud enough on the JoLida.

I suspect that if I were to turn up the volume knob to full I would experience much distortion in the music. Not so much because of the quality of my equipment, which would probably buffer the distortion, but rather because of the anatomy of my ear mechanism which would likely repel against such volume.

About the only use I can see for cranking my system up full loud would be to extract a malevolent dictator from a neighboring residence. I believe the U.S. military once adapted this tactic in the assault against the Panamanian authoritarian ruler Manuel Noriega. What was it they blasted over loudspeakers? Van Halen? Sure, I have some Van Halen in my collection, and I have a JoLida amp that will crank out, and speakers that will support such a volume. What I don't have is a dictator in the neighborhood. So I shant have any reason soon "to turn the volume all the way up".

I prefer my music to sound at a "natural" volume level, and I attempt to get this natural balance by using the attenuator knob wisely. A solo piano requires a level different from that of a brass band, a full orchestra playing a _fff_ tutti demands more volume than does a solo cello playing Bach. Fortunately, the sound engineers generally do a satisfactory job, within the practical limits of their task, of setting levels for recordings so that when one plays a record or CD or an internet stream the volume level should not need to be touched on stereo equipment no matter if one is playing music of the solo piano, the brass band, the full orchestra on a loud tutti, or a Bach cello suite. Limitations of volume are set in recordings because of technical issues; some recordings have better dynamic levels than do others; dynamic levels are often flattened out by radio stations in order to deal with practical issues such as automobile playback where passages which are too soft or too loud can be bothersome. I know I'm not a big fan of classical music in the ol' Jeep, because of dynamic range variations. I'd rather listen to jazz or rock where the dynamics are less extreme. But to crank up volume levels to full? No, there's no reason for that.

So, don't touch that volume knob too often. If you have your stereo playback unit set for what you feel is a "natural" volume level for a wide range of recordings of various genres, you likely are on the right track. The recording engineers have likely done most of the work for you.

If you have a dictator in the neighborhood and you want to help out the military in extracting him from his residence for arrest, then get yourself a JoLida tube amp with some KT88 power tubes and a pair of quality speakers and you can go far to help out. May I recommend the Borbetomagus album _Barbed Wire Maggots_ for the job? I'm not really a Van Halen fan, but I'm sure the Borbetomagus ‎will do the job quite well. When the fellow is gone, you can turn down the volume of that amplifier and get down to listening to some music in exactly the way it was meant to be heard -- at a natural volume level.


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## EvaBaron (Jan 3, 2022)

hammeredklavier said:


> But why would you turn the volume all the way up? Just cause you like the music? If so, how would this discussion be any different from <Your favorite pieces>? Wouldn't you want to make it a more interesting discussion by discussing "why would you turn the volume all the way up?"


Could be a factor, also because some pieces sound very good when they're very loudly played, others don't need that. Random example but I love hearing Brahms' Hungarian dance no. 5 loudly, don't really crave that with Schubert's Rosamunde quartet


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

It seems most people's choices are orchestral works of the 19th and 20th centuries. For me though, -portions of music where the composers intend dramatic emphasis with harmony;

5:10




Divertimento in C, P. 115

2:30




K. 428: II. Andante con moto


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

Olias said:


> I was so waiting for someone to make the 4'33" joke.


I was thinking the same thing, but it has become too much a cliché


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

I can't remember turning the volume up for particular pieces of music (except maybe very quiet pieces when my environment is a little noisy). I do remember that when my parents played Wagner's Ring at home they always filled the house with it, playing it very loud. I was a good way for a child to imbibe Wagner!

Even though I don't turn the volume up on my records, I do enjoy the distortion in the Gutman & Rozhdestvensky recording of Schnittke's first cello concerto. The cello in this work is amplified anyway and in the big climax the sound gets away from the engineers' ability to handle it. It's an incredibly intense performance, anyway. 

There are also some distorted passages in Friedrich Gulda's homemade "classical comeback" recordings of Mozart's piano sonatas ... and enjoy those, too!


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## Coach G (Apr 22, 2020)

When I was a teenager in the 1980s, I used to love to blast Richard Strauss' _Also Sprach Zarathustra_ and Igor Stravinsky's _Rite of Spring_. Though I had no use for Heavy Metal then or now, in way _Zarathustra_ and _Rite_ were my own Heavy Metal, an expression of the rebellious nature that comes out in most teens as we try to establish our own identity. I've come to see _Zarathustra_ and _Rite_ as companion pieces. Both are a little more than a half hour long and both are wonderfully loud and colorful. While _Zarathustra_ is supposed to futuristic and shockingly jagged and dissonant, it ends up serving to push the boundaries of the grand Late-Romantic tradition to the limit. _Rite_, on the other hand, speaks to the world in a whole new language that severs ties with Romanticism and Late-Romanticism once and for all. While _Zarathustra_ is loose and rambling; _Rite_ is more cogent and well-crafted. Both are awesome!

Richard Strauss and Igor Stravinsky:


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

Coach G said:


> ... While _Zarathustra_ is loose and rambling; _Rite_ is more cogent and well-crafted. Both are awesome!
> 
> Richard Strauss and Igor Stravinsky:
> View attachment 166225
> View attachment 166227


These two "noise makers" don't need the help of our volume control knobs to keep things loud. They handle things well enough with their scores.


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## 59540 (May 16, 2021)

Coach G said:


> While Zarathustra is loose and rambling;


The book is also loose and rambling.


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## VoiceFromTheEther (Aug 6, 2021)

Those that are too quiet in complex ppp/pp/p/mp segments for me to hear all the details (that I can otherwise see in the score) without strain or repetition.


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## NoCoPilot (Nov 9, 2020)

SONNET CLV said:


> I listen to a lot of music: classical, rock, and jazz ... and experimental (what some might term) "noise" music ....
> 
> I prefer my music to sound at a "natural" volume level... If you have your stereo playback unit set for what you feel is a "natural" volume level for a wide range of recordings of various genres, you likely are on the right track.
> 
> If you have a dictator in the neighborhood and you want to help out the military in extracting him from his residence for arrest, then get yourself a JoLida tube amp with some KT88 power tubes and a pair of quality speakers and you can go far to help out. May I recommend the Borbetomagus album _Barbed Wire Maggots_ for the job? I'm not really a Van Halen fan, but I'm sure the Borbetomagus ‎will do the job quite well. When the fellow is gone, you can turn down the volume of that amplifier and get down to listening to some music in exactly the way it was meant to be heard -- at a natural volume level.


I'm sorry to get all didactic on your donkey, but I suspect VOLUME FULL UP may be the natural listening level for Borbetomagus.


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## Bernamej (Feb 24, 2014)

There’s no merit in appreciating good music loudly. It’s like using a cheap and tacky method to trick your mind into liking music.


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## Ludwig Schon (10 mo ago)




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## 4chamberedklavier (12 mo ago)

I listen to music mostly using a small speaker, so listening is tricky because I frequently have to raise the volume to hear parts that aren't audible & lower it to protect my eardrums from sudden changes in dynamics.


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## Orfeo (Nov 14, 2013)

Glazunov: Symphony no. VI & The Sea
Tchaikovsky: Opera "Mazeppa" & Francisca da Rimini
Rachmaninoff: Symphony no. I, Three Russian Songs, and The Isle of the Dead
Balakirev: Tamara and Symphony no. I
Lyapunov: Symphonic poem "Hashish"
Atterberg: Symphonies II & III
Alfven: Symphony no. IV
Bax: Symphonies II & III
Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen
Bruckner: Symphony no. VIII
Popov: Symphonies I & V
Shostakovich: Lady Macbeth of the Mysensk District (yes, on DG)
Prokofiev: The Fiery Angel
Holst: The Planets
Bainton: Symphony no. II
Skulte: Symphony no. V
Massenet: Opera "Esclarmonde"
Strauss: Salome


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## EvaBaron (Jan 3, 2022)

Orfeo said:


> Glazunov: Symphony no. VI & The Sea
> Tchaikovsky: Opera "Mazeppa" & Francisca da Rimini
> Rachmaninoff: Symphony no. I, Three Russian Songs, and The Isle of the Dead
> Balakirev: Tamara and Symphony no. I
> ...


Not a single piece by Bach, Beethoven or Mozart? That you don't see often


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## Orfeo (Nov 14, 2013)

EvaBaron said:


> Not a single piece by Bach, Beethoven or Mozart? That you don't see often


Well, I did forget to mention Beethoven's overture Wellington Victory (with Dorati and the London Symphony).


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## perempe (Feb 27, 2014)

Tosca finale anyone?


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

Coach G said:


> View attachment 166225
> View attachment 166227


whatabout


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## EdwardBast (Nov 25, 2013)

I've never turned my stereo all the way up. That would be dangerous and painful.


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## Neo Romanza (May 7, 2013)

I never turn the volume all the way up. It'll blow out the speakers.


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

Neo Romanza said:


> I never turn the volume all the way up. It'll blow out the speakers.


Same here- it would be absolutely deafening....


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