# What is the greatest ~5 minutes of music?



## Ethereality (Apr 6, 2019)

Not a 5 minute piece, but the greatest ~5 minute example of writing within any piece. Let's finally get down to the nitty gritty. It could be the most sublime 1 minute or 7 minutes of composition or performance you've heard in your life, cut exactly where you think, a small piece or a specific moment in a large piece. Simply, what is the most marvelous segment or block of music you think we have?

We were having a debate on this earlier in another thread, so I thought I'd ask.


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## Ravn (Jan 6, 2020)

1. A couple of minutes around the unexpected modulation in the finale of Mahler’s 1st. It puts a big smile on my face every time!

2. The climax of the adagio in Bruckner’s 7th. 

3. The five last minutes of Mahler’s DLVDE. 

4. The last five minutes of Bruckner’s ninth (edit: three movement version).


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Ravn said:


> 3. The five last minutes of Mahler's DLVDE.
> 
> 4. The last five minutes of Bruckner's ninth.


Before I opened the thread, these were the two I thought off based on the title (assuming that the Bruckner is the 3 movement version).


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

Bach's Prelude in E flat major from WTC, Bk. 2. That's enough for now.


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## Ravn (Jan 6, 2020)

Art Rock said:


> Before I opened the thread, these were the two I thought off based on the title (assuming that the Bruckner is the 3 movement version).


Yes, finding better examples would be difficult! And yes, I meant the five last minutes of the adagio of Bruckner's 9th. I am unsure about both existence and uniqueness of the five last minutes of finale in the four movement version.


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## Fabulin (Jun 10, 2019)

5:10-6:30 of this particular recording of this particular piece


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## Clairvoyance Enough (Jul 25, 2014)

A lot of stuff from the usual suspects comes to mind at first: 9th fugue from book 2, op. 131 intro, iconic scenes from The Ring/Tristan, climaxes from Mahler and Bruckner, and etc.

For the sake of a more different answer, I'll offer the first 7 minutes (up to the climax at 6:40 really) of Messiaen's Hymn.


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

I don't know about greatest. But certainly one of most sublime.


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## Guest002 (Feb 19, 2020)

a) 'Now the Hungry Lion Roars' from the very end of Britten's _A Midsummer Night's Dream_.






b) WTC Book I, Prelude in C major.






c) Georgy Sviridov: _Spring is coming_ (the first movement from his _Spring Cantata_)


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## Skakner (Oct 8, 2020)

Hard to pick just one. There is so much great music...
I'll post two...

My first choice...

*Matthäus-Passion - Wir setzen uns mit Tränen nieder *





but close enough...

5 minutes of the Passacaglia from *Passacaglia & Fugue, BWV 582* either D'Albert's or (preferably) Catoire's arrangement


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## Jacck (Dec 24, 2017)

a similar thread was here not long ago
The "<10 minutes" greatest piece of music ever written?


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## Ethereality (Apr 6, 2019)

Jacck said:


> a similar thread was here not long ago
> The "<10 minutes" greatest piece of music ever written?


Thank you, that's not what I wanted though.

So many brilliant choices so far, this is definitely giving me more to listen closely to. Thank you everyone so far!


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## janxharris (May 24, 2010)

Ethereality said:


> Thank you, that's not what I wanted though.
> 
> So many brilliant choices so far, this is definitely giving me more to listen closely to. Thank you everyone so far!


Closing minutes of Sibelius' 7th Symphony.


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## mikeh375 (Sep 7, 2017)

I'd have this on any list that has the adjective 'great' in the title. The music and especially the performance here.


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## Jacck (Dec 24, 2017)

maybe the Toccata and Fugue in D minor




this sounds so unlike from anything else Bach ever wrote, that I have my doubts he wrote it


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## BenG (Aug 28, 2018)

Yes, mainstream, yes, maybe overrated but Clair de Lune will always be a magical, transcendental, 5 minutes of music.


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

The opening section of "Le Sacre du Printemps" by Stravinsky.....[of course, as a bassoonist, I am not the least bit biased in my selection!! lol!!]

.


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## TwoFlutesOneTrumpet (Aug 31, 2011)

The development section of Eroica's 1st movement.


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## BrahmsWasAGreatMelodist (Jan 13, 2019)

Bulldog said:


> Bach's Prelude in E flat major from WTC, Bk. 2. That's enough for now.


Or the E-Flat prelude from book 1!


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## 8j1010 (Aug 29, 2020)

Not the greatest 5 minutes, but the greatest 20 or so seconds:




I've only heard this leitmotif 2 or 3 times in the opera, but it's already my favorite melody I've heard in a long time.


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

...................


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## Christine (Sep 29, 2020)

Last five minutes of Shosty #7


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## ZJovicic (Feb 26, 2017)

Some non-classical candidates...
All are around 5 minutes or a little longer

1) Deep Purple - Child in Time
(especially since around 3:20 mark - what a solo, my dear!)





2) Ray Charles - What'd I Say





3) Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody... (because, of course)





4) The Beach Boys - Good Vibrations





5) Guns'n'Roses - Paradise City (I'm a bit partial for this one, due to growing up with it and sentimental reasons... still a fantastic song with a sick solo)


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## ZJovicic (Feb 26, 2017)

Now for the classical:

*1) Last 5 minutes or so of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony*

2) First 5 minutes or so of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony

3) O Fortuna + Fortune Plango Vulnera from Carnina Burana

4) 4th movement of Mozart's 41st symphony

5) Albéniz - Asturias

6) Toccata and Fugue


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## ZJovicic (Feb 26, 2017)

Some more:

7) LvB - Grosse Fuge, take some insane part from it

8) Some parts from Handel's Messiah (I like "For unto us a child is born" the best)

9) Beethoven - Moonlight Sonata - 3rd movement

10) Beethoven - String Quartet No. 14 in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 131 -* 5. Presto*


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## poconoron (Oct 26, 2011)

Mozart's Act 3 Finale of Marriage of Figaro, of course!


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## TwoFlutesOneTrumpet (Aug 31, 2011)

From about 4:45 until the end of the 1st movement of Sibelius 3


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## ORigel (May 7, 2020)

Grosse Fugue: 1st fugue after the introduction, Conclusion

Movement 6 of Beethoven Op 131

Beethoven symphony 3 movement 2 the most stormy part of the development ~9 minutes in most recordings, lasts a few minutes

Third Theme Group from Bruckner Symphony 9 1st movement, 1st movement coda

Bruckner symphony 8 finale coda

Bach Violin Sonata No. 1, BWV 1001 Fuga (also a transcription for lute, BWV 1000)

B Minor Mass Gloria Et in terra pax, Sanctus

Messiah: Thus Saith the Lord, The Lord of Host, The People who walked in darkness have seen a great light, Rejoice Greatly, O Daughter of Zion


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## ZJovicic (Feb 26, 2017)

@TwoFlutesOneTrumpet

What a fantastic Symphony... I ended up listening to the whole thing... well except first 4:45... damn...
Now I need to listen again, with the beginning included!


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## Azol (Jan 25, 2015)

How about coda from the Finale of Bruckner's Fourth Symphony as played by Munchen PO under Celi (EMI)? Mindblowing stuff! Celi takes about 4:10 to arrive there. Not the later recording available on Sony with coda taking around 6 minutes (!) with musicians audibly at the end of their stamina, especially the horns. This is just ridiculous, but the EMI boxset stuff is golden.


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## Ethereality (Apr 6, 2019)

OP's picks:

*0:53-2:30*





*4:00-6:22*


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## BenG (Aug 28, 2018)

Christine said:


> Last five minutes of Shosty #7


Probably the greatest suggestion on this thread.


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## ZJovicic (Feb 26, 2017)

BenG said:


> Probably the greatest suggestion on this thread.


Regarding Shostakovich 7th Symphony, just checked the last part. Indeed sounds glorious.
I plan to listen to the whole symphony soon.


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

The fugatto from the funeral march of the Eroica.


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## Axter (Jan 15, 2020)

The first min. of Wagner’s Tannhäuser overture brings always a smile to my face.


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## Eclectic Al (Apr 23, 2020)

I get a tingle from the end of Honegger's 3rd Symphony when we are indeed donated some pacem. When the trumpet comes in at the end of his 2nd Symphony also uplifts (although it is perhaps a bit cheesy).

The Cavatina from Beethoven's String Quartet No 13 is about 7 or 8 minutes. Is that too much?

My real feeling, though, is that at the 5 minutes mark you are inevitably drawn to the WTC, with so many whole pieces at around 5 minutes to choose from. The whole Prelude & Fugue No 24 from Book 2 comes in at less than 5 minutes, and I find it a worthy end for the whole thing - that's saying something.


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## BenG (Aug 28, 2018)

ZJovicic said:


> Regarding Shostakovich 7th Symphony, just checked the last part. Indeed sounds glorious.
> I plan to listen to the whole symphony soon.


Well make sure you listen to the Bernstein/Chicago Symphony recording.


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## Skakner (Oct 8, 2020)

I would like to add another excerpt that came to mind.
It's a small phrase, just a few notes...but it's so beautiful, so emotionally powerful...

The whole movement is one of the composer's best.

*click to listen*


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## janxharris (May 24, 2010)

Einstein's time dilation means 5 minutes can be pretty much any number of minutes from a different perspective...just saying....


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## Jacck (Dec 24, 2017)

janxharris said:


> Einstein's time dilation means 5 minutes can be pretty much any number of minutes from a different perspective...just saying....


yes, but the music gets Doppler shifted


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## larold (Jul 20, 2017)

There is no "greatest" but here are a few big arc pieces that give me satisfaction aside from listening to the rest of the music:

-- Finale of Mozart's "Don Giovanni" where the Commendatore sends the Don to Hell about 7 minutes: 




-- "Une vela" opening shipwreck scene of Verdi's "Otello": 




-- Finale of Bruckner's Fifth Symphony at the coda: 




-- Band version of "Elsa's procession" from Wagner's "Lohengrin": 




-- Band version of Gounod's "Faust" ballet music; usually runs about 8 minutes: 




-- Rose adagio pas d'action from Tchaikovsky's "The Sleeping Beauty" -- usually about 7 minutes: 




Mozart again ... the "Idomeneo" ballet music largo-allegretto-piu allegro:


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## Brahmsian Colors (Sep 16, 2016)

I prefer to use exalted rather than great.

The close of both Beethoven's Ninth and Bruckner's Ninth (three movement version).


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## TwoFlutesOneTrumpet (Aug 31, 2011)

BenG said:


> Well make sure you listen to the Bernstein/Chicago Symphony recording.


This one comes paired with a great performance of the 1st. A wonderful CD.


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## TwoFlutesOneTrumpet (Aug 31, 2011)

Brahmsian Colors said:


> I prefer to use exalted rather than great.
> 
> *The close of both Beethoven's Ninth* and Bruckner's Ninth (three movement version).


The best ending of Beethoven's 9 I've heard is Karajan's 1977 recording. Having heard it, I am left disappointed by the ending of every other recording I've heard, especially the last minute or so.


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## Brahmsian Colors (Sep 16, 2016)

TwoFlutesOneTrumpet said:


> The best ending of Beethoven's 9 I've heard is Karajan's 1977 recording. Having heard it, I am left disappointed by the ending of every other recording I've heard, especially the last minute or so.


My favorite Beethoven Ninth, including its very fine finale is Reiner's Chicago Symphony performance.


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

.....................


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## Ethereality (Apr 6, 2019)

It could be a fun game.


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

Brahmsian Colors said:


> My favorite Beethoven Ninth, including its very fine finale is Reiner's Chicago Symphony performance.


Agreed...wonderful recording...finale is amazing!!


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## vtpoet (Jan 17, 2019)

I really can't get past Monteverdi's Lamento della Ninfa.






To me, there are composers who have equaled the sheer pain and sorrow in this music, but none have exceeded it.

And for the entire madrigal (and possibly a better performance):


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## SeptimalTritone (Jul 7, 2014)

Stravinsky - Les Noces (1917), scene 1 (0:00 to 4:55) 



Webern - Cantata 1 (1939), movement 3 



Ligeti - Piano Concerto (1988), movement 4 



Debussy - Preludes (1910), Footprints in the Snow 



Berg - Three Pieces for Orchestra (1915), movement 2


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## waldhoerer (Oct 12, 2020)

For me it is Rachmaninoff, Prelude in g minor


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## sstucky (Apr 4, 2020)

The mysterious modal orchestral sequence at the beginning of the second movement of Bartok’s Second Piano Concerto.


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## BenG (Aug 28, 2018)

i can't believe I hadn't thought of this before: Last 5 mins of Schoenberg's Gurrelieder. Glory, childlike imagination, colour, transcendent orchestration. Just amazing!


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## TwoFlutesOneTrumpet (Aug 31, 2011)

Of course, there is no one greatest 5 minutes of music. But here is one of my favourite 5 minutes of music. It's from Bruckner's 7th symphony.

Starts at around the 42 minute mark.


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## Xisten267 (Sep 2, 2018)

A piece with a very catchy melody that I'm sure nobody else here would mention and that takes about six minutes to play is the Kyrie from Rossini's _Petite messe solennelle_. I just love it.


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## SeptimalTritone (Jul 7, 2014)

More Second-Viennese music, some of the most beautiful stuff ever. They excelled at compact, lyrical, emotionally charged works.

Webern - Quartet op 22 (1930), movement 1 



Schoenberg - Six Little Piano Pieces (1911) 



Schoenberg - Pierrot Lunaire (1912), last three pieces 



Berg - Violin Concerto (1935), Allegro up to climax 



Schoenberg - Four Orchestral Songs (1922), Seraphita


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## billeames (Jan 17, 2014)

Hello Many come to mind. Because there are many great 5 min segments.

First part of Credo from Beethoven Missa Solemnis
Last 5 min of Beethoven symphony 3. Choral Fantasy. 
Last 5 min of Brahms Symph 1 and 4. Furtwangler 1947 broadcast of 4 in UK. 
Last 5 min of Mahler 8.
Last 5 min of Bruckner 4, 5, 8.
Last 5 min of Wagner Reingold, Walkure, Gotterdammerang. 
Last 5 of Berlioz Dammnation of Faust. wow.

Bill


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)




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## BenG (Aug 28, 2018)

Gosh, what is happening to me. I forgot the most obvious one.


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## Mifek (Jul 28, 2018)

Some obvious candidates (only one per each of my ten favorite composers):

Beethoven, 1st mvt from the 5th symphony.





Bach, Air on the G string from the Orchestral Suite no. 3.





Chopin, Etude op. 10, no. 12 "Revolutionary".





Tchaikovsky, beginning of the 1st mvt from the Piano Concerto no. 1.





Prokofiev, the "Battle on the Ice" from Alexander Nevsky.


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## Littlephrase (Nov 28, 2018)

Music of demented genius:


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## Mifek (Jul 28, 2018)

Mozart, 2nd mvt (Adagio) from the Piano Concerto no. 23.





Schubert, Impromptu no. 3 from the Four Impromptus, D. 899 (Op. 90).





Brahms, 3rd mvt (Poco allegretto) from the 3rd Symphony.





Shostakovich, 2nd mvt (Allegro molto) from the String Quartet no. 8.





Vivaldi, 3rd mvt (Presto) from the Violin Concerto "Summer" (The Four Seasons).


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## Mifek (Jul 28, 2018)

And now some slightly less obvious (or more "personal") pieces for the same 10 composers.

Beethoven, 3rd mvt from the Piano Sonata no. 21 "Waldstein" (any 5 minutes).





Bach, Prelude & Fugue no. 10 in E minor from WTC Book I.





Chopin, Mazurka op. 17 no. 4.





Tchaikovsky, Love Theme from the Fantasy Overture "Romeo and Juliet".





Prokofiev, 2nd mvt (Scherzo) from the 5th Symphony.


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## Mifek (Jul 28, 2018)

Mozart, "Non so piu cosa son, cosa faccio" from the Opera "Le nozze di Figaro".





Schubert, the beginning of the 2nd mvt from the String Quartet no. 14 "Death and the Maiden".





Brahms, the beginning of the 2nd mvt from the Piano Concerto no. 2.





Shostakovich, 2nd mvt from the Piano Concerto no. 2.





Vivaldi, "Vedro con mio diletto" from Il Giustino.


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## Alinde (Feb 8, 2020)

So many great choices in this thread already. I'm influenced, but I'll go with my first thought, which was "Es ist vollbracht" from J.S.Bach's St John Passion.


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## chu42 (Aug 14, 2018)

2nd movement of Schumann's Piano Quintet

1st movement of Schumann's Piano Trio

There are dozens of more from hundreds of pieces and composers, so I'll just leave two I haven't seen mentioned.


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## Guest (Oct 17, 2020)

Dona Nobis Pacem from Bach's B Minor Mass.

Also this from Bach, sung by Tommy Quasthoff:


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## ojoncas (Jan 3, 2019)

*Nikolai Medtner's 1st Piano Concerto. *
The end and transition from the 2nd movement to the 3rd is my favourite among all piano concertos.

From 22:06 to 27:50 > 




*Mortiz Moszkowski's 2nd Piano Concerto.*
The end of the 2nd movement offers one of the best chord progression of any piano concertos, a perfect use of the circle of fifths.

From 18:43 to 21:52 > 




*Anton Bruckner's 4th Symphony.*
Its Finale is full of gems. This work is of high contrasts and filled with beautiful harmonies, from delicate to powerful progressions. The middle part is the most satisfying to me.

From 52:48 to 57:15 > 




There are so many more, but I'm keeping my reply on the lighter side.


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## chu42 (Aug 14, 2018)

ojoncas said:


> *Nikolai Medtner's 1st Piano Concerto. *
> 
> *Mortiz Moszkowski's 2nd Piano Concerto.*
> The end of the 2nd movement offers one of the best chord progression of any piano concertos, a perfect use of the circle of fifths.
> ...


I played that Moszkowski concerto! Really good stuff but unfortunately by his time the Romantic era had reached it's full potential.

Personally I find the Schumann Concerto to be even more stunning and original in its use of the circle of fifths


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

*Miles Davis - So What*: 1:30-7:00


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## Ulfilas (Mar 5, 2020)

The Prelude to Act III of Lohengrin.


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## TMHeimer (Dec 19, 2019)

How can you choose? But offhand I'm gunna say the end of Rachmaninoff's 2nd Piano Concerto.


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## ojoncas (Jan 3, 2019)

chu42 said:


> I played that Moszkowski concerto! Really good stuff but unfortunately by his time the Romantic era had reached it's full potential.
> 
> Personally I find the Schumann Concerto to be even more stunning and original in its use of the circle of fifths


Yes! The Schumann one is also one of my favourite passages, I just didn't mention it. But I think Schumann's has the best use of the CoF in a finale while Moszkowski's has the best from a slow movement. One is lively and charming, the other powerfully romantic. They both work perfectly in their respective format, IMO.


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## Pat Fairlea (Dec 9, 2015)

Shostakovich D minor fugue, Op.87


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## BrahmsWasAGreatMelodist (Jan 13, 2019)

SanAntone said:


> *Miles Davis - So What*: 1:30-7:00


I love this album, but have always found this song a bit irritating to be honest.

But Flamenco Sketches is incredible, and Blue in Green might very well be my favorite 5 minutes of jazz music.


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## Ethereality (Apr 6, 2019)

DavidA said:


> I don't know about greatest. But certainly one of most sublime.


"Not sure if greatest but most sublime," well sir it's winning with 5 likes so far, along with the end of Sibelius' 7th. I wonder if we'll gain any more nominations before putting all of these to an unofficial vote.

OP says: *Feel free to post your favorite 2 to 7 minutes of music in this thread. Let's get some more nominations in before we close.*


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## consuono (Mar 27, 2020)

A little over the time limit, but apart from Bach I'd have to nominate this:





(edit) Oh, and the coda of Bruckner's eighth symphony.


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## DaveM (Jun 29, 2015)

Mozart: Giunse Alfin il Momento aria from Marriage of Figaro (one of Kathleen Battle's great operatic moments, especially the last 2 minutes):


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## Coach G (Apr 22, 2020)

What is the greatest ~5 minutes of music?



Ethereality said:


> Not a 5 minute piece, but the greatest ~5 minute example of writing within any piece. Let's finally get down to the nitty gritty. It could be the most sublime 1 minute or 7 minutes of composition or performance you've heard in your life, cut exactly where you think, a small piece or a specific moment in a large piece. Simply, what is the most marvelous segment or block of music you think we have?
> 
> We were having a debate on this earlier in another thread, so I thought I'd ask.


1. The first movement of Beethoven's _Symphony #6 "Pastorale"_. When my youngest son was little, he said it sounded like bird's waking up in the morning, and what could be more beautiful than that!
2. The first 7 minutes of Barber's _Knoxville: Summer of 1915_, or any number of Barber's music for Voice including _Dover Beach_, _The Daises_, _Hermit Songs_, _Three Songs_, _Must the Winter Come So Soon_ from _Vanessa_, etc. 
3. The _Nocturne_ from Britten's _Serenade for Tenor, Horn and String_ set to the poetry of Alfred Lord Tennyson.






4. The third _"Johnny"_ movement from Bruch's _Scottish Fantasy for Violin and Orchestra_.
5. The duet for baritone and tenor from Bizet's _Pearl Fishers_.
6. _Mache dich, mein Herze, rein (Make Thyself Clean My Heart)_ from Bach's _St. Matthew Passion_
7. _Sanctus_ from Berlioz' _Requiem_
8. _This is a Record of John_ by Orlando Gibbons
9. _Bless the Lord, O My Soul_ from Rachmaninoff's _Vespers/All Night Vigil_
10. _Beim Schlafengehen (When Falling Asleep)_ from Richard Strauss' _Four Last Songs_






11. _Boris' Death Scene_ from _Boris Godunov_ by Mussorgsky, edited by Rimsky-Korsakov
12. The slow movement from Rachmaninoff's _Sonata for Cello and Piano_


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## Bxnwebster (Jan 5, 2021)

- The first 5-6 minutes of Sibelius 7
- The last 4 minutes of Vaughan Williams Symphony 5, second movement.
- The ending of Prokofiev Piano Concerto 3, third movement
- The slow introduction of Mendelssohn Reformation symphony, first movement
- The last 4 minutes of Sibelius 5, final movement
- The last 5-6 minutes of Mahler 5, rondo
- The second half of Beethoven's triple concerto, slow movement


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## Azol (Jan 25, 2015)

Bxnwebster said:


> - The last 4 minutes of Vaughan Williams Symphony 5, second movement.


Did you mean third movement (Romanza) instead of second one (Scherzo)?


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## Doctor Fuse (Feb 3, 2021)

Who's going to disagree with Lenny?






The original. Perhaps the greatest song in all of Western music. Definitely the greatest recording of all time! The counterpoint, the bitonal harmonic tension! Kinky!


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## Luchesi (Mar 15, 2013)

Doctor Fuse said:


> Who's going to disagree with Lenny?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Did these get you into classical? I think they did for me. I remember trying to reduce them down to something recognizable on my old upright. I just wanted to achieve something, but it never satisfied me. I didn't know any chord progressions or patterns of popular songs, so it's difficult just working on empty like that. It was a challenge so I kept with it.


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## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

Littlephrase said:


> Music of demented genius:


He should have been locked up and corrected to compose better.


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## Doctor Fuse (Feb 3, 2021)

{EDIT: See below, with quotes]


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## Doctor Fuse (Feb 3, 2021)

Luchesi said:


> Did these get you into classical? I think they did for me. I remember trying to reduce them down to something recognizable on my old upright. I just wanted to achieve something, but it never satisfied me. I didn't know any chord progressions or patterns of popular songs, so it's difficult just working on empty like that. It was a challenge so I kept with it.


Other way around, for me!

Got into 20th century orchestral music, via Rite of Spring, when I was 12. That meant not many peers who saw eye-to-eye (my classical violin-playing friends hated 20th century, just liked Bach and Mozart and Ludwig and violin music, and my non-classical friends liked punk rock and new wave and reggae).

I was so excited to start studying music in university, I thought I would be finding my people, but lo and behold, not many were passionate about the early modernists. The canon or post modernist contemporary was the thing.

So I did my own Bartok pilgrimage and spent my time with booze, drugs and women, going to rock and folk and pop shows in Toronto's seedy underbelly. What a great time! What a great learning experience! What a way to develop a musical langauge in my blood (rock - all musicians need a musical blood language).

I was 19 when I was on a date and two buskers were howling "Lola". "I know this song, I think?....who's song is it?", I asked Susan. "The Kinks, I think?", she answered.
When I got back to my pad, my roommate just happened to be listening to a cassette of the Kinks Greatest Hits. Lola came on.
"I just heard that song! I love it!" I exclaimed.

I listened to that tape over and over...the crazy overtones from Dave's guitar (he has become a personal friend - I am writing orchestral charts for some of his solo material) felt like an electric reduction of the crazy overtones the 20th century composers were trying to achieve - except 16-year-old Kink Dave Davies from working class London had no effects pedals back in 1964. He had to slash the speaker cone of his little El Pico practice amp with razor blades, to get the beginning of a true "rock growl".

When he fed this buzzing noise through his Vox concert amp, he invented the sound of modern rock and roll. Punk and heavy metal and indie and art rock all owe a huge thank you to Dave Davies and the Kinks.


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## GraemeG (Jun 30, 2009)

This came to mind for me too. I thought I knew the symphony backwards (after 30 years or so) but I was struck dumb the first time I heard this rendition.

Lost the quote! - Celi and the Munich PO in Bruckner 4, coda to 4th movement.


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## Luchesi (Mar 15, 2013)

Doctor Fuse said:


> Other way around, for me!
> 
> Got into 20th century orchestral music, via Rite of Spring, when I was 12. That meant not many peers who saw eye-to-eye (my classical violin-playing friends hated 20th century, just liked Bach and Mozart and Ludwig and violin music, and my non-classical friends liked punk rock and new wave and reggae).
> 
> ...


Interesting. I've never met anyone who started with Stravinsky. 'Maybe his *Pulcinella. 'Just kidding. We used to hear it every night shift as the opening theme for a classical hour in Alaska.* 
How does one go from The Rite to the old masters? Just the drama, as it translates?


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## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

Ethereality said:


> Not a 5 minute piece, but the greatest ~5 minute example of writing within any piece. Let's finally get down to the nitty gritty. It could be the most sublime 1 minute or 7 minutes of composition or performance you've heard in your life, cut exactly where you think, a small piece or a specific moment in a large piece. Simply, what is the most marvelous segment or block of music you think we have?
> 
> We were having a debate on this earlier in another thread, so I thought I'd ask.


The greatest approx.5 minutes of music is _4'33"_ by John Cage. :lol:


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## Knight769 (Mar 2, 2017)

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct...=-r7Q7mdHSa4&usg=AOvVaw1EK_cg7mrwOZXvvQEIaB8f


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## premont (May 7, 2015)

I tend to choose my favorite musical piece: The sarabande from JS Bach's fifth suite for violoncello solo (ca. four minutes). But it must be played with the right sense of impending eternity.


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## Pat Fairlea (Dec 9, 2015)

Half-seriously, how about Art Tatum playing Tiger Rag?


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## periphery (Jul 11, 2020)

*This thread has been officially converted into a game. *Come nominate your favorite excerpts from 0 to 10 minutes long. Right now we're voting in 6 from this very thread to enter into Tier 1, but there's space available for many excerpts to be nominated, at *Talk Classical's Most Recommended Excerpts.*


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## david johnson (Jun 25, 2007)

I would recommend John Cage's 4'33", but it isn't 5 minutes long


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

david johnson said:


> I would recommend John Cage's 4'33", but it isn't 5 minutes long


In the transcription for orchestra by Maximianno Cobra it lasts 8'66''.


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## TwoFlutesOneTrumpet (Aug 31, 2011)

Art Rock said:


> In the transcription for orchestra by Maximianno Cobra it lasts 8'66''.


I'm still trying to cleanse my brain from having listened to Cobra's Beethoven 5th 1st movement.


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## premont (May 7, 2015)

Art Rock said:


> In the transcription for orchestra by Maximianno Cobra it lasts 8'66''.


I thought cobra was a snake.


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## pianozach (May 21, 2018)

Bulldog said:


> Bach's Prelude in E flat major from WTC, Bk. 2. That's enough for now.


Is there an orchestrated version of this?


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## Agamenon (Apr 22, 2019)

-Bruckner, 9th Symphony, 3rd mov. 5 final minutes.
-Mahler, 9th Symphony, 4th mov. 5 final minutes.
-Beethoven, 3rd Symphony, 1st mov.5 final minutes.
-Wagner, Die Walküre, Wotan´s farewell, 5 final minutes.
-Bach, The Art of the fugue, first 5 minutes........


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

TwoFlutesOneTrumpet said:


> I'm still trying to cleanse my brain from having listened to Cobra's Beethoven 5th 1st movement.


Do it with
5:26~10:26


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## Pat Fairlea (Dec 9, 2015)

Chopin's Op57 Berceuse. Simply beautiful example of theme&variations. About 4 mins 30.
Here's Pollini gently stroking his way through it.


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## Sequentia (Nov 23, 2011)

Many excellent recommendations have been given in this thread. I'm surprised no one appears to have mentioned the third movement ("Heiliger Dankgesang") of Beethoven's Op. 132 quartet. Almost any five-minute excerpt from that movement qualifies, but the ending truly stands out. Various magnificent passages from Strauss's _Tod und Verklärung_ and _Metamorphosen_ could also be nominated. But there is so much more...


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## ThaNotoriousNIC (Jun 29, 2020)

I wish that I could speak on a more technical level about my selections, but alas my knowledge of theory and composition boils down to some basic theory. As such, I thought about which pieces or moments from larger works that I have listened to in which I am completely entranced and moved by the music. Here are four selections that I think make the cut as some of the most sublime music that I have listened to so far:

1) Bach, St. John's Passion (Zerfliebe mein Herze)






This movement from Bach's St. John's Passion really does an incredible job in setting a mood and can describe the music as gliding through my consciousness. It is not particularly complex but I think there are some dissonances in it that always catch my ear whenever I listen to it. I posted about this particular movement last year in the St. John's Passion thread and I remember talking to another user here about how moving this piece is. One of my absolute favorites out of Bach's religious music and catalogue as a whole.

2) Strauss, Der Rosenkavalier Act III Trio






One of my favorite opera and has what I feel is one of the finest operatic trios ever composed. Always leaves me a little teary eyed after a listen for its emotional weight and beautiful composition. Highly recommended.

3) Tchaikovsky, Symphony No. 6 Mvmt IV






For slower movements in symphonies, there are a couple I love such as the third movement in Brahms' 3rd Symphony or the second movement in Beethoven's Seventh Symphony; however, this movement in the Pathetique Symphony by Tchaikovsky wins for me. I know it is longer than the 5-6 minute span noted by the thread's creator, but like the previous two selections, I find this to be incredibly moving and dynamic. As you can tell by the rest of my selections, I am a sucker for the slower, emotional moments in repertoire.

4) Wagner, Parsifal Act I Transformation Music






Anyone who knows me on the opera threads knows that I am a big listener of Wagner and I finally got around to listen to all the major operas last year. There are many orchestral interludes in his operas that I can mention here such as Siegfried's Funeral March from Gotterdammerung or my personal favorite interlude: King Henrich's March from Lohengrin; I chose the Transformation Music from Parsifal instead for this thread since I feel that it is a bit more complex in composition than say my personal favorite interlude from Lohengrin. There is a great amount of emotional weight behind the music here and I can't help but getting swayed by it every listen. I think it demonstrates how much Wagner's music evolved by the time he passed.


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## Wilhelm Theophilus (Aug 8, 2020)




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## perempe (Feb 27, 2014)

Intermezzo from Kodály's Háry János.


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## golfer72 (Jan 27, 2018)

Pick one : Last 5 minutes of Mahler 1,2,3 or first 5 of Mahler 9


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## Celloman (Sep 30, 2006)

"Non mi dir" from Don Giovanni (Mozart)






Could this be the most beautiful and thrilling five minutes of music ever written? I don't know, but one thing is for certain. These five minutes are perfect.


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## klappco (Dec 28, 2020)

david johnson said:


> I would recommend John Cage's 4'33", but it isn't 5 minutes long


Depends on the cadenza


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## Ethereality (Apr 6, 2019)

Greatest 5 minutes of music? Easy to me now:

2nd Concerto for Piano from Brahms, *5:30 - 10:30*. Best is the syncopated piano shifts near the end of this.


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## Wilhelm Theophilus (Aug 8, 2020)

Ethereality said:


> Greatest 5 minutes of music? Easy to me now:
> 
> 2nd Concerto for Piano from Brahms, *5:30 - 10:30*. Best is the syncopated piano shifts near the end of this.


..........Never.


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## jdec (Mar 23, 2013)

Ethereality said:


> Greatest 5 minutes of music? Easy to me now:
> 
> 2nd Concerto for Piano from Brahms, *5:30 - 10:30*. Best is the syncopated piano shifts near the end of this.


From 7:13 to 8:28 one of my favorite musical passages for piano ever...and Zimerman's trills at the end of this passage are amazing, crystal clear and perfect. The whole concerto is remarkable, pure genius.


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## Ethereality (Apr 6, 2019)

Ethereality said:


> OP's picks:
> 
> *0:53-2:30*
> 
> ...


I stand by my original suggestions for the greatest single *minute or so* of music. It's an absolutely no-brainer.

However let's continue to the third greatest single *minute or so*. A shorter passage, somehow Borodin makes it happen again, in some of the final measures of his 2nd Symphony.

23:24 - 24:29

RK had to have known some while completing Borodin, that he was messing with a totally different world.


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## MatthewWeflen (Jan 24, 2019)

I'm going to go with the climax of the 2nd movement of the Eroica.

21:15 in this video will get you there.


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## NoCoPilot (Nov 9, 2020)

The entrance of the organ in Saint-Säens 3rd.


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## Yabetz (Sep 6, 2021)

Aside from any number of pieces by Bach, I would say the Liebestod from _Tristan und Isolde._


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## Bkeske (Feb 27, 2019)

The first that come to my mind….

The last 5 minutes of the IV movement of Sibelius No. 2


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

Bkeske said:


> The first that come to my mind…. The last 5 minutes of the IV movement of Sibelius No. 2


I have 9 in my mind-
The first 5 minutes (0:01~5:00), the second 5 minutes (5:01~10:00), the third 5 minutes (10:01~15:00), the fourth 5 minutes (15:01~20:00), the fifth 5 minutes (20:01~25:00), the sixth 5 minutes (25:01~30:00), the seventh 5 minutes (30:01~35:00), the eighth 5 minutes (35:01~40:00), and the last 5 minutes (40:01~45:00)-


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## ansfelden (Jan 11, 2022)

the final ~3 minutes of Bruckners 4th. 

i want to make a comparison of the interpretations sometime, here is just a random pick.


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## dko22 (Jun 22, 2021)

Ok -- here are the first three off the top of my head
1. the beginning of the coda to Janacek's Jenufa.
2. the transition to and beginning of the coda in Suk's Asrael symphony
3. the recapitulation and climax of the big lyrical melody in Bruckner 6 slow movement (the last 5 minutes of no. 9 already mentioned is a pretty strong contender as well).


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## RobertJTh (Sep 19, 2021)

The last 5-6 minutes of Elgar's 1st symphony - first you get the most beautiful melody Elgar ever wrote, then the recapitulation of the Finale's themes, and ending with the turbulent apotheosis of the symphony's main theme. Some of the most glorious moments in all orchestral literature.

Starting at 48:49 in the video below:


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

_Parsifal_, when Kundry names Parsifal in Act II.


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