# He just outdid himself!



## Herr Direktor (Oct 18, 2009)

In classical music, there are hundreds of composers who have written thousands of great pieces, but every once and a while, a composer has a flash of inspiration and writes an absolute beauty. An example would be the second movement of Wieniawski's d minor violin concerto. Weiniawski was by no means a great composer, but the slow movement of that concerto is absolutely gorgeous.

This happens even with the titans of classical music. IMO, Beethoven wrote no other music as beautiful as the slow movement to the "Emperor" concerto. The Heiliger Dankgesang from the op. 132 string quartet is close though. With Brahms, I would go with the 1st violin sonata. With Mozart, the clarinet quintet.

Any other thoughts as to any composers' one shining piece among his other works? I guess you could complete the sentence; {blank} wrote nothing more beautiful than {blankety blank}.

HD


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## emiellucifuge (May 26, 2009)

Hmm...

It is quite a bit harder for the more established composers as the water level from which the piece needs to jump out of is quite a bit higher.

For Antonin Dvorak, in terms of pure sorrow and beauty (not enjoyment) I would say he wrote nothing more beautiful than his Stabat Mater.

Tchaikovsky - Swan Lake


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

*Saint-Saens* came up on another thread, and although he is by no means my favourite composer, I think he got it just right in his piano concertos, particularly Nos. 2 & 4. Sure there's alot of surface flashiness in these works, but somewhat like the Liszt concertos, they still hold some weight and really deliver the goods.

Same for *Sibelius*, he's not really among my favourites, but I think that the _Four Legends (Lemminkainen Suite)_ is a really great work. The way he develops & expands these micro-themes is really amazing, it's as if the process of composition is actually happening right there in front of you.

I'm also not the hugest fan of *Vaughan Williams*, but I think that in his _Symphony No. 4_ he really outdid himself. There's plenty of thematic development (something that you usually don't get from him), and some very dramatic and serious statements about the state of the world at the time (it was composed in the 1930's).

I'm also not a big fan of *J. Strauss II's *waltzes, but give me his operetta _Die Fledermaus_ any day. It shows how he really understood the voice, and had a flair for drama as well as comedy.

& I think there are some composers, like *Beethoven & Janacek *to name two, who developed such a high level of maturity and profundity late in their lives, that virtually anything they wrote then is pure gold.


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

I'll go out on a limb a little. For me *Robert Schumann*'s piano concerto surpasses most others, maybe even Beethoven's. I have read somewhere that many scholars consider it awkward and that Schumann was not a great orchestral composer, but that last movement especially with its long winding melodic theme that seems to go on forever before repeating itself, yet remains upbeat and hummable, is an astonishing achievement. I can't get nearly as excited about any of his other work.

Rumor has it that *Haydn* wrote a few symphonies. I've not heard them all by any means, but I have heard quite a number and always enjoy them. So far none of them stick in my mind quite like the No. 100, "Military." It's themes could almost be by Beethoven - or rather I think Beethoven actually learned more from Haydn than he admitted.

*Debussy* wrote a lot of dreamy exotic sounding music, but for me he surpasses himself with the _Three Nocturnes_. Maybe it's the wordless choir -- that always works for me.


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## emiellucifuge (May 26, 2009)

Yes the rumors are correct!

Beethoven was pupil of Haydn after all..


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## Aramis (Mar 1, 2009)

Leoncavallo outdid himself with his opera *Pagliacci*. Anyone listens to his other works? Probably not. Pagliacci is his only opera that reached level high enough to be remembered for all those years and still be popular.


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## Herr Direktor (Oct 18, 2009)

Aramis said:


> Leoncavallo outdid himself with his opera *Pagliacci*. Anyone listens to his other works? Probably not. Pagliacci is his only opera that reached level high enough to be remembered for all those years and still be popular.


Excellent point. Same could be said for his partner in crime Mascagni no?


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## nefigah (Aug 23, 2008)

This is a great thread! _checks his wallet to see when he can pick up some of these..._


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## Chi_townPhilly (Apr 21, 2007)

Herr Direktor said:


> Excellent point. Same could be said for [Leoncavallo's] partner in crime Mascagni no?


At least Mascagni also had _L'amico Fritz_. (So give him credit for a repertory opera-and-a-half.)

*Amilcare Ponchielli*'s _La Gioconda_ would probably be more on-point.
And almost unique among names not well-known to "music-laity" [Pachelbel comes closest],
a passage from this work could well be one of the dozen most familiar excerpts of Classical Music, ever!


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

Chi_town/Philly said:


> *Amilcare Ponchielli*'s _La Gioconda_ would probably be more on-point.
> And almost unique among names not well-known to "music-laity" [Pachelbel comes closest],
> a passage from this work could well be one of the dozen most familiar excerpts of Classical Music, ever!


I confess I didn't have a clue who you were talking about as I am not a big opera fan.  But after researching -- yes, of course we've all heard this passage.

One might almost say the same of Gounod's _Funeral March of a Marionette_, Rossini's Overture to _La Gazza ladra,_ and even Brahm's Lullaby if these composers hadn't had other household name works also popularized by the media.

Actually, I have yet to hear Brahm's alleged lullaby in context of whatever work it is a part. It's awfully obscure for such a well known piece. (I'm not advocating he outdid himself with it however.)


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## Chi_townPhilly (Apr 21, 2007)

Weston said:


> One might almost say the same of...Rossini's Overture to _La Gazza ladra,_


I'm probably journeying a little off-topic here-, but...

I'm not sure Rossini's _La Gazza Ladra_ overture gets a podium finish, even among Rossini works. The most comprehensively familiar Rossini work _has_ to be the "William Tell" overture. The next best-known passage is probably 'Largo al Factotum' from _The Barber of Seville_ (you know, "Figaro Figaro _Figaro_ FIGARO *Figaro*!"). Then, maybe it's a toss-up between the overture from _that_ opera, or from _La Gazza Ladra_.


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## World Violist (May 31, 2007)

Bruckner wrote nothing more beautiful than the adagio of the 8th symphony.

Mahler wrote nothing more beautiful than the 8th symphony.

Sibelius wrote nothing more beautiful than the 6th symphony.

...

This topic is really not fair to composers like Palestrina or Josquin, who wrote so much impossibly beautiful music that it's impossible to single anything out.


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## starry (Jun 2, 2009)

Weston said:


> I'll go out on a limb a little. For me *Robert Schumann*'s piano concerto surpasses most others, maybe even Beethoven's. I have read somewhere that many scholars consider it awkward and that Schumann was not a great orchestral composer, but that last movement especially with its long winding melodic theme that seems to go on forever before repeating itself, yet remains upbeat and hummable, is an astonishing achievement. I can't get nearly as excited about any of his other work.
> 
> Rumor has it that *Haydn* wrote a few symphonies. I've not heard them all by any means, but I have heard quite a number and always enjoy them. So far none of them stick in my mind quite like the No. 100, "Military." It's themes could almost be by Beethoven - or rather I think Beethoven actually learned more from Haydn than he admitted.
> 
> *Debussy* wrote a lot of dreamy exotic sounding music, but for me he surpasses himself with the _Three Nocturnes_. Maybe it's the wordless choir -- that always works for me.


I've always felt Haydn't 97th is a bit in Beethoven's style and one of Haydn't best.

And as for composers topping themselves...how about Haydn't last 12 symphonies. He did some good symphonic music before that but rarely with the consistency he suddenly found with these ones. It's like Haydn became SuperHaydn suddenly, like he found some 18th century version of a Superman costume and put it on and became unstoppable. I can't believe London or England can have been that inspirational for him.


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## Herr Direktor (Oct 18, 2009)

World Violist said:


> Bruckner wrote nothing more beautiful than the adagio of the 8th symphony.


Just listened to that today. Very nice.


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