most powerful climax in music history?

[frigo]

The most powerful climax, not the only one, nor my favourite (I have many), came with Tchaikovsky, I think. His piano concerto no1, his symphony no6 "pathétique", his ballets, his piano books, are just amazing!

[thierry13]

Rachmaninoff elegie comes to mind immediatly. Rach 3 of course, in all movements... but the most powerful ever is at the end of the third movement just before the chromatic octaves.

[presto agitato]

The ending of October 17, 1988 by K Jarrett

[tompilk]

perhaps rach symphony 2, if you can put up with all that sentimental, gushing romanticism...

[ctrastevere]

Mahler's second symphony, the very end. Of all the music I've heard in my life, this takes the cake (though his 8th symphony comes close as well.

Other earth-shattering climaxes are:

Busoni's Piano Concerto - 13 minutes into the third movement.
Dream Theater's Octavarium - The guitar solo + full orchestra.
Prokofiev's 2nd Piano Concerto - The cadenza.
Rachmaninoff's 3rd Piano Concerto - Various sections.
Sorabji's Sonata No. 1 - The repeated chord section at the end.
Sorabji's Concerto per suonare da me solo - The end of the third movement.

[Petter]

I like Prokofiev Romeo and Juliette. Not sure if it qualifies as a climax. Im kinda interested what people would regard as the biggest anticlimax in music history. 

[franzliszt2]

Bach B minor mass, last movement, after listening to the whole thing, when the timpani's enter it is just beyond words. This is the best piece of music I have ever heard (except maybe St Matthews Passion)

[nucleartide]

Liszt - Liebestraum no. 3

[jehangircama]

maybe not the most powerful, but the ending of the appasionata (finale) and the codas of the Chopin ballades 1 and 4 come to mind.

[pies]

a

[Etude]

Dream Theater's Octavarium - The guitar solo + full orchestra.

The coda they add to the end of 'Finally Free' on the "Scenes From New York" DVD is actually one of the biggest that comes to mind.

[i heart xenakis]

Bjork- Declare Independence

[ctrastevere]

The coda they add to the end of 'Finally Free' on the "Scenes From New York" DVD is actually one of the biggest that comes to mind.

I'll have to check that out. I'm sure it has to be infinitely more exciting than the endless repetition of the original. 

[Etude]

I'll have to check that out. I'm sure it has to be infinitely more exciting than the endless repetition of the original. 

Actually, they keep the repetitive bit, I guess that's Mike Portnoy's time to show off on the drums, but they created the whole climax bit to provide a definite ending while performing on the tour, whereas the original fades out into all the samples at the end.

[ctrastevere]

Well I imagine the repetition gives them plenty of time to really build it up to something quite powerful. I still have to get the live albums. I have all the studio albums, as well as the "Score" DVD, which I find to be absolutely incredible. I'll most certainly be at their concert in Boston in May -- if they're always that good live, then it's sure to be a great night.

[Etude]

Well I imagine the repetition gives them plenty of time to really build it up to something quite powerful. I still have to get the live albums. I have all the studio albums, as well as the "Score" DVD, which I find to be absolutely incredible. I'll most certainly be at their concert in Boston in May -- if they're always that good live, then it's sure to be a great night.

Another great thing about SFNY is the audio commentary.  Most composers of their skill are either dead or rarely comment, and its so great to be able to hear them talking about their work.
Word of advice: bring earplugs to the concert.  I don't know about you, but I like my music at a non-tinnitus-inducing volume.

[forzaitalia250]

how about rach 3rd concerto climaxes?

agreed... always sends chills down my spine

the codas of the Chopin ballades 1 and 4 come to mind.

these as well... I concur!! I don't know if you're ever seen the film "The Pianist" but the climax of the first ballade parallel to the emotion of the movie is just fantastic (albeit they did cut out a large part of the song for timing purposes)

[danny elfboy]

I know many will shake their head in disbelief
but to me it is the ending of Tchaikovsky ballet "Swan Lake"

[pita bread]

friggen dies irae section of Berlioz's Requiem

[point of grace]

mmhmm Chopin op.27 n.2

[thierry13]

The ending of October 17, 1988 by K Jarrett

You disgust me to the highest point.

[tanman]

Rachmaninoff 18th Variation in Rhapsody

[i heart xenakis]

Once I accidentally "climaxed" while performing Isolde's Liebestod.


None survived.

[tompilk]

ive always felt a little ashamed that i find dream theater's music astonishingly good. i have to say, the finally free climax is amazing ("familiar faces shining through" i think are the lyrics).
To me, lots of it seems extremely original and infinitely better than most music that is being forced out the speakers these days. I mean, some of it just seems like romantic period music but played on different instruments! So i'm glad someone else who likes classical likes them. Live at the marquee 2 is my favourite album... which are the other good ones? Ive only got that and octivarium...
thanks

[ctrastevere]

ive always felt a little ashamed that i find dream theater's music astonishingly good.

Why feel ashamed? I think that part of having sophisticated musical taste is having the ability to appreciate a wide variety of genres.

To me, lots of it seems extremely original and infinitely better than most music that is being forced out the speakers these days.

True but there certainly is a lot of great music being written today if one knows where to look.

Live at the marquee 2 is my favourite album... which are the other good ones? Ive only got that and octivarium...
thanks

I own all of them, except for the debut, When Dream and Day Unite. It's hard to say which ones are the "other good ones" because I enjoy them all, and they're all very different. I would definitely recommend Scenes From A Memory next, as it's generally considered their best achievement. Images and Words is also a high quality album. Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence is a double album containing their longest song, the title track. I would not say it's quite as brilliant as "Octavarium," but it's a wonderful listening experience never-the-less. Systematic Chaos and especially Train of Thought explore their heavier side, and both are fine albums when one gives them a few listens. A Change of Seasons has a beautiful title track, as well as several covers of other bands' songs, which is interesting to say the least. Many people praise Awake and Falling Into Infinity, though I haven't really gotten into either one myself, which isn't to say that they aren't quality records.

So if you're planning on buying another album, I'd recommend Scenes From A Memory next.

[Etude]

First time I heard Scenes it completely blew me away, definitely get that one next.  Then Images and Words... then Awake if you don't mind a lot of raspy vocals.

[indutrial]

First time I heard Scenes it completely blew me away, definitely get that one next.  Then Images and Words... then Awake if you don't mind a lot of raspy vocals.

Dream Theater's talented as hell, but by the same token morbidly cheesy. After they did that over-the-top "Six Degrees" album I ran like hell to dust off my old King Crimson and Camel CDs so I could convince myself that prog rock wasn't always a completely over-the-top cock-a-thon. Regarding climaxes, there's one Bjork song called Hunter that has a pretty amazing vocal climax in the middle surrounded by much subtler parts.

[ctrastevere]

Dream Theater's talented as hell, but by the same token morbidly cheesy.

Not always, but I certainly can understand why you'd think that, as it does apply to a lot of their music ("The Answer Lies Within" for instance, as pretty as it is, is so ridiculously cliché that it's hard not to burst out laughing...).

[Etude]

They definitely have their moments of cheese; the intro of 'Surrounded' makes me shudder.

Once you've been subjected to a Dragonforce song, pretty much nothing else seems as cheesy by comparison.

[ctrastevere]

Once you've been subjected to a Dragonforce song, pretty much nothing else seems as cheesy by comparison.

Oh God, ain't that the truth!

What's even worse is the fact that people say "well at least they're good musicians," when the fact of the matter is that their sound is completely doctored in the studio. They're horribly sloppy live, and unable to reproduce even a close approximation of their studio sound. (

)

Maybe one could call them the Geoffrey Douglas Madge of metal... 

[i heart xenakis]

Dream Theater's talented as hell, but by the same token morbidly cheesy. After they did that over-the-top "Six Degrees" album I ran like hell to dust off my old King Crimson and Camel CDs so I could convince myself that prog rock wasn't always a completely over-the-top cock-a-thon. Regarding climaxes, there's one Bjork song called Hunter that has a pretty amazing vocal climax in the middle surrounded by much subtler parts.

Oh you like King Crimson?  <3  I had a thread about 21st Century Schizoid Man on here at one point, although I can't find it any more XD  You should look into a band called Andromeda- you might like them.

PS- how the *** did that crappy, sloppy, garage-band, repetitive White Stripes album (who aren't even really alternative; just really sparce jam rock) beat Volta at the grammy's this year?  I was pissed   AND Neon Bible?  I lose more and more respect for the grammy's every year.

[Etude]

Oh God, ain't that the truth!

What's even worse is the fact that people say "well at least they're good musicians," when the fact of the matter is that they're sound is completely doctored in the studio. They're horribly sloppy live, and unable to reproduce even a close approximation of their studio sound. (

)

Maybe one could call them the Geoffrey Douglas Madge of metal... 

Yeah and I don't like being battered over the head with every instrument playing a wall of notes for an entire 8 minute song.  A bit of contrast would be nice.

[Etude]

Maybe one could call them the Geoffrey Douglas Madge of metal...

Dragonforce have every right to screw up their own music beyond all recognition, but doing that to someone else's music is just completely wrong.

[indutrial]

Oh you like King Crimson?  <3  I had a thread about 21st Century Schizoid Man on here at one point, although I can't find it any more XD  You should look into a band called Andromeda- you might like them.

PS- how the *** did that crappy, sloppy, garage-band, repetitive White Stripes album (who aren't even really alternative; just really sparce jam rock) beat Volta at the grammy's this year?  I was pissed   AND Neon Bible?  I lose more and more respect for the grammy's every year.

You're about the last person I would expect to give a tin $hit about the Grammys.

I am a huge fan of King Crimson's second major incarnation...the group that released Red, Starless and Bible Black and Lark's Tongue in Aspic. They were an unforgivingly bad-ass group. I like their newer incarnations also, but I think that those albums represented their peak. These days, the best "progressive" rock music is pretty far-removed from the progressive rock and progressive metal scenes, which I would argue are a bit too out-of-touch to be edgy anymore. The whole neo-prog scene's self-declared progressiveness is pretty pithy and unconvincing.

Dream Theater's albums sound very forced to me and I would attribute that to the fact that every member is far more absorbed in being family men, appearing at gearhead expositions and putting out their umpteen uneventful side projects. Like I said, they play awesome, but they're also some of the last musicians I would ever expect a surprise from.

Acts from recent years that I would consider progressive in the real sense are mostly found in the hardcore/metal scene. I see bands like SiKth, Dillinger Escape Plan, Meshuggah, Botch, and Dysrhythmia as being the real torch-bearers from edgy and adventurous rock music.

[indutrial]

They definitely have their moments of cheese; the intro of 'Surrounded' makes me shudder.

Once you've been subjected to a Dragonforce song, pretty much nothing else seems as cheesy by comparison.

Don't make me dig out "Falling Into Infinity" and start quoting lyrics. This band has been screaming for a Bernie Taupin or Pete Sinfield to write their words for years.

Dream Theater is not always cheesy, but I always feel like they're trying so hard to be hip, and they end up sounding more like imitators of rock styles that were hip a few years former. On the "Six Degrees" album, I remember there was a song that contained a nearly-note-for-note rip-off of one of Tool's songs (46 and 2 or Schism, I don't remember which). Another song had a two-hand tapping bass part that sounded like it was directly lifted directly off of one of King Crimson's 1980s albums. I didn't buy any of the albums to follow, but I recall somebody showing me something off one of them and it sounded like they were trying to be like Linkin Park...well, Linkin Park with a 5 minute instrumental section tagged on.

[i heart xenakis]

Acts from recent years that I would consider progressive in the real sense are mostly found in the hardcore/metal scene. I see bands like SiKth, Dillinger Escape Plan, Meshuggah, Botch, and Dysrhythmia as being the real torch-bearers from edgy and adventurous rock music.

Calculating Infinity is one of my favorite albums EVER

I was also lime-wiring some Meshuggah last night.  Soul Burn rox mah sox.  Great minds think alike   Although randomly I didn't really like "I"; I thought it was wayyy too repetitious to be anywhere near that long, and for some reason a lot of Meshuggah fans make a huge deal out of it >>  I will have to look into Sikth and Botch though; I'm not familiar with them =/  Btw, lemme reiterate that you really need to check out Andromeda, more specifically their first album.  Also, since you like DEP, do you like Gojira or Car Bomb?

[indutrial]

Calculating Infinity is one of my favorite albums EVER

I was also lime-wiring some Meshuggah last night.  Soul Burn rox mah sox.  Great minds think alike   Although randomly I didn't really like "I"; I thought it was wayyy too repetitious to be anywhere near that long, and for some reason a lot of Meshuggah fans make a huge deal out of it >>  I will have to look into Sikth and Botch though; I'm not familiar with them =/  Btw, lemme reiterate that you really need to check out Andromeda, more specifically their first album.  Also, since you like DEP, do you like Gojira or Car Bomb?

I like Calculating Infinity, but I was absolutely smashed in the balls when they put out the EP "Irony is a Dead Scene" with Mike Patton singing for them. The theatrics and technicalities on that short release are second to none. Calculating is an unreal album (especially "Sugar Coated Sour", which is a *** trip to play on guitar), but I think they put more swagger and overall compositional clout into their discs to follow.

Sikth stands above Dillinger for me because they had two singers who could both sing as well as scream and make mutant-Muppet vocal sounds, as well as a better bassist and drummer. They also get major points for doing a demonic cover of Nick Cave's "Tupelo" on their debut record.

Car Bomb is nasty. Gojira is not really my thing. They are damned heavy, but they don't stand out from other bands who they sound like.

If you like Crimson, this instrumental band might be a lot of fun.
https://www.myspace.com/dysrhythmiaband

Sikth is also friends with this crazy bunch of fuckers:
https://www.myspace.com/aconitethrill
"Can't Keep a Good Cop Down" is great.

[i heart xenakis]

I like Calculating Infinity, but I was absolutely smashed in the balls when they put out the EP "Irony is a Dead Scene" with Mike Patton singing for them. The theatrics and technicalities on that short release are second to none. Calculating is an unreal album (especially "Sugar Coated Sour", which is a *** trip to play on guitar), but I think they put more swagger and overall compositional clout into their discs to follow.

Can't say Irony wasn't a bit shocking, but for me it wasn't shocking in a good way XD  It was certainly, as you said, much more put-together, but I felt it lacked some of the just pure aggression and guitar pyrotechnics (no pun intended, considering they firebreathe =P) Calculating Infinity had.  Anyway will check out the other bands you've listed, and will PM you some Andromeda (because their stuff is really tough to find).  Also, as a guitarist, what do you think of John5?

[indutrial]

Can't say Irony wasn't a bit shocking, but for me it wasn't shocking in a good way XD  It was certainly, as you said, much more put-together, but I felt it lacked some of the just pure aggression and guitar pyrotechnics (no pun intended, considering they firebreathe =P) Calculating Infinity had.  Anyway will check out the other bands you've listed, and will PM you some Andromeda (because their stuff is really tough to find).  Also, as a guitarist, what do you think of John5?

Irony doesn't have the all-out full frontal assault that Calculating Infinity had, but it made sense because the different textures matched Mike Patton's one-man horror-movie-cast of voices. The singer's role on Calculating was something you could take or leave, and to me it just blankets on top of what the guitars are doing (which is far more interesting).

I don't know much of John5, but I'm not very impressed by his myspace.com/youtube videos and stuff. He can obviously shred and play some fiery two-hand tap stuff, but his tone is somewhat annoying (could just be live sound and it's drawbacks) and the whole goth thing is...well, more goth crap. I'm don't really follow any guitar hero/shredder types on guitar or bass. My two favorite guitarists are both in the improv scene - Ben Monder and Marc Ducret. Both have superlative technique, inventive senses of harmony and attack, and thankfully never resort to cheap shredder tricks that are the fodder of 1980s instructional videos.

[jaypiano]

Ravel's Daphnis and Chloe, Second Suite==the big climax after that extended build-up from the beginning.

[jpowell]

Sikth stands above Dillinger for me because they had two singers who could both sing as well as scream and make mutant-Muppet vocal sounds, as well as a better bassist and drummer. They also get major points for doing a demonic cover of Nick Cave's "Tupelo" on their debut record.

I remember a Jamaican guy called Dillinger with an album called "Cocaine in my Brain" back in about 1989. That was pretty good in fact. Do you mean the same man? And of Nick Cave I've always had time for "The Mercy Seat" although it is, admittedly, fairly hard going.

[lau]

I don't even know if this is technically a climax, but in chopin's 3rd ballad when the right hand does that octave thing, and then when the octaves turn into  triad chords, i thought that was the best thing ever. it's probably not, but whatever. actually it's not.

[akonow]

Liszt's Liebestraum No. 3!!! The middle part of course.

[point of grace]

i second Prokofieff 2nd piano concerto, 1st movement, cadenza

[ryguillian]

The last 3 minutes or so of Sorabji's 4th Piano Symphony:

https://nietzsche.ryguillian.com/mefury.m4a

Hands down the most violent sh*t ever.

Best,

Ry

[argerichfan]

Think outside the box.  Seven measures after rehearsal 165 in the last movement of Elgar's 2nd Symphony.  One of the most profound moments of catharsis in western music, it is utterly shattering... then at rehearsal 168, the 'Spirit of Delight'.  One looks over one's shoulder... just how did Elgar pull that off?  It all happened so fast, it just can't be. 

[communist]

Medter- Sonata Tragica (especially when Geoffrey Tozer plays it)

Ginestera- Piano Sonata no.1

Ligeti- The Devil's Stair Case

[soitainly]

 My gut reaction for most powerful climax is Roger Daltry's double tracked scream in The Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again". In classical music the ending of Stravinsky's Firebird comes to mind.

[ilikepie]

I've always liked the Rachmaninoff sonata no.2's ending.

[pianisten1989]

The second chopin concert. Somewhere in the middle, the pianist have trills in thirds. Its orgasmic