The great codas

[mathias broucek]

I was extremely taken with JLW's description of the finale in DSCH7: "the plunge into the coda, those almost hysterical string figurations and then - THAT MOMENT, as those snarling firebird fanfares rise, twice, against the tension, bursting for release..."

It made me wonder about other great codas. I'll start with a few:

1. The end of the first movement of Bruckner 9. The music all but fizzles-out but starts to build again with horns and strings and then terrifying trumpets - I once thought my heart was going to stop during a glorious BBC SO/Wand performance at the RFH (*)

2. The glorious coda at the end of the finale of Bruckner 5 - particularly that moment where time seems to stop as the chorale theme reappears half speed (**)

3. The moment at the end of Berwald's Sinfonie sérieuse where we reach the home key of G minor and a hooligan bass trombonist (sometimes doubled by naughty conductors) comes crashing in on an E-flat. Perhaps an early predecessor of what DSCH does at the end of the 7th or Stravinsky at the end of the Firebird?


* Sadly the fiddles messed-up the start of the final Adagio, so no chance of a CD release
** Less than half speed with Jochum as per R Simpson's book

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Bruckner was particularly good at Codas - the ends of the First and Second movements of the Sixth; the slow movements of the Seventh, Eighth and Ninth; the Finales (the Coda of the finale of the Fourth is the best thing in the whole work): superb.

Equally wonderful, completely different, are the "Epilogues" to the RVW Symphonies. And, somewhere between the two, the coda that ends Elgar's Second Symphony. (If it's Barbirolli's Live recording with the Hallé, add the coda of the slow movement of the First Symphony, too. )

[edashtav]

Equally wonderful, completely different, are the "Epilogues" to the RVW Symphonies. And, somewhere between the two, the coda that ends Elgar's Second Symphony. (If it's Barbirolli's Live recording with the Hallé, add the coda of the slow movement of the First Symphony, too. )

Carrrying on up the epilogues, I love Bax's epilogues particularly in his 3rd and 6th Symphonies.

[Thropplenoggin]

The chromatic bass line at the end of the first movement of Beethoven's 9th. Chilling, æthereal, cosmic, funereal.

[mathias broucek]

add the coda of the slow movement of the First Symphony, too. )

Oh yes, am getting shivers. That said, anyone who knows their choral music cannot help but hear the words "how constant are the hills" (as set by Ireland) to the lovely violin phrase just before the brass come in!

[edashtav]

Oh yes, am getting shivers. That said, anyone who knows their choral music cannot help but hear the words "how constant are the hills" (as set by Ireland) to the lovely violin phrase just before the brass come in!

Yes, & Ireland's The Hills is a lovely piece to sing and such a nice tribute to Britain's monarchy as our country's steadfast bedrock.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

The chromatic bass line at the end of the first movement of Beethoven's 9th. Chilling, æthereal, cosmic, funereal.

Ooohh, yes! - a real Promethean glower to those bars. I wouldn't want to meet them on a dark night on my own.

Welcome back, by the way, Thropplenoggin - hope all is well with you.

[Thropplenoggin]

Ooohh, yes! - a real Promethean glower to those bars. I wouldn't want to meet them on a dark night on my own.

Welcome back, by the way, Thropplenoggin - hope all is well with you.

Thank you, FHG. Life has been made infinitely more tolerable by the bargain purchase of Uchida's Mozart sonatas. Oh, and mines a pint of porter.

[jayne lee wilson]

Where do you (or they) start...or finish? Not all the best codas are actually called codas...

GLORIOUS UPROARIOUS:
Roussel 3, Dvorak 6, Hindemith Symphony in E Flat (!!!)...

SWAGGER AND PUNCH:
Nielsen 2, Szymanowski 4, Kurt Weill 2, Britten Piano Concerto... flipsided with Prokofiev 6...

POETIC:
Honegger 3, Dutilleux 1, Ravel Valses Nobles, Britten Violin Concerto, Beethoven 9 (adagio)...

...The digested choice...HAS to be Honegger 3, shafts of light and birdsong among the smoking ruins...

[verismissimo]

Ooohh, yes! - a real Promethean glower to those bars. I wouldn't want to meet them on a dark night on my own.

Welcome back, by the way, Thropplenoggin - hope all is well with you.

Welcome back, from me too, Thropplenoggin . Hope I don't irritate you as much this time around.

[Hornspieler]

Bruckner was particularly good at Codas - the ends of the First and Second movements of the Sixth; the slow movements of the Seventh, Eighth and Ninth; the Finales (the Coda of the finale of the Fourth is the best thing in the whole work): superb.

Equally wonderful, completely different, are the "Epilogues" to the RVW Symphonies. And, somewhere between the two, the coda that ends Elgar's Second Symphony. (If it's Barbirolli's Live recording with the Hallé, add the coda of the slow movement of the First Symphony, too. )

[teamsaint]

Thank you, FHG. Life has been made infinitely more tolerable by the bargain purchase of Uchida's Mozart sonatas. Oh, and mines a pint of porter.

that was some session, @Noggo.......

good to see you back. Unfortunately, in your absence, music seems to have got more both complicated and greater in quantity.
So it goes, work to do...........

[edashtav]

Where do you (or they) start...or finish? Not all the best codas are actually called codas...

GLORIOUS UPROARIOUS:
Roussel 3, Dvorak 6, Hindemith Symphony in E Flat (!!!)...

SWAGGER AND PUNCH:
Nielsen 2, Szymanowski 4, Kurt Weill 2, Britten Piano Concerto... flipsided with Prokofiev 6...

POETIC:
Honegger 3, Dutilleux 1, Ravel Valses Nobles, Britten Violin Concerto, Beethoven 9 (adagio)...

...The digested choice...HAS to be Honegger 3, shafts of light and birdsong among the smoking ruins...

A great selection, Jayne!

[mercia]

Honegger 3

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Britten Violin Concerto

- for some reason, it hadn't occured to me to think outside the "Symphony" envelope. Now that I have -

Bach: Goldberg Variations; Mozart: Sonata for Two Pianos K448 (Second movt); Stockhausen: Mantra.

And as for the end of Mahler's Ninth ...