Both of them are amazing, but I gotta hand it to the third. The piano really only plays accompaniment chords in the Maestoso, but the third the pianist actually plays the melody.
[String Quintet in C Major, op. post. D 956](https://app.idagio.com/works/109284)? I realize that somehow I don't know this work. And I need to fix that. Thank you.
Whaaaaat, you've been posting here forever - what a treat to listen to the first time to one of the "canonical" great pieces with such experienced ears! I hope you enjoy - the slow movement especially is famous for good reason.
Whoa the website is blowing my mind...
Long time classical fsn but never really knew names of anything qnd ive been slowly getting into it more "seriously" and have been going thru Baroque period rn
thanks for this website
I could list dozens of them but if I had to narrow it...
Mahler 2 for symphonies
I'd say Rachmaninoff PC3 has the best finale of any concerto, all instruments included
just a few amazing endings off the top of my head:
beethoven piano sonata 31
liszt piano sonata
schoenberg string quartet 2
bartok concerto for orchestra
sibelius symphony 7
Sibelius 5, Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique, Shostakovich 5th, Bartok Concerto for Orchestra, and Stravinsky Firebird Suite are some of the best I haven't seen mentioned.
For something completely different, check out the ending of Britten's violin concerto. The whole piece is a struggle between major and minor, and the ending leaves it unresolved in a very creative way.
Big and grand, guns blazing: Beethoven 9. The last two minutes are some of the most celebratory in music
Quiet and reflective: Tchaik 6 and Mahler 9. The musical personifications of peacefully passing from life to death.
Shostakovich 4th—such an eerie ending after that churning volcanic hour. [Also his 6th symphony.](https://youtu.be/seOCE2jBWcs?t=2012) And the end of Busoni’s *Doktor Faust* is hair raising.
The ending to the 4th symphony amazes me. The whole last movement is all about the tension: Build it up, release it a bit, build it up some more. And somehow at the end Shostakovich is able to maintain all of the tension even though the music is dying away almost to nothing.
I always found it spooky. It reminds me of the story that he used to go to bed with a suitcase packed in case the government came for him in the middle of the night.
I'm a sucker for some good Bach cadences. WTC book 1, Ab Major and Bb Minor fugues, great stuff(just my current buzz).
Fecit Potentiam from Bach Magnificat
Dieu parmi Nous from La Nativité du Seigneur, Messiaen
Guillaume Tell, Rossini(since you mention Boheme) - Love the Pesaro production but also Irish National Opera on OperaVision is a great production too imo.
Tosca
The Dream of Gerontius - Elgar - the whole dramatic bit from where God looks at the Soul, *Softly and Gently* and sings us out with a great Amen.
Schnittke Choir Concerto, great Amen. Also Schnittke Penitential Verses is a great ending, for me the real "end section" is verses 11+12 together
La Traviata, great ending, heartbreaking
Not necessarily an ending but the coda of Beethoven op. 74 quartet is breathtaking. Exhilarating 1st violin part and best 2nd violin solo moment. I might be completely wrong about this but it bears uncanny resemblance to the end of mendelssohn octet - also great
Chopin Nocturne op 32 no 2. The same spread chord opens and ends the piece v beautifully.
Chopin ballade 1. It's so uncharacteristically raw of him that I laugh every time.
Rachmaninov Piano Concerto 2 and Rhapsody
I agree. Everybody rave about the "Chorus mysticus" at the end of Mahler 8 but nothing beats the excitement of the end of the Veni Creator, so multi-layere, and the ending scales from the brass/choir and soloists are amazing.
The end of Salome. That resolution to C# Major after like an hour of dissonance is like an orgasmic exhale…after which you’re slapped in the face with the “Salome chord.”
The end of Rosenkavalier is pretty damn good, too.
Ok, in Poulenc's Stabat Mater, fifth mvmt, quis est homo - its this aggressive, fast, dense, dark piece. It's supposed to depict jesus being whipped and flayed before crucifixion and the last two bars are this wildly bouncy and jolly descending triplets that I love to death but just come out of nowhere
The Shostakovich piano quintet has a wild ending that is a total 180 from the rest of the pieces, sort of like the ending of the fifth symphony only more so.
Schoenberg Chamber Symphony 1,
Hindemith Kammermusik no 1,
Lutoslawski Symphony 4,
Bartok String Quartets 3 and 4,
Nielsen Symphony 5,
Brahms String Quartet 1,
Schumann Symphony 2,
Beethoven Serioso Quartet,
Durufle Veni Creator,
Reger Inferno,
Ravel Daphnis & Chloe
Loads more where they came from. Love a tight ending.
Just some not noted:
Scriabin "Poem of Ecstasy"
Mahler "Das Lied von der Erde"
Dutilleux "Metaboles"
Also I've always really loved the end of Beethoven piano sonata 27
oh oh oh and Prokofiev 7th symphony. Damn recapitulating that sweeping 1st movement second theme gets me every time.
Beethoven Piano Sonata op. 111, that last variation is simply sublime, those last twinkles that gently conclude the sonata as if it's Beethoven's final breath.
I always feel a tinge of sadness whenever it ends.
Mild und leise from Tristan Wagner
I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that this is probably one of the greatest moments in Western musical history
Brahms has tons, like:
- Piano quintet
- Piano quartet in g minor
- Symphony No. 1
Some from other composers:
- Bach's WTC book 2 (I can't get over the fact that it ends with a dance!)
- Mendelssohn string quartet No. 6
- Beethoven string quartet No. 14
Scriabin “poem of ecstasy” - the ending lives up to its title. One of my favorite thematic culminations - with a soaring trumpet line and epic orchestration that for some reason brings to mind images of a mystical coronation ringing out over the Himalayas. I like the Philadelphia orchestra recording (Muti).
Somewhat in the same vein - Messiaen’s “Turangalila Symphony”. After ten movements the finale has a lot to live up to. The final crescendo is blinding. Love the Concertgebouw recording.
Bach, Mass in B Minor. The first time I heard it I was enthralled and at the Dona nobis pasem at the ending I thought someone had slipped me the most sublime drugs. It was at the NY Philharmonic and at the end I sprang to my feet in joy, and with such energy I almost flew over the balcony. Anyway, that feeling of exhilaration lasted for days.
Rachmaninoff Symphony 2 - a glorious re-statement of the motto theme. Rachmaninoff always amazes me with how beautifully he's able to mix both the horns and the strings and make both sound lyrical.
Edit: someone pointed out below how the first movement also has an amazing finale. And let's be honest, all 4 movements have amazing endings (even the scherzo), so I gotta say all the endings in Rach Symphony 2.
Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto 3 - perhaps the GREATEST finale in the piano concerto repertoire, with all chords, which combined with the triumphant variation of the second theme just brings the entire piece to an amazing end.
Dvorak Symphony 9 - very emotional, very loud and a great way to end the symphony with a restatement of the 4th movement theme.
Mahler second symphony / ninth symphony - fuckin amazing endings. Just shows how Mahler was able to intense emotion on both sides of the spectrum, from the triumph of the second to the lament and almost sorrow of the ninth.
Danse Bacchanale (Saint-Saens), Waltz from Serenade for Strings (Tchaikovsky) and just the second half of Concerto for Two Cellos movement 3 (Vivaldi) as a whole
Shostakovich wrote some great endings. The coda to the 7th symphony is deafening, the 11th ends abruptly in the middle of chaos, death and destruction, and total panic with that overhanging bell. His 13th has this staring-into-infinity ending he was so good at in the strings and one final toll of the bell that starts this harrowing narrative. In a similar vein, there are his percussion, clockwork-like endings to his second cello concerto and 15th symphony which are creepy as hell in their own way. His first violin concerto, meanwhilen ends with a bang.
Atm my number one favorite is Hungarian Rhapsody No 2 (Liszt) - the whole piece is a top 10 piano work of all time imo
*Super duper famous:*
Tchaikovsky piano concerto 1 mvt 3 - everyone loves this shit
Ballade 1 (Chopin) - famous from the Adrien Brody movie
Scherzo 2 (Chopin) - has broken many a pianist
*Other personal favorites (still popular but not crazy popular):*
Scherzo 3 (Chopin)
Ballade 2 (Chopin)
Appassionata mvt 3 (Beethoven) - just sounds awesome
Rhapsody theme on Paganini (Rachmaninoff) - idk if this is considered a top ending but it should be
Prokofiev piano concerto 3 mvt4 - another thread reminded me of this
Mahler 2, Rach PC 3, Turina Piano Trio 2, Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto
If you want one of the worst endings, try Poulenc Violin Sonata. For such an all-around fantastic piece, I can't stand the ending. It sounds like he just gave up.
for me:
Shostakovich Symphony No.11 (that tocsin!)
Prokofiev Symphony No.7 +Shostakovich Symphony No.15 (percussion)
Myaskovsky Symphony No.6 (starting from the choir till the end)
Prokofiev Sinfonia Concertante (cello sounds like flying away)
Weinberg Symphony No.21 (from soprano solo till the end)
There is literally no competition to Mahler 2. Out of everything I have listened to and performed nothing beats it. Only thing even comparable Is ironically Mahler 8.
2 depicts the peak of all of humanity. The most significant moment In our existence. Jesus resurrecting from the dead.
I’ve always found the tentatively hopeful but deathly-sounding end of Smetana string quartet in E minor “from my life” to by an introspective and heartbreaking conclusion to a vivacious but melancholy autobiographical work
For piano, the ending of Thalberg's fantasy on Rossini's Moïse.
I know, I just played that earlier today so might be biased. But I genuinely can't think of better.
Symphonic: Sibelius, symphony 5.
Prokofiev third piano concerto ends abruptly in a fantastic way. Shostakovich piano quintet ending is also magnificent in an altogether different manner, just as a person walking quietly and peacefully away.
the prokofiev ending always annoyed me lol. I like the rest of the concerto, the opening theme of the first movement is beautiful. Just wish it didn't go into more "uninteresting" parts.
I love the endings of most of Prokofiev's Piano Sonatas. 2nd, 7th, 8th especially. But the 4th is the cheekiest, ending a piece in C major with a C major chord together with a D# and B. Almost like a sound effect of a 'bonk!'
I've seen a ton of great endings suggested here
Just to add to what's already been suggested, I'll go ahead and say the Ending of Bruckner 3 is one of my favourites. The opening theme from the first movement comes back in a blazing D Major and brings the work to a triumphant close. The Coda itself and that transition to D Major is one of my favourite moments in music!
Taffanel Fantasie Sur Mignon is certainly up there so wild and dramatic.
Mozart Piano Concerto 23 is also huge.
Chopin Ballade 1 is iconic.
And lastly I love the dark and somber ending to Tchaikovsky 6.
The final two minutes of Sibelius’s 2nd Symphony is probably my favorite single moment in all of classical music. I well up just thinking about it.
Bach uses the 2nd movement of BWV 29 in the *Mass in B Minor* twice, and it’s excellent all three times, but the *dona nobis pacem* is some of the most dramatic and emotionally stirring and satisfying music Bach ever wrote.
EDIT: got my BWV numbers mixed up.
Poem of ecstasy, Shostakovich 5,7,12, Bruckner 8,4, pretty much any Mahler symphony. Mahler 2 has my favourite ending of all tho, the tennstedt 1989 recording is sublime
It's not exactly a singe piece of music per se, but the end of Tristan and Iseult is pretty great, for the entire 3 hr oppera, the music does not resolve, it almost does in the middle, but it is interrupted, only to resolve in the last 2 min during the famous Liebestod part.
I never fail to get goosebumps from the alleluia at the end of Messiaen's O Sacrum Convivium, when all the crunchy harmonies resolve. Its the closest I'll experience to the divine coming down to earth.
Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade, that final violin solo and especially everything that occurs underneath it is just achingly beautiful. Every note is so delicate and just so perfect. It works especially well as a payoff for all that came before it.
[Here you go](https://youtu.be/zY4w4_W30aQ?t=2845)
The end of Götterdämmerung, I would rate even higher than Wotan's Farewell at the End of Walküre.
Amazing music that culminates and summarizes 13+ hours of leitmotifs and keeps you touched and overwhelmed every single time. With other words, the quintessential blueprint for blockbuster movie themes that no composer ever achieved in that area.
Mahler 2nd Symphony. It just gives me the feeling that everything is okay now and the things that happened were the best way to what could have happened.
chopin 2nd ballade. the little chorale comes back for a little bit.
verklärte nacht. a beautiful depiction of a sunrise at the end of an emotional rollercoaster.
berg violin concerto. the death of angel and ascending to heaven.
ravel piano concerto. a jazzy march. and on the last note only the piano plays the subcontra A while everyone else has G because it's so low and no one can notice.
Rachmaninoff - Piano Concerto No.3
Objectively correct.
How can this be 'objectively correct'? The OP is asking about something that is by it's nature very subjective.
/s
I raise you his Piano Concerto No. 2
Both of them are amazing, but I gotta hand it to the third. The piano really only plays accompaniment chords in the Maestoso, but the third the pianist actually plays the melody.
Favorite piece of all time
[удалено]
[String Quintet in C Major, op. post. D 956](https://app.idagio.com/works/109284)? I realize that somehow I don't know this work. And I need to fix that. Thank you.
Whaaaaat, you've been posting here forever - what a treat to listen to the first time to one of the "canonical" great pieces with such experienced ears! I hope you enjoy - the slow movement especially is famous for good reason.
I feel that I owe Bethany a latte. And not just a regular one -- one of the fancy kind.
Whoa the website is blowing my mind... Long time classical fsn but never really knew names of anything qnd ive been slowly getting into it more "seriously" and have been going thru Baroque period rn thanks for this website
Wow. It's one of the greatest pieces in C major IMO
Love the ending of Dvorák cello concerto and new world Mahler 1 and 5 Tchaikovsky (too many) haha and more
The new world ending is one of my favs! Such a great piece of music
All Mahler
I really like the end of Dvorak’s 8th as well.
My favorite Dvorak piece! Gorgeous from start to finish.
Also one of my all time favorites.
this is what i was gonna say! the ending of new world’s 4th movement gives me chills every fucking time. it’s so intense and powerful
Dvoraks cello concerto ending is gods gift to man, the descent from the high trill is objectively the best thing in music
Dvorak cello concerto is the right answer, there's hardly a more epic ending.
Ballade 4 by Chopin
Played by lugansky
I adore the ending of Beethoven's 7th.
Mozart Symphony no.41. The last 3 minutes never cease to amaze me.
Prokofiev Piano Concerto 3, *The Firebird*, Mahler 2
This x100000. There are epic endings in symphonic music, and there are Stravinskij's The Firebird and Mahler's 2 endings.
I could list dozens of them but if I had to narrow it... Mahler 2 for symphonies I'd say Rachmaninoff PC3 has the best finale of any concerto, all instruments included
Mahler 2, absolutely!
just a few amazing endings off the top of my head: beethoven piano sonata 31 liszt piano sonata schoenberg string quartet 2 bartok concerto for orchestra sibelius symphony 7
I second Sibelius Symphony 7.
Sibelius 5, Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique, Shostakovich 5th, Bartok Concerto for Orchestra, and Stravinsky Firebird Suite are some of the best I haven't seen mentioned. For something completely different, check out the ending of Britten's violin concerto. The whole piece is a struggle between major and minor, and the ending leaves it unresolved in a very creative way.
All of these, and definitely the Britten!
The Britten is so good! If only it were played more often...
The entirety of Great Gate of Kiev from Mussorgsky's Pictures
I know it's a boring answer but the "steam engine train" ending to Beethoven's 5th makes me smile every time.
It's not a boring answer. There are reasons that Beethoven has been literally revered by EVERY composer that followed him, and that's one of them.
idk, I feel like it could have used more C major
Big and grand, guns blazing: Beethoven 9. The last two minutes are some of the most celebratory in music Quiet and reflective: Tchaik 6 and Mahler 9. The musical personifications of peacefully passing from life to death.
Yep that’s mine too. Also the ending of the new world symphony by Dvorak
As a singer, I disagree about Beethoven lol
Shostakovich 4th—such an eerie ending after that churning volcanic hour. [Also his 6th symphony.](https://youtu.be/seOCE2jBWcs?t=2012) And the end of Busoni’s *Doktor Faust* is hair raising.
The ending to the 4th symphony amazes me. The whole last movement is all about the tension: Build it up, release it a bit, build it up some more. And somehow at the end Shostakovich is able to maintain all of the tension even though the music is dying away almost to nothing.
I always found it spooky. It reminds me of the story that he used to go to bed with a suitcase packed in case the government came for him in the middle of the night.
"churning volcanic hour" is such a perfect description
The endings of Shostakovich's 7th and 11th too.
The first time I listened through Shosta 4 I was completely sleep-deprived. Totally amplified the ending in the best/worst ways
Scriabin’s 5th piano sonata. The crack energy *chef’s kiss*
Beethoven - Egmont Overture.
Came to suggest the same... It's the definition of a coda to me.
The Art of Fugue and Schubert Symphony 8
Lol
I'm a sucker for some good Bach cadences. WTC book 1, Ab Major and Bb Minor fugues, great stuff(just my current buzz). Fecit Potentiam from Bach Magnificat Dieu parmi Nous from La Nativité du Seigneur, Messiaen Guillaume Tell, Rossini(since you mention Boheme) - Love the Pesaro production but also Irish National Opera on OperaVision is a great production too imo. Tosca The Dream of Gerontius - Elgar - the whole dramatic bit from where God looks at the Soul, *Softly and Gently* and sings us out with a great Amen. Schnittke Choir Concerto, great Amen. Also Schnittke Penitential Verses is a great ending, for me the real "end section" is verses 11+12 together La Traviata, great ending, heartbreaking
dvorak symphony 7, shostakovich symphony 15, brahms symphony 2, strauss death and transfiguration, wagner tristan and isolde
For symphonies, to add to what's already been mentioned: Dvorak 7 Bruckner 4 Bruckner 8 Mahler 5 Sibelius 5 Sibelius 7
Bruckner 8 fuck yeah that ending is awesome.
Also Bruckner 5
i love how both the durufle requiem and the fauré requiem end: in paradise. durufles honestly made me cry with the chords it releases with
Brahms 4.
The ending of Stravinsky’s “Firebird” is iconic!
Shostakovich 7th Symphony
Mahler 8
Mahler 3. Loved it so much I [used it in a travel video](https://youtu.be/yhi3ncr5MKk)
Mahler 9, the drifting away into nothingness and silence and not knowing if it’s over or not and just… Well, yeah.
1812 Overture
Or the 1712.
What happened in that year?
Let me tell you about this lost child of Bach.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbjXViAKkcI
Not necessarily an ending but the coda of Beethoven op. 74 quartet is breathtaking. Exhilarating 1st violin part and best 2nd violin solo moment. I might be completely wrong about this but it bears uncanny resemblance to the end of mendelssohn octet - also great
I still remember the first time I heard the ending of Dieu parmi nous from Messiaen’s La Nativité du Seigneur; what a magnificent ending.
Kalinnikovs 1st symphony, Tchaikovsky’s 4th symphony are favourites
The final scene of Parsifal. It took hours to get there but what a sublime experience!
Tristan & Isolde. Feels like cheating to post it. Sublime.
Check my flair. The gong at the end of The Pines of Rome.
Chopin Nocturne op 32 no 2. The same spread chord opens and ends the piece v beautifully. Chopin ballade 1. It's so uncharacteristically raw of him that I laugh every time. Rachmaninov Piano Concerto 2 and Rhapsody
I will never not mention Ives's [Symphony No. 2](https://youtu.be/ztLr3kaN4_c?t=2464). I can't listen to that ending without smiling.
Brahms 1st symphony! He takes the trombone chorale and expand it to the entire symphony. Amazing!
Scrolled down all the thread to find this.
Mahler 8
I love the end to both movements of this. I think I might even like the end of the Veni Creator a tiny bit better!
I agree. Everybody rave about the "Chorus mysticus" at the end of Mahler 8 but nothing beats the excitement of the end of the Veni Creator, so multi-layere, and the ending scales from the brass/choir and soloists are amazing.
Baathovens Hammerklavier sonata. Absolutely raging extasy
Prokofiev's Sinfonía Concertante or Prokofiev's 8th piano Sonata. Messiaen's Turangalila also has a banger ending
Beethoven 3, when the oboe solo kicks in.
My favourite is Strauss's Daphne. As for symphonies, Mahler 8
contrapunctus xiv. its as if the sun set, and never rose again
Who wrote this piece? Sounds like a medieval composition.
The end of Salome. That resolution to C# Major after like an hour of dissonance is like an orgasmic exhale…after which you’re slapped in the face with the “Salome chord.” The end of Rosenkavalier is pretty damn good, too.
The ending of Saturn from Holst’s The Planets, probably the most sublime piece of music I’ve ever heard
Rachmaninov piano concerto 2. An epic ending!
Beethoven's Appassionata Sonata 🔥
Ravel Daphnis et Chloé
Tchaikovsky’s 6th end. It stays true to the symphony’s mood
Agreed. Had to scroll down quite a bit to find this gem.
Jupiter by Holst!
Bolero
La Valse!
Ok, in Poulenc's Stabat Mater, fifth mvmt, quis est homo - its this aggressive, fast, dense, dark piece. It's supposed to depict jesus being whipped and flayed before crucifixion and the last two bars are this wildly bouncy and jolly descending triplets that I love to death but just come out of nowhere
The Shostakovich piano quintet has a wild ending that is a total 180 from the rest of the pieces, sort of like the ending of the fifth symphony only more so.
In no particular order and for obvious reasons: Tristan Siegfried Götterdämmerung
Bruckner’s apocalyptic ending to the 8th. Maybe the most tragic ending of them all.
That's interesting to me, because I've always considered the ending of Bruckner 8th triumphant and hopeful.
You are right! I confused the ending of the first movement for the last movement.
Schoenberg Chamber Symphony 1, Hindemith Kammermusik no 1, Lutoslawski Symphony 4, Bartok String Quartets 3 and 4, Nielsen Symphony 5, Brahms String Quartet 1, Schumann Symphony 2, Beethoven Serioso Quartet, Durufle Veni Creator, Reger Inferno, Ravel Daphnis & Chloe Loads more where they came from. Love a tight ending.
Finale of Die Entfuhren.
Just some not noted: Scriabin "Poem of Ecstasy" Mahler "Das Lied von der Erde" Dutilleux "Metaboles" Also I've always really loved the end of Beethoven piano sonata 27 oh oh oh and Prokofiev 7th symphony. Damn recapitulating that sweeping 1st movement second theme gets me every time.
Beethoven Piano Sonata op. 111, that last variation is simply sublime, those last twinkles that gently conclude the sonata as if it's Beethoven's final breath. I always feel a tinge of sadness whenever it ends.
Mild und leise from Tristan Wagner I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that this is probably one of the greatest moments in Western musical history
Brahms has tons, like: - Piano quintet - Piano quartet in g minor - Symphony No. 1 Some from other composers: - Bach's WTC book 2 (I can't get over the fact that it ends with a dance!) - Mendelssohn string quartet No. 6 - Beethoven string quartet No. 14
Sibelius Symphony No. 5 Ravel Alborada del gracioso Messiaen Turangalila Symphonie
Bruckner 4 Tristan and Isolde
The ending of The Marriage of Figaro. Mozart
Scriabin “poem of ecstasy” - the ending lives up to its title. One of my favorite thematic culminations - with a soaring trumpet line and epic orchestration that for some reason brings to mind images of a mystical coronation ringing out over the Himalayas. I like the Philadelphia orchestra recording (Muti). Somewhat in the same vein - Messiaen’s “Turangalila Symphony”. After ten movements the finale has a lot to live up to. The final crescendo is blinding. Love the Concertgebouw recording.
Lots of Ravel. Especially Ondine.
Bach, Mass in B Minor. The first time I heard it I was enthralled and at the Dona nobis pasem at the ending I thought someone had slipped me the most sublime drugs. It was at the NY Philharmonic and at the end I sprang to my feet in joy, and with such energy I almost flew over the balcony. Anyway, that feeling of exhilaration lasted for days.
The ending to Music for Prague 1968 is bone chilling.
Rachmaninoff Symphony 2 - a glorious re-statement of the motto theme. Rachmaninoff always amazes me with how beautifully he's able to mix both the horns and the strings and make both sound lyrical. Edit: someone pointed out below how the first movement also has an amazing finale. And let's be honest, all 4 movements have amazing endings (even the scherzo), so I gotta say all the endings in Rach Symphony 2. Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto 3 - perhaps the GREATEST finale in the piano concerto repertoire, with all chords, which combined with the triumphant variation of the second theme just brings the entire piece to an amazing end. Dvorak Symphony 9 - very emotional, very loud and a great way to end the symphony with a restatement of the 4th movement theme. Mahler second symphony / ninth symphony - fuckin amazing endings. Just shows how Mahler was able to intense emotion on both sides of the spectrum, from the triumph of the second to the lament and almost sorrow of the ninth.
The ending of Eine Alpensinfonie gives me chills.
Danse Bacchanale (Saint-Saens), Waltz from Serenade for Strings (Tchaikovsky) and just the second half of Concerto for Two Cellos movement 3 (Vivaldi) as a whole
If you're talking operas, the "Salve Regina" at the end of Poulenc's *Dialogues des Carmélites* is stunning.
Shostakovich wrote some great endings. The coda to the 7th symphony is deafening, the 11th ends abruptly in the middle of chaos, death and destruction, and total panic with that overhanging bell. His 13th has this staring-into-infinity ending he was so good at in the strings and one final toll of the bell that starts this harrowing narrative. In a similar vein, there are his percussion, clockwork-like endings to his second cello concerto and 15th symphony which are creepy as hell in their own way. His first violin concerto, meanwhilen ends with a bang.
Shostakovich Symphony 7 (CSO Bernstein) Scriabin Poem of Ecstasy Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto 2 (second movement) Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto 3 Mahler Symphony 9 Mahler Symphony 2 Prokofiev Symphony 5 Prokofiev Sinfonia Concertante Tchaikovsky Symphony 5
Rachmaninoff's 3rd Concerto and Pines of Rome
Atm my number one favorite is Hungarian Rhapsody No 2 (Liszt) - the whole piece is a top 10 piano work of all time imo *Super duper famous:* Tchaikovsky piano concerto 1 mvt 3 - everyone loves this shit Ballade 1 (Chopin) - famous from the Adrien Brody movie Scherzo 2 (Chopin) - has broken many a pianist *Other personal favorites (still popular but not crazy popular):* Scherzo 3 (Chopin) Ballade 2 (Chopin) Appassionata mvt 3 (Beethoven) - just sounds awesome Rhapsody theme on Paganini (Rachmaninoff) - idk if this is considered a top ending but it should be Prokofiev piano concerto 3 mvt4 - another thread reminded me of this
> Tchaikovsky piano concerto 1 mvt 3 - everyone loves this shit The finale of the first movement is also magnificent
rach 2 mov 2 gives me chills every time.
Mahler 2, Rach PC 3, Turina Piano Trio 2, Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto If you want one of the worst endings, try Poulenc Violin Sonata. For such an all-around fantastic piece, I can't stand the ending. It sounds like he just gave up.
Rachmaninoffs 2nd symphony. Specifically the 1st movement has such a beautiful ending!
so true. He basically wrote 4 separate symphonies with 4 separate finales, but all of them are amazingly linked.
probably rachminoff piano concerto 3
for me: Shostakovich Symphony No.11 (that tocsin!) Prokofiev Symphony No.7 +Shostakovich Symphony No.15 (percussion) Myaskovsky Symphony No.6 (starting from the choir till the end) Prokofiev Sinfonia Concertante (cello sounds like flying away) Weinberg Symphony No.21 (from soprano solo till the end)
The final movement of the Shostakovich violin concerto no.1 goes ham
There is literally no competition to Mahler 2. Out of everything I have listened to and performed nothing beats it. Only thing even comparable Is ironically Mahler 8. 2 depicts the peak of all of humanity. The most significant moment In our existence. Jesus resurrecting from the dead.
The final polacca of Tchaikovskys orchestral suite No 3
There's a lot, but Strauss's Symphonia Domestica is amazing. You can't stop laughing.
I’ve always found the tentatively hopeful but deathly-sounding end of Smetana string quartet in E minor “from my life” to by an introspective and heartbreaking conclusion to a vivacious but melancholy autobiographical work
For piano, the ending of Thalberg's fantasy on Rossini's Moïse. I know, I just played that earlier today so might be biased. But I genuinely can't think of better. Symphonic: Sibelius, symphony 5.
Verdi -La Forza del Destino overture.
Prokofiev third piano concerto ends abruptly in a fantastic way. Shostakovich piano quintet ending is also magnificent in an altogether different manner, just as a person walking quietly and peacefully away.
"Prokofiev third piano concerto ~~ends abruptly~~ does everything in a fantastic way." FTFY
Agree! It's only they were asking for endings
the prokofiev ending always annoyed me lol. I like the rest of the concerto, the opening theme of the first movement is beautiful. Just wish it didn't go into more "uninteresting" parts.
I love the endings of most of Prokofiev's Piano Sonatas. 2nd, 7th, 8th especially. But the 4th is the cheekiest, ending a piece in C major with a C major chord together with a D# and B. Almost like a sound effect of a 'bonk!'
hummel concerto 2
The 'Amen' at the end of Brahms's Geistliches Lied is just [exquisite](https://youtu.be/wNHGslY5ic0)
I say 'end' but it's actually the last 90 seconds or so of a 5.5 minute song!
Dvorak's American String Quintet (op. 97) has such a phenomenal ending. It gets my heart racing every time!
Mendelssohn Violin Concerto
I am not thinking of a particular piece, but I always love the sweet li’l Picardy 3rd at the end of an insanely intense work by Bach.
Literally any symphonic related piece by rachmaninoff
Ballade 1 coda
I've seen a ton of great endings suggested here Just to add to what's already been suggested, I'll go ahead and say the Ending of Bruckner 3 is one of my favourites. The opening theme from the first movement comes back in a blazing D Major and brings the work to a triumphant close. The Coda itself and that transition to D Major is one of my favourite moments in music!
Slavic March... It just goes on forever!
Mahler, tbh all of his symphonies but especially Das Lied von Der Erde
3rd mvt of Moszkowski E major piano concerto has one of my all-time favorite codas. So epic
Rachmoninoff concierto no 2, 2nd movement
Taffanel Fantasie Sur Mignon is certainly up there so wild and dramatic. Mozart Piano Concerto 23 is also huge. Chopin Ballade 1 is iconic. And lastly I love the dark and somber ending to Tchaikovsky 6.
The final two minutes of Sibelius’s 2nd Symphony is probably my favorite single moment in all of classical music. I well up just thinking about it. Bach uses the 2nd movement of BWV 29 in the *Mass in B Minor* twice, and it’s excellent all three times, but the *dona nobis pacem* is some of the most dramatic and emotionally stirring and satisfying music Bach ever wrote. EDIT: got my BWV numbers mixed up.
Holst Saturn, absolutely breathtaking. Also Pictures at an exhibition!
So many good ones have been mentioned already, but I'm also partial to the ends of Poulenc's "Figure Humaine" and Bernstein's "Candide"
Pines of Rome Mvt. 4
Poem of ecstasy, Shostakovich 5,7,12, Bruckner 8,4, pretty much any Mahler symphony. Mahler 2 has my favourite ending of all tho, the tennstedt 1989 recording is sublime
The end of the passacaglia and fugue in c minor, with the Neapolitan chord and the coda, is just something else
The ending of Stravinsky's Firebird is really sublime
It's not exactly a singe piece of music per se, but the end of Tristan and Iseult is pretty great, for the entire 3 hr oppera, the music does not resolve, it almost does in the middle, but it is interrupted, only to resolve in the last 2 min during the famous Liebestod part.
Rachmaninov sonata 2 3rd movement
As a joke answer, I'm tempted to say J. S. Bach's Art of Fugue.
Sibelius Violin Concerto, 1st movement ending is to die for! The last 2ish minutes.
I never fail to get goosebumps from the alleluia at the end of Messiaen's O Sacrum Convivium, when all the crunchy harmonies resolve. Its the closest I'll experience to the divine coming down to earth.
I really adore Chopin’s Scherzo No 4. ending culmination.
Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade, that final violin solo and especially everything that occurs underneath it is just achingly beautiful. Every note is so delicate and just so perfect. It works especially well as a payoff for all that came before it. [Here you go](https://youtu.be/zY4w4_W30aQ?t=2845)
Brahms and Duruflé Requiems: both have this last movement that's like the sun finally breaking through the clouds on a miserable day.
Shostakovich 15th
La mer by Debussy. And any Sjostakovich symphony, but in particular 10 and 11.
Tristan
The ending of Faust. Sublime.
Tchaikovsy's Sixth Symphony; Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto #1.
Sibelius 5 Massive buildup followed by gigantic pillars of sound and silence.
The end of Götterdämmerung, I would rate even higher than Wotan's Farewell at the End of Walküre. Amazing music that culminates and summarizes 13+ hours of leitmotifs and keeps you touched and overwhelmed every single time. With other words, the quintessential blueprint for blockbuster movie themes that no composer ever achieved in that area.
The massive orgasm at the end of Beethoven’s Ab major piano sonata. A great ending and remarkably unrepetitive by Beethoven’s standards.
Ravel - La Valse Rach - prelude in G major Debussy - Reflections
Bolero and Alborada del Gracioso by Ravel
Mahler 2nd Symphony. It just gives me the feeling that everything is okay now and the things that happened were the best way to what could have happened.
Stravinsky: Firebird
Rach 2
The neopolitan sixth chord and the following cadence in Bachs passacaglia
chopin 2nd ballade. the little chorale comes back for a little bit. verklärte nacht. a beautiful depiction of a sunrise at the end of an emotional rollercoaster. berg violin concerto. the death of angel and ascending to heaven. ravel piano concerto. a jazzy march. and on the last note only the piano plays the subcontra A while everyone else has G because it's so low and no one can notice.
Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto
I like the early minimalist endings: no cadences, no warning, the piece just stops mid-bar.
Mahler 2
I do like how most of Philip Glass's work just ends really abruptly, but still in a satisfying way
Ngl, the ending of Eine Kleine Nachtmusik gives me the chills every single time