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Tom Service explores how pieces of music end, asking what endings mean. Are they mere framing devices or do they suggest triumph or death? Plus fading-out in pop music.

Tom Service looks at how pieces of music end, and asks what endings mean. Are they mere framing devices, or can they suggest weightier thoughts of triumph, or conversely, of death? And what of the fading away so prevalent in pop music? From Beethoven's insistent affirmations to Tchaikovsky's bleak despair, from Haydn's witty farewells to Human League's intimations of eternity, the ways that music ends are as various as music itself.

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29 minutes

Last on

Fri 31 Dec 2021 16:30
ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 3

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  • Tom Service salutes memorable finales – from Beethoven to The Human League.

Music Played

  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Symphony No. 41 in C major, K. 551 "Jupiter" - finale

    Orchestra: Berliner Philharmoniker. Conductor: Sir Simon Rattle.

  • Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

    Symphony No 4 in F minor, Op 36 (4th mvt)

    Orchestra: Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Mariss Jansons.
    • Tchaikovsky: Symphonies 1, 2, 3 & 4: Oslo PO, Mariss Jansons.
    • Chandos.
    • 4.

  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Gloria (Mass in B minor)

    Ensemble: Dunedin Consort. Director: John Butt.
    • J. S. Bach, Mass in B minor: Dunedin Consort and Players.
    • Linn.
    • 4.

  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Symphony No 8 in F major, Op 93 (4th mvt)

    Orchestra: Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: JosΓ© Serebrier.
    • Symphony no.8 - Beethoven & Dvorak.
    • TRAX CLASSIQUE.
    • 8.

  • Edward Elgar

    Cello Concerto in E minor, Op 85 (4th mvt)

    Performer: Jacqueline du PrΓ©. Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: John Barbirolli.
    • EMI.

  • Johannes Brahms

    Symphony No 2 in D major, Op 73 (4th mvt)

    Orchestra: Los Angeles Philharmonic. Conductor: Carlo Maria Giulini.
    • Giulini in America: Los Angeles Philharmonic/Giulini.
    • Deutsche Grammaphon.
    • 4.

  • John Adams

    Grand Pianola Music

    Performer: London Sinfonietta. Performer: John Adams.
    • Elektra nonesuch.

  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, op. 67

    Performer: Concentus Musicus Wien. Performer: Nikolaus Harnoncourt.
    • Beethoven Symphonies 4 & 5.
    • Sony.

  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor, op. 13 'Pathetique'; Grave

    Performer: Maurizio Pollini.
    • Deutsche Grammophon.

  • Dudley Moore

    Fantasy on Colonel Bogey

    Performer: Dudley Moore.
    • British Comedy Classics.
    • EMI.

  • Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

    Symphony No. 6 op. 74 Pathetique

    Performer: Russian National Orchestra. Performer: Mikhail Pletnev.
    • Virgin Classics.

  • Joseph Haydn

    Symphony No 45 in F sharp minor, 'Farewell' (4th mvt)

    Orchestra: Academy of Ancient Music. Conductor: Christopher Hogwood.

    4437772

    • L'Oiseau-Lyre.

  • Jean Sibelius

    Symphony No 5 in E flat major, Op 82 (3rd mvt)

    Orchestra: Berliner Philharmoniker. Conductor: Herbert von Karajan.
    • DG.

  • Jean Sibelius

    Symphony No 6 in D minor, Op 104

    Orchestra: ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Philharmonic. Conductor: John StorgΓ₯rds.
    • Chandos.

  • Giorgio Moroder & Philip Oakey

    Together In Electric Dreams

    • Together in Electric Dreams.
    • Virgin Records.

  • Bull of Heaven

    022: Man-Lizards, Masters of Venus

    Performer: Bull of Heaven.
    • https://archive.org/details/022--Man-lizardsMastersOfVenus.

  • Luciano Berio

    Sinfonia; O King

    Performer: Electric Phoenix. Performer: Orchestre de Paris – Philharmonie. Performer: Semyon Bychkov.
    • Philips.

  • Harrison Birtwistle

    Carmen Arcadiae Mechanicae perpetuum

    Performer: London Sinfonietta. Performer: Elgar Howarth.
    • Harrison Birtwistle - Secret Theatre.
    • NMC.

  • Mauricio Kagel

    Finale

    Performer: Ensemble Modern. Performer: Mauricio Kagel.
    • Mauricio Kagel 3.
    • Disques Montaigne.

Broadcasts

  • Sun 7 May 2017 17:00
    ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 3
  • Sun 12 May 2019 17:00
    ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 3
  • Fri 17 May 2019 16:30
    ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 3
  • Fri 31 Dec 2021 16:30
    ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 3

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