#classical violin

The violin duet in “Der Spiegel” by Mozart, demonstrates rotational symmetry.

This unique duet, by Mozart, features the same musical line for both violinists, but each reads the score from their own direction, with Violin II playing the inverted retrograde of Violin I.

Basically, it’s played simultaneously by two violinists sitting across a table, one plays from the beginning to the end, and the other plays from the end to the beginning. It's also very fitting that the piece is called 'the mirror' in German.

So the notes played by the first player are the same as those played by the second, except rotated through 180 degrees

Source:

anyways i think she knows this and is trying to sabotage me

so cute but so fricking annoying

I've run into some "top ten" -style YouTube videos about classical music lately and felt inspired to compose a list somewhat in this vein. These are passages in classical works that get "big and dramatic" in a way I really, really enjoy. I chose these among some pieces I've accumulated over the years as favorites of mine (I've played in many of them, at least as a violinist in the orchestra), and so the list is biased towards the forms of classical music I've been most exposed to, which are heavily skewed towards works centered on the violin or piano. In particular, I have very little knowledge of opera and so didn't consider that, even though there's a special kind of drama and grandiosity that comes with most opera.

I feel a little regret at the idea of "spoiling" the most exciting moments of certain great works for those who might not be familiar with them, and in fact most of these feel more deeply moving in the context of the whole piece. But on the other hand, maybe someone who didn't know about a particular piece will get interested in it from hearing one of its most powerful moments (this is essentially what happened to me in the past few weeks with #2 below).

Honorable mention for solo pieces, the first two of which I played: penultimate and final variation in Bach's partita no. 2, Chaconne, every single entrance of the initial theme of Beethoven's "Pathetique Sonata" first movement, and ending sequence of Chopin's Ballade no. 1, Op. 23 (8:11-9:37 in video) 10) climax of "Jupiter" from Holst's The Planets (7:25-8:01 in video): at the time I first learned it in the youth orchestra, it was the most overwhelming moment in orchestral music I knew both in terms of technical requirements and emotions, so it holds a special place for me although now it feels dwarfed next to these others 9) middle of Sibelius' violin concerto, first movement (11:53 to 13:03 in video): I'm not sure how many would find this passage as memorable as I do, but it makes the entire concerto for me 8) middle of Shostakovich's Symphony no. 5, first movement (10:28-12:48 in video): some moments where everything is happening all at once before falling into place in a unified a powerful statement; Shostakovich tends to leave me a bit cold so I can't feel much emotion for this one but I feel a hot heaviness and I respect the hell out of it 7) cadenza (ossia version) of Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto no. 3, first movement (11:07-14:07 in video), first movement: in which the primary theme manifests in full force from the soloist and reaches a new climax 6) climax of Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings (5:12-6:30 in video): this one just speaks for itself; when I played this in orchestra, I debated with my friend whether lower tones should have been added at this climax as in some choral adaptations, and my position is still firmly that it is most powerful when left to shrill tones only 5) beginning (29:59-32:27 of video, begun a few lines before the start for contrasting effect) and ending (37:49-38:49 in video) of Saint Saëns' Organ Symphony, fourth movement (I couldn't decide which so cheated and chose both): the entrance of the organ at the beginning is actually quite shocking in context; the ending is an absolutely epic group effort of massive sound from an enhanced orchestra, and by the way I think it goes into 3/1 time signature by the end or something? 4) middle of Bruch's violin concerto, 2nd movement (14:40-15:47 in video), a cathartic peak that I find deeply moving, both to listen to and to play 3) main part of cadenza of Grieg's piano concerto, 1st movement (10:40-12:42 in video): possibly my favorite passage of classical music ever (but I will put two others above it specifically in terms of overwhelming/glorious climax), I don't really have the words to describe this 2) final passages of the (very long) cadenza followed by orchestra re-entrance in Prokofiev's piano concerto no. 2, first movement (8:17-10:17 in video): this is the only piece on this list that I've only just discovered in the last few weeks; the cadenza is so intense and technically extreme that no human with only two hands should be able to play it, and the orchestra roaring back in as the cadenza ends is one of the most dramatic things I've ever heard 1) climax of Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade symphonic suite, fourth movement (44:29-47:19 in video), after the later stages of a very long buildup (the human voice roaring thing is something I've only heard from this particular rendition), the theme that distinguished the first movement appears in overwhelmingly grand, dramatic fashion (listen for all the counterpoints and pirouettes from different parts of the woodwinds!) that I find energetically satisfying in a way that tops the rest of these