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For my money, the best ending of any piece of music is Wagner's Tristan und Isolde. The final resolution to the B-Major chord is almost transcendental, in a sense. Some of my other favorite endings (not necessarily the best) are: Scriabin - Prometheus (The final F-sharp Major chord acts in a similia...

Doubt this counts (seeing as their not gunshots), but in Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmelites, 14 guillotine drops are notated in the score.

Would anyone like to share their favorite quotes said by composers or critics about music? My personal favorites are: Olivier Messiaen (on talking of his choice to leave St. Francis's sins out of his opera) - "Sin isn't interesting, dirt isn't interesting. I prefer flowers." Richard Wagner...

That's great that you do that Mr. Martin. Barenboim is a very good Wagner interpreter. I think his Tristan is one of the best (his recording with Meier is amazing). Of course, like every other Wagner enthusiast, Solti's recording is my favorite. The tempos are perfect, the sound quality very good (n...

Ravel's depiction of daybreak in Daphnis et Chloe is one of the most brilliantly orchestrated pieces of music ever written.

Well, I've always thought Wagner's music as the most consistently perfect music out there. Every instrument in the Ring is used as it should be, the libretto is perfectly worded, allowing you to peer into the deepest parts of every character's soul, the vocal parts are interesting and beautiful, and...

Stravinsky's "Requiem Canticles", Michael Gielen conducting (much better than Craft's version).

A wonderful but very under-performed work of his.

Bruckner's harmonies were extremely modern, even compared to some of Wagner's works. This makes him extremely important in the development of 20th Century music. His idea of turning a theme upside-down was way ahead of its time, as well. I can see why Bruckner has detractors, though. More than once ...

Arnold Schoenberg (by some, not all)
Carl Orff
Charles Ives
Alexander von Zemlinsky
Erich Wolfgang Korngold
Frank Bridge

Since we're all doing this now (I forgot to mention that none of mine are in order): 6. Prokofiev - Lieutenant Kije Suite 7. Prokofiev - Cantata from Alexander Nevsky 8. Berg - Wozzeck 9. Schoenberg - Moses und Aron 10. Stravinsky - The Flood 11. Stravinsky - Agon 12. Stravisnky - Symphony of Psalms...

Thanks for the prelude. A very interesting piece of music indeed! Does anyone have the full scores of Braunfels' Die Vogel and Zemlinsky's Florentine Tragedy and Der Zwerg?

I played a nice arrangement of Wagner's Good Friday Music from Parsifal transcribed by Dan Godfrey in my school's concert band (Interlochen). pretty neat stuff... The Karfreitag Musik, in my opinion, is perhaps the most beautiful piece of music ever written, especially when the oboe first intones t...

My favorites, at least right now (you'll notice I like opera):
1. Wagner - Der Ring des Nibelungen (I consider it one piece, but of the four, I'd say Das Rheingold is my favorite)
2. Wagner - Parsifal
3. Wagner - Tristan und Isolde
4. Berg - Lulu
5. Messiean - Saint Francois d'Assise

I think Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty would be a great choice.

Could Brahm's friend, Herr tickle88, be thinking of the finale of Mozart's 41st Symphony? The main theme is, of course, begins C D F E A A A.