Honestly his later works were so much better than his earlier ones too. The 41st symphony contains what is probably in the top 5 greatest post-Bach fugues, and it’s definitely the best post-Bach fugue that was around at the time. The clarinet concerto is easily one of the best works for that instrument (I say this as a clarinetist), and it’s also among Mozart’s greatest concerti for any instrument. And the brilliance of the Requiem he was ironically writing at the time of his death speaks for itself.
If he had lived longer, we might have been saying that Mozart, not Beethoven, ushered in the next era of music. Sadly we’ll never know.
The next obvious one that comes to mind is Die Große Fuge. This video has a bunch of examples of fugues in Beethoven Symphonies, though IMO none of them are among the strongest like Die Große Fuge is. That said, this guy disagrees with me and claims the fugue in Beethoven’s 9th Symphony’s final movement is the best Beethoven. He also says that of the Romantic and post-Romantic eras, Mahler’s 8th Symphony, 1st movement, is his favourite. I’d have gone with the Bruckner he references, which is probably from the finale of the 5th Symphony, but I’m not the biggest Mahler fan in general.
Honestly his later works were so much better than his earlier ones too. The 41st symphony contains what is probably in the top 5 greatest post-Bach fugues, and it’s definitely the best post-Bach fugue that was around at the time. The clarinet concerto is easily one of the best works for that instrument (I say this as a clarinetist), and it’s also among Mozart’s greatest concerti for any instrument. And the brilliance of the Requiem he was ironically writing at the time of his death speaks for itself.
If he had lived longer, we might have been saying that Mozart, not Beethoven, ushered in the next era of music. Sadly we’ll never know.
Yeah but he drank himself to death by writing Requiem
What are the other greatest post-Bach fugues? Including the modern era; I love fugues as a form but don’t have a theory or composition background
The next obvious one that comes to mind is Die Große Fuge. This video has a bunch of examples of fugues in Beethoven Symphonies, though IMO none of them are among the strongest like Die Große Fuge is. That said, this guy disagrees with me and claims the fugue in Beethoven’s 9th Symphony’s final movement is the best Beethoven. He also says that of the Romantic and post-Romantic eras, Mahler’s 8th Symphony, 1st movement, is his favourite. I’d have gone with the Bruckner he references, which is probably from the finale of the 5th Symphony, but I’m not the biggest Mahler fan in general.
Thanks! I’ll check these out.
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