# Another "identify this music for me" thread--classical this time **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 4, 2014, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-identify-this-music-for-me-thread-classical-this-time/694830 "2014-08-04T23:59:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2014, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-identify-this-music-for-me-thread-classical-this-time/694830/1 "2014-08-04T23:59:55Z")
There’s a classical music piece I hear quite often but do not know what it is. I believe this piece is for a whole orchestra, but the part I’m thinking of is for the violin. It features what sounds like a rapid succession of 16th or 32nd notes followed by four quarter notes. I know it’s not technically a trill, but forgive me for not knowing violin terms (if one exists for this). The music goes something like this: D# (trill) - G# - D# - G# - D# C# (trill) - F#- C# - F# - C# B (trill) - E - B - E - B G# is the highest note in this sequence, and B is the lowest. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-identify-this-music-for-me-thread-classical-this-time/694830/2 "2014-08-05T11:36:40Z")
> [@Ponch8](#): > > I know it’s not technically a trill, but forgive me for not knowing violin terms (if one exists for this). It’s called a measured trill when there’s a trill with a specific division (usually represented as 16th or 32nd notes). Anyway, something like this? > **[Song? | Noteflight](https://www.noteflight.com/scores/view/a2487dae279ac7d7e35ff7d77d98cb0715b01945)** > > Noteflight online music notation software allows you to create, view, and share music with the Noteflight Community. You may also buy and sell music on Noteflight Marketplace. Sign up to get started! ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-identify-this-music-for-me-thread-classical-this-time/694830/3 "2014-08-05T12:57:53Z")
Yeah, sort of. The piece I have in mind doesn’t actually have trills, though - - it’s the same note being repeated, not alternating with the one above it. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-identify-this-music-for-me-thread-classical-this-time/694830/4 "2014-08-05T12:59:05Z")
> [@Ponch8](#): > > Yeah, sort of. The piece I have in mind doesn’t actually have trills, though - - it’s the same note being repeated, not alternating with the one above it. [Tremolo](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tremolo) Edit: I updated the sheet music. That better? ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-identify-this-music-for-me-thread-classical-this-time/694830/5 "2014-08-05T23:27:32Z")
Yeah, that’s the gist of it. The quarter notes should probably be eighth notes instead. ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2014, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-identify-this-music-for-me-thread-classical-this-time/694830/6 "2014-08-06T01:32:40Z")
First movement of “Winter” by Vivaldi? ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2014, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-identify-this-music-for-me-thread-classical-this-time/694830/7 "2014-08-06T01:35:39Z")
[Here’s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkP7slIc9aM) a recording of Vivaldi’s “Winter,” first movement. Don’t know if this is the music you were thinking of, **Ponch8** , but the part that starts at 1:13 in the video seems to sort of come close to matching your description. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2014, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-identify-this-music-for-me-thread-classical-this-time/694830/8 "2014-08-06T02:10:54Z")
_The Four Seasons_ must be in the running for the most widely used piece of classical music in pop culture. Perhaps in closest contention with _The Planets_. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2014, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-identify-this-music-for-me-thread-classical-this-time/694830/9 "2014-08-06T02:56:32Z")
\*Winter \*isn’t it, although it’s another one I hear quite often but have never identified before…thanks! For some reason I’m thinking the one I have in mind is by JS Bach, but I could be way off. I don’t think it’s from one of his Brandenburg Concertos. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2014, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-identify-this-music-for-me-thread-classical-this-time/694830/10 "2014-08-06T03:17:31Z")
> [@Ponch8](#): > > \*Winter \*isn’t it, Too bad–that’s the one your description made me think of. Are you sure it isn’t “Rio” by Duran Duran? ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2014, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-identify-this-music-for-me-thread-classical-this-time/694830/11 "2014-08-06T03:27:56Z")
Yeah, the way I described it fits \*Winter \*almost perfectly, but somehow that isn’t it. What’s the “Rio” joke I’m missing? I’ve seen that joke before on SDMB. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2014, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-identify-this-music-for-me-thread-classical-this-time/694830/12 "2014-08-06T03:36:57Z")
> [@Ponch8](#): > > What’s the “Rio” joke I’m missing? I’ve seen that joke before on SDMB. [AUGH, what is this 80’s song?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=296939) ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2014, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-identify-this-music-for-me-thread-classical-this-time/694830/13 "2014-08-06T04:22:55Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > _The Four Seasons_ must be in the running for the most widely used piece of classical music in pop culture. Perhaps in closest contention with _The Planets_. Surely O Fortuna from Orff’s Carmina Burana is in the running (for liberal definitions of “classical”). ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2014, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-identify-this-music-for-me-thread-classical-this-time/694830/14 "2014-08-06T05:21:45Z")
> [@Ponch8](#): > > I don’t think it’s from one of his Brandenburg Concertos. It’s definitely not from one of them. If it isn’t _Winter_, I don’t know what it could be. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2014, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-identify-this-music-for-me-thread-classical-this-time/694830/15 "2014-08-06T11:49:55Z")
Another vote for Winter – specifically, the voice-leading fortspinnung. I hope the OP is waiting until that section before deciding this isn’t it. If it really, truly isn’t this, I’m pretty sure we can at least narrow it down to some other voice-leading fortspinnung sequence from some Baroque concerto, quite likely Italian. If not Vivaldi, perhaps Corelli. ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2014, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-identify-this-music-for-me-thread-classical-this-time/694830/16 "2014-08-06T12:12:54Z")
Darn, it’s too bad the sequence is going lower rather than higher, because it reminds me a little of Rimsky-Korsakov’s _Scheherezade_ (although that’s pretty tough to confuse for either Vivaldi or Bach). In particular, [this section](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17lEx0ytE_0&feature=youtu.be&t=1m49s) I’m trying to guess where the melody goes next. I \*want \*it to head to A#, because in my ears this theme sounds as if it belongs in G# minor (assuming the notes were correct). Do you know enough about the piece to tell whether that first D# is the tonic (I) or dominant (V)? Or am I off entirely and is the piece in B major, with D# as III? Heck it could be E major, for that matter. This is the kind of stuff that ties my head in knots. Argh! ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2014, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-identify-this-music-for-me-thread-classical-this-time/694830/17 "2014-08-06T12:39:20Z")
> [@choie](#): > > Darn, it’s too bad the sequence is going lower rather than higher, because it reminds me a little of Rimsky-Korsakov’s _Scheherezade_ (although that’s pretty tough to confuse for either Vivaldi or Bach). In particular, [this section](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17lEx0ytE_0&feature=youtu.be&t=1m49s) > > I’m trying to guess where the melody goes next. I \*want \*it to head to A#, because in my ears this theme sounds as if it belongs in G# minor (assuming the notes were correct). Do you know enough about the piece to tell whether that first D# is the tonic (I) or dominant (V)? Or am I off entirely and is the piece in B major, with D# as III? Heck it could be E major, for that matter. > > This is the kind of stuff that ties my head in knots. Argh! Which part in _Scheherezade_? The link starts the video at the beginning. I can’t say whether it was the tonic or dominant. ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2014, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-identify-this-music-for-me-thread-classical-this-time/694830/18 "2014-08-06T12:58:54Z")
Sorry, too late for the edit… for the folks guessing _Winter_, are you talking about [this section in the first movement?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZCfydWF48c&feature=youtu.be&t=1m14s) Because while the OP’s transliteration (if that’s the right word…) would’ve gotten the G# (really A-flat) correct, much of the rest would be wrong, including the intervals and number of times that two-note phrase is repeated in the measure–plus, no trills. It would look more like (I’m just gonna use dots to indicate the staggered 1/16 notes at the beginning of each phrase): (G…) Ab - Db - Ab - Db - Ab - Db -Ab - Db (F…) G - C - G - C - G - C - G - C (E-flat…) F - C - F - C - F - C - F - C (D-flat…) E - C - E - C - E - C - E - C (I’m only picking out the notes that seem most prominent to me… the 1st and 2nd violins are splitting on the 2nd note of each of those 1/8th-note phrases for a hint of dissonance and I’m not sure which is playing what note.) ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2014, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-identify-this-music-for-me-thread-classical-this-time/694830/19 "2014-08-06T13:04:45Z")
> [@Ponch8](#): > > Which part in _Scheherezade_? The link starts the video at the beginning. > > I can’t say whether it was the tonic or dominant. Oh sorry… that’s odd–it’s set up to start at 1:49. But let me move this a little earlier, because that’s really when the theme begins (albeit not with the trill) and try again: [http://youtu.be/17lEx0ytE\_0?t=1m40s](http://youtu.be/17lEx0ytE_0?t=1m40s) …But if it’s really the repeated note as you say, rather than a trill, this is moot anyway. 🙂 Dang, it’s really not _Winter_, huh? Does _Winter_ sound anything like your piece? ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2014, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-identify-this-music-for-me-thread-classical-this-time/694830/20 "2014-08-06T13:56:14Z")
> [@choie](#): > > Sorry, too late for the edit… for the folks guessing _Winter_, are you talking about [this section in the first movement?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZCfydWF48c&feature=youtu.be&t=1m14s) Because… Yup, that’s it. Voice-leading fortspinnung section\* – most Baroque concertos have one (faster movements, anyway). You’re right that the OP’s “transcription” wasn’t entirely accurate, but among well-known “classical” pieces, this sure seemed to fit the bill nicely. But surely there are other possibilities. (\*Fast harmonic movement – often one chord per measure – often downward, crabwise – leading us back to a repeat (ritornello) of the main theme.) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-identify-this-music-for-me-thread-classical-this-time/694830.md?page=2)