History Main / ClimacticMusic

* Another Natalie Portman film, ''VForVendetta'', also ends with Tchaikovsky. That too has the closing music as the climactic music.

* "Defying Gravity" from ''Theatre/{{Wicked}}''.

* ''Amaluna'' has "Tempest" during the storm and first aerial straps act, "Run" during the second straps act, and the finale reprises of "Elma O Mi Lize" and "Come Together", [[AudienceParticipationSong which get the audience clapping along]].

* ''{{Hairspray}}'''s "You Can't Stop the Beat", which the characters perform during the climactic dance showdown.

* ''[[Series/BattlestarGalacticaReimagined Battlestar Galactica]]'''s third season finale included an instrumental version of Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower," a tune that had mysterious plot significance. Characters had been hearing snatches of the tune during the previous few episodes, but it played in full durng the finale's climax. It returned as the climactic music of more than one episode from the final season, including the series finale.

* ''VideoGame/LiveALive'''s [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1Nmc84Noos Megalomania]]:It's 'ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin'' - You fight a megalomaniacal person who wants to kill people or outright destroy everything. In order:
** Prehistoric Chapter: [[spoiler: O-D-O, the only remaining T-Rex]] that could and would kill every last caveman if Pogo and his friends hadn't stopped it.
** Bakumatsu Chapter: [[spoiler: Ode Iou, the evil man who could morph into a snake-frog demon and wanted to light the wars of flame in Feudal Japan again.]]
** Kung Fu Chapter: [[spoiler:Odi Wan Lee, who attacked the Master's dojo and killed 2 of the 3 disciples for apparently no reason. Then, the master and the surviving disciple avenge the other 2.]]
** Old West Chapter: [[spoiler: O.Dio. He terrorizes the town and Sundown kid and Mad Dog must work together to defeat him and his gang!]]...Not to mention his huge [[GatlingGood Gatling Gun]] and the ''CrowningMomentOfAwesome'':
--> '''O. Dio''': It doesn't matter how many rats you rustle up...
--> '''O. Dio''': You won't be able to win against a Gatling Gun!!
** Present Chapter: [[spoiler: Odie Olbright, he killed every single one]] of the fighters Masaru defeated, and he's [[spoiler: Going to avenge them all!]]
** Near Future Chapter: [[spoiler: Your best friend just sacrificed himself to activate the Buriki Daioh, and you're face-to-face with the ''BigBad'' of the chapter. Cue another ''CrowningMomentOfAwesome''.]]
** Science Fiction Chapter: [[spoiler: OD-10 - He just killed off almost everyone on the ship, and [[MeaninglessName Cube]] is the only one capable of stopping him.]]
** Medieval Chapter: [[spoiler: the ''BigBad'' of this chapter is your best friend: [[GloriousBastard Straybow.]] He had pulled all the strings ever since Oersted had won the championship, so he'd get the princess!]]
** [[spoiler: Final Chapter: The [[RealityWarper Demon King, capable of twisting time and space itself]] to pull in all the heroes to a destroyed land so he could kill them all and [[KillAllHumans destroy the world.]]]]

* ''TwentyEightDaysLater'': "In The House, In A Heartbeat" plays during the RoaringRampageOfRevenge at the end. It's basically four notes with dramatic backing.

** The entire Battle of Yavin sequence in ''ANewHope''.
*** There's a key shift in the music during Luke's final attack run. The battle music is very tense and dissonant right up to the moment when Luke decides to trust the Force and shuts off his targeting computer. ''That'' is the moment when the theme music shifts to a heroic, triumphant mode reprising the main title music.

* ''AceAttorney'': The Cornered tracks from each game. They play as you're proving the real killer, or proving the witness as a fraud. Also, Search - Core 2001. It plays during your investigations, when something serious happens.

* ''AceAttorney": The Cornered tracks from each game. They play as you're proving the real killer, or proving the witness as a fraud. Also, Search - Core 2001. It plays during your investigations, when something serious happens.

* In Branaugh's ''Henry V'', the Non Nobis starts with a male soloist voice, then builds into a chorus and ends in a triumphant instrumental. This takes the audience from the battlefield (after Henry received the casualty figures and the dead are gathered up) to the peace talks (when the French king eventually accepts Henry's conditions and offers his daughter's hand in marriage).

Contrast with EpicSong and ElevenOClockNumber, pieces that may feel climactic but that precede the climax.

* "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" from ''CatsDontDance''

* Many episodes of ''{{Glee}}'' have climactic music. A few examples:

* A number of ''{{Lost}}'' finales had climactic music. In the series finale, "The Hole Shabang" was the climactic music for the on-island action. The previous three finales had had climactic tracks called "The Incident", "Bobbing For Freighters" and "Looking Glass Half-Full"; all played over action, explosions and the deaths of main characters.

* ''[[BattlestarGalacticaReimagined Battlestar Galactica]]'''s third season finale included an instrumental version of Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower," a tune that had mysterious plot significance. Characters had been hearing snatches of the tune during the previous few episodes, but it played in full durng the finale's climax. It returned as the climactic music of more than one episode from the final season, including the series finale.

** In ''Return of the King'', Frodo claims the Ring and fights Golem to "The End of All Things."

* ''WildGuns'''s [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxBGIe00ecU boss music]].

* The ''LordOfTheRings'' films each have climactic music:
** In ''TheFellowshipOfTheRing'', it's "Amon Hen," which plays during the battle that kills Boromir.
** ''TheTwoTowers'' offers "Isengard Unleashed" over the destruction of Isengard.
** In ''ReturnOfTheKing'', Frodo claims the Ring and fights Golem to "The End of All Things."

* ''TheLastOfTheMohicans'': "Promontory", a reprise of "The Kiss."

* The LordOfTheRings films each have climactic music:
** In TheFellowshipOfTheRing, it's "Amon Hen," which plays during the battle that kills Boromir.
** TheTwoTowers offers "Isengard Unleashed" over the destruction of Isengard.
** In ReturnOfTheKing, Frodo claims the Ring and fights Golem to "The End of All Things."

* Jim Steinem/Bonnie Tyler's "Holding Out For a Hero" has formed the climactic music for one than one film, including ShortCircuit2.

* ModernWarfare2: "Going Loud". It's played during a RoaringRampageOfRevenge and features many other pieces - Onwards, Opening Titles, etc - all mixed into one epic piece. Thematically it's the equivalent of MassEffect 2's Suicide Mission.
* GearsOfWar2: "Finale," a ramped up version of the main theme. The uplifting, epic choir cements its position as the apex of an epic soundtrack.
* Halo: "Finish the Fight". It's played during all awesome moments. Plus it's The Last Spartan and Halo Theme all mixed into one. Another candidate is "Greatest Journey", but "Finish the Fight" appears more musically accomplished.
* HaloReach: Many would single out "Unreconcialed". "Ashes" is another example. The emotional climax in the middle perfectly fits the grittier, more solemn tone of Reach.
* MetalGearSolid4: "Metal Gear Saga".
* WorldOfWarcraft has had a few, but the one that sticks furthest out is "No King Rules Forever", which plays during the final showdown with Arthas in Fall of the Lich King.

* Halo3: "Finish the Fight". It's played during all awesome moments. Plus it's The Last Spartan and Halo Theme all mixed into one. Another candidate is "Greatest Journey", but "Finish the Fight" appears more musically accomplished.

* ''StarWars'': ''Duel of the Fates'' in ''StarWarsThePhantomMenace'' and a similar piece (''Battle of the Heroes'') in ''RevengeOfTheSith''.

* ''BlackSwan'' had a soundtrack with lots of good music, mostly based on ''SwanLake''. But the track "Perfection," which plays during the film's closing moments, is the climactic music. An earlier track, "A Swan is Born," appears to be an instance of climactic music, but then "Perfection" crowns it.

Narratives have climaxes. So do their musical scores. In the case of Climactic Music, the music's climax coincides with and characterizes the narrative's.

* ''[[{{ptitleteza1ple}} 28 Days Later]]'': "In The House, In A Heartbeat" plays during the RoaringRampageOfRevenge at the end. It's basically four notes with dramatic backing.

* ''[[ptitleteza1ple 28 Days Later]]]]: "In The House, In A Heartbeat" plays during the RoaringRampageOfRevenge at the end. It's basically four notes with dramatic backing.

[[/forlder]]