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What's your favorite symphony?

Only room for 10. Pick your favorite, or name another. You could put Beethoven 3,5,7,9, in this but to add other composers here we just have two. Personally, I like the 8th but few other people do as much.

by Anonymousreply 99October 22, 2023 5:37 PM

Bittersweet

by Anonymousreply 1January 17, 2022 2:47 PM

Rachmaninoff #2

by Anonymousreply 2January 17, 2022 2:52 PM

Tchaikovsky #6

by Anonymousreply 3January 17, 2022 2:53 PM

Mahler #2 probably. It’s a tough question.

by Anonymousreply 4January 17, 2022 2:54 PM

Mahler 7

by Anonymousreply 5January 17, 2022 2:56 PM

an impossible question, but I can’t leave unmentioned Prokofiev, above all #3, but 2, 5, and 6 are also wonderful. Really, you shouldn’t have got me started. So many great works!

by Anonymousreply 6January 17, 2022 3:02 PM

Mahler 6

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by Anonymousreply 7January 17, 2022 3:04 PM

Symphony in C, Stravinsky.

by Anonymousreply 8January 17, 2022 3:05 PM

Mahler - Symphony No. 3, Abbado/Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra

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by Anonymousreply 9January 17, 2022 3:08 PM

My favorite finale in all of Mahler, R5. I get a chubby just thinking about the different sections entering and layering and exchanging the melodies. And the fun time signature changes. So much fun to get drunk and conduct a phantom orchestra.

by Anonymousreply 10January 17, 2022 3:11 PM

Cesar Franck's Symphony in D minor gets me every time. Repetitive and romantic, but beautiful.

by Anonymousreply 11January 17, 2022 3:26 PM

This movement sold me on Beethoven.

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by Anonymousreply 12January 17, 2022 3:39 PM

Beethoven’s Eroica. By the way, spellcheck kept trying to change it to Beethoven’s Erotica.

by Anonymousreply 13January 17, 2022 3:44 PM

Here's one group's list. Don't agree with it but it's interesting. Gorecki!

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by Anonymousreply 14January 17, 2022 3:56 PM

Hubert Parry Symphony #3 C-Major “The English” 1889. Listening to it now. It’s a go to for me.

by Anonymousreply 15January 17, 2022 4:01 PM

The last movement of Mozart Jupiter drives tears Into my eyes. There most be some immense beauty behind this world.

by Anonymousreply 16January 17, 2022 4:10 PM

This is my favorite.

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by Anonymousreply 17January 17, 2022 4:28 PM

On behalf of my wife Tchaikovsky # 6 (pathetique)

by Anonymousreply 18January 17, 2022 4:48 PM

Glad to see so many votes for Saint-Saenz’ Organ symphony. Such a powerhouse piece in live concert. Have sung the choral finale of Beethoven 9 many times and it is another favorite of mine

by Anonymousreply 19January 17, 2022 5:03 PM

Hey R19 I live in WeHo and I absolutely love the Organ Symphony as well. Play it out of your window sometime and I'll stop by.

by Anonymousreply 20January 17, 2022 5:14 PM

Beethoven 7 should be way up on the list.

by Anonymousreply 21January 17, 2022 5:19 PM

Schubert, “The Great” as it goes ON and On and ON!

by Anonymousreply 22January 17, 2022 5:26 PM

Brahms - Symphony No.1 in C Minor, Op.68

Bruckner - Symphony No. 8 in C minor. WAB 108

Glad to see love for the Saint-Saëns - Symphony No 3 in C minor, Op 78 and theSibelius - Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 43

by Anonymousreply 23January 17, 2022 6:18 PM

likely a Haydn symphony, really, especially the Sturm und Drang ones

by Anonymousreply 24January 17, 2022 6:36 PM

Brahms #2, Haydn #88. For comedy, Macca's Liverpewell Oratorio is over egging the pudding to the point of musical genocide.

by Anonymousreply 25January 17, 2022 6:51 PM

I’m especially fond of the Britten Spring symphony. Also the Schumann Spring Symphony, now that I’m thinking of it.

by Anonymousreply 26January 17, 2022 9:41 PM

Schumann is a lovable symphony writer. Too bad he was nuts

by Anonymousreply 27January 17, 2022 10:15 PM

I'm with Mahler 7, too. Mahler 9 is my runner-up.

For Mahler 7, I love the Abbado/Chicago recording. For the 9th, I love the live Abbado/Berlin.

by Anonymousreply 28January 17, 2022 10:27 PM

Ahem ......

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by Anonymousreply 29January 17, 2022 10:51 PM

One of my alternate personalities, Vanessa, can play the New World symphony beautifully on the piano.

by Anonymousreply 30January 17, 2022 10:52 PM

Sibelius 2 Vaughan Williams 5 Brahms 2 and 3 Tchaikovsky 6 Strauss symphonica domestica Beethoven 5, 6 9 Saint saens 3

by Anonymousreply 31January 17, 2022 11:06 PM

Schumann actually wrote 4 great symphonies but none of them have that extra wow factor and as a result most people never hear them. They're all quite good, especially the 1st and the 4th.

Schumann is that rare composer that everyone has heard of but few people actually know his music. He never had that one big hit.

by Anonymousreply 32January 18, 2022 12:11 AM

I do like all of them, lots of ideas - some transfixing passages too. He’s too often maligned as a nutcase

by Anonymousreply 33January 18, 2022 12:19 AM

R29 you're crazy, that group can't compare to The Toys.

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by Anonymousreply 34January 18, 2022 12:28 AM

Unfinished Sympathy by Massive Attack

by Anonymousreply 35January 18, 2022 12:34 AM

Sibelius #2 /Bernstein/ Vienna/ so emotional

by Anonymousreply 36January 18, 2022 1:03 AM

R19. I liked it better as “Theme from Babe.”

by Anonymousreply 37January 18, 2022 1:33 AM

Shostokovitch #5?

Oh, dear.

by Anonymousreply 38January 18, 2022 1:39 AM

Mozart #40, Beethoven #5 (duh), Mahler #9, Schubert #8, Haydn #49, Shostakovich #8.

Schubert's Ninth is horrible - he really never got the symphony down, and the Eighth is great because he dropped the pressure and wrote as he did for his other works.

by Anonymousreply 39January 18, 2022 1:52 AM

the eighth isn't finished

by Anonymousreply 40January 18, 2022 2:05 AM

I voted for Saint-Saenz’ Organ symphony, but an even better one for Organ and orchestra is Joseph Jongen Symphonie concertante, Op.81. I especially like the last movement which is subtitled Perpetual Motion. Exciting.

Of the list, Beethoven's #9 is also exciting.

by Anonymousreply 41January 18, 2022 2:20 AM

aaron copland wrote an "organ symphony" too

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by Anonymousreply 42January 18, 2022 2:24 AM

Mahler, Symphony #6

by Anonymousreply 43January 18, 2022 5:20 AM

I don't think any composer is more underrated that Saint Saens. He wrote so many beautiful pieces -- symphonies, concertos, overtures, chamber music, operas, but he doesn't get the same kind of play that others do. This site puts him at the most underrated.

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by Anonymousreply 44January 18, 2022 3:50 PM

IMO, it’s because much of SS’s music, albeit beautiful, lacks the fire and the singing nature of his contemporaries like Tchaikovsky. People have always been drawn to catchy melodies.

by Anonymousreply 45January 18, 2022 4:53 PM

Pachelbel - Canon In D Major

by Anonymousreply 46January 18, 2022 5:54 PM

^^^^ link

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by Anonymousreply 47January 18, 2022 5:55 PM

That is no symphony, and at least get a good period instrument version. Here are some friends performing it

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by Anonymousreply 48January 18, 2022 6:05 PM

Buck never would have POSTED that damned Pachelbel.

by Anonymousreply 49January 18, 2022 6:18 PM

surprised that Mozart isn’t getting more love. myself, not a big fan but I thought most people were.

by Anonymousreply 50January 18, 2022 6:20 PM

I love Mozart's symphonies--my favorite might be the Linz. Also love the Prague.

by Anonymousreply 51January 18, 2022 7:03 PM

[quote] Schumann is a lovable symphony writer.

He was hopeless at orchestration.

You hear the string section go 'Dum-de-dum-de-dum'.

And slmultanously the brass section is going 'Dum-de-dum-de-dum'. While the percussion goes 'Dum-de-dum-de-dum'. And ditto with the woodwinds.

by Anonymousreply 52January 18, 2022 7:14 PM

I love Mozart Linzer and Haffner. It’s not only the last two.

by Anonymousreply 53January 18, 2022 7:22 PM

Surprised Mendelsohn does not get more love. Italian and Scottish are beautiful.

by Anonymousreply 54January 18, 2022 7:24 PM

Howard Hanson's 1930 "Symphony No. 2, Romantic", used in the soundtrack for "Alien" is actually surprisingly good.

by Anonymousreply 55January 18, 2022 7:33 PM

This celebrity says people with depression have a better taste in music

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by Anonymousreply 56January 18, 2022 7:39 PM

Thank you for making sure we saw it twice, r56.

by Anonymousreply 57January 18, 2022 7:43 PM

Here you go...

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by Anonymousreply 58January 18, 2022 8:27 PM

Mendelssohn is another underrated composer. In some ways, similar to Saint-Saens in that he wasn't a true innovator like Beethoven or Debussy nor a wild-eyed creator like Liszt or Berlioz. Both of them are classicists by nature and their music is almost always perfect, but never reaches quite the imaginative heights of some of the slightly more beloved composers.

But they're both in the top 15 as far as I am concerned as they both composed for so many different genres and almost everything they did was lovely. I can't think of one piece by either that I wouldn't want to listen to, right now.

(One other similarity, both are most known for one of their least powerful works - Mendelssohn for his Midsummer Night's Dream Overture, Saint-Saens for his Carnival of the Animals (which he refuse to publish in his lifetime because, prescient fellow, he feared that's all he might be remembered for.)

by Anonymousreply 59January 18, 2022 8:34 PM

[quote] I can't think of one piece by either that I wouldn't want to listen to, right now.

Who are you talking about?

by Anonymousreply 60January 18, 2022 8:38 PM

This one.

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by Anonymousreply 61January 18, 2022 8:53 PM

R61 this joke is neither particularly funny nor original (see above)

by Anonymousreply 62January 18, 2022 9:03 PM

[quote] (see above)

Where above?

by Anonymousreply 63January 18, 2022 9:08 PM

Für Elise

by Anonymousreply 64January 18, 2022 9:36 PM

That I've played? This one. It was originally written expressly for concert band/wind ensemble, which is perfect for me. I hate playing in orchestras, and prefer to keep strings where they belong: in small ensembles.

This recording is by the Royal Austrailian Navy Band, apparently. Not my favorite recording, but it gets the point across.

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by Anonymousreply 65January 18, 2022 9:40 PM

My taste in classical music tends to short form rather than long. But Beethoven's 9th gives me chills every time I hear it.

by Anonymousreply 66January 18, 2022 10:08 PM

[quote] "Austrailian"

Oh, dear. I still do that sometimes.

*Australian

by Anonymousreply 67January 19, 2022 12:59 AM

I like that Lord of the Rings wind symphony too!

by Anonymousreply 68January 19, 2022 1:50 AM

Okay, I’ve already posted twice (I am R5), but seeing that no one else has mentioned or is likely to, i don’t want to overlook Sibelius 6. Rarely played, surpassingly beautiful. Karajan’s recording is thrilling.

by Anonymousreply 69January 19, 2022 6:11 AM

Sibelius 3; Tippett 1 and 2; most of the late Haydn; Stravinsky Symphony in Three Movements

by Anonymousreply 70January 19, 2022 7:14 AM

I am partial to the odd stravinsky symphonies, the dynamic one in three moments, the palladian Classical "In C" and the awkward and fervent "Symphony of psalms"

by Anonymousreply 71January 19, 2022 12:18 PM

Prokofjew Symphonie classique is good

by Anonymousreply 72January 19, 2022 5:33 PM

Prokofjew?????

by Anonymousreply 73January 19, 2022 11:31 PM

R73 I assume that was an error in the keyboard

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by Anonymousreply 74January 19, 2022 11:48 PM

It’s the German spelling.

by Anonymousreply 75January 19, 2022 11:54 PM

R74 the clear sonorities in that small orchestra are refreshing after so many crowded mega-symphonies

by Anonymousreply 76January 19, 2022 11:57 PM

Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6, “Pastoral”

I may have pedestrian tastes, but I can listen to this piece of music on a loop.

If I find myself coming down with a tension headache, listening to the Pastoral with a cup of tea is magnificently therapeutic.

by Anonymousreply 77January 20, 2022 12:07 AM

a vote for Sibelius 3, wow! we've got some serious classical music lovers on here. That's an obscure work, but great, great, great. The slow movement is just amazing. What an original mind Sibelius was. Unique. No one sounds like him!

by Anonymousreply 78January 23, 2022 5:29 AM

William Walton sometimes sounds like some of Sibelius.

by Anonymousreply 79January 23, 2022 5:48 AM

This one.

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by Anonymousreply 80January 23, 2022 6:16 AM

Sibelius is getting more love here than he gets on classical radio stations (except for Finlandia, which is overplayed and hardly his best work).

Not much love for Rachmaninoff however -- his symphony #2 is truly beautiful.

by Anonymousreply 81January 23, 2022 2:28 PM

Discussing Sibelius deep cuts like Symphony 3, 4, or 6 made me think about Tchaikovsky Symphonies 1-3. I’m pretty sure I’ve listened to no 3, but it never stuck with me. I should queue them up soon.

by Anonymousreply 82January 23, 2022 3:07 PM

Two of my favorites, although their composers haven’t even been mentioned here yet are Nielsen’s 3rd and Berwald’s 3rd. Both composers are too neglected.

by Anonymousreply 83January 23, 2022 3:18 PM

Mahler's 9th, 2nd, 1st, and 5th.

by Anonymousreply 84January 23, 2022 4:37 PM

Talk about obscure: I've loved Walter Piston's 4th symphony for decades. Sometimes when I play it, I wonder if I'm the only person in the world doing so.

by Anonymousreply 85January 23, 2022 5:23 PM

Vaughn Williams 4

by Anonymousreply 86January 23, 2022 5:40 PM

the RVW symphonies are so good and so underrated. #3 is just unbelievably beautiful. I love 5 and 6 (first mvt) too.

by Anonymousreply 87January 25, 2022 12:51 AM

I really think the Antarctic Symphony was RVW's best.

by Anonymousreply 88January 25, 2022 1:43 AM

[quote] so underrated.

R87 You should ignore what others think. The unpopular Sea Symphony is rarely performed in concert but they're all available on disc.

by Anonymousreply 89January 25, 2022 4:50 AM

I don't know it

by Anonymousreply 90January 25, 2022 12:51 PM

R90 You don't know what?

by Anonymousreply 91January 25, 2022 9:04 PM

Which is Brahms' best?

by Anonymousreply 92October 21, 2023 9:59 PM

Yes r36, Sibelius 2, Bernstein & Vienna.

by Anonymousreply 93October 22, 2023 3:09 AM

This version of Beethoven's Fifth is my favorite.

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by Anonymousreply 94October 22, 2023 3:38 AM

One favorite is impossible to choose. Someone said of Beethoven's symphonies something like that they are a series of peaks in a mountain range, each one towering, but some towering higher than others. I'd extend that to many many symphonies by the familiar accomplished old hands as well as the lesser-knowns and unknowns who had their moments of inspiration.

Be that as it may, I have a special affection for Tchaikovsky's 4th.

by Anonymousreply 95October 22, 2023 4:55 AM

A lot of blah blah blah on this old thread.

Special affections included.

by Anonymousreply 96October 22, 2023 4:20 PM

R8 is either me or someone with whom I agree.

by Anonymousreply 97October 22, 2023 4:53 PM

Another band one

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by Anonymousreply 98October 22, 2023 5:20 PM

I somehow missed this thread the first time around. Many of my favorites have been named, but my all time favorite is Gustav Mahler’s 3rd Symphony. The marches in the first movement along with the exhilarating coda with its sweeping glissandos in the harps make my heart beat faster. That magical section in the 3rd movement with post horn solo is so ethereal. And then there is that final adagio. A beautiful work. It slowy builds up to the final measures with the tympanies joining in makes the hair on my arms and the back head stand on end.

My favorite recording so far is Leonard Bernstein with the New York Phil. The second recording he did on Deutsche Grammophon.

by Anonymousreply 99October 22, 2023 5:37 PM
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