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.
What's your favorite symphony?
by Anonymous | reply 99 | October 22, 2023 5:37 PM |
Bittersweet
by Anonymous | reply 1 | January 17, 2022 2:47 PM |
Rachmaninoff #2
by Anonymous | reply 2 | January 17, 2022 2:52 PM |
Tchaikovsky #6
by Anonymous | reply 3 | January 17, 2022 2:53 PM |
Mahler #2 probably. It’s a tough question.
by Anonymous | reply 4 | January 17, 2022 2:54 PM |
Mahler 7
by Anonymous | reply 5 | January 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 Anonymous | reply 6 | January 17, 2022 3:02 PM |
Symphony in C, Stravinsky.
by Anonymous | reply 8 | January 17, 2022 3:05 PM |
Mahler - Symphony No. 3, Abbado/Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
by Anonymous | reply 9 | January 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 Anonymous | reply 10 | January 17, 2022 3:11 PM |
Cesar Franck's Symphony in D minor gets me every time. Repetitive and romantic, but beautiful.
by Anonymous | reply 11 | January 17, 2022 3:26 PM |
Beethoven’s Eroica. By the way, spellcheck kept trying to change it to Beethoven’s Erotica.
by Anonymous | reply 13 | January 17, 2022 3:44 PM |
Here's one group's list. Don't agree with it but it's interesting. Gorecki!
by Anonymous | reply 14 | January 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 Anonymous | reply 15 | January 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 Anonymous | reply 16 | January 17, 2022 4:10 PM |
On behalf of my wife Tchaikovsky # 6 (pathetique)
by Anonymous | reply 18 | January 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 Anonymous | reply 19 | January 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 Anonymous | reply 20 | January 17, 2022 5:14 PM |
Beethoven 7 should be way up on the list.
by Anonymous | reply 21 | January 17, 2022 5:19 PM |
Schubert, “The Great” as it goes ON and On and ON!
by Anonymous | reply 22 | January 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 Anonymous | reply 23 | January 17, 2022 6:18 PM |
likely a Haydn symphony, really, especially the Sturm und Drang ones
by Anonymous | reply 24 | January 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 Anonymous | reply 25 | January 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 Anonymous | reply 26 | January 17, 2022 9:41 PM |
Schumann is a lovable symphony writer. Too bad he was nuts
by Anonymous | reply 27 | January 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 Anonymous | reply 28 | January 17, 2022 10:27 PM |
One of my alternate personalities, Vanessa, can play the New World symphony beautifully on the piano.
by Anonymous | reply 30 | January 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 Anonymous | reply 31 | January 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 Anonymous | reply 32 | January 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 Anonymous | reply 33 | January 18, 2022 12:19 AM |
R29 you're crazy, that group can't compare to The Toys.
by Anonymous | reply 34 | January 18, 2022 12:28 AM |
Unfinished Sympathy by Massive Attack
by Anonymous | reply 35 | January 18, 2022 12:34 AM |
Sibelius #2 /Bernstein/ Vienna/ so emotional
by Anonymous | reply 36 | January 18, 2022 1:03 AM |
R19. I liked it better as “Theme from Babe.”
by Anonymous | reply 37 | January 18, 2022 1:33 AM |
Shostokovitch #5?
Oh, dear.
by Anonymous | reply 38 | January 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 Anonymous | reply 39 | January 18, 2022 1:52 AM |
the eighth isn't finished
by Anonymous | reply 40 | January 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 Anonymous | reply 41 | January 18, 2022 2:20 AM |
Mahler, Symphony #6
by Anonymous | reply 43 | January 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.
by Anonymous | reply 44 | January 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 Anonymous | reply 45 | January 18, 2022 4:53 PM |
Pachelbel - Canon In D Major
by Anonymous | reply 46 | January 18, 2022 5:54 PM |
That is no symphony, and at least get a good period instrument version. Here are some friends performing it
by Anonymous | reply 48 | January 18, 2022 6:05 PM |
Buck never would have POSTED that damned Pachelbel.
by Anonymous | reply 49 | January 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 Anonymous | reply 50 | January 18, 2022 6:20 PM |
I love Mozart's symphonies--my favorite might be the Linz. Also love the Prague.
by Anonymous | reply 51 | January 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 Anonymous | reply 52 | January 18, 2022 7:14 PM |
I love Mozart Linzer and Haffner. It’s not only the last two.
by Anonymous | reply 53 | January 18, 2022 7:22 PM |
Surprised Mendelsohn does not get more love. Italian and Scottish are beautiful.
by Anonymous | reply 54 | January 18, 2022 7:24 PM |
Howard Hanson's 1930 "Symphony No. 2, Romantic", used in the soundtrack for "Alien" is actually surprisingly good.
by Anonymous | reply 55 | January 18, 2022 7:33 PM |
This celebrity says people with depression have a better taste in music
by Anonymous | reply 56 | January 18, 2022 7:39 PM |
Thank you for making sure we saw it twice, r56.
by Anonymous | reply 57 | January 18, 2022 7:43 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 Anonymous | reply 59 | January 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 Anonymous | reply 60 | January 18, 2022 8:38 PM |
R61 this joke is neither particularly funny nor original (see above)
by Anonymous | reply 62 | January 18, 2022 9:03 PM |
[quote] (see above)
Where above?
by Anonymous | reply 63 | January 18, 2022 9:08 PM |
Für Elise
by Anonymous | reply 64 | January 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.
by Anonymous | reply 65 | January 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 Anonymous | reply 66 | January 18, 2022 10:08 PM |
[quote] "Austrailian"
Oh, dear. I still do that sometimes.
*Australian
by Anonymous | reply 67 | January 19, 2022 12:59 AM |
I like that Lord of the Rings wind symphony too!
by Anonymous | reply 68 | January 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 Anonymous | reply 69 | January 19, 2022 6:11 AM |
Sibelius 3; Tippett 1 and 2; most of the late Haydn; Stravinsky Symphony in Three Movements
by Anonymous | reply 70 | January 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 Anonymous | reply 71 | January 19, 2022 12:18 PM |
Prokofjew Symphonie classique is good
by Anonymous | reply 72 | January 19, 2022 5:33 PM |
Prokofjew?????
by Anonymous | reply 73 | January 19, 2022 11:31 PM |
R73 I assume that was an error in the keyboard
by Anonymous | reply 74 | January 19, 2022 11:48 PM |
It’s the German spelling.
by Anonymous | reply 75 | January 19, 2022 11:54 PM |
R74 the clear sonorities in that small orchestra are refreshing after so many crowded mega-symphonies
by Anonymous | reply 76 | January 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 Anonymous | reply 77 | January 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 Anonymous | reply 78 | January 23, 2022 5:29 AM |
William Walton sometimes sounds like some of Sibelius.
by Anonymous | reply 79 | January 23, 2022 5:48 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 Anonymous | reply 81 | January 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 Anonymous | reply 82 | January 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 Anonymous | reply 83 | January 23, 2022 3:18 PM |
Mahler's 9th, 2nd, 1st, and 5th.
by Anonymous | reply 84 | January 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 Anonymous | reply 85 | January 23, 2022 5:23 PM |
Vaughn Williams 4
by Anonymous | reply 86 | January 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 Anonymous | reply 87 | January 25, 2022 12:51 AM |
I really think the Antarctic Symphony was RVW's best.
by Anonymous | reply 88 | January 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 Anonymous | reply 89 | January 25, 2022 4:50 AM |
I don't know it
by Anonymous | reply 90 | January 25, 2022 12:51 PM |
R90 You don't know what?
by Anonymous | reply 91 | January 25, 2022 9:04 PM |
Which is Brahms' best?
by Anonymous | reply 92 | October 21, 2023 9:59 PM |
Yes r36, Sibelius 2, Bernstein & Vienna.
by Anonymous | reply 93 | October 22, 2023 3:09 AM |
This version of Beethoven's Fifth is my favorite.
by Anonymous | reply 94 | October 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 Anonymous | reply 95 | October 22, 2023 4:55 AM |
A lot of blah blah blah on this old thread.
Special affections included.
by Anonymous | reply 96 | October 22, 2023 4:20 PM |
R8 is either me or someone with whom I agree.
by Anonymous | reply 97 | October 22, 2023 4:53 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 Anonymous | reply 99 | October 22, 2023 5:37 PM |