5 Favourite Symphonies?

1. Tchaikovsky - Symphony No. 4

2. Beethoven - Symphony No. 5

3. Dvorak - Symphony No. 9

4. Mozart - Symphony No. 40

5. de Meij - Symphony No. 1

Tchaik 1 gets a special mention because,though I am not terribly fond the finale, I adore the first three movements. But I love all the pieces of the symphonies I've listed above.

Furthermore, Bukvich 1 gets a special mention as being the most... unique symphony I've ever heard or played.

It's hard to specify 5 favourite symphonies, but I will name 5 for each period:

Classical style:

1. Beethoven's 3rd "Eroica"

2. Mozart's 40th in g minor - especially second movement

3. Mozart's 25th in g minor - massively underrated

4. Beethoven's 8th - so unique

5. Beethoven's 7th

Romantic style:

1. Tchaikovsky's 6th - amazing work in every aspect

2. Franck's symphony in d minor

3. Mahler's 4th - so simple in easy to follow

4. Brahms' 4th - one of his rare symphonic masterpieces, I don't really like german romantic symphonies

5. Nielsen's 1st - nice to hear good Danish symphonies.

Early 20th century:

1. Shostakovich's 5th - one of the fines neo-Mahlerian works

2. Prokofiev's 1st - so cute, however, awfully orchestrated. ;)

3. Shostakovich's 1st - amazing work for 19 year old composer, slightly weak in form though.

4. Rousell's 3rd - very unique work

5. Skerjanc's 5th - one of the finest Slovenian symphonies, check it on youtube.

Modern style:

1. Duttilleux's 1st - I just love the orchestration, strange harmonies and good formal approach.

2. Lutoslawski's 3rd - this exciting stylistic hybrid never gets boring in 30 minutes.

3. Rautavaara's 5th - cosmic and magical music

4. Rautavaara's 7th - simply beautiful

5. Sulek's 6th - a Croatian symphonic masterpiece.

OK, it’s difficult to name the top 5, but I have a clear top 3:

1. Mahler 6

2. Rachmaninov 2

3. Prokofiev 5

There are some others that I like very much, in no particular order:

Haydn 102+103

Mozart 36 (Linz)

Brahms 1-3

Nielsen 2+3

Martinů 1+2

Bartók Concerto for Orchestra (no symphony, but as close as you can get with Bartók)

Lutosławski 3

In no particular order:

1. Mozart 41 (I've yet to hear anything written in C major that is as exciting as the last movement, plus I love the second movement)

2. Tchaikovsky 6 (Beautiful and emotional)

3. Mahler 8 (Perhaps the most powerful finale ever written)

4. Dvorak 9 (Fantastic overall work)

5. Beethoven 3 (I love the development section of the first movement, also very musically revolutionary)

I also like Schubert 8, Mahler 2, Tchaikovsky 2 (mainly the finale), Mozart 35 and 40, and Beethoven 5, 6, and 9.

I'm also trying to explore newer symphonic works.

Mahler's 5th is my all-time favourite, but here's the rest of them. ;-)

1. Gustav Mahler - Symphony No. 5

2. Ralph Vaughan Williams - Symphony No. 5

3. Dvorak - Symphony No. 9

4. Gustav Mahler - Symphony No. 6

5. Sibelius - Symphony No. 2

Symphony no.2 - Jean Sibelius

Symphony no.4 - Pyotor Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Symphony no.5 - Gustav Mahler

Symphony no.10 - Dmitri Shostakovich

Symphony no.40 - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

[Eek... double post. See below] :headwall:

I feel like this is a good topic to revive... I've already discovered some great pieces by "lurking" on this thread, and I think it would be nice to hear some new members' favourites. So, here are my top 5:

1. Mahler - Symphony no. 9

For all the hype some of his earlier symphonies get, I think this is Mahler's most mature and profound work. The sprawling 1st movement is quite possibly my favourite musical experience of all time, and the 3rd movement contains some of Mahler's best contrapuntal writing and most adventurous harmonies (in a bitterly sarcastic scherzo, no less!)

2. John Adams - Harmonielehre

It is too a symphony!

3. Debussy - La Mer

Even though the movements stand well on their own, this is--unlike Debussy's other orchestral collections--closer to a symphony than an orchestral suite, in my opinion. Semantics aside, it's a fantastic piece.

4. Ives - Symphony no. 4

This piece combines everything wonderful about Ives--from comforting, New Englandy hymns to chaotic collages to ethereal, otherworldly experiments in orchestration--into a delightfully messy commentary on life, the universe, and everything.

5. Kurt Atterberg - Symphony no. 3

It's probably a bit strange to include this piece but nothing by Sibelius (since Atterberg's output largely consists of mediocre Sibelius imitations), but for some reason, I find myself frequently re-listening to this one. In his 3rd symphony (especially the last movement), Atterberg seemed to achieve just the right balance between Romantic gushing and a more stark, primal, Scandinavian sound.

Schnittke and Rautavaara are also some of my favourite symphonists, but it's difficult to choose a really outstanding symphony from either of them.

Incredibly difficult to pick from a few century's worth of symphonic development. But after hard scrutiny  :shiftyninja: :

1. Beethoven: Symphony 3 'Eroica' - The piece that first got me excited about classical music.

2. Mahler: Symphony 9

3. R. Strauss: Eine Alpensinfonie

4. Prokofiev: Symphony 5

5. Shostakovitch: Symphony 11 'The Year 1905'

This list should really be way longer  <_< .

In no particular order:

Tchaikovsky's 5th Symphony

Brahms 3rd and 4th Symphony

Dvorak 9th "From the new World"

Prokofiev's 5th Symphony

Mahler 1

Mahler 5

Shostakovich 5

Brahms 1

Beethoven 7

Honorable mentions: Dvorak 8, Tchik 6

There should be a spreadsheet for this thread so we can see who is coming up tops.  Who will win the ULTIMATE SYMPHONY SHOWDOWN...!!!? Who needs to procrastinate and tally up what we've got so far?  

I don't listen to a whole lot of symphonies, but i'd say:

Stravinsky - Symphony of Psalms
Messiaen - Turangalila Symphonie

John Adams - Chamber Symphony

Prokofiev - Symphony No. 1 (Classical Symphony)

Britten - Sinfonia da Requiem

how can i possibly choose only 5 favourite symphonies when Philip Glass wrote 10????

Shostakovich 10, Sibelius 7, and 3 other random Beethoven 

Edited August 14, 201312 yr by siegfried

There should be a spreadsheet for this thread so we can see who is coming up tops.  Who will win the ULTIMATE SYMPHONY SHOWDOWN...!!!? Who needs to procrastinate and tally up what we've got so far?  

Funny You should say that. That's immediately what I started doing when I started reading this thread. Haven't finished yet, so if anyone else has done it, I didn't see. When I wake up in the morning I will tally results. There are some clear favorites. 

Oh, well I guess that is the end. I love excel, so I'll do averages and totals based on composers, but here are the winners to date:

At ten votes:

Beethoven 7

Beethoven 9

Dvorak 9

At nine votes:

Beethoven 5

Mahler 5

Mahler 6

8 votes:

Tchaikovsky 6

7 Votes:

Mozart 40

6 Votes:

Mozart 41

Beethoven 3

Sibelius 2

Sibelius 7

Mahler 8

Prokofiev 5

5 votes:

Tchaikovsky 4

Messiaen Turangalila

Webern Symphony

Brahms 3

Bruckner 9

Mahler 2

Mahler came in first place with 43 total votes, Beethoven in second with 41, Tchaikovsky third with 22, and Mozart and Sibelius tied for 19 total votes. 

Edited August 31, 201312 yr by foreignwords

It is almost impossible to do these kind of lists, but I will give it a try, but I will only comtemplate symphonies after Beethoven:

1 - Brahms 3rd

2 - Beethoven 7th

3 - Brahms 4th

4 - Rachmaninov 2nd

5 - Bruckner 6th

Hi all.

My current top 5 in no particular order.

1.Mahler 10 (Deryck Cooke performing version)

2.Beethoven 9

3.Bax 3

4.Tchaikovsky 'Manfred' Symphony (shamefully neglected masterpiece this one)

5.Bruckner 7.

Beethoven 7 and 9

Mahler 5

Mozart 40

Brahms 1

1) Beethoven Symphony 9 "Choral"

2) Beethoven Symphony 5 "Fate"

3) Mendelssohn Symphony 4 "Italian"

4) Schubert Symphony 8 "Unfinished"

5) Mozart Symphony 29

So hard to choose...

more or less in order...

Berio - Sinfonia (Mahler 2?)

Webern - Chamber Symphony

Lutoslawski - Fourth Symphony (eats the third for breakfast)

Messiaen - Turangalila Symphonie

Stravinsky - Symphony of Psalms

Honorable mentions: Mozart 41, Mahler 4 & 9, Tchaikovsky 6