Favorite Symphonies

[schubert_21]

Out of curiosity, what are some of your favorite symphonies? 

Mine:

Messiaen Turangalila
Mozart 35-41
Beethoven 3,5,6,9
Tchaikovsky 6
Prokofiev Classical

and more...

[rachmaninoff_forever]

Scriabin Mysterium
Scriabin poem of fire
Scriabin poem of ecstasy
Rachmaninoff symphony 2
Rachmaninoff symphony 3
Rachmaninoff symphony 1

And some other stuff but I don't feel like typing it all out right now.

[49410enrique]

oh gosh where to begin.

just a few off the top
tchaikovsky no 5

mozart no 41

mahler 1 and 5

symphonic in spirit but not by tradition and form

berstein symphonic dances from west side story

'hyrule symphony"

symphonic odysseys

symphonic fantasies

[j_menz]

Beethoven 3 and 9
Shostakovich 7, 10 and 13
Mahler 2 and 5
Tchaikovsky 4 and 5
Gorecki Symphony of Sorowful Songs

[rachmaninoff_forever]

Beethoven 3 and 9
Shostakovich 7, 10 and 13
Mahler 2 and 5
Tchaikovsky 4 and 5
Gorecki Symphony of Sorowful Songs

The Gorecki, Beethoven 3, And Shostakovich 10 are some of mine as well.

[tchristec]

Shostakovich 7, 10 and 13

I think Shostakovich's 7th symphony is one of the most emotional musical works I have ever heard.  I don't know what it is about Shostakovich but he really seems to affect me.  I don't understand why more people don't like his music.  It's definitely a different style than someone like Mozart or Beethoven but beauty really does come in many forms.  Another one I really like is the typewriter piece for orchestra and typewriter.  It's not a symphony but it's really lots of fun

[ted]

Anything by Havergal Brian, especially the later ones.

[cmg]

Havergal Brian's "Gothic"
York Bowen's "Second"
William Walton's "First"
Vaughn Williams' "First,"  "Second" and "Fifth"
Mahler 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 8th, 9th, 10th
Beethoven 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9
Haydn London Symphonies
Mozart (all the later ones)
Kurt Atterberg 3, 6 and Symphony for Strings
Shostakovich (all listed above, but especially the Fourth)
Rach Second
Glazounov Eighth
Barber 1st and 2nd
Bernstein "Age of Anxiety"
Brahms 1,2,3,4.
George Lloyd "Symphonic Mass," Nos. 1, 4, 8, 12
Martinu 1,2,5,6
Mendelssohn 2,3,4,5
Piston 2,6
Bliss "A Color Symphony"
Rochberg 5th
Rorem 3rd
Saint Saens Second
Franz Schmidt 1,2,3,4
Schubert "Great"
Schumann 2 and 4
Stenhammar Second
Widor No. 5 (for organ)
Copland No. 3
Prokofiev Fifth
Tchaikovsky 4,5,6
Malcolm Arnold Fifth
William Alwyn Fourth
Arnold Bax Sixth
Elgar 1 and 2
Sibelius (all)
Nielson 2,3,4,6
Taneyev 1, 3
Dvorak 5,7,8,9
Hans Rott Symphony in E Major
Enescu 1 and 3

and, last, but not least . . .

Diana Ross "I hear a Symphony"

[schubert_21]

Havergal Brian's "Gothic"
York Bowen's "Second"
William Walton's "First"
Vaughn Williams' "First,"  "Second" and "Fifth"
Mahler 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 8th, 9th, 10th
Beethoven 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9
Haydn London Symphonies
Mozart (all the later ones)
Kurt Atterberg 3, 6 and Symphony for Strings
Shostakovich (all listed above, but especially the Fourth)
Rach Second
Glazounov Eighth
Barber 1st and 2nd
Bernstein "Age of Anxiety"
Brahms 1,2,3,4.
George Lloyd "Symphonic Mass," Nos. 1, 4, 8, 12
Martinu 1,2,5,6
Mendelssohn 2,3,4,5
Piston 2,6
Bliss "A Color Symphony"
Rochberg 5th
Rorem 3rd
Saint Saens Second
Franz Schmidt 1,2,3,4
Schubert "Great"
Schumann 2 and 4
Stenhammar Second
Widor No. 5 (for organ)
Copland No. 3
Prokofiev Fifth
Tchaikovsky 4,5,6
Malcolm Arnold Fifth
William Alwyn Fourth
Arnold Bax Sixth
Elgar 1 and 2
Sibelius (all)
Nielson 2,3,4,6
Taneyev 1, 3
Dvorak 5,7,8,9
Hans Rott Symphony in E Major
Enescu 1 and 3

and, last, but not least . . .

Diana Ross "I hear a Symphony"

I've got some listening to do.

[liug_2012]

I'll give you what's on my mind right now, in no particular order.

- Beethoven Symphony nos. 7, 9

- Borodin no. 2

- Tchaikovsky 6

- Sibelius 5

- Brahms 4, 3rd.

- Shostakovich 5

[evitaevita]

I'm not very familiar with orchestral music..
I can't think of all...
but these are some of mine:

Haydn: No.34, many of "London Symphonies"
Mozart: No.25, No.35, No.40, No.41
Beethoven: No.3 "Eroica", No.5, No.7, No.9
Schubert: "Unfinished"
Mendelssohn: "Italian"
Tchaikovsky: No.6 "Pathetique"
Dvorak: No.9 "From the New World"
Mahler: No.5
Shostakovich: No.4, No.10

That's for now

[ahinton]

Haydn: several of the "London" symphonies
Mozart: most of the later ones
Beethoven: 1, 3, 5 & 8
Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique
Liszt: A Faust Symphony
Bruckner: 5 - 9 (provided that 9's performed in the best available compete four-movement version)
Brahms: 1 & 4
Tchaikovsky: 4, 5, 6 & Manfred (except the ending of the last of these!)
Elgar: all 3
Mahler: 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 & 10
Nielsen: all 6
Sibelius: all 7
Rachmaninov: all 3
Vaughan Williams: 3, 4, 5, 6, 8 & 9
Scriabin: all five (Mysterium is hardly a "symphony", by the way!)
Schönberg: Chamber Symphonies 1 & 2
Brian: 1, 2, 3, 6 & 8
Myaskovsky: 6
Szymanowski: 2 & 3
Rosenberg: 4
Prokofiev: 5 & 6
Bax: 3 & 6
Krenek: 1 & 2
Bush (A): 1 & 3
Rubbra: 1 & 9
Tippett: 1, 2 & 4
Shostakovich: 1, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 13, 15
Carter: A Symphony of Three Orchestras, Symphonia: Sum Fluxæ Pretium Spei
Pettersson: 7, 8, 9, 10, 13, 15
Lloyd (G): 7
Lutosławski: all 4
Simpson: 9
Arnold: 9
Maxwell Davies: 7
Matthews (D): 1 & 6
and those 110+ are just for starters; I'm sure that there are plenty of others that don't spring immediately to mind right now.

Oh, and I'd also quite like to nominate my own - albeit only because I haven't written any...

Best,

Alistair

[piano_vs_science]

pi symphony:

[j_menz]

because I haven't written any...

Why not, if I might ask?

[ahinton]

Why not, if I might ask?

You are of course welcome to ask, but I'm not sure that I know the correct answer...

Best,

Alistair

[thalbergmad]

Messiaen Turangalila

I would rather drink camel spit than listen to that racket again.

Thal

[ahinton]

I would rather drink camel spit than listen to that racket again.

Thal

I'm sorry accidentally to have omitted this wondrous work from my list (as I'm, sure I've likewise done with other worthy symphonies); I'll try to arrange for some of this substance to wing its way to you if that's what you'd really appreciate.

Anyway, while we're on French symphonies that I carelessly omitted, here's a few:

Magnard: all 4
Schmitt: 2
le Flem: all 4
d'Indy: 2
Dutilleux: both

Again, I'm sure that there must be others that I've left out.

Best,

Alistair

[thalbergmad]

le Flem: all 4

Now that even sounds like camel spit.

Thal

[ahinton]

Now that even sounds like camel spit.

Thal

Très amusant, to be sure (although I'm not sure about the specific camel reference here), but the symphonies themselves do not; do you know any of them?

Best,

Alistair

[thalbergmad]

Indeed I do not. If it ain't got a piano or banjo in it, I ain't interested.

Thal

[ahinton]

Indeed I do not. If it ain't got a piano or banjo in it, I ain't interested.

Well, that certainly restricts your symphonic interest rather substantially, for the number of orchestral symphonies that have a part for the piano is vanishingly small and those including a banjo in the score must surely be almost zero; one might therefore assume that you'd at least be interested in the Messiaen, as it does a least have a big piano part. Perhaps you prefer symphonies for piano rather than those for orchestra, in which case you have the Schumann F minor sonata which, in its five-movement form, was once described as a piano symphony as well as the Alkan and seven of them by Sorabji...

Best,

Alistair

[p2u_]

Out of curiosity, what are some of your favorite symphonies? 

Mine:

[...]
Beethoven 3,5,6,9
[...]

You probably also want to listen, at least once, to the Liszt transcriptions of Beethoven's symphonies, played by Cyprien Katsaris. Here is the whole collection, All 9 of them.

Paul

[ahinton]

You probably also want to listen, at least once, to the Liszt transcriptions of Beethoven's symphonies, played by Cyprien Katsaris. Here is the whole collection, All 9 of them.

Perhaps even Thal might go for these...

Best,

Alistair

[p2u_]

Perhaps even Thal might go for these...

Sorry for the off-topic, but to tell you a secret: for our friend Thal, Cyprien Katsaris recorded something else with both piano- and banjo-elements in it:

Paul

[ahinton]

Sorry for the off-topic, but to tell you a secret: for our friend Thal, Cyprien Katsaris recorded something else with both piano- and banjo-elements in it:

Ah, yes - I'd forgotten about that! That said, I think that most composers might well consider declining a commission for a symphony for an orchestra of banjos...

Best,

Alistair

[thalbergmad]

Katsaris is indeed incredible and should seriously consider taking up the banjo.

Almost returning to the subject, the premier of the concerto symphonique by d'Erlanger is on Radio 3 tomorrow at 4.00pm. Could be a bit of a blast.

Thal

[synthifou]

Mahler: . . . & 10

Do you have a favorite completion?  I'm always curious to hear what listeners of Mahler think of these.  I'm very partial to Mazetti's (first version).

[gep]

Do you have a favorite completion?  I'm always curious to hear what listeners of Mahler think of these.  I'm very partial to Mazetti's (first version).

For No. 10 for me there is for me just one completion: Cooke and friends! Barshai is quite daring but too thickly orchestrated. Wheeler is interesting and lean like No. 9 but, due to its time of emergence, lacks some essential info that turned up later. Carpenter: forget it. Mazzucca/Sammale: mwah. Gamzou I don't know.

Mahler: 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 & 10

I guess you for a moment forgot ‘Das Lied von der Erde’ is also a symphony?
And as for No. 8: it makes a lot of impressive noise, and as a symphony it is a great work, but compared to the rest of Mahler’s it lacks too much of this and has too much of that (the difference between grandiose and grandiloquent).

Bruckner: 5 - 9 (provided that 9's performed in the best available compete four-movement version)

Presently I believe there’s no version of the whole 9th that competes to Sammale/Mazzucca/Phillips/Cohrs, the latest version of which is on EMI with BerlinPhil/Rattle. That said, I do have a soft spot for Letocart’s!

Shostakovich: 1, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 13, 15

Indeed, but I would add no. 14 too!

Arnold: 9

Really? Hmm, I’d say 7!

Maxwell Davies: 7

Now there’s a surprise! Here I’d go for 6! (Don’t know 8, I must add!)

Oh, and I'd also quite like to nominate my own - albeit only because I haven't written any...

Well, a Sinfonietta is a small symphony, and I’d love to hear it….

Egon Wellesz and Ernst Toch, anyone? Both were Jewish composers who more or less burst out in symphonies after WW2.

All best,
gep

[ahinton]

Do you have a favorite completion?  I'm always curious to hear what listeners of Mahler think of these.  I'm very partial to Mazetti's (first version).

Yes - unquestionably the final version by Cooke & Co.

Best,

Alistair

[ahinton]

I guess you for a moment forgot ‘Das Lied von der Erde’ is also a symphony?

Not merely "for a moment"! I've never been able to accept it as such, although I adore it! It's about as much of a "symphony" to me as is Shostakovich's penultimate one - indeed, I once said (albeit in company where I could get away with so doing!) that Shostakovich composed eleven symphonies, numbered 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, & 15...

And as for No. 8: it makes a lot of impressive noise, and as a symphony it is a great work, but compared to the rest of Mahler’s it lacks too much of this and has too much of that (the difference between grandiose and grandiloquent). Presently I believe there’s no version of the whole 9th that competes to Sammale/Mazzucca/Phillips/Cohrs, the latest version of which is on EMI with BerlinPhil/Rattle. That said, I do have a soft spot for Letocart’s!

Agreed in all particulars!

Indeed, but I would add no. 14 too!

See above(!)...

Really? Hmm, I’d say 7!

The next best, I think!

Now there’s a surprise! Here I’d go for 6!

Again, the next best, I'd say.

Well, a Sinfonietta is a small symphony, and I’d love to hear it….

I hope that you will eventually; it will only take up ten minutes of your time when you do!...

Egon Wellesz and Ernst Toch, anyone? Both were Jewish composers who more or less burst out in symphonies after WW2.

I'm not familiar with Toch's; it's interesting that he appears to have composed no symphonies until reaching his mid-60s and then wrote seven in relatively rapid succession between then and his death in 1964. His near-contemporary Wellesz also eschewed the symphony until he reached the age of 60 and then gave us nine; although these have all been recorded in recent years, their comparative neglect in the concert hall is almost as scandalous as that of Sessions's nine symphonies.

Best,

Alistair

[thalbergmad]

he appears to have composed no symphonies until reaching his mid-60s 

There is hope for you yet then.

Thal

[starstruck5]

Since the orchestra totally sucks -I can't listen to more than a few minutes of any symphony -

[ahinton]

There is hope for you yet then.

Only if composing a symphony or symphonies is in itself any kind of likelihood; let's leave it at the Sinfonietta for the time being...

Best,

Alistair

[thesixthsensemusic]

Beethoven's 3rd, in the Berliner Philharmoniker/Von Karajan rendition.

[mr_drm]

Beethoven 3
Beethoven 4
Elgar 2
Prokofiev 5
Mahler 3
Mahler 8
& Sibelius 1 - 7.