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The Greatest Symphony of All Time?

John Thompson |

What do you think is the greatest symphony of all time?

This was a hard list to make. I tried to not have repeat composers, but it was too difficult.

by Anonymousreply 50October 22, 2023 8:24 PM

Honorable Mentions:

Mozart 40

Brahms 1, 2, and 3

Beethoven 5, 6, and 7

Sibelius 7

Shostakovich 5, 7, and 11

Tchaikovsky 1, 2, and 5

Mahler 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8

Schubert 2, 4, 5, 8, and 9

Bruckner 4, 6, 7, and 9

Price 1

Rachmaninov 2

by Anonymousreply 1May 6, 2023 6:14 PM

Beethoven 7 should be up there. Also the eternally under appreciated Mozart “Linz”.

by Anonymousreply 2May 6, 2023 6:17 PM

R2 I couldn't have all Beethoven, that is a poll for a different day.

by Anonymousreply 3May 6, 2023 6:24 PM

Mahler’s 8th — I was a 11-year old choirboy partaking in Gdansk’s 1000-year anniversary, and Mahler’s infamous “Symphony of a Thousand” was performed by multiple orchestras and choirs.

I’ll never forget.

by Anonymousreply 5May 6, 2023 6:31 PM

"Greatest" is problematic. "Favorite" - depends on the mood. Beethoven's Seventh has a real range of sound texture and composition, slow and meditative to wildly drunken. Any Mahler adagio can satisfy if I'm in the mood - the Fourth especially.

More modern symphonies need to be acknowledged: Rite of Spring ripped open the serious music world. Nothing was the same after 1914. Gorecki's 3rd. Debussy's La Mer. Glass's 8th. It takes a while for symphonies to gain appreciation in the "canon" you've suggested. Part's 21st century's Fourth Symphony might eventually make the list, but it was first performed in 2008, so, who knows?

by Anonymousreply 6May 6, 2023 6:33 PM

I'm surprised Dvorak's From New World Symphony hasn't gotten any votes

by Anonymousreply 7May 6, 2023 6:35 PM

I am pleasantly surprised that Bruckner is getting so much attention. But you have to be in the right mood for that one too.

by Anonymousreply 8May 6, 2023 6:39 PM

R8 Yeah. I like Bruckner, but he is like Mahler. You don't start in right away. His 8th is so titanic

by Anonymousreply 9May 6, 2023 6:41 PM

R7 For me Dvorak is always great for about 90 seconds and then gets mushy, mawkish, and then meanders noisily - a personal flaw un my taste, likely. Also feel the same about Tchaikovsky.

Used to feel the same about Brahams, but then about a decade ago I suddenly heard the genius. Maybe I'll get old enough to appreciate Dvorak.

by Anonymousreply 10May 6, 2023 6:42 PM

"I first thought of movies of me walking down long marble corridors while Bruckner's Eighth Symphony played in the background. That was my idea of film."

by Anonymousreply 11May 6, 2023 6:47 PM

True, R10. Dvorak’s From the New World does not grow on you. You somewhat get tired of it. Beethoven’s 7th or 3rd you can hear for the 50th time and you still discover something new and brilliant.

by Anonymousreply 12May 6, 2023 6:48 PM

Brahms First Symphony is one of personal favorites.

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by Anonymousreply 13May 6, 2023 7:01 PM

[quote]I'm surprised Dvorak's From New World Symphony hasn't gotten any votes

Dvorak tends to not get a lot of respect. His 9th is truly great, and it premiered in Carnegie Hall!

Personally, I would have liked to see some Nielsen and Sibelius on that list.

by Anonymousreply 14May 6, 2023 7:04 PM

[quote]Bruckner Symphony No 8, "The Apocalyptic"

I have never in my life heard it called that. Although the name certainly fits.

by Anonymousreply 16May 6, 2023 7:20 PM

It's sad that Haydn, who wrote more great symphonies than anyone, isn't mentioned here.

by Anonymousreply 17May 6, 2023 7:20 PM

Tschaikowsky #5 for the 2nd movement horn solo alone

by Anonymousreply 18May 6, 2023 7:21 PM

R14 Yep, Nielsen's Fourth can be on the list. And while trying to respect the notion of "Symphony", a lot a great 20th and 21st century orchestral work doesn't claim to be "symphonies"....

But that's just complicating OP's simple query.

by Anonymousreply 20May 6, 2023 7:27 PM

I have a problem with the concept of greatest too.

So in addition to what's mentioned above, some others I adore are:

Tchaikovsky #4

Schumann #3

Haydn #104

Shostakovich #10

Rachmaninoff #3

Saint-Saens #3

by Anonymousreply 21May 6, 2023 7:38 PM

Opps - meant Rachmaninoff #2 @ R21.

by Anonymousreply 22May 6, 2023 7:39 PM

Right R17? He only wrote 140.

by Anonymousreply 23May 6, 2023 7:42 PM

R17 Good call. I used to think Haydn's symphonies were superior even to Mozart's. At least they always delivered deep "equanimity" to my havoc-generating mind. Then I read something that said all 140 were the same, interchangeable (excepting Surprise and Drum Roll). It's like Neil Young can only write one song... but what a great song.

by Anonymousreply 24May 6, 2023 7:53 PM

[quote]Then I read something that said all 140 were the same, interchangeable (excepting Surprise and Drum Roll).

Add the second movement of the Military Symphony (#100). The rest do seem the same to me.

by Anonymousreply 25May 6, 2023 8:04 PM

Haydn wrote 104 symphonies, not 140.

by Anonymousreply 26May 6, 2023 9:13 PM

I'm surprised my favorite symphony of all time, Mahler No. 2, is getting so few votes, particularly in comparison to Mahler No. 9. I like 3, 6, and 8 more than I like 9.

by Anonymousreply 27May 6, 2023 9:17 PM

Can’t believe Schubert is not getting any votes. The Great is just - great!

by Anonymousreply 28May 6, 2023 9:21 PM

The Bitter Sweet Symphony

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by Anonymousreply 29May 6, 2023 9:28 PM

[quote]Can’t believe Schubert is not getting any votes.

I prefer his chamber music and solo piano works. And some of the songs.

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by Anonymousreply 30May 6, 2023 9:43 PM

I've always been partial to Beethoven's #5. "This is the cereal that's shot from guns."

by Anonymousreply 31May 6, 2023 9:50 PM

[quote]I've always been partial to Beethoven's #5. "This is the cereal that's shot from guns."

I think you're mixing it up with the 1812 Overture by Tchaikovsky.

by Anonymousreply 32May 6, 2023 11:06 PM

[quote] Shostakovich 5, 7, and 11

My thought exactly!

by Anonymousreply 34May 7, 2023 1:23 AM

Oh, how I loved Puffed Rice, r32. Number Seven was my favorite Beethoven Symphony, however.

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by Anonymousreply 35May 7, 2023 1:35 AM

Why, the one that I hear!

by Anonymousreply 37May 7, 2023 3:36 AM

Thanks, R32, for straightening me out on that! Now if I can find out who wrote "Kill the Wabbit."

by Anonymousreply 38May 7, 2023 5:23 AM

Tchaikovsky himself didn’t like his own symphony! That’s why he called it Pathetique, which is French for pathetic, you know.

by Anonymousreply 39May 7, 2023 5:27 AM

That's from "Ride of the Valkyries" from Wagner's Ring Cycle, r38.

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by Anonymousreply 40May 7, 2023 5:27 AM

Schubert's 9th ("The Great") is terrible. I love Schubert, but his only consistently successful symphony is the 8th ("Unfinished").

Unlike Schubert's other wonderfully successful work in songs, string quartets and other smaller-scale works, he almost always overreached with his symphonies and seemed to write from the outside, rather the outside. It is almost declamatory. His sensitivity is overwhelmed by his straining to fill the frame, and he even approaches bombast in that embarrassing list movement of the 9th. Much seems to be the Beethoven problem: Schubert emulated Beethoven's advances, even inserting those glaring quotes from Beethoven, but it is unconvincing.

The 8th works because Schubert wasn't trying to match or meet anything but his own glorious lyrical gift and master of mood and nuance.

by Anonymousreply 41May 7, 2023 2:54 PM

I like Schubert's Second Symphony a lot, but it is not the greatest

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by Anonymousreply 42May 7, 2023 4:06 PM

Well said, R41. The Unfinished is indeed better. But the 9th has grown on me over the years and has a mysterious quality. To think that he probably never heard it performed…

by Anonymousreply 43May 8, 2023 4:17 AM

The most important piece of music ever written..............

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by Anonymousreply 44October 22, 2023 3:34 PM

Don't agree with OP at all.

Yes to Beethoven 9, Dvorak 9, Mozart 41, Berlioz Fantastique

I would also put in:

Schubert 9th (Most underrated symphony of all -- a perfect composition. R41 is an idiot)

Saint Saens 3rd

Schumann 1st

Shostokovitch 5th

Bruckner 4th

Beethoven 7th

by Anonymousreply 46October 22, 2023 3:40 PM

Beethoven‘s 7 makes me believe that humanity is capable of tremendous beauty and should not be eradicated.

by Anonymousreply 47October 22, 2023 6:56 PM

I love mahler, but just give me a few Haydn symphonies and I'm happy

by Anonymousreply 48October 22, 2023 8:10 PM

I just enjoyed listening to that the other night, r49. Also to Bruckner 9 last night. Yay, Bruckner.

by Anonymousreply 50October 22, 2023 8:24 PM

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