Greatest Brahms Symphony

[Sef]

I vote for the Fourth - because everyone else tells me so.

[Opus106]

http://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,10149.0/topicseen.html

[Lethevich]

http://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,10149.0/topicseen.html

To be honest, it makes sense to me to call my favourite the 3rd and the greatest the 4th, so there is at least a minor distinction...

[karlhenning]

I don't find the question of especial interest with Brahms; all four of his symphonies are excellent, and there is not among them such wide range of chronological development that you find across the symphonies of many another composer.

[karlhenning]

(Is anyone really going to vote for the First?)

[ChamberNut]

(Is anyone really going to vote for the First?)

Yes, Karl!   

[mn dave]

The 4th konked me on the head immediately and it's been love ever since.

[karlhenning]

Yes, Karl!   

So, Ray:  Brahms went downhill after № 1, eh? 

[ChamberNut]

So, Ray:  Brahms went downhill after № 1, eh? 

Yes, I guess he did.  And thanks for putting the "eh" in there so I could understand the question.   

Of course not.  The 1st is simply my favorite.  Which is not the same as the greatest, except for me. 

[karlhenning]

Of course not.  The 1st is simply my favorite . . . .

Ah-ha! You wanted this thread! 

[ChamberNut]

Ah-ha! You wanted this thread! 

But, I already voted over there.   0:)

[rappy]

IMO no. 4 or no. 1.

Why shouldn't no. 1 be the greatest, karl? I think it's ingeniously constructed and extremly moving.

[karlhenning]

Why shouldn't no. 1 be the greatest, karl?

I don't imagine that Brahms wrote the second, third and fourth, but came away feeling that he'd written the first the best.

I mean, I've gone on record many times calling into question the idea of "the single greatest [ x ]" . . . but if there is a "greatest Brahms symphony," I doubt that the composer himself would designate the first.

[Sef]

I don't imagine that Brahms wrote the second, third and fourth, but came away feeling that he'd written the first the best.

I mean, I've gone on record many times calling into question the idea of "the single greatest [ x ]" . . . but if there is a "greatest Brahms symphony," I doubt that the composer himself would designate the first.

Agreed - but I'm asking you, not him.

[Bulldog]

So, Ray:  Brahms went downhill after № 1, eh? 

It's possible - Schumann went downhill.  At any rate, no. 1 is as popular as the other three.

Just dawned on me that we have two Brahms symphony threads - a greatest and a favorite.  Makes sense.

[Sef]

It's possible - Schumann went downhill.  At any rate, no. 1 is as popular as the other three.

Just dawned on me that we have two Brahms symphony threads - a greatest and a favorite.  Makes sense.

Yes I created this thread yesterday after commenting on the "I'm Fed Up With Arguments Over The "Greatest" Or "Favorite" " thread. I was trying to make a point on the difference between the two, but if people are going to vote for the first on both threads then I think it might have backfired! My general point was that you can argue (quite passionately) about the "Greatest" because there can only be one correct answer, but you can't really argue about a personal "Favourite".

[Senta]

Greatest - the 4th
Favorite - the 3rd

At least for me. The 4th is my second favorite though, it's so hard to choose between them!

[karlhenning]

It's possible - Schumann went downhill.

That early?

BTW, I have a slow-burn project to find the point at which Schumann actually did go downhill.  I haven't yet heard that, in the late works that I've gotten to know in recent years.  Help a chap out? 

[ChamberNut]

That early?

BTW, I have a slow-burn project to find the point at which Schumann actually did go downhill.  I haven't yet heard that, in the late works that I've gotten to know in recent years.  Help a chap out? 

Perhaps a listen to the Violin Concerto might convince you?   

[karlhenning]

Perhaps a listen to the Violin Concerto might convince you?   

Well, one (admittedly casual) listen did not . . . .