Favourite Shostakovich symphonies...

[greg]

The Second has some remarkable moments before the rather uninspiring final chorus

Yes, the symphony before the chorus part is insane! One of my favorite DSCH moments of all time!  
Then he had to pull out the chorus and ruin it.....  

As for the 3rd, I've tried, but it's the only one of his symphonies that I can listen to and find absolutely nothing to like.

[Tomo]

I'll stand up in support of No. 11.  It was the first Shostakovich symphony (along with No. 4) that grabbed hold of me personally, although others have since supplanted it as favorites (maybe No. 13 at the moment).  Was actually listening to it when I can onto the thread and, from the threatening mood of the first movement to the aftermath in the final movement with the absense of denouement, the work captivates me.


The No. 14 is on my list to give a more than perfunctory listen to next.  Maybe this weekend.  

I'll admit that I've never listened, to my recollection, to the second or third, although I own both the Barshai and Kondrashin boxes.  I'll give a listen soon and hope that I like them as much as some of you seem to.

[Tomo]

Why don't the Barshai/Kondrashin have text for No. 14?   

I want to thank Karl though.  He at least offered a glimpse of translated text on his in-depth Amazon review, as well as an interpretive vantage point by which to approach this work.

[Tapio Dmitriyevich]

I was under the impression that the Eleventh was among the popular ones. Of course, its inclusion here made voting very easy.

As is the 8th. The voting result including 8 and 11 on top position is very foreseeable.

[karlhenning]

Yes, the symphony before the chorus part is insane! One of my favorite DSCH moments of all time!  
Then he had to pull out the chorus and ruin it.....  

As for the 3rd, I've tried, but it's the only one of his symphonies that I can listen to and find absolutely nothing to like.

What have you got against opening clarinet solos? 

[Timmyb]

Didn't have to think too hard about no8 and no11, they'd be in my top three anyway along with no10.I couldn't decide between the others so I threw in a vote for no12 which I think is unjustly neglected.

[greg]

What have you got against opening clarinet solos? 

Everything. They are the cause of all of the faults of the universe. In fact, if there were no such thing as a clarinet, the universe would be perfect.
And you.... Mr.Clarinetist, are EVIL. PURE EVIL. The most wicked of the wickedest. And the wickedestest. And the wickedestestest. Every time you play a note on that clarinet, a baby zebra dies. How does that make you feel??? 

[karlhenning]

And you.... Mr.Clarinetist, are EVIL. PURE EVIL.

First in a long time anyone has applied the adjective pure to me . . . cannot be right.

[Lethevich]

An update: I found the 8th symphony to be rather stark and powerful. The enormous opening movement followed by two smaller ones brings memories of the layout of the 6th, but then plummets to more abyssal depths. The quiet ending is very strong, and overall the symphony works brilliantly as the yang to the yin of the 7th (the way I recall somebody on GMG describing Mahler's 5th and 6th symphonies). Looking forward to the 9th.

[offbeat]

An update: I found the 8th symphony to be rather stark and powerful. The enormous opening movement followed by two smaller ones brings memories of the layout of the 6th, but then plummets to more abyssal depths. The quiet ending is very strong, and overall the symphony works brilliantly as the yang to the yin of the 7th (the way I recall somebody on GMG describing Mahler's 5th and 6th symphonies). Looking forward to the 9th.

Nice description of the 8th - especially like yr description of the 4th movement as abyssal depths. This is music without hope - complete despair - probably one of his most remarkable utterances !!