Your Top Four Brahms Symphonies

[Symphonic Addict]

Well, this thread seems to have become Nobody really likes the Brahms symphonies, do they? (An observation, not a complaint.)

It doesn't apply on me. I do love them, and there's no way to compare them with the Serenades, for example. Sorry, reality as it is. 

[LKB]

I like 3 & 4, lukewarm for 2, meh for 1.

[vandermolen]

They are all strong but 4 and 2 are probably my favourites.

[Jo498]

It doesn't apply on me. I do love them, and there's no way to compare them with the Serenades, for example. Sorry, reality as it is. 

I agree; I think the serenades and the three shorter works are all much "lighter" or otherwise not really comparable to the symphonies. I don't dislike them but I could well do without them. The concertos (except the double) are in some ways even larger and more ambitious works than the symphonies, they are all among the longest concertos in standard repertoire (which is not true of the symphonies). Nevertheless I think the challenge in the symphonies was harder for Brahms (he would never have put a comparably short and simple finale in a symphony like the rondos of the violin and double concertos).

[Cato]

They are all strong but 4 and 2 are probably my favourites.

Have you heard this performance of the Fourth Symphony ?

https://www.youtube.com/v/NlxlGd5QfRU

[Karl Henning]

I agree; I think the serenades and the three shorter works are all much "lighter" or otherwise not really comparable to the symphonies. I don't dislike them but I could well do without them.

FWIW, I feel much the same.

[ghmath]

My favorite Brahms symphony is the one by Hans Rott! 


   

I guess Brahms will not be happy with this. 

[Cato]

I guess Brahms will not be happy with this. 

 

Well, a good amount of time has passed: maybe he has changed his mind!  😇

[ghmath]

Well, a good amount of time has passed: maybe he has changed his mind!  😇

Surely you know the story

https://www.listenmusicculture.com/mastery/madness-thievery#:~:text=Brahms%20took%20a%20bite%20out%20of%20Rott%20with,of%20great%20beauty%20couldn%E2%80%99t%20possibly%20be%20Rott%E2%80%99s%20own.

[Opus131]

Well, this thread seems to have become Nobody really likes the Brahms symphonies, do they? (An observation, not a complaint.)

Brahms wouldn't be offended by this as he probably hated them all himself.

[Karl Henning]

Brahms wouldn't be offended by this as he probably hated them all himself.

With many artists, there's a difference between "I critique my own work" and, "oh, you thought I wanted your opinion, eh?"

[Spotted Horses]

I agree; I think the serenades and the three shorter works are all much "lighter" or otherwise not really comparable to the symphonies. I don't dislike them but I could well do without them. The concertos (except the double) are in some ways even larger and more ambitious works than the symphonies, they are all among the longest concertos in standard repertoire (which is not true of the symphonies). Nevertheless I think the challenge in the symphonies was harder for Brahms (he would never have put a comparably short and simple finale in a symphony like the rondos of the violin and double concertos).

The serenades are more intimate than the symphonies, but I find them brilliant within their scope. I wouldn't want to do without anything I've heard from Brahms.

[ghmath]

Cato: you can also look at

https://mahlerfoundation.org/mahler/contemporaries/hans-rott/

[(poco) Sforzando]

Does the Brahms/Schoenberg 1st Piano Quartet not qualify as a symphony?

[vers la flamme]

Does the Brahms/Schoenberg 1st Piano Quartet not qualify as a symphony?

Barely even qualifies as Brahms, though it is a good work.

[Florestan]

If I never ever heard a Brahms symphony anymore, I would not think I lost much, or even anything at all. 

[Spotted Horses]

If I never ever heard a Brahms symphony anymore, I would not think I lost much, or even anything at all. 

If you've lost the ability to appreciate Brahms you've lost a great deal.

[Cato]

Surely you know the story

https://www.listenmusicculture.com/mastery/madness-thievery#:~:text=Brahms%20took%20a%20bite%20out%20of%20Rott%20with,of%20great%20beauty%20couldn%E2%80%99t%20possibly%20be%20Rott%E2%80%99s%20own.

Oh yes, I know it well!  Thanks for the link!

Does the Brahms/Schoenberg 1st Piano Quartet not qualify as a symphony?

Schoenberg thought it needed an orchestra and that it did not work well as a piano quartet.

Schoenberg was a great admirer of Brahms.

[Scion7]

If I never ever heard a Brahms symphony anymore, I would not think I lost much, or even anything at all. 

That's ... tragic. 

[Florestan]

If you've lost the ability to appreciate Brahms you've lost a great deal.

I've always liked Brahms' chamber and piano music. It's the symphonies that do nothing for me.