Pieces that don't sound like their subtitles

[kyjo]

Just a few that come to mind:

Wellesz: Symphony no. 2 English (a fine work in the Bruckner/Mahler tradition)
Rootham: Symphony no. 2 Apocalyptic
Weigl: Symphony no. 5 Apocalyptic (rather disappointing after the apocalyptic opening)
Orthel: Symphony no. 2 Sinfonia Piccola
Chavez: Symphony no. 4 Sinfonia romantica
Schubert: Symphony no. 4 Tragic (only the opening is truly "tragic")

What others?

[jochanaan]

Brahms' Fourth Symphony was at one time called the "Tragic," but it has never sounded tragic to me despite ending in the minor.

[Brian]

Schubert: Symphony no. 4 Tragic (only the opening is truly "tragic")

I've always described Kalliwoda's Fifth to people as "if Schubert's Tragic symphony was actually Tragic."

Brahms' Fourth Symphony was at one time called the "Tragic," but it has never sounded tragic to me despite ending in the minor.

Funny, I think of that piece as almost Shakespearean! Folks do hear things differently.

-

Almost all the bogus Bruckner symphony nicknames fit in here. My mom hates the Strauss title "Death and Transfiguration," because "why should he contain our imaginations like that? To me it didn't sound like it at all. I don't like having to think, 'oh, this part's about death.' That's boring."

[Brahmsian]

Schubert:  Symphony No. 8 in B minor "Unfinished"

For me, it sounds as complete as can be.  Schubert Symphony No. 8, you complete me! 

[TheGSMoeller]

Schubert:  Symphony No. 8 in B minor "Unfinished"

For me, it sounds as complete as can be.  Schubert Symphony No. 8, you complete me! 

I agree, Ray, I wouldn't want it any other way at this point.

[amw]

Ezra Sims's "String Quartet No. 2 (1962)" is neither a string quartet nor written in 1962. I suppose that was intentional though. Milton Babbitt also has some sextets for violin and piano.

I think Sorabji's Symphonia brevis is, in fact, 90 minutes long. It's only a "short" symphony compared to his other ones.

[Brahmsian]

Prokofiev's 2nd, 3rd and 6th symphonies.

Yes, they do not have sub-titles.  However, they should!  Steel toed boot kick in the ass 1-2-3 

[TheGSMoeller]

Prokofiev's 2nd, 3rd and 6th symphonies.

Yes, they do not have sub-titles.  However, they should!  Steel toed boot kick in the ass 1-2-3 

I though the 3rd was titled, "Throw Them in the Fire!!"   

[Karl Henning]

"Throw them in the fire, angel!"

[DavidW]

Mahler's Titan might have been for it's time, but is lilliputian compared to say Brian's Gothic symphony.

[DaveF]

With apologies to any Danes reading this, Det Uudslukkelige (the word, not the wonderful symphony) sounds like two giant amphibians wrestling in a pool of slime.

[vandermolen]

Karamanov's symphony 'I am God' 

[relm1]

MacMillans "Vigil" symphony doesn't sound like the eve before a religious observance.
I think Mahler's "tragic" might better be called "manic"...but in fairness I think it wasn't him who named it.

[Parsifal]

Schubert:  Symphony No. 8 in B minor "Unfinished"

For me, it sounds as complete as can be.  Schubert Symphony No. 8, you complete me! 

I think the first movement stands alone as one of the best "overtures" of the 19th century.  The two movement form strikes me as an incomplete creation, although I like the second movement as a stand-alone piece.

[Pat B]

I agree, Ray, I wouldn't want it any other way at this point.

I have the "completed" version performed by OAE with Mackerras (they resisted the temptation to call it the "Finished"). It may be close to what Schubert was working on, but my hunch is that Schubert decided against the latter movements. It certainly works well as a 2-movement piece.

[kishnevi]

Mahler's Titan might have been for it's time, but is lilliputian compared to say Brian's Gothic symphony.

That name, which Mahler dropped rather quickly, came from a popular 19th century novel, and had nothing do with size.

Come to think of it,  I don't think there's anything particularly "gothic" about Brian's First.

[DavidW]

That name, which Mahler dropped rather quickly, came from a popular 19th century novel, and had nothing do with size.

That's rather vague, if you know the full story, would you mind posting it?

[kishnevi]

That's rather vague, if you know the full story, would you mind posting it?

Wikipedia is very concise:

For the 1893 Hamburg and 1894 Weimar performances, Mahler gave the piece the title Titan after the novel by Jean Paul, although Mahler specified that the piece was not in any way "about" the book; the nickname is often used today, but properly only applies to those two versions and should not be used in connection with the definitive final version.

And this more fully:

Title

From the outset, Mahler almost always referred to this work in his correspondence as a symphony, but other sources employ a number of different titles which imply rather fluid allegiances to the genres of symphony and symphonic poem:

a) 1889 (handbill for première): Symphoniai költemény két részben [Symphonic Poem in two parts]

b) 1891 (letter to G.F. Kogel): 'symphonic poem in two parts entitled "Aus dem Leben eines Einsamen"'

b) 1893 (ACF2): Symphonie (,,Titan")  in 5 Sätzen (2 Abtheilungen)

c) 1893 (concert announcement and programme): 'Titan'. Eine Tondichtung in Symphonieform

d) 1894 (concert programme): Titan. Symphonie in zwei Abtheilungen und fünf Sätzen

e) 1896 (ACF3): Symphonie Nro 1

f) 1896 (concert handbill): Symphonie in D-dur für grosses Orchester

g) 1899 (first edition of the full score): SYMPHONIE No 1 in D-dur

The current publicists' fad for using the title 'Titan' for performances and recordings of the published score, is to be deprecated as anachronistic.

(from http://www.cph.rcm.ac.uk/MahlerCat/pages/Symph1/Symph1.htm-- and see further down the page for quotes relevant to what exactly Mahler meant by referring to the novel, and even if he meant to refer to the novel by using its title).

[DavidW]

Thanks Jeffrey.  I hoped that the story would be more interesting than that.  It seems like a silly way to name a symphony!  I recently read and like Carrion Comfort.  Imagine if I wrote a symphony and just slapped that title on it!

[North Star]

I bet 50 Shades of Symphony would sell...