Schubert symphony numbering

Started by Brian, September 27, 2015, 08:32:34 AM

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Which Schubert symphony numbering do you prefer?

No. 7 "Unfinished", No. 8 "Great C major"
3 (13%)
No. 7 unfinished in E major, No. 8 "Unfinished", No. 9 "Great C major"
15 (65.2%)
Uhhhh...whatever Wikipedia says.
0 (0%)
Randomize the numbers to confuse everyone!
1 (4.3%)
Honestly, I've never really given this much/any thought.
4 (17.4%)

Total Members Voted: 19

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Brian

September 27, 2015, 08:32:34 AM
Inspired by my agreement with amw in the "Favorite Symphony No. 7" thread.

Ken B

#1
September 27, 2015, 02:31:32 PM
Quote from: Brian on September 27, 2015, 08:32:34 AM
Inspired by my agreement with amw in the "Favorite Symphony No. 7" thread.

I just pulled a fast one on that thread ...

I learned the Great C Major as #7. So I prefer that numbering.

Sergeant Rock

#2
September 27, 2015, 03:37:10 PM
8 Unfinished, 9 the Great C major...

Sarge
the phone rings and somebody says,
"hey, they made a movie about
Mahler, you ought to go see it.
he was as f*cked-up as you are."
                               --Charles Bukowski, "Mahler"

Ken B

#3
September 27, 2015, 03:49:31 PM
Quote from: Sergeant Rock on September 27, 2015, 03:37:10 PM
8 Unfinished, 9 the Great C major...

Sarge

No-one should write more symphonies than he can count.

Jo498

#4
September 27, 2015, 10:50:34 PM
I prefer Unfinished in b minor as #8, "Great" as #9. Mainly because I am used to it and it still seems most common on CD covers. The free slot for the hardly known #7 E major sketch is an added bonus but not the major consideration. (There are several other fragments that will not get a slot anyway.)
The numbers are not that relevant for the last two: I usually just say " the b minor" or "Unfinished" and the "(Great) C major" (I would mention the #6 for the "little" C major to avoid confusion).
Tout le malheur des hommes vient d'une seule chose, qui est de ne savoir pas demeurer en repos, dans une chambre.
- Blaise Pascal

Scion7

#5
September 27, 2015, 11:02:24 PM
Think I'll go with what has historically been the norm here.
Stirring this pot seems a bit ....
When, a few months before his death, Rachmaninov lamented that he no longer had the "strength and fire" to compose, friends reminded him of the Symphonic Dances, so charged with fire and strength. "Yes," he admitted. "I don't know how that happened. That was probably my last flicker."

ritter

#6
September 27, 2015, 11:05:32 PM
I am a traditionalist in this: #8 "Unfinished", #9 "The Great"....

vandermolen

#7
October 04, 2015, 11:38:37 AM
Quote from: ritter on September 27, 2015, 11:05:32 PM
I am a traditionalist in this: #8 "Unfinished", #9 "The Great"....
Me too!
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Archaic Torso of Apollo

#8
October 04, 2015, 12:10:19 PM
Quote from: ritter on September 27, 2015, 11:05:32 PM
I am a traditionalist in this: #8 "Unfinished", #9 "The Great"....

Me too, for reasons expressed in this thread:

http://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,23064.msg791289.html
formerly VELIMIR (before that, Spitvalve)

"Who knows not strict counterpoint, lives and dies an ignoramus" - CPE Bach

Todd

#9
October 04, 2015, 12:25:37 PM
Quote from: Sergeant Rock on September 27, 2015, 03:37:10 PM
8 Unfinished, 9 the Great C major...


QFT.
The universe is change; life is opinion. - Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

People would rather believe than know - E.O. Wilson

Propaganda death ensemble - Tom Araya

Maestro267

#10
October 13, 2015, 06:23:54 AM
I think the B minor should be No. 7, and the "Great" C major should be No. 8. Not enough exists of the E major symphony to convince me it should be given a space in his symphonic canon.

ComposerOfAvantGarde

#11
October 13, 2015, 04:02:06 PM
Quote from: Maestro267 on October 13, 2015, 06:23:54 AM
I think the B minor should be No. 7, and the "Great" C major should be No. 8. Not enough exists of the E major symphony to convince me it should be given a space in his symphonic canon.

The sketches are apparently detailed enough, like Mahler's 10th, but unlike Beethoven's 10th which people seem to obsess over a bit more than Schubert's E major symphony. However, I do agree with you based on your reasoning. With almost every other composer, sketched out/abandoned symphonies are not usually denoted a number as grand as 'SYMPHONY NO. 7' but rather referred to by a key.....

amw

#12
October 13, 2015, 05:51:16 PM
Quote from: ComposerOfAvantGarde on October 13, 2015, 04:02:06 PM
The sketches are apparently detailed enough, like Mahler's 10th,
Not really; after the first 50-60 bars (of 1200+) it's just a single line with occasional instrumentation indications. Mahler 10 was about two-fifths orchestrated, and the short score is much more detailed.

I've been converted over to Unfinished = 7 and Great C major = 8 for a while, though realistically speaking, one doesn't need numbers for those two anyway.
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