Your 2 or 3 Favorite Symphonies

[starrynight]

The polls forum will give you a good idea of what people's preferences are in all kinds of areas.

[USMC1960s]

Thank you, will take a look at that section.

[Brian]

Some previous polls
Top Symphony Slow Movements
Top American Symphonies
Top One-Movement Symphonies
Top Haydn Symphonies
Your Symphony Cycle (ie, your favorite Symphony No. 1, No. 2, etc.)
Top Symphony No. 8
Top Symphony No. 3
Top Beethoven Symphony
Top Bruckner Symphony
Top Shostakovich Symphony

[USMC1960s]

Thank you, much appreciated, don't know why I didn't notice that section of the forum.

[Mirror Image]

Actually that's a very interesting list, and I would enjoy seeing this list, along with recommended recordings, posted in the Recordings forum (or here, whatever).

That's actually a good idea, indeed. I might do this on my upcoming mini-vacation (starting the first weekend in October). Boy, this is going be challenging and time consuming, but what the hell else do I have to do?

[Mirror Image]

By the way, I see exactly what Mirror Image is getting at re unable to narrow down favorite symphonies to just two or three----I should have just asked What Are Your Favorite Symphonies (whether 2 or 100).

No reason to change your original challenge on my account, USMC. I just couldn't make a list with your restrictions, so I just created my own rules. I hope you get something from my list and all of the lists here. I may argue with many members here about this or that, but they have much more knowledge and a greater scope of things than I do and I'm constantly in awe over what the members here know. It's always a humbling experience to be in the company of people who have been listening to this music for 40 years or more. To have a fraction of what they know and have experienced, would be something else.

[Mirror Image]

It is very interesting indeed----there are 15 composers I never heard of. Things like this help me tremendously in exploring classical music. Thanks for posting this.

You're welcome. I'm happy to impart something unto another member. We're all on different paths and have completely different interests, but, sometimes, these paths cross and you'll meet someone who has as much interest in a certain composer as you do. I'm blessed to have discovered this music and, more importantly, for it to become a part of my heart and mind. Don't mean to get too gushy here, but this music has given more joy than I could ever possibly imagine. I can only hope that you're experiencing the same thing right now. Happy listening!

[Daverz]

I cannot understand you (or MI). It is a small number, but how can you not be able to pick a top 2 or 3 (or at least something close to it)?  Why can't you narrow it down? I don't see much use in a long list (not that the question will lead us to a deep conversation, but a short list is at least manageable for those interested). if you have 50 favorites, well then none of them are favorites.

My 2 favorites:
Tchaikovsky 5
Schumann 4

Hell, I couldn't pick 2 or 3 favorite Haydn symphonies let alone 2 or 3 favorites from the entire symphonic canon.  At best it might be a list of my 2 or 3 favorite today.

[vandermolen]

Miaskovsky: Symphony 6
Vaughan Williams: Symphony 6
Tubin: Symphony 2 'Legendary'

[Rinaldo]

Alan Hovhaness - #47, 'Walla Walla, Land of Many Waters'

https://www.youtube.com/v/Reij3waWtFs

Bohuslav Martinů - #4

https://www.youtube.com/v/ofciLQT2EmE

Freitas Branco - #4

https://www.youtube.com/v/ZaCSVAGsHSY https://www.youtube.com/v/kywBtbrKhlw https://www.youtube.com/v/s9atO5tW2q8 https://www.youtube.com/v/PAUQaT3saRU

[amw]

Beethoven 3 & 9
Haydn 102
Brahms 3

Hell, I couldn't pick 2 or 3 favorite Haydn symphonies let alone 2 or 3 favorites from the entire symphonic canon.  At best it might be a list of my 2 or 3 favorite today.

Don't get why everyone loves symphonies so much more than everything else.

[Daverz]

Don't get why everyone loves symphonies so much more than everything else.

Symphonies are my favorite non-concertante, absolute, multi-movement, orchestral music.

[vandermolen]

+1 for Braga Santos Symphony 4.

[Daverz]

I got me a playlist...

Schnittke: 3-5, 8

I've already been listening to 3 twice this week: The new Janowski and the old Rozhdestvensky.  Janowski's slick recording leaves me cold.  The old Soviet recording is surprisingly decent, and Rozhdestvensky really gets this wild music.

So on to the other symphonies.

Casella: 3

I know I've listened to this several times, but I don't recall an impression.

Myaskovsky: 20-27

Always hard to decide what to listen to among so many symphonies.  21 was popular at one time, and was recorded by Ormandy and Morton Gould.

Weinberg: 3-6, 17

Pretty familiar with 4 and 5 and somewhat with 6.  17 is subtitled "Memory", and there are two recordings by Fedoseyev.

Langgaard: 6

Sounds more like bad-boy Langgaard the the earlier symphonies I more familiar with.

Holmboe: 3

Don't recall anything about this one.  4 is choral and reminds me of Orff.

Nørgård 4
Rubbra 6

I have have yet to warm to Norgard; the music is too abstract.  The Rubbra I'm most familiar with are the 2 symphonies recorded by Lyrita, 2 and 7.

Alan Hovhaness - #47, 'Walla Walla, Land of Many Waters'

A road mostly untraveled for me, aside from the Mysterious Mountain.

Freitas Branco - #4

[(poco) Sforzando]

+1 for Braga Santos Symphony 4.

-99999 for same.

[Wanderer]

Beethoven 3
Schumann 2
Mahler 2 & 8
Berlioz Symphonie fantastique
Debussy La mer

I'll stop here.

Don't get why everyone loves symphonies so much more than everything else.

I don't understand this, either.

[Wanderer]

But seriously, how can anyone who has heard more than say a dozen symphonies possibly have 2 or 3 (or even 4) favorite symphonies?

I can imagine that someone who's heard only a few could have a couple of favorites.

I can imagine that someone who doesn't really like music all that much having a couple of favorites.

That's it. I can't imagine anything else.

Exactly.

[The new erato]

Don't recall anything about this one.  4 is choral and reminds me of Orff.

Did it put you orff?   

[ConorWA]

I change my mind about whats my favourite all the time but 3 Symphonies I have loved for quite a few years:

Tchaikovsky 6th
Shostakovich 5th
Sibelius 6th

[Wanderer]

Did it put you orff?   

Favourite Orff-putting symphonies: now that's an idea for a thread.