Six favourite last symphonies.

[vandermolen]

Composer must have written at least three symphonies:

Honegger: Symphony 5 'Three Ds' (favourite recording Igor Markevitch on DGG)
Vaughan Williams: Symphony 9 (Stokowski, Cala)
Miaskovsky: Symphony 27 (Gauk - not available)
Bainton: Symphony 3 (Handley, Chandos)
Shostakovich: Symphony 15 (Maxim Shostakovich USSR SO EMI/Melodiya LP)
Shebalin: Symphony 5 (Svetlanov, Olympia)

Note it says 'favourite'. Had it been 'greatest' the list would be different for me (Bruckner and Mahler, for example, would have featured - Shostakovich and Vaughan Williams would have featured on both lists).

[Autumn Leaves]

Some obvious choices for me but heres my list:

Beethoven #9
Bruckner #9
Mahler #9
Shostakovich #15
Sibelius #7
Tchaikovsky #6

I think Karajan on DG is my favourite version for all of these apart from Shostakovich where I like Maxim Shostakovich's performance on Melodiya.

[Keep Going]

Brahms 4
Bruckner 9
Mendelssohn 3 Scottish (was in fact his last completed symphony)
Prokofiev 7
Sibelius 7
Tchaikovsky 6 Pathetique

[Keep Going]

Mahler #9

This wasn't his last symphony. 

[Autumn Leaves]

This wasn't his last symphony. 

Sure its his last completed one - I wouldn't list the 10th as his final Symphony.
Edit: Oh and before you jump on me with but Bruckner's 9th wasn't completed either - he finished 3 of the movments so that's close enough in my book

[Wanderer]

Beethoven: Symphony No. 9
Bruckner: Symphony No. 9
Brahms: Symphony No. 4
Sibelius: Symphony No. 7
Mahler: Symphony No. 10
Schubert: Symphony No. 9

[vandermolen]

Thanks very much for the interesting replies already. Silly me, forgetting to include Tchaikovsky and Sibelius    - both favourites and greatest in my view.

[Mirror Image]

In no particular order:

Shostakovich 15 (Haitink/LPO)
Bruckner 9 (Giulini/Wiener Phil.)
Rachmaninov 3 (Stokowski/National Phil.)
Mahler 9 (Chailly/RCO)
Sibelius 7 (Vanska/Lahti SO)
Nielsen 6 (Oramo/Royal Stockholm Phil.)

[Sergeant Rock]

Shostakovich 15 (Sanderling/Cleveland)
Brahms 4 (Kleiber/Vienna)
Schmidt 4 (Mehta/Vienna)
Vaughan Williams 9 (Haitink/LPO)
Mahler 10 (Levine/Philadelphia)
Saint-Saens 3 "Organ" (Barenboim/Chicago)

[jochanaan]

Mozart #41
Haydn #104
Tchaikovsky #6
Prokofiev #7
Sibelius #7
and of course
Beethoven #9

(Since there is some question about whether Bruckner #9 and Mahler #10 count as "completed symphonies," I had to leave them out, despite my love for both, to make room for other undisputed masterpieces, in particular the Mozart and Haydn which we often forget in such lists.)

[Maestro267]

Tchaikovsky 6
Arnold 9
Beethoven 9
Lloyd 12
Shostakovich 15
Dvorak 9

[SharpEleventh]

Mahler 10
Bruckner 9
Schubert 9
Scriabin 3
Tchaikovsky 6
Sibelius 7

[Ken B]

Sibelius 7
Schubert C+
Bruckner 9
Brahms 4
Schmidt 4
Stravinsky 3 Mvmts
Simpson 9

[relm1]

Arnold: Symphony No. 9
Mahler: Symphony No. 9
Bruckner: Symphony No. 9
Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 9
...damn you No. 9 curse!
Shostakovitch: Symphony No. 15
Sibelius: Symphony No. 7

[Ken B]

Brahms 4
Bruckner 9
Mendelssohn 3 Scottish (was in fact his last completed symphony)
Prokofiev 7
Sibelius 7
Tchaikovsky 6 Pathetique

Ah, I did not know that about the Scottish. Interesting.

[Trout]

Beethoven 9
Mahler 10
Sibelius 7
Tchaikovsky 6
Ives 4
Bruch 3

[Keep Going]

Simpson 9

Robert Simpson? He wrote two more after the 9th.

[SharpEleventh]

Robert Simpson? He wrote two more after the 9th.

Maybe composers are officially declared dead after their 9th symphony. Would explain why some people have chosen Mahler's 9th too.

[Keep Going]

Maybe composers are officially declared dead after their 9th symphony. Would explain why some people have chosen Mahler's 9th too.

Indeed.  Of course some people argue that the 9th and Das Lied are 'unfinished' also since Mahler didn't get the opportunity to hear them and make refinements!

There's also the curious case of Schnittke's 9th, which some people argue has no credibility since his score was barely legible (written with his wrong hand after his final stroke) but has been 'realised' by A. Raskatov.

Bruch 3

Interesting. Will require investigation.

[Mirror Image]

Indeed.  Of course some people argue that the 9th and Das Lied are 'unfinished' also since Mahler didn't get the opportunity to hear them and make refinements!

There's also the curious case of Schnittke's 9th, which some people argue has no credibility since his score was barely legible (written with his wrong hand after his final stroke) but has been 'realised' by A. Raskatov.

I don't yet know what to make of Schnittke's 9th. It's interesting indeed, but I'm not sure how much of it is Schnittke and how much of it is Raskatov.