Your Top 20 Favorite 20th Century Orchestral Works

[relm1]

Havergal Brian Symphony No.1 "Gothic"
Vaughan Williams Symphony No.4
George Lloyd Symphony No.7
Berg Violin Concerto
Schoenberg Serenade op.24

Roy Harris Symphony no.3
Mahler Symphony No.6
Nielsen Symphony No.3
Sibelius Symphony No.5
Elgar Symphony No.1

Ruggles Sun-treader
Shostakovich Symphony No.15
Prokofiev Symphony No.7
Stravinsky Le sacre du printemps
Debussy La mer (dedicated to Ken B  )

Schmidt Symphony No.4
Janacek Sinfonietta
Herrmann Symphony
Korngold Symphony in F sharp major
Ives Symphony No.2

Sarge

Hey man, your list is what mine would be had I written it.  Even with the obscure Herrmann making it to your list.  You're stealing my style. 

[Sergeant Rock]

Hey man, your list is what mine would be had I written it.  Even with the obscure Herrmann making it to your list.  You're stealing my style.

Sorry, dude 

Sarge

[aesthetic]

An attempt, sans concerti ...

Adams: Harmonielehre
Bax: Symphony No. 1
Glass: Symphony No. 3
Hindemith: Trauermusik
Honegger: Symphony No. 3 'Liturgique'

Ives: The Unanswered Question
Korngold: Symphony in F-sharp major
Mahler: Symphony No. 9
Martinů: Toccata e Due Canzoni
Milhaud: La Création du monde

Pärt: Fratres
Poulenc: Sinfonietta
Prokofiev: Symphony No. 7
Rachmaninov: Symphonic Dances
Rautavaara: Symphony No. 7 'Angel of Light'

Shostakovich: Symphony No. 4
Sibelius: Symphony No. 7
Strauss: Metamorphosen
Takemitsu: Requiem
Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 5

[Sergeant Rock]

This could have been, more or less, my list too although I need to get my head round the Berg Violin Concerto. Great to see the Herrmann and Korngold symphonies here. I wonder if Sir Donald Tovey's Symphony will feature in the future. 

He may. I listened to it yesterday. I particularly like the inner movements.

Sarge

[vandermolen]

He may. I listened to it yesterday. I particularly like the inner movements.

Sarge

Delighted to hear that Sarge - I was worried that you wouldn't like it. The slow movement is my favourite but increasingly I like the whole work - especially for the possible glimpses of a troubled soul beneath the academic surface.

[vandermolen]

An attempt, sans concerti ...

Adams: Harmonielehre
Bax: Symphony No. 1
Glass: Symphony No. 3
Hindemith: Trauermusik
Honegger: Symphony No. 3 'Liturgique'

Ives: The Unanswered Question
Korngold: Symphony in F-sharp major
Mahler: Symphony No. 9
Martinů: Toccata e Due Canzoni
Milhaud: La Création du monde

Pärt: Fratres
Poulenc: Sinfonietta
Prokofiev: Symphony No. 7
Rachmaninov: Symphonic Dances
Rautavaara: Symphony No. 7 'Angel of Light'

Shostakovich: Symphony No. 4
Sibelius: Symphony No. 7
Strauss: Metamorphosen
Takemitsu: Requiem
Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 5

Very much share your enthusiasm for many of these scores - nice to see another vote for Bax.

[Christo]

Thanking all of you for the inspiration, my spontaneous pick tends to look like: 

Senza sinfonie e concerti
Samuel Barber: Second Essay for orchestra
Béla Bartók: Music for Strings, Percussion & Celesta
Joly Braga Santos: Variacoes Sinfónicas sobre um tema Alentejano
Claude Debussy: La Mer
Manuel de Falla: El Sombrero de Tres Picos
George Gershwin: An American in Paris
Alberto Ginastera: Variaciones concertantes
Gustav Holst: The Planets
Leoš Janáček: Taras Bulba
Rued Langgaard: Sfærernes Musik (Music of the Spheres)
Bohuslav Martinů: Podobenství (The Parables)
Gabriel Pierné: Divertissements sur un thème pastoral
Sergei Rakhmaninov: Symphonic Dances
Maurice Ravel: Le Tombeau de Couperin
Alan Rawsthorne: Symphonic Studies
Ottorino Respighi: Trittico Botticelliano
Nikos Skalkottas: 36 Greek Dances
Igor Strawinsky: Petrushka
Geirr Tveitt: A Hundred Folk Melodies from Hardanger
Ralph Vaughan Williams: Partita for Double String Orchestra

Sinfonie
Malcolm Arnold: No. 9
Samuel Barber: No. 2
Stanley Bate: No. 3
Paul Ben-Haim: No. 2
Joly Braga Santos: No. 3
Havergal Brian: No. 1 'Gothic'
Eugene Goossens: No. 1
Camargo Guarnieri: No. 2 'Uirapuru'
Vagn Holmboe: No. 8 'Boreale'
Arthur Honegger: No. 3 'Liturgique'
John Kinsella: No. 7
Gustav Mahler: No. 6
Bohuslav Martinu: Fantaisies symphoniques (No. 6)
Carl Nielsen: No. 5
Edmund Rubbra: No. 10 'da camaracamera' EDIT 
Dmitri Shostakovich: No. 10
Michael Tippett: No. 2
Charles Tournemire: No. 6
Eduard Tubin: No. 6
Ralph Vaughan Williams: No. 6

Concerti
William Alwyn: Lyra Angelica
Malcolm Arnold: Guitar Concerto
Samuel Barber: Violin Concerto
Lennox Berkeley: Concerto for two pianos
Frank Bridge: Oration: concerto elegiaco
Leo Brouwer: Retrats Catalans
Manuel de Falla: Noches en los jardines de España
Alberto Ginastera: Concierto para arpa y orquesta
John Ireland: Concertino Pastorale
Leoš Janáček: Putování dušičky (Wandering of a little soul)
Bohuslav Martinů: Double Concerto for Two String Orchestras, Piano & Timpani
Arvo Pärt: Fratres
Manuel Ponce: Concierto del sur
Maurice Ravel: Piano Concerto in G
Joaquin Rodrigo: Concierto d'Aranjuez
Dmitri Shostakovich: Violin Concerto No. 1
Germaine Tailleferre: Concertino pour harpe et orchestra
Vilem Tausky: Harmonica Concertino
Pēteris Vasks: Violin Concerto 'Tālā gaisma'
Ralph Vaughan Williams: Concerto for oboe and strings

[Mirror Image]

Thanking all of you for the inspiration, my spontaneous pick tends to look like: 

Senza sinfonie e concerti
Samuel Barber: Second Essay for orchestra
Béla Bartók: Music for Strings, Percussion & Celesta
Joly Braga Santos: Variacoes Sinfónicas sobre um tema Alentejano
Claude Debussy: La Mer
Manuel de Falla: El Sombrero de Tres Picos
George Gershwin: An American in Paris
Alberto Ginastera: Variaciones concertantes
Gustav Holst: The Planets
Leoš Janáček: Taras Bulba
Rued Langgaard: Sfærernes Musik (Music of the Spheres)
Bohuslav Martinů: Podobenství (The Parables)
Gabriel Pierné: Divertissements sur un thème pastoral
Sergei Rakhmaninov: Symphonic Dances
Maurice Ravel: Le Tombeau de Couperin
Alan Rawsthorne: Symphonic Studies
Ottorino Respighi: Trittico Botticelliano
Nikos Skalkottas: 36 Greek Dances
Igor Strawinsky: Petrushka
Geirr Tveitt: A Hundred Folk Melodies from Hardanger
Ralph Vaughan Williams: Partita for Double String Orchestra

Sinfonie
Malcolm Arnold: No. 9
Samuel Barber: No. 2
Stanley Bate: No. 3
Paul Ben-Haim: No. 2
Joly Braga Santos: No. 3
Havergal Brian: No. 1 'Gothic'
Eugene Goossens: No. 1
Camargo Guarnieri: No. 2 'Uirapuru'
Vagn Holmboe: No. 8 'Boreale'
Arthur Honegger: No. 3 'Liturgique'
John Kinsella: No. 7
Gustav Mahler: No. 6
Bohuslav Martinu: Fantaisies symphoniques (No. 6)
Carl Nielsen: No. 5
Edmund Rubbra: No. 10 'da camaracamera' EDIT 
Dmitri Shostakovich: No. 10
Michael Tippett: No. 2
Charles Tournemire: No. 6
Eduard Tubin: No. 6
Ralph Vaughan Williams: No. 6

Concerti
William Alwyn: Lyra Angelica
Malcolm Arnold: Guitar Concerto
Samuel Barber: Violin Concerto
Lennox Berkeley: Concerto for two pianos
Frank Bridge: Oration: concerto elegiaco
Leo Brouwer: Retrats Catalans
Manuel de Falla: Noches en los jardines de España
Alberto Ginastera: Concierto para arpa y orquesta
John Ireland: Concertino Pastorale
Leoš Janáček: Putování dušičky (Wandering of a little soul)
Bohuslav Martinů: Double Concerto for Two String Orchestras, Piano & Timpani
Arvo Pärt: Fratres
Manuel Ponce: Concierto del sur
Maurice Ravel: Piano Concerto in G
Joaquin Rodrigo: Concierto d'Aranjuez
Dmitri Shostakovich: Violin Concerto No. 1
Germaine Tailleferre: Concertino pour harpe et orchestra
Vilem Tausky: Harmonica Concertino
Pēteris Vasks: Violin Concerto 'Tālā gaisma'
Ralph Vaughan Williams: Concerto for oboe and strings

Now if only you can condense these lists down to 20.

[arpeggio]

I could not come up with just twenty but if I did the following works would be on the list that have not yet been mentioned (I did a search.  I apologize if I made any mistakes    )
   
Schuman: Symphony No. 3
Piston: Symphony No. 2
Walton: Variations on a Theme by Hindemith
Carter: Variations for Orchestra
Barber: Symphony No. 1 (I noticed several mentioned some of his other works including the Symphony No. 2)
Britten: Sinfonia da Requiem
Lutoslawski: Concerto for Orchestra

I am stunned that I could not find the Hindemith Symphonic Metamorphosis.  I have performed this work and it is awesome.

There are three living composers who have composed works that really excite me that I do not think have been mentioned: James MacMillan, Richard Danielpour and Kalevi Aho.  I better stop before I come up with a fourth or fifth or sixth or.... I give up. 

[SymphonicAddict]

I could not come up with just twenty but if I did the following works would be on the list that have not yet been mentioned (I did a search.  I apologize if I made any mistakes).

Schuman: Symphony No. 3
Piston: Symphony No. 2
Walton: Variations on a Theme by Hindemith
Carter: Variations for Orchestra
Barber: Symphony No. 1 (I noticed several mentioned some of his other works including the Symphony No. 2)
Britten: Sinfonia da Requiem
Lutoslawski: Concerto for Orchestra

I am stunned that I could not find the Hindemith Symphonic Metamorphosis.  I have performed this work and it is awesome.

They are two great works I like so much too. The Barber's is astounding, I prefer it instead of the 2nd.

[Mirror Image]

I could not come up with just twenty but if I did the following works would be on the list that have not yet been mentioned (I did a search.  I apologize if I made any mistakes    )
   
Schuman: Symphony No. 3
Piston: Symphony No. 2
Walton: Variations on a Theme by Hindemith
Carter: Variations for Orchestra
Barber: Symphony No. 1 (I noticed several mentioned some of his other works including the Symphony No. 2)
Britten: Sinfonia da Requiem
Lutoslawski: Concerto for Orchestra

I am stunned that I could not find the Hindemith Symphonic Metamorphosis.  I have performed this work and it is awesome.

There are three living composers who have composed works that really excite me that I do not think have been mentioned: James MacMillan, Richard Danielpour and Kalevi Aho.  I better stop before I come up with a fourth or fifth or sixth or.... I give up. 

To the bolded text: it's not really a question as to whether something has been mentioned, but, rather, a work is actually your favorite. This goes for everyone who can't assemble a list: this isn't a competition --- this is about YOU and no one else.

[arpeggio]

They are two great works I like so much too. The Barber's is astounding, I prefer it instead of the 2nd.

I preferred the First over the Second.  Even though there is some fine music in the Symphony Barber hated it.  There is a very informative article about it in Wikipedia and it confirms what I have read about it in other sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphony_No._2_(Barber).  If memory serves me I think he used parts of the first movement in his Opera Anthony and Cleopatra.

[vandermolen]

I think that I should have included Rawsthorne's 'Symphonic Studies'.

[Christo]

Now if only you can condense these lists down to 20.

Okay, con sinfonie e concerti:

Claude Debussy: La Mer (1905)
Igor Stravinsky: Le sacre du printemps (1913)
Maurice Ravel: Le tombeau de Couperin (1917)
Manuel de Falla: El sombrero de tres picos (1919)
Matthijs Vermeulen: Symphony No. 2 'Prélude à la nouvelle journée' (1920)
Ralph Vaughan Williams: A Pastoral Symphony (1921)
Carl Nielsen: Symphony No. 5 (1922)
Leoš Janáček: Sinfonietta (1926)
Germaine Tailleferre: Concertino pour harpe et orchestra (1928)
Ottorino Respighi: Metamorphoseon: Modio XII (1930)
Gabriel Pierné: Divertissements sur un thème pastoral (1931)
Zoltán Kodály: Concerto for Orchestra (1940)
Jesús Guridi: Diez melodias vascas (1941)
Béla Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra (1943)
Havergal Brian: Sinfonia Tragica (1948)
Joly Braga Santos: Symphony No. 4 (1950)
Eduard Tubin: Symphony No. 6 (1954)
Vagn Holmboe: Symphony No. 9 (1969)
Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphony No. 15 (1971)
Geirr Tveitt: A Hundred Folk Tunes from Hardanger (1954-75)

[Brian]

Off the top of my head:

Barber - Violin Concerto
Janacek - Sinfonietta, Glagolitic Mass
Kabelac - Mystery of Time
Lloyd - Symphony No 5
Lutoslawski - Concerto for Orchestra
Martinu - Symphony No 2, Symphony No 4
Nielsen - Symphony No 3
Prokofiev - Romeo and Juliet
Rachmaninov - Symphony No 2
Ravel - Daphnis et Chloe, Piano Concerto in G, Left Hand Piano Concerto
Rouse - Flute Concerto
Shostakovich - Piano Concerto No 1
Sibelius - Symphony No 5, Symphony No 7
Vaughan Williams - Symphony No 3, Symphony No 5

I quickly came up with 19, then foundered trying to decide on #20. Ultimately chose Rouse since nobody's mentioned Rouse.

Contenders for the 20th spot: Holmboe Viola Concerto, Elgar Symphony No 2, Copland Billy the Kid (complete), Fantasia on Themes by Thomas Tallis, Rautavaara Canto IV, Gershwin An American in Paris, Glass Symphony No 3, Shostakovich Symphony No 9, Martinu Oboe Concerto, Kernis Musica Celestis (arr. from his String Quartet No 1), Ibert Divertissement

[Christo]

Off the top of my head:

Barber - Violin Concerto
Janacek - Sinfonietta, Glagolitic Mass
Kabelac - Mystery of Time
Lloyd - Symphony No 5
Lutoslawski - Concerto for Orchestra
Martinu - Symphony No 2, Symphony No 4
Nielsen - Symphony No 3
Prokofiev - Romeo and Juliet
Rachmaninov - Symphony No 2
Ravel - Daphnis et Chloe, Piano Concerto in G, Left Hand Piano Concerto
Rouse - Flute Concerto
Shostakovich - Piano Concerto No 1
Sibelius - Symphony No 5, Symphony No 7
Vaughan Williams - Symphony No 3, Symphony No 5

I quickly came up with 19, then foundered trying to decide on #20. Ultimately chose Rouse since nobody's mentioned Rouse.

Contenders for the 20th spot: Holmboe Viola Concerto, Elgar Symphony No 2, Copland Billy the Kid (complete), Fantasia on Themes by Thomas Tallis, Rautavaara Canto IV, Gershwin An American in Paris, Glass Symphony No 3, Shostakovich Symphony No 9, Martinu Oboe Concerto, Kernis Musica Celestis (arr. from his String Quartet No 1), Ibert Divertissement

To my delight and bit of a surprise, all of these choices could have been mine, except for Lloyd (whom I never really tried) and Rouse (never even heard it). Conclusion is evident: I should try Rouse. 

[vandermolen]

To my delight and bit of a surprise, all of these choices could have been mine, except for Lloyd (whom I never really tried) and Rouse (never even heard it). Conclusion is evident: I should try Rouse. 

And don't forget Bax 

[Mirror Image]

Rouse (never even heard it). Conclusion is evident: I should try Rouse. 

I highly recommending this recording:

[Brian]

And don't forget Bax 

Shoot! Forgot Tintagel.

[Christo]

I highly recommending this recording:

Thanx! Found it on Spotify and will listen to it here (a stay in the German mountains). ;-)