Brahms vs. Bruckner as Symphonist

[Uhor]

Favourite Brahms: 3
Favourite Bruckner: 9

Winner of the brain: Brahms
Winner of the heart: Bruckner

[André]

Brahms rose to perfection in his last two symphonies. The first is very uneven, the second is on the way to greatness, but stops well short.

Bruckner is maddeningly uneven but even his relative failures afford a view of greatness - like Moses contemplating the Promised Land from the mountain even as he would not enter it.

[Mirror Image]

Good to see ol' Anton winning this poll. Nobody sounds like him.

[Brian]

Great, more riddles.
Which version of the 3rd?

The original Third but played as fast as possible! (Edit: except the crazy Wagner interlude)

In fact I think I like all Bruckner played much faster than is the current norm. My ideal timing for the 7th would be like 16/18/8/11.

Interesting seeing Brahms' symphonies ranked lower than the chamber music and concertos. I agree the chamber music is tops!...but the concertos are the least satisfying to me.

[TheGSMoeller]

The original Third but played as fast as possible! (Edit: except the crazy Wagner interlude)

In fact I think I like all Bruckner played much faster than is the current norm. My ideal timing for the 7th would be like 16/18/8/11.

Uncle Roger has you covered!
No. 7 timing - 15/19/9/11

[Sergeant Rock]

...and the other great symphony is...now here is where I really go off the deep end... 3 

As I said before the crash, I've been swimming in the deep end for half a century. The Third is my favorite Bruckner symphony.

Sarge

[71 dB]

Bruckner by a million miles. I never cared much for Brahms' music.

Don't care much about Brahms' orchestral music, but his chamber music is great imo.