Your 10 or top favourite symphonists

[Symphonic Addict]

Beethoven
Mahler
Brahms
Pettersson
Nielsen
Bruckner
Veinberg
Rubbra
Brian
Shostakovich


Bonus Entry: Bax

Bax, yes! And thumbs up for Bruckner, Rubbra and Weinberg, and Pettersson, of course! Not for everyone, but when you need cathartic moments, you look for your dose of Pettersson.

[Mirror Image]

With the aforementioned first indications, it hasn't! 

And thanks for participating!

[Symphonic Addict]

Chronologically-ish:

Haydn
Beethoven
Kalliwoda
Dvorak
Tchaikovsky
Sibelius
Nielsen
Shostakovich
Vaughan Williams
Rouse

Haydn, Dvorak and Tchaikovsky would make a second list. Indispensable composers for me, even though I don't listen to Haydn frequently.

[Symphonic Addict]

This violates rule #2 of the OP, namely that you can identify each symphony very well. 

Quick, what's the difference between Haydn's 17 and 34? Or his 26 and 52? 

Good observation, Andrei! 

[Symphonic Addict]

Fixed. 

[Symphonic Addict]

26, 34 and 52 are all fairly memorable minor-key symphonies with easily recogniseable thematic ideas, so this probably wasn't the best choice of random numbers.

Ok, let's say... 67, 36 and 2?

[Symphonic Addict]

For me it's definitely harder to distinguish the first ~20 Mozart symphonies from one another than the first ~30 Haydn ones.

Same here.

[Symphonic Addict]

Okay, here's my list:

Haydn
Boccherini
Mozart
Schubert
Mendelssohn
Schumann
Dvorak
Tchaikovsky
Mahler
Rachmaninoff
Sibelius

I'd like to read each description of the Boccherini, Mozart and Haydn. 

[Symphonic Addict]

In alphabetical order:

Bruckner
Dvořák
Mahler
Nielsen
Schubert
Schumann
Shostakovich
Sibelius
Taneyev
Tchaikovsky

By Schumann I do love his even-numbered symphonies (2, 4), but I could live without the others. Marvelous choices the others, btw!

[Symphonic Addict]

Beethoven
Haydn
Mahler
Brahms
Bruckner
Mozart
Dvorak
Nielsen
Schumann
Sibelius

Very Austro-German-influenced, it's rather clear they dominated the "production" of symphonies like any other nations in Europe in the times of Haydn-Mahler.

[Symphonic Addict]

Havergal Brian
George Lloyd
Haydn
Bruckner
Mahler
Sibelius
Elgar
Dvorak
Vaughan Williams
Beethoven

classicalgeek would surely share this list with his.

[Symphonic Addict]

I guess I'll thrown my picks into the ring:

In order:

1. Mahler
2. Sibelius
3. Bruckner
4. Shostakovich
5. Tchaikovsky
6. Dvořák
7. Vaughan Williams
8. Nielsen
9. Martinů
10. Ives

Martinu is one of those indispensable composers IMO. There is simply much music in many musical forms and style by him. Inventiveness aplenty.

[Mirror Image]

Martinu is one of those indispensable composers IMO. There is simply much music in many musical forms and style by him. Inventiveness aplenty.

Yep, his music continues to astound me time and time again. Never get tired of him and, to be honest, when I first heard his music (his 1st symphony to be exact), I struggled with it. But it seems that the composers I struggle with but remain continuously curious or allured by end up becoming favorites of mine in the end. Strange how it all worked out like that for me.

[amw]

Ok, let's say... 67, 36 and 2?

67: Unique and memorable in every respect, and one of my favourite symphonies by anyone. Recommend just listening to it.
36: I believe this is the one with an extensive solo violin part in the slow movement, but don't remember very much else.
2: Yeah, don't remember anything musical about this one, just that either it or another one is believed to be his earliest symphony.

[amw]

Anyway I guess I didn't provide a list, but it would be the usual suspects: Haydn, Mozart, Schubert, Dvořák, Brahms, Martinů, Nielsen, Sibelius, Stravinsky, Hindemith. I don't feel quite comfortable putting anyone else in the same rank, even Shostakovich or Beethoven (or other composers whose symphonies have been important to me at various points in my life: Tippett, Gerhard, Simpson, Rubbra, Prokofiev, Nørgård etc.)

[Brian]

Shoot, I feel dumb for forgetting Martinu.

Haydn 67 is absolutely amazing. I second amw's comments.

I don't feel quite comfortable putting anyone else in the same rank, even Shostakovich or Beethoven

Heresy!

[kyjo]

Just realized I haven't participated in this thread yet! I'm restricting myself to composers who wrote four or more symphonies (sorry, Elgar and Casella!) and whose symphonic output I consistently enjoy. In some sort of order:

1. Antonín Dvořák
2. Jean Sibelius
3. Kurt Atterberg
4. George Lloyd
5. Carl Nielsen
6. Ralph Vaughan Williams
7. Sergei Rachmaninoff (incl. The Bells to fit my quota)
8. Sergei Prokofiev
9. Joly Braga Santos
10. Arnold Bax/Malcolm Arnold (depending on the day )

Okay, it's not that different from my list of 10 favorite composers, but there's a few important observations to be made. Brahms and Saint-Saëns are amongst my 10 favorite composers, but I didn't include them here. With Brahms, I love his 3rd and 4th symphonies but can take or leave the first two; and with S-S, his Organ Symphony is one of my all-time favorites, but the rest are all relatively early works which are very enjoyable but not "meaty" enough to elevate him into the ranks of my favorite symphonists.

[Karl Henning]

Just realized I haven't participated in this thread yet! I'm restricting myself to composers who wrote four or more symphonies (sorry, Elgar and Casella!) and whose symphonic output I consistently enjoy. In some sort of order:

1. Antonín Dvořák
2. Jean Sibelius
3. Kurt Atterberg
4. George Lloyd
5. Carl Nielsen
6. Ralph Vaughan Williams
7. Sergei Rachmaninoff (incl. The Bells to fit my quota)
8. Sergei Prokofiev
9. Joly Braga Santos
10. Arnold Bax/Malcolm Arnold (depending on the day )

Okay, it's not that different from my list of 10 favorite composers, but there's a few important observations to be made. Brahms and Saint-Saëns are amongst my 10 favorite composers, but I didn't include them here. With Brahms, I love his 3rd and 4th symphonies but can take or leave the first two; and with S-S, his Organ Symphony is one of my all-time favorites, but the rest are all relatively early works which are very enjoyable but not "meaty" enough to elevate him into the ranks of my favorite symphonists.

Certainly a fair observation viz. Saint-Saëns. And reckoning The Bells as a Symphony is fair.

[Lisztianwagner]

Restricting the list only to ten composers:

Mahler
Beethoven
Rachmaninov
Tchaikovsky
Mozart
Shostakovich
Nielsen
Sibelius
Brahms
Prokofiev

[BWV 1080]

My pet peeve is these orchestral music lists about 'symphonies' as the term becomes way less relevant in the 20th century- I can list Stravinsky or Henze, but not Bartok, Messiaen or Takemitsu? so for large orchestral works:

Mahler
Mozart
Brahms
Stravinsky
Bartok
Messiaen
Lutoslawski
Dutilleux
Henze
Carter