"100 Greatest Symphonies"

[mn dave]

1. Symphony No. 9 in D minor "Choral" – Ludwig Van Beethoven

  2. Symphony No. 5 in C minor – Ludwig Van Beethoven

  3. Symphony No. 3 in E flat major "Eroica" – Ludwig Van Beethoven

  4. Symphony No. 6 in B minor "Pathetique" – Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky

  5. Symphony No. 41 in C major "Jupiter" – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

  6. Symphony No. 9 in E minor "From The New World" – Antonin Dvorak

  7. Symphony No. 6 in F major "Pastorale" – Ludwig Van Beethoven

  8. Symphony No. 40 in G minor – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

  9. Symphony No. 4 in E minor – Johannes Brahms

10. Symphony No. 9 in C major "The Great" – Franz Schubert

11. Symphonie Fantastique – Hector Berlioz

12. Symphony No. 8 in B minor "Unfinished" – Franz Schubert

13. Symphony No. 5 in C sharp minor – Gustav Mahler

14. Symphony No. 2 in D major – Jean Sibelius

15. Symphony No. 7 in A major – Ludwig Van Beethoven

16. Symphony No. 2 in C minor "Resurrection" – Gustav Mahler

17. Symphony No. 10 in E minor – Dmitri Shostakovich

18. Symphony No. 5 in D minor – Dmitri Shostakovich

19. Symphony No. 3 in F major – Johannes Brahms

20. Symphony No. 39 in E flat major – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

21. Symphony No. 7 in E major "Lyric" – Anton Bruckner

22. Symphony No. 4 in F minor – Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky

23. Symphony No. 1 in C minor – Johannes Brahms

24. Symphony No. 9 in D major – Gustav Mahler

25. Symphony No. 4 in E flat major "Romantic" – Anton Bruckner

26. Symphony No. 4 in A major "Italian" – Felix Mendelssohn

27. Symphony No. 38 in D major "Prague" – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

28. Symphony No. 3 in C minor "Organ" – Camille Saint Saens

29. Symphony No. 94 in G major "Surprise" – Joseph Haydn

30. Symphony No. 101 in D major "The Clock" – Joseph Haydn

31. Symphony No. 5 in B flat major – Serge Prokofiev

32. Symphony No. 5 in E minor – Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky

33. Symphony No. 104 in D major "London" – Joseph Haydn

34. Symphony No. 9 in D minor – Anton Bruckner

35. Symphony No. 5 in E flat major – Jean Sibelius

36. Mathis der Maler – Paul Hindemith

37. Symphony No. 1 in D major "Classical" – Serge Prokofiev

38. Symphony No. 8 in C minor – Anton Bruckner

39. Symphony No. 8 in G major – Antonin Dvorak

40. Symphony No. 7 in D minor – Antonin Dvorak

41. Symphony No. 2 in D major – Johannes Brahms

42. Symphony No. 3 in E flat major "Rhenish" – Robert Schumann

43. Symphony No. 2 in E minor – Sergei Rachmaninoff

44. Symphony No. 4 in B flat major – Ludwig Van Beethoven

45. Symphony in D minor – Cesar Franck

46. Symphony No. 100 in G major "Military" – Joseph Haydn

47. Symphony No. 4 in D major – Gustav Mahler

48. Symphony No. 8 in E flat major "Symphony Of A Thousand" – Gustav Mahler

49. Symphony No. 2 in G major "London" – Ralph Vaughan Williams

50. Symphony No. 1 "Titan" in D major – Gustav Mahler

51. Symphony No. 103 in E flat major "Drum Roll" – Joseph Haydn

52. Symphony No. 8 in F major – Ludwig Van Beethoven

53. Symphony No. 5 – Carl Nielsen

54. Symphony No. 5 in D major – Ralph Vaughan Williams

55. Symphony No. 3 in A minor "Scottish" – Felix Mendelssohn

56. Symphony No. 1 in F minor – Dmitri Shostakovich

57. Symphony No. 7 in C major – Jean Sibelius

58. Symphony No. 4 in F minor – Ralph Vaughan Williams

59. Symphony No. 1 in B flat major "Spring" – Robert Schumann

60. Symphony No. 45 in F sharp minor "Farewell" – Joseph Haydn

61. Symphony No. 3 in D minor – Gustav Mahler

62. Symphony No. 92 in G major "Oxford" – Joseph Haydn

63. Symphony No. 3 "The Camp Meeting" – Charles Ives

64. Symphony No. 35 in D major "Haffner" – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

65. Symphony No. 1 in E minor – Jean Sibelius

66. Symphony No. 4 in A minor – Jean Sibelius

67. Symphony No. 88 in G major – Joseph Haydn

68. Symphony No. 1 in A flat major – Edward Elgar

69. Symphony No. 6 in A minor "Tragic" – Gustav Mahler

70. Symphony No. 7 in E minor "Song of the Night" – Gustav Mahler

71. Symphony No. 4 – Charles Ives

72. Symphony No. 4 in D minor – Robert Schumann

73. Symphony No. 3 – Aaron Copland

74. Symphony No. 29 in A major – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

75. Symphony No. 4 "Inextinguishable" – Carl Nielsen

76. Symphony in Three Movements – Igor Stravinsky

77. Symphony No. 5 in B flat major – Franz Schubert

78. Symphony No. 36 in C major "Linzer" – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

79. Symphony No. 1 in B flat minor – William Walton

80. Turangalila Symphony – Oliver Messiaen

81. Symphony No. 5 in B flat major – Anton Bruckner

82. Symphony No. 3 for soprano or tenor & orchestra "Pastoral" – Ralph Vaughan Williams

83. Symphony No. 102 in B flat major – Joseph Haydn

84. Symphony No. 3 "Symphony of Sorrowful Songs" – Henryk Gorecki

85. Harold en Italie – Hector Berlioz

86. Symphony No. 2 – Charles Ives

87. Symphony No. 2 in C major – Robert Schumann

88. Faust Symphony – Franz Liszt

89. Symphony in C major – Georges Bizet

90. Symphony No. 3"Sinfonia Espansiva" – Carl Nielsen

91. Symphony No. 8 in C minor "Stalingrad" – Dmitri Shostakovich

92. Symphony No. 4 in C major "Poem of Ecstasy" – Alexander Scriabin

93. Symphony No. 2 in D major – Ludwig Van Beethoven

94. Symphony No. 1 in C major – Ludwig Van Beethoven

95. Symphony No. 2 in B minor – Alexander Borodin

96. Chamber Symphony No. 1 in E major – Arnold Schoenberg

97. Symphony No. 6 in E minor – Ralph Vaughan Williams

98. Symphony No. 7 in C major "Leningrad" – Dmitri Shostakovich

99. Symphony No. 6 in D minor – Antonin Dvorak

100. Symphony No. 14 for soprano, bass, strings, and percussion – Dmitri Shostakovich

http://www.digitaldreamdoor.com/pages/best-classic-symp.html

[M forever]

Who comes up with nonsense like this? And then spends all the time assembling such a pointless list? And why do you post that here?

[mn dave]

Who comes up with nonsense like this?

The website posted at the bottom of the list.

And then spends all the time assembling such a pointless list?

I'm only guessing, but I think people voted and this is the result.

And why do you post that here?

I put it in the beginner's area to perhaps give a newbie something to ponder.

You don't like this list, M?

[M forever]

I don't like any of these lists. The classical canon is not a hit parade. It is cultural heritage.

[mn dave]

I don't like any of these lists. The classical canon is not a hit parade. It is cultural heritage.

Sorry, M. I'm a list-oholic. 

[Brian]

That list absolutely sucks. Allow me to demonstrate:

1. Symphony No. 9 in D minor "Choral" – Ludwig Van Beethoven

  2. Symphony No. 5 in C minor – Ludwig Van Beethoven

3. Symphony No. 3 in E flat major "Eroica" – Ludwig Van Beethoven - is this symphony really better than every symphony ever written by anybody other than Beethoven?

  4. Symphony No. 6 in B minor "Pathetique" – Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky
  9. Symphony No. 4 in E minor – Johannes Brahms

As they say in Mother Russia, bullshevit. I mean, I'm as big a lover of Tchaikovsky as the next guy, but is his Sixth the best symphony ever written by any non-Beethoven person? No.  Brahms Fourth, perhaps; Mozart or Mahler, perhaps... but not really Tchaikovsky.

14. Symphony No. 2 in D major – Jean Sibelius

35. Symphony No. 5 in E flat major – Jean Sibelius

57. Symphony No. 7 in C major – Jean Sibelius

65. Symphony No. 1 in E minor – Jean Sibelius

66. Symphony No. 4 in A minor – Jean Sibelius

The author evidently has some odd ideas regarding Sibelius.

23. Symphony No. 1 in C minor – Johannes Brahms
40. Symphony No. 7 in D minor – Antonin Dvorak

Further bullshevit (and why is Dvorak's Ninth in the top ten, ahead of the Brahms 4 by the way, if his Seventh and Eight are way down in the 40s?).

41. Symphony No. 2 in D major – Johannes Brahms
99. Symphony No. 6 in D minor – Antonin Dvorak

What exactly makes these pieces so hugely different?    And since when is Dvorak's Sixth in D minor?

And finally, a sampling of things ranked lower than the Elgar First:

68. Symphony No. 1 in A flat major – Edward Elgar

91. Symphony No. 8 in C minor "Stalingrad" – Dmitri Shostakovich

93. Symphony No. 2 in D major – Ludwig Van Beethoven

94. Symphony No. 1 in C major – Ludwig Van Beethoven

98. Symphony No. 7 in C major "Leningrad" – Dmitri Shostakovich

[mn dave]

See? I posted this so Brian could tear it a new one. 

[Brian]

See? I posted this so Brian could tear it a new one. 

I'm going to tear myself a new one now, because I just realized it should be "bullshevik". 

[mn dave]

I'm going to tear myself a new one now, because I just realized it should be "bullshevik". 

Man, you belong on this list. At about #56. 

[M forever]

And finally, a sampling of things ranked lower than the Elgar First:

That's because none of these works contains multi-dimensional vibrational fields. This may be a little hard to understand though unless you are a genius.

[mn dave]

That's because none of these works contains multi-dimensional vibrational fields. This may be a little hard to understand though unless you are a genius.

It's very simple, M. See?

[Brian]

Man, you belong on this list. At about #56. 

Wow! I'm better than Mozart's "Haffner" and "Linzer" symphonies! What an honor  0:)

[mn dave]

I was hoping M would supply his own top 100 symphony list. I think he's just jealous because he doesn't have one. 

[Brian]

That's because none of these works contains multi-dimensional vibrational fields. This may be a little hard to understand though unless you are a genius.

Ah, that makes so much more sense!

[M forever]

I was hoping M would supply his own top 100 symphony list. I think he's just jealous because he doesn't have one. 

Indeed I don't. For me, the top piece is whatever I desire to listen to and enjoy at the moment. If it wasn't, then I would listen to something else.

Besides, my personal "favorites" aren't necessarily always the "most important" pieces. And they change over time anyway.

[mn dave]

Indeed I don't. For me, the top piece is whatever I desire to listen to and enjoy at the moment. If it wasn't, then I would listen to something else.

Besides, my personal "favorites" aren't necessarily always the "most important" pieces. And they change over time anyway.

At least a list like this might generate debate and also remind us of something we haven't heard in a while.

Or not.

[Brian]

I was hoping M would supply his own top 100 symphony list. I think he's just jealous because he doesn't have one. 

Here's my #1:

Brian R., Symphony No 1 in all keys, "The Best Symphony Ever"
I. Maestoso magnifico
II. Largo luxurioso
III. Allegretto amazingo
IV. Finale fantastico

And in case you were wondering, my least favorite symphony, with average concert performance timings:
Brian R., Symphony No 2 in F-flat, "The Worst Symphony Ever" [TT: 124:13]
I. Adagio agonizingo [29:31]
II. Vivace vomitante [17:23]
III. Marcia: molto moldo [36:02]
IV. Allegro con colonoscopo [41:17]

[M forever]

What kind of debate that would make any sense should this generate?

[mn dave]

What kind of debate that would make any sense should this generate?

Nothing that would interest you, I'm sure. Since you hate lists anyway.

By the way, how do you decide what to listen to at any given time?

[Brian]

What kind of debate that would make any sense should this generate?

Well, we could have a nice intellectual discussion to decide, once and for all, the timeless question of whether Beethoven's First Symphony is superior to Shostakovich's Seventh. 






ps. By the way, Dave, if it's any comfort, I have enjoyed this thread.