GMG's Greatest Symphony Poll of 2017

[TheGSMoeller]

Let's do this! Pick your top 10 choices for greatest symphonies, with your top choice receiving 10 points, and your tenth choice receiving 1 point. After a few weeks I will tally up the total points and we will have the Top Ten Greatest Symphonies as chosen by the fine posters at GMG.

I'm choosing to describe these as 'greatest' and not 'favorite', as I'm attempting to aim for a more objective view. The symphonies I chose were all ones I adore and have for decades, but I also recognize their importance, uniqueness or popularity in the symphonic field. Not to say that any of you have to follow the same path, but if I went with favorites my list would contain 9 Philip Glass symphonies and 1 Haydn, or 9 Haydn and 1 Glass, either way. Speaking of which, no real rules apply when choosing, if you believe Mahler wrote the 10 best symphonies ever, then put them order and I will include them.

Anyway, should be fun, and hopefully you all with join in and have fun as well. I'll start...

10 - Beethoven: No. 3
9 - Symphonie Fantastique
8 - Bruckner: No. 8
7 - Mahler: No. 3
6 - Ives: No. 4
5 - Schubert: No. 9
4 - Glass: Low Symphony
3 - Haydn: No. 80
2 - Gorecki: No. 3
1 - Shostakovich No. 15

[amw]

+10 Beethoven Symphony No. 3
+9 Mozart Symphony No. 38
+8 Schoenberg Kammersymphonie No. 1
+7 Brahms Symphony No. 3
+6 Berlioz Roméo et Juliette
+5 Webern Symphony
+4 Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 6
+3 Szymanowski Symphony No. 4
+2 Carter Symphonia
+1 Gerhard Symphony No. 3 (Collages)

I..... guess. Order is a bit vague and I kept it to one per composer.

[Mirror Image]

Oh man....this is going to be tough, but I'll try and I'll also try to limit my choices to one per composer:

+10 Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 5
+9 Shostakovich: Symphony No. 4
+8 Sibelius: Symphony No. 4
+7 Nielsen: Symphony No. 3, "Sinfonia espansiva"
+6 Ives: Symphony No. 4
+5 Mahler: Symphony No. 6
+4 Rachmaninov: Symphony No. 2
+3 Copland: Symphony No. 3
+2 Schnittke: Symphony No. 8
+1 Weinberg: Symphony No. 5

[vandermolen]

Oh man....this is going to be tough, but I'll try and I'll also try to limit my choices to one per composer:

+10 Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 5
+9 Shostakovich: Symphony No. 4
+8 Sibelius: Symphony No. 4
+7 Nielsen: Symphony No. 3, "Sinfonia espansiva"
+6 Ives: Symphony No. 4
+5 Mahler: Symphony No. 6
+4 Rachmaninov: Symphony No. 2
+3 Copland: Symphony No. 3
+2 Schnittke: Symphony No. 8
+1 Weinberg: Symphony No. 5

Delighted to see you back here. 
V much agree with your choices too.

[vandermolen]

Ok here goes:

Bruckner No.9 (10)
Shostakovich No.4 (9)
Vaughan Williams Symphony 6 (eight)
Mahler Symphony No.9 (7)
Tchaikovsky No.6 (6)
Walton No.1 (5)
Weinberg No.5 (4)
Nielsen No.5 (3)
Copland No.3 (2)
Miaskovsky No.6 (1)

[Mr Bloom]

10. Ives Symphony No. 4
9. Szymanowski Symphony No. 4
8. Hartmann Symphony No. 6
7. Lutoslawski Symphony No. 3
6. Schnittke Symphony No. 1
5. Maxwell Davies Symphony No. 7
4. Henze Symphony No. 7
3. Schmitt Symphonie concertante
2. Britten Symphony for cello and orchestra
1. Hindemith Pittsburgh Symphony

[Wanderer]

Ten is far too restrictive for anyone actually listening to classical music, so I'm taking this as another instance of list-making fun. Numbers correspond to awarded points, not order of preference or perceived value.

1 - Beethoven: Symphony No.3
2 - Mozart: Symphony No.38
3 - Schubert: Symphony No.9
4 - Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique
5 - Brahms: Symphony No.4
6 - Schumann: Symphony No.2
7 - Bruckner: Symphony No.9 (with finale)
8 - Mahler: Symphony No.8
9 - Korngold: Sinfonietta
10 - Schmidt: Symphony No.2

[North Star]

10 - Sibelius: Symphony No. 6
9 - Nielsen: Symphony No. 4
8 - Mahler: Symphony No. 9
7 - Beethoven: Symphony No. 6
6 - Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 5
5 - Shostakovich: Symphony No. 4
4 - Brahms: Symphony No. 4
3 - Schumann: Symphony No. 2
2 - Dvorak: Symphony No. 8
1 - Rakhmaninov: Symphony No. 2

[TheGSMoeller]

Edit: Woah! I returned to this thread and realized I had Ives 3rd, it was supposed to be his 4th. I had jumbled around my choices so much, and originally had five other 3rd symphonies in my first list before I narrowed it down. I need glasses 

Alien, and Wanderer: Did you go backwards on purpose? Does your pick on top receive 10 points?

Starting to recognize some of the front runners, with Beethoven 3rd and DSCH 4th leading the pack!

[Karl Henning]

10. Ives Symphony No. 4
9. Szymanowski Symphony No. 4
8. Hartmann Symphony No. 6
7. Lutoslawski Symphony No. 3
6. Schnittke Symphony No. 1
5. Maxwell Davies Symphony No. 7
4. Henze Symphony No. 7
3. Schmitt Symphonie concertante
2. Britten Symphony for cello and orchestra
1. Hindemith Pittsburgh Symphony

Most interesting choice for the Hindemith, sir!

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[Mirror Image]

Delighted to see you back here. 
V much agree with your choices too.

Thanks, Jeffrey. Yeah, my musical tastes haven't changed that much (thankfully).

[Karl Henning]

Thanks, Jeffrey. Yeah, my musical tastes haven't changed that much (thankfully).

... apart from all the Katy Perry you've been grooving to 

[Ken B]

 Sibelius 7
Stravinsky C
Simpson 9
Beethoven 3
Bruckner 9
Brahms 4
Schubert 9
Saint-Saens 3
Mozart 40

One space kept for oversights.

[Dee Sharp]

One per composer

Brahms 4
Beethoven 6
Mahler 6
Dvorak 9
Sibelius 7
Ives 4
Shostakovich 8
Schubert 9
Mozart 40
Saint-Saens 3

[Karl Henning]

Another delightfully impossible list, though with the addition of points so that one feels he has (in the parlance of our times) "skin in the game."

I'll go ahead, even though I expect (like our Greg) that I may afterwards be shocked at something dear to me which I missed.

10 – Shostakovich, Symphony № 4 in c minor, Op.43.  I see that Scarpia (IIRC) finds this puzzling, and maybe I can find some time this holiday weekend to draw him a diagram.
9 – Prokofiev, Symphony № 2 in d minor, Op.40.  Of composing his seminal masterpiece, Stravinsky once said, "I am the vessel through which Le sacre passed."  I think that the aftershock self-doubt which Prokofiev experienced in the brouhaha after this symphony's première betokens a similar 'channeling.'
8 – Shostakovich, № 10 in e minor, Op.93.  From that life-changing musical experience one fateful day at the College of Wooster's McGaw Chapel, love for this piece is in my DNA.
7 – Stravinsky, Symphony in Three Movements.  Not that "it's all about Ohio," but again, hearing the Clevelanders play this (while the San Francisco Ballet danced) at the Blossom Music Center marks it as a perennial favorite.
6 – Hindemith, Symphony «Mathis der Maler».  Another 20^th-c. classic which was first introduced to me at Wooster.  Tough!
5 – Andriessen, Symphonie voor losse snaren.  One of the best pieces you've never heard yet.
4 – Schnittke, Symphony № 4.  The especially exquisite choral writing makes this perhaps my very favorite among "choral symphonies."
3 – Nielsen, Sinfonia espansiva
2 – Sibelius, Symphony № 6 in d minor, Op.104
1 – Haydn, Symphony № 92 in G, «Oxford»

[TheGSMoeller]

Great lists so far everyone! And yes, Karl, impossible. My next 10 symphonies (Nos.11-20) that got eliminated were just as good as my top 10. And included Schnittke's 3rd and 4th! Nice to see so much love for his works.

[Wanderer]

Did you go backwards on purpose? Does your pick on top receive 10 points?

1. Yes.
2. Numbers correspond to points, so the pick on top receives 1 point - and so forth.

Off to the beach, now! 

[vandermolen]

Another delightfully impossible list, though with the addition of points so that one feels he has (in the parlance of our times) "skin in the game."

I'll go ahead, even though I expect (like our Greg) that I may afterwards be shocked at something dear to me which I missed.

10 – Shostakovich, Symphony № 4 in c minor, Op.43.  I see that Scarpia (IIRC) finds this puzzling, and maybe I can find some time this holiday weekend to draw him a diagram.
9 – Prokofiev, Symphony № 2 in d minor, Op.40.  Of composing his seminal masterpiece, Stravinsky once said, "I am the vessel through which Le sacre passed."  I think that the aftershock self-doubt which Prokofiev experienced in the brouhaha after this symphony's première betokens a similar 'channeling.'
8 – Shostakovich, № 10 in e minor, Op.93.  From that life-changing musical experience one fateful day at the College of Wooster's McGaw Chapel, love for this piece is in my DNA.
7 – Stravinsky, Symphony in Three Movements.  Not that "it's all about Ohio," but again, hearing the Clevelanders play this (while the San Francisco Ballet danced) at the Blossom Music Center marks it as a perennial favorite.
6 – Hindemith, Symphony «Mathis der Maler».  Another 20^th-c. classic which was first introduced to me at Wooster.  Tough!
5 – Andriessen, Symphonie voor losse snaren.  One of the best pieces you've never heard yet.
4 – Schnittke, Symphony № 4.  The especially exquisite choral writing makes this perhaps my very favorite among "choral symphonies."
3 – Nielsen, Sinfonia espansiva
2 – Sibelius, Symphony № 6 in d minor, Op.104
1 – Haydn, Symphony № 92 in G, «Oxford»

Interesting list Karl.
I need to listen to Andriessen.
I shouldn't have left out Sibelius but I'd have chosen No.4 - I may have to do a 'List No.2' - Also Prokofiev symphonies 6,5 and 3 are all 'Great' IMHO.
Your Katy Perry comment made me laugh - I quite like some of her songs actually. Guess I could have included 'Fool's Overture' by Supertramp too as I've been listening to it in my car recently.

[Mirror Image]

... apart from all the Katy Perry you've been grooving to 

Haha! That's good one! I think you have mixed up with 71dB.

[TheGSMoeller]

1. Yes.
2. Numbers correspond to points, so the pick on top receives 1 point - and so forth.

Off to the beach, now! 

Thanks! Go get that tan!