GMG's Favorite Symphonies

[Grazioso]

Because of these problems, and also because two threads of this type are more than enough for me, I will not be taking part in this list thread.

I hate to say it, but neither will I Symphonies are one of my great classical music loves, but this all seems like a lot of work for what should be fun.

[karlhenning]

After: Amfortas

Fast track: Shostakovich: Symphony № 4 in c minor, Op.43

+2 Stravinsky: Symphony of Psalms
+1 Prokofiev: Symphony № 2 in d minor, Op.40
+1 Shostakovich: Symphony № 10 in e minor, Op.93

[no negative votes]

04  Beethoven: Symphony № 7 in A major, Op.92
02  Stravinsky: Symphony of Psalms
02  Brahms: Symphony № 4 in e minor, Op.98
02  Mahler: Symphony № 9
02  Mahler: Symphony № 2 "Resurrection"
01  Beethoven: Symphony № 4 in B^b major, Op.60
01  Brahms: Symphony № 3 in F major, Op.90
01  Bruckner: Symphony № 4 in E-flat major, WAB 104 (1887-8 revised version)
01  Mahler: Symphony № 5
01  Prokofiev: Symphony № 2 in d minor, Op.40
01  Schubert: Symphony № 3 in D major, D.200
01  Shostakovich: Symphony № 10 in e minor, Op.93

[Amfortas]

+1 Prokofiev: Symphony № 2 in d minor, Op.40

You're a brave man 

[Brahmsian]

After: Karl

Fast track: Bruckner:  Symphony No. 7 in E major

+2 Mahler:  Symphony No. 6 in A minor
+1 Beethoven:  Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op.92
+1 Shostakovich: Symphony № 10 in e minor, Op.93

[no negative votes]

05  Beethoven: Symphony № 7 in A major, Op.92
02  Stravinsky: Symphony of Psalms
02  Brahms: Symphony № 4 in e minor, Op.98
02  Mahler: Symphony № 9
02  Mahler: Symphony № 2 "Resurrection"
02  Mahler:  Symphony No. 6 in A minor
02  Shostakovich: Symphony № 10 in e minor, Op.93
01  Beethoven: Symphony № 4 in B^b major, Op.60
01  Brahms: Symphony № 3 in F major, Op.90
01  Bruckner: Symphony № 4 in E-flat major, WAB 104 (1887-8 revised version)
01  Mahler: Symphony № 5
01  Prokofiev: Symphony № 2 in d minor, Op.40
01  Schubert: Symphony № 3 in D major, D.200

[mc ukrneal]

Kalinnikov a good choice. 

The more I think of it, the more I disagree. Thinking back of the envelope, I would easily place ahead of it:
Haydn: 10-20 symphonies
Mozart: 5-10 (maybe even more)
Beethoven: 7 (3-9)
Bruckner: 5 (maybe more, but at least this)
Mahler: 6 (maybe more, but at least this)
Tchaikovsky: 3 (maybe more)
Schumann: 3 (or 4, but took one out to be conservative)
Schubert: 2 (could be more)
Arriaga: 1
Berlioz: 1
Copland: 1
Dvorak: 5
Elgar: 2
Rachmaninov: 2
Schmidt 1
Shostakovich: 4-7 (conservatively, could be up to 2x this)
Vaughan Williams: 3-5
Sibelius: 3 (could be more)
Mendelssohn: 2(could be more)
Prokofiev: 2 (could be more)
Brahms: 2-4 (almost forgot him!)

Just off the top of my head, that is about 70-96 symphonies ahead of Kalinnikov. Add a few more Haydn, Shosty, etc, and easily 100. Start thinking about others like Brian, Parry, Stanford, Bantock, ALfven, Stenhammar, Langgaard, Honnegar, Bernstein, Martinu, Ives, Nielson, Bizet, Walton, Gorecki, Hindemith, Chausson, Stravinsky, Franck, Saint-Saens, Sxriabin, Borodin, Glazunov, etc and I think it could be even more.  So yeah, I think the choice a bit unusual for a consensus choice.

[karlhenning]

Agreed, that if the Kalinnikov appears in a list of The World's 100 Greatest Symphonies, something peculiar has likely happened ; )

[karlhenning]

Jeffrey's to go on vacation for a few days, so The List may likely not be updated until Monday.

[kishnevi]

Hold on!

Some of you are voting for works I put in as Consensus Choices!
Those are ones I felt were so obvious it was a waste of time to subject them to voting.  (Think of it this way:  what would you think of a list that doesn't include those?)   I know there seem some obvious omissions, but I was trying to keep my personal preferences out of it (I'd put Brahms 1 over Brahms 4, for instance), and keep to symphonies that almost everyone seems to like .  Fast Tracks are to allow individual input.  The diversity requirement is merely to keep one composer from dominating the voting at any one time--over the course of the thread,  if you want to get all of Beethoven's  or Bruckner's symphonies on the List,  you will have a chance.  The only reason all of Haydn's symphonies can't go on the List because the List will have 100 spots and Haydn wrote more than 100 symphonies.   And there are still 80+ spots to fill on the list,  so you needn't sweat  if you don't see one that you think is an obvious choice.   Just go ahead and nominate it.

But please don't anyone vote until I've had a chance to audit and post the current list of works to be voted on.!   .

The final List will be on reply #2 of this thread.  I will try to keep it as current as possible, but first I want to get the works to be voted on fixed up right.

Karl--I'm on vacation now, sitting at home.  I go back to work on Monday.  I'm launching this now while I'm home so that hopefully all the kinks get worked out by the time I do go back to work.

[Cato]

I hate to say it, but neither will I Symphonies are one of my great classical music loves, but this all seems like a lot of work for what should be fun.

Sorry, but I think I will resist as well: too many rules!     The Piano-Concerto List rules are bad enough to keep track of! 

This is why I hated organized sports run by a-dull-ts, rather than the hybrid baseball and football games we kids invented ad libitum, where rules were bent or ignored.   

But I do think the Mahler Tenth - in any version - and the Bruckner Ninth - in any version - should qualify.

[kishnevi]

THE LIST OF WORKS TO BE VOTED ON:

5 Beethoven  Symphony 7
2 Brahms  Symphony 4
2 Mahler  Symphony 2
2 Mahler Symphony 6
2 Mozart Symphony 40
2 Stravinsky Symphony of Psalms
2 Shostakovich Symphony 10
1 Beethoven Symphony 4
1 Brahms Symphony 3
1 Bruckner Symphony 4 (revised)
1 Haydn Symphony 101
1 Schubert Symphony 3
1 Tchaikovsky 6

There are 13 works currently nominated.  That means 17 slots are open.  No negative votes until all those 17 slots are filled.

Feel free to vote.  I will now work on bringing the List up to date with Fast Tracks.  That will be in Reply 2

[Amfortas]

OK I think I understand.....

Mahler 2 +2
Shostak 10 +1


5 Beethoven  Symphony 7
4 Mahler  Symphony 2
2 Brahms  Symphony 4
3 Shostakovich Symphony 10
2 Mahler Symphony 6
2 Mozart Symphony 40
2 Stravinsky Symphony of Psalms
1 Beethoven Symphony 4
1 Brahms Symphony 3
1 Bruckner Symphony 4 (revised)
1 Haydn Symphony 101
1 Schubert Symphony 3
1 Tchaikovsky 6

[kishnevi]

The "final" List as it now stands is posted on reply 2.  For convenience here it is.

Beethoven: Symphony no.3 in E flat major,Op. 55
Beethoven: Symphony no.5 in C minor, Op. 67
Beethoven: Symphony no.9 in D minor, Op. 125
Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique, Op. 14
Bruckner:  Symphony no. 7 in E major
Bruckner: Symphony no. 8 in C minor
Dvorak: Symphony no.9 in E minor, ("From the New World") Op. 95
Haydn: Symphony no. 92 in G major "Oxford" Hob: I:92
Kalinnikov: Symphony no. 1 in G minor
Mahler: Symphony no. 5 in C sharp minor
Mahler: Symphony no. 9 in D major
Schubert: Symphony no. 4 in c minor ("Tragic"), D.417
Schubert: Symphony no. 9 in C major, D. 944
Shostakovich: Symphony no. 4 in c minor, Op.43
Sibelius: Symphony no.3 in C major, Op.52
Sibelius: Symphony no.5 in E flat major, Op.82
Stravinsky: Symphonies of Wind Instruments

Since the point of the Fast Track was to allow individual preferences,  Kalinnikov will stay on the list, although I share the general WTF at this choice.

[Grazioso]

I prefer his rifle.

It has a magical adagio--and will continue to function under the worst battlefield conditions  Hey, some hippie needs to invent the musical assault rifle: pull the trigger, and it plays the "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy".

[eyeresist]

Well, maybe not the right word, but not a top 10 symphony or top 20. Not even a top 50 in my book, but once past a certain point personal taste starts to become a bigger factor. I mean, Haydn has at least 5-10 symphonies I'd put ahead and same with Mozart (jsut to mention a couple).

I don't want to get into a whole thing here, particularly as you later found it necessary to write a long post detailing how Every Symphony Ever is better than Kalinnikov's 1st. I'll just say that if you only know the work from the Naxos or Chandos recordings, you don't know it. (Svetlanov and Dudarova aren't much better. From his timings, I don't expect much from Kondrashin either.) The Arte Nova recording is the one to get. The 2nd movement is magical and moving, and the finale is magnificent. Not so with the competition.

[mc ukrneal]

I don't want to get into a whole thing here, particularly as you later found it necessary to write a long post detailing how Every Symphony Ever is better than Kalinnikov's 1st. I'll just say that if you only know the work from the Naxos or Chandos recordings, you don't know it. (Svetlanov and Dudarova aren't much better. From his timings, I don't expect much from Kondrashin either.) The Arte Nova recording is the one to get. The 2nd movement is magical and moving, and the finale is magnificent. Not so with the competition.

Fair enough. I have wish listed that version, and it is fairly inexpensive, so I imagine I will eventually get it.  (looking at that second post, I went a bit overboard - sorry about that).

Meanwhile, I am having my own difficulties figuring out what to add. Ideally, I would add something deserving, but that will have difficulty making the list. Added to this is the twist that once two of a composer are on the list, they will can only have one symphony being voted on at a time. So that throws me back to a mainstream choice like Bruckner 9, Beethoven 6, Mahler 7, Dvorak 6, etc. that might have difficulties making it due to that rule (or a Mozart or Haydn symphony that will have even more difficulties).

[eyeresist]

Fair enough. I have wish listed that version, and it is fairly inexpensive, so I imagine I will eventually get it.  (looking at that second post, I went a bit overboard - sorry about that).

Meanwhile, I am having my own difficulties figuring out what to add. Ideally, I would add something deserving, but that will have difficulty making the list. Added to this is the twist that once two of a composer are on the list, they will can only have one symphony being voted on at a time. So that throws me back to a mainstream choice like Bruckner 9, Beethoven 6, Mahler 7, Dvorak 6, etc. that might have difficulties making it due to that rule (or a Mozart or Haydn symphony that will have even more difficulties).

But I imagine these symphonies you are thinking of would get voted up the list pretty quickly. Each time one appears on the list, we could run a little booster campaign. Or we could just ignore the rule? 0:)

Glad you have considered the CD I mentioned. One of the Amazon reviewers described the approach as "Brucknerian", which may or may not be true, but broader tempos surely beat barreling through the thing like a naked guy trying to get home from his bucks party (or Neeme Jarvi trying to make his quota). Be warned, the ensemble is a little scrappy, but committed. Hope you enjoy it if you do get it.

[mc ukrneal]

But I imagine these symphonies you are thinking of would get voted up the list pretty quickly. Each time one appears on the list, we could run a little booster campaign. Or we could just ignore the rule? 0:)

One must also consider the likes and dislikes of people here. Beethoven 6 and Copland 3, for example, have a number of detractors. They may have trouble making the list. Copland 3 could be a good choice. It is not a top 50 perhaps, but somewhere after that. Still thinking...

[eyeresist]

I'll vote for Beethoven, but not for Copland.

[karlhenning]

After Amfortas:

Copland 3 +2
Beethoven 6 +1
Prokofiev 6 +1

05 Beethoven: Symphony № 7 in A, Op.92
04 Mahler: Symphony № 2
03 Shostakovich: Symphony № 10 in e minor, Op.93
02 Brahms: Symphony № 4 in e minor, Op.98
02 Copland: Symphony № 3
02 Mahler: Symphony № 6
02 Mozart: Symphony № 40 in g minor, K.550
02 Stravinsky: Symphony of Psalms
01 Beethoven: Symphony № 6 in F, Pastorale, Op.68
01 Beethoven: Symphony № 4 in B-flat, Op.60
01 Brahms: Symphony № 3 in F, Op.90
01 Bruckner: Symphony № 4
01 Haydn: Symphony № 101
01 Prokofiev: Symphony № 6 in e-flat minor, Op.111
01 Schubert: Symphony № 3
01 Tchaikovsky: Symphony № 6 in b minor, Pathétique, Op.74

[Conor71]

After Karl


Fast-track: Sibelius 6
+2 Bruckner 4
+1 Shostakovich 10
+1 Beethoven 7


06 Beethoven: Symphony № 7 in A, Op.92
05 Shostakovich: Symphony № 10 in e minor, Op.93
04 Mahler: Symphony № 2
03 Bruckner: Symphony № 4
02 Brahms: Symphony № 4 in e minor, Op.98
02 Copland: Symphony № 3
02 Mahler: Symphony № 6
02 Mozart: Symphony № 40 in g minor, K.550
02 Stravinsky: Symphony of Psalms
01 Beethoven: Symphony № 6 in F, Pastorale, Op.68
01 Beethoven: Symphony № 4 in B-flat, Op.60
01 Brahms: Symphony № 3 in F, Op.90
01 Haydn: Symphony № 101
01 Prokofiev: Symphony № 6 in e-flat minor, Op.111
01 Schubert: Symphony № 3
01 Tchaikovsky: Symphony № 6 in b minor, Pathétique, Op.74