Top 10 Symphony First Movements

[kyjo]

.....in the spirit of the "Top 10 Symphony Finales" thread:

In no specific order: Mahler 2, Schubert 8 (surprising choice for me, but never fails to send chills down my spine), Shostakovich 8, Nielsen 5, Bruckner 4, Dvorak 8, Elgar 1, Tchaikovsky 6 (I could've easily went for 4 or 5, though), Bantock Celtic Symphony (absolutely gorgeous!) and Schmidt 4. This list is quite subject to change, though!

[david johnson]

Bruckner 6&9
Mahler 1&2
Tchaikovsky 4
Schubert 8&9
Brahms 1
Beethoven 5&9

[Wanderer]

In no particular order:

Beethoven 9
Brahms 1
Brahms 4
Schubert 8
Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique
Messiaen Turangalîla-Symphonie
Vaughan Williams 7
Tchaikovsky 1
Sibelius 1
Langgaard 1
Mendelssohn "Lobgesang"
Mozart "Prager"
Vaughan Williams 1
Mahler 8
Dvořák 3

[mc ukrneal]

Mahler 7
Bruckner 9
Dvorak 6 (but there are 8 other good choices! )
Laanggard 1
Beethoven 5 (love 6 too!!)
Sibelius 1 (2 is neck and neck, but I have to go with my first Sibelius love)
Haydn 82 (Mr. Bear , but so many other good ones)
Mozart 25 (could have been 41 or 40 or....)
Schumann 3
Mendelssohn 4

Others considered
Walton 1
Burgmuller 1
Prokofiev 5
Saint-Saens 3
Czerny 6
Brahms 3
Copland 3
Rachmaninov 2
Schubert Unfinished (whatever the number)
Tchaikovsky 4

[TheGSMoeller]

Without duplicating any already named, I'll add...

Liszt Dante Symphony
Prokofiev 6th
Haydn 22nd
Haydn 31st
Haydn 49th
Brahms 3rd

Too many to choose from really.

[kyjo]

Wow! Two votes for Langgaard 1! Good to see Super Rued getting some respect around here!

[Sergeant Rock]

As in the Finale thread, just one per composer:

Brahms 4

Nielsen 3

Bruckner 3

Schmidt 1

Prokofiev 1

Shostakovich 15

Haydn 99 (Cat!)

Mahler 6 (cowbells!)

Vaughan Williams 8

Rautavaara 3


Sarge

[Cato]

Okay, I will do it this way, no composer used more than once, just off the top of my slowly balding pate:

Bruckner First Symphony
Prokofiev Second Symphony
Gliere Third Symphony
Taneyev Fourth Symphony
Tchaikovsky Fifth Symphony
Hartmann Sixth Symphony
Dvorak Seventh Symphony
Schubert Eighth Symphony
Beethoven Ninth Symphony
Mahler Tenth Symphony

[DavidW]

Tchaikovsky 4
Dvorak 6
Nielsen 3
Gorecki 3
Beethoven 3
Mozart 35

[TheGSMoeller]

Gorecki 3

Good one, Dave. I should have added that to my list.

[Rinaldo]

+1 for Turangalîla.

[Brian]

Okay, I will do it this way, no composer used more than once, just off the top of my slowly balding pate:

Bruckner First Symphony
Prokofiev Second Symphony
Gliere Third Symphony
Taneyev Fourth Symphony
Tchaikovsky Fifth Symphony
Hartmann Sixth Symphony
Dvorak Seventh Symphony
Schubert Eighth Symphony
Beethoven Ninth Symphony
Mahler Tenth Symphony

I shall adopt your technique!

Prokofiev First Symphony
Elgar Second Symphony
Mahler Third Symphony
Brahms Fourth Symphony
Tchaikovsky Fifth Symphony
Sibelius Sixth Symphony
Beethoven Seventh Symphony
Dvorak Eighth Symphony
Schubert Ninth Symphony
Shostakovich Tenth Symphony
BONUS: Haydn Eighty-Second Symphony - the Bear can't be stopped!

[Cato]

I shall adopt your technique!

Prokofiev First Symphony
Elgar Second Symphony
Mahler Third Symphony
Brahms Fourth Symphony
Tchaikovsky Fifth Symphony
Sibelius Sixth Symphony
Beethoven Seventh Symphony
Dvorak Eighth Symphony
Schubert Ninth Symphony
Shostakovich Tenth Symphony
BONUS: Haydn Eighty-Second Symphony - the Bear can't be stopped!

I wanted to include Shostakovich somehow,and certainly the Tenth is one of the greatest 20th century symphonies, but the Mahler was and is a radical force to be reckoned with!

A shocker would have been Beethoven's ...   Tenth!  Somebody in the 1990's (maybe?) recorded a musicologist's proposal based on sketches for the opening movement of a tenth symphony, and I recall it being 1/3 Beethoven and 2/3 musicologist.

[Opus106]

...the Mahler was and is a radical force to be reckoned with!

And all this while, goodness knows why, I'd been thinking that the Andante was intended as the second movement.

[Brahmsian]

# 1 on my list:

Beethoven's 7th

Other great opening movements that I really enjoy

*Tchaikovsky's 6th
*Bruckner's 9th
*Mahler's 9th
*Schumann's 1st
*Dvorak's 4th
*Mozart's 39th
*Haydn's 103rd
*Mendelssohn's 5th
*Schubert's 9th
*Sibelius' 6th
*Brahms' 1st
*Shostakovich's 8th

[Brahmsian]

Forgot to add another favourite:

*Berlioz' - Symphonie funebre et triomphale.

[North Star]

Shostakovich      10th
Beethoven           9th
Schubert              8th
Bruckner             7th
Sibelius               6th
Mahler                 5th
Schumann           4th
Brahms               3rd
Nielsen               2nd
Martinu               1st

Bonus round: Tchaikovsky: Manfred

[TheGSMoeller]

Forgot to add another favourite:

*Berlioz' - Symphonie funebre et triomphale.

I'll second that, good one, Ray.

[Lisztianwagner]

Beethoven 9th Symphony
Mahler 6th Symphony
Rachmaninov 1st Symphony
Tchaikovsky 6th Symphony
Shostakovich 5th Symphony
Sibelius 5th Symphony
Nielsen 4th Symphony
Bruckner 7th Symphony
Schumann 4th Symphony
Dvořák 9th Symphony

Bonus: Liszt Faust Symphony

[Brian]

Martinu               1st

A peculiar fact: none of my favorite Martinu movements are first movements. My faves are 2/iii and 2/iv, 3/ii and 3/iii, 4/ii and 4/iii.