What is the greatest symphony ever written?!
Question: I will be previewing all submissions and purchasing the one I like the most. Also 10 points to the winner.
I like all composers from a variety of classical eras. Don't be afraid to suggest modern composers either!
Answers: I will be previewing all submissions and purchasing the one I like the most. Also 10 points to the winner.
I like all composers from a variety of classical eras. Don't be afraid to suggest modern composers either!
O.K. I'll bite! The greatest symphony ever, eh?
The obvious choice has got to be Beethoven's Ninth, but what others are the major competition?
Here are some worthy considerations...
Mozart No.40 - simply perfection.
Tchaikovsky No.6 "Pathetique" - a parting statement by the greatest master of melody since Mozart.
Beethoven (again) No.5 - if this isn't the most famous piece of music, then I don't know what is. (Any of his odd number symphonies could be considered).
Berlioz "Symphony Fantastique" - what inspired this? Was it drugs or Harriet? Unique work.
Mahler No.9 - his last completed utterance in the form and a colossal work. The final development of the symphony?
Bruckner No.8 - another huge work, perhaps the humble Anton's finest as a symphonist.
Dvorak No.9 "From the New World" - A fabulous piece of music full of life and joy, in some ways foreseeing impressionism.
That's a tough question! But the two that jump right into my mind are Beethoven's 9th (sorry) and Symphonie Fantastique by Berlioz.
I could go on and on....
I think it would be impossible (and pointless) to attempt to identify just one 'greatest' symphony. Some of the greatest symphonies written, however, include:
Beethoven - Symphony No 3 (Eroica)
Beethoven - Symphony No 9 (Choral)
Berlioz - Symphonie Fantastique
Corigliano - Symphony No 1
Holmboe - Symphony No 8
Mozart - Symphony No 41 (Jupiter)
Mahler - Symphony No 9
Nielsen - Symphony No 5
Pettersson - Symphony No 7
Prokofiev - Symphony No 6
Schubert - Symphony No 9(8) (Great)
Shostakovich - Symphony No 10
Sibelius - Symphony No 5
Simpson - Symphony No 5
Zemlinsky - Lyric Symphony
If the devil came into my house and held my family hostage and the only way to get rid of him was to purge my collection of all symphonies but one I would probably choose:
Shostakovich - Symphony 4 (for it's endlessly fascinating orchestration, huge structure and combination of beauty and terror) I'd probably recommend Valery Gergiev's recording as my favorite Russian CD of it is out of print.
Or
Mahler - Symphony 5 (it's big, it's bold, it's lush yet astringent and while firmly rooted in romanticism looks ahead to modernism) I like Chailly, Boulez or Sinopoli in this music.
You can hear most Beethoven & Mozart by turning on the radio any day of the week. Dare to be different.
Many people wouild agree thqat Beethoven's 9th would be the best.
Some say Mozart's Jupiter
Some say Brahms 4th.
Some claim Dvorak's The New W2orld Symphony
Some say Berlioz Symphony Fantastique.
Soime claim any one by Schuman, Mendelssohn ( Italian), or Schubert's Big C Major Symphony
Some say Prokofiev's Classical Symphony
Bruckner and Mahler cannot be ignored either.
So it reaaly depends on what your taste isd. No doubt you will find value in all these. If I had toi chose one, I love Beethoven's 7th, hands down.
Beethoven-9th symphony
Indeed, how can one name the greatest? Here are a few of my favorites, but I decline to choose just one greatest.
I see some others have listed Dvorak's New World, but I would add Smetana's MA Vlast. (love the Moldau).
Tchaikovsky's Pathetique..........wondrous depth--and the
melody is to sigh for!
Gosh, there are so many.........and possibly you are not restricting the request to symphonies? If not, I would add Pachelbel's Canon in D. Oh, and Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez (or any other Rodrigo stuff). And Copland? Many choices there. Albinoni's Adagio in G. Rimsky-Korsakov's Russian Easter Overture. And that wonderful Lieutenant Kije story and music. Okay, that's enough from me.
Except that I want to thank you all for showing that classical music is quite alive and well.
EDIT: Cool, people really do pay attention. Thanks for the thumbs down. I hope the Smetana item was the reason. You passed the test, and I have corrected the item. Otherwise, maybe you could tell us why the thumb was down?
Beethoven : Symphonies 5 & 9
Mozart : Symphony No 40.
Schubert : Symphony No. 9 (The great )
Mendelssohn : Symphony No 4 (Italian)
Ludwig Van's Glorious Ninth (as spoken by Little Alex from 'A Clockwork Orange'). When Little Alex's voice isn't controlling my brain, I would say Dvorak's Ninth Symphony ('From the New World'). Alex and I argue about this, but I usually win, because Dvorak's Ninth is the most expressive and gorgeous symphony ever written and my medication cancels him out.
I'll agree with one of the earlier reply's beethovens 7th, but I would MOST definitley say
-Mahler Symohony number seven.
Why do they have to be symphonies? There's plenty of good classical music that aren't symphonies.
Well, I suppose Mahler's 7th, Beethoven's 7th, 5th, 9th, Saint-Saens Organ Symphony.
Ravel's Daphnis et Chloé and Stravinsky's Firebird are better than those symphonies in my opinion.
Ravelinsky
I despair of this board sometimes. Pachelbel's canon (yet again), as symphony. For crying out loud. I'm going to make some other suggestions, because I can't argue with many of the sensible answers given before:
Mahler 2nd, 4th, 5th and 9th
Bruckner, 4th, 7th, 8th and 9th
Prokofiev 7th
Shostakovitch 5th 6th, 7th, 8th, 10th, 15th
Elgar 1st 2nd
Walton 1st, 2nd
Vaughan Williams 4th, 5th, 6th
Nielsen 3rd, 4th, 5th
Sibelius 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th, 7th
Copland 3rd
Harris 7th
Tchaikovsky No.6 "Pathetique" (Bernstein version)
The conductor is essential... Not Karajan!
Bohemian Rhapsody
Rachmaninoff's Prelude in E Minor
Senual Seduction