# Fun with Brahms and Rankings



## bz3 (Oct 15, 2015)

Rank all of Brahms's orchestral works, including the concerti, against one another!

Mine from favorite to least:

Symphony 3
Symphony 4
Violin Concerto
Symphony 1
Piano Concerto 1
Piano Concerto 2
Double Concerto
Symphony 2
Academic Festival Overture
Variations on a Theme by Haydn
Serenade 2
Tragic Overture
Serenade 1


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## TwoFlutesOneTrumpet (Aug 31, 2011)

Symphony 4 (I can't think of a better symphony than this; some are equal but none better)
Symphony 3
Piano Concerto 1
Symphony 1
Piano Concerto 2
Violin Concerto
Symphony 2
Variations on a Theme by Haydn
Double Concerto
Tragic Overture
Academic Festival Overture

Serenade 2
Serenade 1


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Violin Concerto
Symphony 4
Symphony 3
Symphony 2
Symphony 1
Piano Concerto 1
Piano Concerto 2
Variations on a Theme by Haydn
Double Concerto
Serenade 2
Serenade 1
Tragic Overture
Academic Festival Overture


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## Animal the Drummer (Nov 14, 2015)

Violin concerto
Symphony 3
Piano Concerto 2
Piano Concerto 1
Tragic Overture
Academic Festival Overture
Haydn Variations
Symphony 1
Symphony 2
Double concerto
Symphony 4
Serenades 1 and 2


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Violin concerto
Double Concerto
Serenades 1 and 2 
Piano Concerto 2
Piano Concerto 1
Tragic Overture
Academic Festival Overture
Haydn Variations
Serenades 1 and 2 
Symphony 4
Symphony 1
Symphony 2
Symphony 3


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## TxllxT (Mar 2, 2011)

Pugg said:


> Violin concerto
> Double Concerto
> *Serenades 1 and 2 *
> Piano Concerto 2
> ...


Yeah, I love serenading too!

Symphony 4
Piano Concerto 2
Piano Concerto 1
Serenade 1
Violin Concerto
Symphony 3
Symphony 1
Symphony 2
Double Concerto
Serenade 2
Ouvertures & Variations


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

Fun? I found it impossible. However:

- The symphonies (all four) before the concertos 
- The 2nd Piano Concerto and the one for Violin before ...
- The 1st Piano Concerto before 
- The Double before ...
- The lovely serenades.
- (The Haydn Variations and the overtures may come before the 1st Piano Concerto)

Best I can do.


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## Xaltotun (Sep 3, 2010)

Violin Concerto
Piano Concerto 2
Double Concerto
Piano Concerto 1
The Symphonies
The rest.


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## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

The Symphonies
Overtures
Haydn Variations
Serenades
Violin Concerto
Piano Concerto 2
Piano Concerto 1
Double Concerto

My favorite elements of Brahms can be found in the Symphonies (and the late piano pieces, The Requiem and Alto Rhapsody). The other straight orchestral music is also fantastic (as is the Chamber Music). The Concertos are very good, but this form doesn't seem quite as well suited to his style to me, almost as though he is being introverted and extroverted all at once.


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## Xaltotun (Sep 3, 2010)

tdc said:


> The Symphonies
> Overtures
> Haydn Variations
> Serenades
> ...


That's very interesting, also regarding the conversation we had about Brahms lately (I'll get back to that thread some day to clarify some things; my internet time is very limited). Because, you see, the symphonies of Brahms don't do much for me. I like the 1st but the rest just fail to leave much impression. Whereas I see the concertos as some of the best things Brahms ever composed, towering over any other concertos of any other composer, ever.


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## BoggyB (May 6, 2016)

Violin Concerto
Piano Concerto 1 (despite boring slow movement)
Symphony 2
The rest

This ranking will raise eyebrows, so allow me to discourse. I think Brahms underachieved as a composer. As a symphonist, he laboured under the shadow of Beethoven and the expectation that he should equal the great man. His first symphony is overworked and was way too long in the making (but yes, the finale is awesome). His second is good, but thereafter I think he lost the plot.

Brahms should've produced at least as many piano concertos as symphonies, but I think the terrible reaction to his first's premiere had disastrous consequences. It's as if he thought, Right, my next piano concerto will be so damn brilliant that _they_ won't be able to boo it! Thus, after many years, we got served up a four-movement monster that just like the first symphony, smells of the lamp.

I'll finish on a positive. The violin concerto is a triumph.


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## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

BoggyB said:


> This ranking will raise eyebrows, so allow me to discourse. I think Brahms underachieved as a composer. As a symphonist, he laboured under the shadow of Beethoven and the expectation that he should equal the great man.


An interesting discourse, thank you for sharing. We are all free to our opinions, so let me raise further eyebrows in stating _to my tastes_ Brahms surpassed the great man in each and every one of his symphonies.


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

As a Brahms fan, I'm not able to rank his major works, as I am completely absorbed and delighted by each as I listen to it. They're all Number One at the time. Now there's consistency!


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## BoggyB (May 6, 2016)

tdc said:


> An interesting discourse, thank you for sharing. We are all free to our opinions, so let me raise further eyebrows in stating _to my tastes_ Brahms surpassed the great man in each and every one of his symphonies.


Touché 

[Interesting that the 15 character limit doesn't count quotes]


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## Brahmsian Colors (Sep 16, 2016)

Symphony #3
Double Concerto
Symphony #2
Violin Concerto
Piano Concerto #1
Symphony #4
Symphony #1
Piano Concerto #2
Serenade #1
Academic Festival Overture
Serenade #2
Tragic Overture
Haydn Variations


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