# Strong and intense symphonys recommendations



## hombre777 (May 27, 2015)

Hi ! im looking for a Strong and intense Symphonys , 
complex and lots of instruments , thanks !


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## DiesIraeCX (Jul 21, 2014)

Beethoven's Ninth. You're welcome. 

If you're looking for strong, complex, and intense, you'll find all of that and more in the first two movements.


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## Guest (May 27, 2015)

DiesIrae stole my rec. I'd like to file a Hurt Feelings Report.


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## Dim7 (Apr 24, 2009)

Langgaard's first symphony. About as intense as it gets.


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## Guest (May 27, 2015)

Dim7 said:


> Langgaard's first symphony. About as intense as it gets.


Is this sarcasm?


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## Dim7 (Apr 24, 2009)

nathanb said:


> Is this sarcasm?


Huh, why? The first movement of that symphony is the most consistently "intense" symphony movement I can think for the moment....


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## Guest (May 27, 2015)

Dim7 said:


> Huh, why? The first movement of that symphony is the most consistently "intense" symphony movement I can think for the moment....


I just don't think of Langgaard as intense in any way, really, I guess.


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## DiesIraeCX (Jul 21, 2014)

nathanb said:


> DiesIrae stole my rec. I'd like to file a Hurt Feelings Report.


Haha, how about you suggest Bruckner's 9th?! Oh wait, I guess I stole that one, too. 

Seriously, though. Bruckner's 9th. You're welcome, again.


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## danielellarby (Nov 2, 2014)

Intensity you can find in Brahms and Tchaikovsky by the bucketload!
Brahms' symphonies are all so complex and gratifying to listen to, if you like dense German romanticism, that is. I'd go for the third and the fourth, which are ultimately my favourites, but the second has a beautiful second movement and the beginning of the first is exhilarating.
For Tchaikovsky try his last symphony -pathetique, also called his requiem and is just AMAZING.
Try Shostakovich's 10th for a response to 'red terror' in the Soviet Union and Mahler's second for ambitious orchestra-writing!


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## Guest (May 27, 2015)

0 For 2 

I guess I'll go with Mahler 6 then. The symphonies of Elliott Carter and Per Norgard should also fit the bill.


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

Matthijs Vermeulen - Symphony 2
Jacques Chailley - Symphony 1
Popov - Symphony 1
Hartmann - Symphony 6


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## Cesare Impalatore (Apr 16, 2015)

Mozart - Symphony No. 41, "Jupiter"


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

Josef Suk's _Asrael Symphony_ - he started it as a memorial to his father-in-law, Antonin Dvorak, but it ended up also being a memorial to his wife who died while he was composing it. Given that background, it is about as emotionally intense as anything I can think of.


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## Heliogabo (Dec 29, 2014)

Mahler symphonies of course. specially 6, 7, and 9. This last one is very special in that ways: strong and intense


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

I second Suk, Mahler 9, Bruckner 9.

I'd like to suggest Saint-Saens 3 (with organ).


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## Headphone Hermit (Jan 8, 2014)

_Berlioz - Symphonie fantastique_ - a trail-blazer of the C19th in terms of orchestration and handling of the orchestra - try John Elliot Gardner's version or Colin Davis

and if you want big ..... then Havergal Brian's _Symphony No1 The Gothic_ is reputed to be one of the biggest ever conceived with a huge an very diverse orchestra and buckets of choir, soloists etc - there's a very good version on Hyperion


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## Le Peel (May 15, 2015)




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## Wunderhorn (Feb 15, 2013)

Intense? You could probably not get any more intense than with Scriabin/Nemtin' Mysterium (Ashekenazy, Decca)

Something not es quite so huge as the Scriabin would be Szymanowski - Symphony #3

Besides that you can also pick up some Shostakovich.


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## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

hombre777 said:


> Hi ! im looking for a Strong and intense Symphonys ,
> complex and lots of instruments , thanks !


Brahms, Bruckner, Mahler all lots of notes, thanks to Beethoven's 9th.


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## Bevo (Feb 22, 2015)

Give a listen to some Russian Composers. They have a very... naturally intense and unique style. Composers such as Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakov, Glazunov, etc... Tchaikovsky's Russian, but his aren't quite the same. However his Fourth Symphony it GREATLY intense! Great Brass parts, the opening movement in 9/8, a Pizzicato Scherzo, and rallying Finale with a reappearance of the first movement's opening theme, thus making it cyclical!! Look into those, you're bound to like one of them!!


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## Guest (May 28, 2015)

Messiaen's _Turangalila _- lots of instruments for sure. Probably complex too...


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## Lukecash12 (Sep 21, 2009)

Pretty damn impressive for a first attempt. His woodwinds are ravishing, and the orchestration of the whole thing is proof enough that he was a monumental composer even before he went off entirely in his own direction. It's clear that even at this early point Scriabin wasn't merely parroting Tchaikovsky, Borodin, Wagner (his timbre and tonal language can be reminiscent, although it's certainly more obvious in later symphonies), or Chopin, rather he borrowed and refined on what he learned from these few and many others.

Here are the more intense movements:










In order to really appreciate the intensity and the themes that get cycled through it, you've really got to listen to the whole thing. Btw, I didn't include the final movement here because it takes a while to start hammering away. There are ecstatic moments across the whole symphony anyways.

I'd try all of them though. Tristan chord, say hello to the mystic chord! Scriabin's orchestral work becomes the definition of manic and ecstatic the later in his life you look, as he synthesizes the tone poem and the symphony using loose yet comprehensible themes. For being a mere "piano" composer he certainly had a masterful command of large ensembles.


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## HaydnBearstheClock (Jul 6, 2013)

Don't forget the Sturm und Drang classics:

F. J. Haydn - Symphony 45 in F-Sharp minor, 'Farewell', Symphony 26 in D minor, 'Lamentatione', Symphony No. 44 in E minor, 'Mourning', Symphony No. 49 in F minor, 'La Passione'; Symphony No. 39 in G minor; Symphony No. 52 in C minor

W. A. Mozart - Symphony No. 25 in G minor; Symphony No. 38 in D Major, 'Prague'; Symphony No. 40 in G minor

and of course Beethoven: Symphony No. 2 in D Major; Symphony No. 5 in C minor; Symphony No. 7 in A Major

Brahms: Symphony No. 1 in C minor; Symphony No. 4 in E minor

Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4 in F minor; Symphony No. 6 in B minor

Dvorak: Symphony No. 4 in D minor; Symphony No. 5 in F Major; Symphony No. 7 in D minor; Symphony No. 9 in E minor, 'From the New World'


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## Orfeo (Nov 14, 2013)

Art Rock said:


> I second Suk, Mahler 9, Bruckner 9.
> 
> I'd like to suggest Saint-Saens 3 (with organ).


I concur wholeheatedly. I'll add:

Franz Schmidt's Fourth Symphony (a remarkable work with an amazing symmetry)
Alexander Glazunov's Sixth & Eighth Symphonies
Rachmaninoff's First
Myaskovsky Sixth & Thirteenth
Atterberg's Second & Third
Alfven's Fourth
Pettersson's Seventh
Bax's First, Second, Third, & Sixth
Malcolm Arnold's Seventh & Ninth
George Lloyd's Fourth & Eleventh
Chausson's Symphony in B
Ives' Fourth
Janis Ivanov's Fourth & Seventeenth
Popov's First
Adolfs Skulte's Fifth
Tubin's Second & Eighth
Dohnanyi's First
Weinberg's Sixth, Fourteenth, & Twenty-first
Gliere's Third
Lyatoshinsky's first three
Taktakishvili's Second
Kancheli's Sixth
Bainton's Second

I think that about covers it.


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## jtbell (Oct 4, 2012)

Nielsen's 4 and 5.


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## techniquest (Aug 3, 2012)

> complex and lots of instruments


Messiaen - Turangalila
Shostakovich - Symphony No.4
Prokofiev - Symphony No.2
Khachaturian - Symphony No.3
Leifs - Saga Symphony
Strauss - An Alpine Symphony.

Enjoy!


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## Azol (Jan 25, 2015)

Mahler 7, especially 1st mv
Mahler 8, esp Part I which is a rollercoaster
Bruckner 9, esp. Adagio with those wonderful clusters of sound
Rautavaara 8 Finale
Shostakovich 7 1st mv


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## Lukecash12 (Sep 21, 2009)

Orfeo said:


> I concur wholeheatedly. I'll add:
> 
> Franz Schmidt's Fourth Symphony (a remarkable work with an amazing symmetry)
> Alexander Glazunov's Sixth & Eighth Symphonies
> ...


That Lyatoshinsky music is some wild stuff.


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## Ilarion (May 22, 2015)

"That Lyatoshinsky music is some wild stuff"

Man, you ain't kidding there...I blows my mind, ergo, rearranges the neuronal synapses in an indescribable way.


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## Andolink (Oct 29, 2012)

*Ralph Vaughan Williams'* _Symphony No. 4 in F minor_ certainly fits the description. Surprised no one's mentioned it yet.


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## Musicophile (May 29, 2015)

+1 on Brahms (1) and Bruckner (4-9). Ah, and Tchaikovsky 5.


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## Orfeo (Nov 14, 2013)

Lukecash12 said:


> That Lyatoshinsky music is some wild stuff.





Ilarion said:


> "That Lyatoshinsky music is some wild stuff"
> 
> Man, you ain't kidding there...I blows my mind, ergo, rearranges the neuronal synapses in an indescribable way.


Yep, it's something all right.


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## dzc4627 (Apr 23, 2015)

schnittke's 1st! it blew me away upon hearing it... it will fit the bill if you are looking for complex i'd say.

his 2nd is also fantastic, taking on a somewhat serene and mystical tone, inspired when the composer entered the St. Florian chapel and hearing monks singing, but not seeing them. he describes it as an "invisible mass."

great recording of the 1st: 





2nd:


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## regenmusic (Oct 23, 2014)

Arthur Honegger Symphony #1.


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## Xaltotun (Sep 3, 2010)

techniquest said:


> Prokofiev - Symphony No.2


This one indeed!! Like someone in TC wrote, "the symphony that actually kills people".


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## Vronsky (Jan 5, 2015)

Gustav Mahler -- Symphony No. 8 
Robert Schumann -- Symphony No. 4


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

This is the symphony that ends on actual bang!

Pretty intense especially if you are in the audience and don't want that instrument pointed at you.


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## gardibolt (May 22, 2015)

Shostakovich 5.


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## sobo22 (Nov 9, 2020)

norman bates said:


> Matthijs Vermeulen - Symphony 2
> Jacques Chailley - Symphony 1
> Popov - Symphony 1
> Hartmann - Symphony 6


+1 on the Hartmann. This is the one that I have: http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/july99/hartmann1.htm


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Gustav Mahler -- Symphony No. 8
Beethoven Piano concerto 3 and 5


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## ORigel (May 7, 2020)

Liszt Faust and Dante Symphonies
Nobert Burgmuller Symphony 1


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## Axter (Jan 15, 2020)

Beethoven 3 Eroica (specially 1st and 4th mvmts).
Mahler 6th (specially 1st mvmt)
Bruckner 4th


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

Prokofiev 3rd--that first movement will get your toes tapping for sure. One of my favorites.


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## eric1 (Oct 27, 2020)

The finale of Mahler 6 and the intro of Shostakovich 7 are about as intense as it gets.


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## vtpoet (Jan 17, 2019)

Haydn's Oxford Symphony.


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## Bill Cooke (May 20, 2017)

Mahler 6
Shostakovich 4
Vaughan Williams 4
Prokofiev 3
W. Schuman 3
Walton 1
Khatchatourian 2
Alwyn 3


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## Roger Knox (Jul 19, 2017)

Franz Schmidt - Symphony No. 2
Schoenberg - Chamber Symphony No. 1
Berio - Sinfonia
Mennin - Symphony No. 7


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