# Your Favorites: "Symphony No.7" by Various Composers



## 20centrfuge (Apr 13, 2007)

I'm exploring the "seventh symphony" written by any composer. I'm hoping you'll let me know of any you like and maybe even rank them. 

So far, I like Shostakovich, Beethoven, Prokofiev, Sibelius. I'm starting to listen to Bruckner's, Howard Hanson's, and Kalevi Aho's. I'm sure there are many more out there.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Mahler, Dvorak and Vaughan Williams, definitely.


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

Mennin, Vaughan Williams, Schuman


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Beethoven, Mahler and Bruckner for sure.


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## Judith (Nov 11, 2015)

Beethoven for me. Love second movement!!


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

Dvorak 7. Loads of great recordings. I'm currently playing Serebrier's account a lot. Great reading.


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

My favorites are probably:
Beethoven
Bruckner
Shostakovich
also - 
Mennin
Dvorak


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

In addition to those already mentioned:
Arnold Bax
Havergal Brian
George Lloyd
Edmund Rubbra
Robert Simpson
Eduard Tubin


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

My top10:

1. Shostakovich
2. Mahler
3. Bruckner
4. Vaughan Williams
5. Beethoven
6. Dvorak
7. Bax
8. Sibelius
9. Aho
10. Prokofiev

(the ranking starts to get fuzzy from #6 onward)


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## Prodromides (Mar 18, 2012)

My favorite 'Symphony No.7' is Malcolm Arnold's 1973 opus #113, a three-movement work with each movement based upon one of his 3 children.
It's also my favorite Malcolm Arnold symphony.

Other #7s in my collection include (alphabetically) those by Irwin Bazelon, Havergal Brian, Gloria Coates, Einar Englund, Benjamin Frankel, Hans Werner Henze, Vagn Holmboe, G.F. Malipiero, Miaskovsky, Sallinen, Sessions, Robert Simpson, Villa-Lobos, Wellesz, etc.

While it is not a 7th symphony, per se, Charles Koechlin's 1933 *Seven Stars Symphony* deserves consideration - as it is a very unique work - and should not be forgotten or marginalized.


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## Malx (Jun 18, 2017)

Don't omit Papa Haydn's seventh symphony. Best know as the central symphony of the Matin, Midi, Soir triptych made up of symphonies 6,7 & 8.

Early works but excellent nonetheless.


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

I'll mention Egon Wellesz because of the sounds he gets from his orchestra. The 7th is dark, but especially in the second movement, there is a Webern-like distilling of sounds.


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

I almost forgot ... Tchaikovsky's Symphony #7


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## KJ von NNJ (Oct 13, 2017)

There are many great Symphony 7's for me. I'll post the ones that come to mind right away. Dvorak 7, Mahler 7, Shostakovich 7, Holmboe 7, Simpson 7, Beethoven 7, Bruckner 7, Sibelius 7. That is all for now. Those mentioned are all essential in my library.


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## Prodromides (Mar 18, 2012)

It should be mentioned that Walter Piston's *Symphony No.7* won a Pulitzer Prize in 1961 as the best American composition from 1960. The passage of time tends to erode the significance of any composition if there are no individual champions (record producers, concert programmers, etc.) to keep such music current and available in various media reproduction.

I'm unable to vouch for this opus personally because I've never heard it and never encountered a recording of it on disc.
Appears, though, that there has been at least one recording of Piston's #7 via the Louisville Orchestra 1st edition series.


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## Azol (Jan 25, 2015)

Definitely *Rautavaara 7*


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## jdec (Mar 23, 2013)

My very favorites: Beethoven, Mahler, Shostakovich, Sibelius, Dvorak and Bruckner.


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## R3PL4Y (Jan 21, 2016)

Seconding Rautavaara's symphony no 7 "Angel of Light"
Mahler 7 is very good and has a great air of grotesqueness, especially throughout the first and third movements.
Vaughan Williams Sinfonia Antarctica
Shostakovich 7, although not his greatest work, has its own merits
Sibelius 7, his greatest symphony
Prokofiev 7, a very interesting way for him to wrap up his life in music.


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

This seems a weird approach. Different composers write works at different paces, so for some the 7th would be an early work and for some a late work. Brahms for instance never made it past four. So why the 7th other than it's something to do? 

For me Beethoven's of course, then probably Vaughan Williams and Rautavaara off the top of my head.

Reading my catalog I find Einar Englund, Asger Hamerik, Franz Schubert and Edward Tubin as being among the more obscure ones I've marked as having liked (if not quite remembered).


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## Crystal (Aug 8, 2017)

Beethoven for me!


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## Omicron9 (Oct 13, 2016)

20centrfuge said:


> I'm exploring the "seventh symphony" written by any composer. I'm hoping you'll let me know of any you like and maybe even rank them.
> 
> So far, I like Shostakovich, Beethoven, Prokofiev, Sibelius. <snip> ....and Kalevi Aho's. I'm sure there are many more out there.


Well 20centrfuge, you quoted my list almost exactly. I'd add Schnittke to the list.


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## Prodromides (Mar 18, 2012)

Weston said:


> This seems a weird approach ... So why the 7th other than it's something to do?


Uh ... because the mind of '20centrfuge' works differently (apparently) than the mind of 'Weston'. 

There are multiple ways to organize/order/approach musical works. Some people may desire to listen to works in alphabetical order. Others might wish to listen to everything they have on a specific composer (like binge-watching one TV series on a station's marathon). I tend to organize my discs by label name, ... and so on.

I don't think it is weird to listen to all the symphony #3s one may have in his/her collection, so why not listen to one's 7s?


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