# Your Favorite Beethoven Symphony?



## Oscardude

Mine is between 7 and 8.


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## Art Rock

We've done this very often, but why not? The 6th for me.


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## Malx

Oscardude said:


> Mine is between 7 and 8.


Is that Symphony 7.5 

Sorry for my weak attempt at humour. Good to see someone else putting forward my choice - Symphony No 8.


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## Clouds Weep Snowflakes

All of them actually, but the 9th the most.


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## Guest

Oscardude said:


> Mine is between 7 and 8.


Good for you ...........


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## flamencosketches

Either 3 or 4, but it's subject to change. In any case I don't have much interest in Beethoven's symphonies at this point in my life; I hope it returns soon, but I have much other music to occupy me until then.

I ordered the Fritz Reiner/Chicago Symphony Beethoven 9th a few days ago, so maybe that recording will finally win me over on that symphony. I also intend to hear the Fricsay Beethoven 9th sometime.


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## CnC Bartok

Oscardude said:


> Mine is between 7 and 8.


Isn't that Wellington's Victory, or have I got my chronology wrong?

7 for me definitely, but all the others are extremely high on my list of adored Symphonies. 4 should also get a special mention.


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## Manxfeeder

By default I usually say the 4th. That's what drew me in to his symphonies. But personally, my favorites are 1 through 9.


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## mbhaub

7 easily. Wonderful to listen to, a lot of fun to play (the 1st bassoon part anyway), and a hoot to conduct. Rene Leibowitz/Royal Philharmonic top choice, with Andre Cluytens/Berlin Philharmonic hot on his heels.


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## Brahmsianhorn

953768412

Fairly standard order


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## Guest

I don't get as much enjoyment out of 1, 2, and 4, for whatever reason. As for the others, it is pretty fluid as to which one claims the title of "favorite" at any given time. It is probably directly tied to whichever one I have most recently listened to. Currently that would be the 7th. That may hold the top spot for a while as I am currently going through and paying attention to some other recordings by other composers that have been neglected (not listened to in a while) or outright ignored (sadly I have several recordings I have purchased but not yet found the time to hear!).


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## Merl

Always the 7th.....others go up and down the list but the 7th remains my fave. Must be moderate at the least but preferably brisk. Slow 7ths are awful (I wont name names).


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## Brahmsian Colors

Nos. 3,5 and 9 have traded places fairly frequently with me. Currently it's the Ninth. While none of the three is or ever has been my favorite among _all_ symphonies, and though Beethoven has never been one my favorite composers, my feeling is that the Ninth is the greatest of all symphonies I have heard....and I won't try to put into words the meaning of greatest.


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## Art Rock

Brahmsianhorn said:


> 953768412
> 
> Fairly standard order


65 734 821 9


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## Rogerx

Oscardude said:


> Mine is between 7 and 8.


Me too..............................


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## Pat Fairlea

I keep having to say this, so pay attention:

It's 7th then 5th then the rest. 

Simple.


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## Guest

9, 3, 5, 8, 7, 1, 2, 6, 4....

...today.


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## APL

Mine is: 7, 5, 3, 9,6 
A little different from others, however my favorit composer is Beethoven!


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## DBLee

Art Rock said:


> We've done this very often, but why not?


Yes, I'm pretty sure I've participated in a thread asking this same question in the last month or two. For me, it alternates between my top tier of 3, 5, 6, 7, and 8. Today I'll give some love to the underappreciated 8th.


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## flamencosketches

Well, both Fricsay and Reiner have done pretty damn well for themselves. Their efforts just may have won me over on Beethoven's 9th. Creeping right up the list. I still think the 4th movement is way too long, and at times just makes no sense... anyone with me on this? It seems Giuseppe Verdi thought similarly. But movements 1 through 3 are just phenomenal.


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## Bigbang

flamencosketches said:


> Well, both Fricsay and Reiner have done pretty damn well for themselves. Their efforts just may have won me over on Beethoven's 9th. Creeping right up the list. I still think the 4th movement is way too long, and at times just makes no sense... anyone with me on this? It seems Giuseppe Verdi thought similarly. But movements 1 through 3 are just phenomenal.


Supposedly Beethoven was going to have two versions of last movement, one choral, one instrumental. I personally like the 9th the best yet it is flawed more so than the other symphonies. The first movement has elements of other symphonies and more, the second can sound repetitive (depends on who is doing it), third is sublime, and fourth is, well, meandering and while I can listen to it, I usually want to be in the mood for it. I own 15 or so of the 9th. One of my favorite is Karl Bohm live version 1980. It is slow, but the "live" part brings out the excitement.


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## vtpoet

Hands down, the 10th Symphony.  Just had to write that to get a rise out of everybody. Though, seriously, much depends on the completion.


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## Olias

As Monica from Friends once said: Seven! Seven! Seven! SEVEN!!! SEVEN!!!!!!


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## Xisten267

Bigbang said:


> Supposedly Beethoven was going to have two versions of last movement, one choral, one instrumental. I personally like the 9th the best *yet it is flawed* more so than the other symphonies. The first movement has elements of other symphonies and more, the second can sound repetitive (depends on who is doing it), third is sublime, and fourth is, well, meandering and while I can listen to it, I usually want to be in the mood for it. I own 15 or so of the 9th. One of my favorite is Karl Bohm live version 1980. It is slow, but the "live" part brings out the excitement.


Except for the second repeat of the second movement, which I like to omit, I couldn't say that I share this perception at all. I love the Ninth from the first note until the last. It's the model, the benchmark of all what a symphony can be and achieve in my opinion.


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## Swosh

Oh my goodness.. you've been here since 2009! Wow


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## Fabulin

5, "Beethoven's idea of victory"


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## Curmudgeon

7. I do listen to 5 and 6 with some frequency, but 7 is my favorite.


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## starthrower

No.4 by Bernstein/NYP


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## gellio

Oscardude said:


> Mine is between 7 and 8.


Beethoven, himself, thought the 8th was a lot better than the 7th.


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## gellio

6, 5, 7, 9, 3, 4, 8, 2, 1

......today. 6 is always #1, the others change. 2 is good fun though.


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## Musicaterina

The "Pastorale" is my favourite Beethoven symphony. But I like also the 7th and 9th symphony very much.


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## Heck148

Whichever one I'm listening to at the time.


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## Xisten267

My ordering today is:

9-5-6-3-7-8-4-2-1.

I love the choral movement of the Ninth and think that Beethoven was an excellent vocal composer by the way.


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## Skakner

Font size proportional to preference...

3
7
-------------------------
5 - 9
-------------------------
4 - 8
-------------------------
6
-------------------------
2 - 1


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## Animal the Drummer

Hard to order them one by one. I can group them though:

Favourites: 3,5,6 and probably my favourite of all, 7;

Enjoyable, though not quite as much: 1,2,4 and 8;

The one I admire but have never fallen for, hence last on my favourites list: 9.


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## Judith

An earlier post would have said 7th which I still love very much but find I'm loving the 5th. Not because of 1st movement (which is overrated) but the other three movements. Also love the transition between 3rd and 4th movements


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## Ned Low

7(the first movement is gorgeous. I think Wagner rightly called " the apotheosis of dance"!). 9( the second movement)5(the fourth movement).3(the second movement)6.(all of it).1.2.4.8


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## Axter

3, 9, 4, 5, 1, 7, 6, 2, 8


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## BlackAdderLXX

5th. Still my favorite symphony of all time. Probably 3 & 6 after that


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## premont

4, 1, 3, 6, 7, 5, 2, 8, 9


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## Konrad

It's more about the movements to me: 2nd mvt of the 9th (that opening!), 1st mvt of the 6th, and 1st and 4th mvts of the 5th. This is heresy I know, but some movements of his symphonies are boring to me.

In the Bernstein recording of the 2nd mvt of the 9th, the percussionist hits the timpani harder than anyone else I've ever seen--and it sounds great.


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## Marc

At this moment:

7,6,5,8,3,4,1,9,2.

Don't get me wrong though, I love them all.

I.c. the lower rating of Number Nine: it's mostly the Finale that I don't 'get'. Somehow I'm (mostly) not that impressed by Beethoven's vocal/choral output... there are exceptions though (f.i. some songs, episodes from _Fidelio_, Messe C-Dur op. 86).


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## Agamenon

Symphony 3. Now and forever. A piece that changed everything!


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## mahlernerd

From best to worst:

9, 3, 6, 7, 8, 5, 4, 2, 1.

I don’t really find much enjoyment out of the 5th anymore just because I’ve heard it waaaayyyy too many times.


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## eric1

9 and 3 are the best, but 6 is my personal favorite. 7 is also excellent. 5 is overrated because of the very familiar 1st movement. 8 is underrated.


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## Axter

mahlernerd said:


> I don't really find much enjoyment out of the 5th anymore just because I've heard it waaaayyyy too many times.


Give it time and distance, it will come back, one day.



eric1 said:


> 5 is overrated because of the very familiar 1st movement.


Due to popular culture maybe, but equally I would argue 5th's 2nd, 3rd and 4th mvmts are underrated. Just my opinion.


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## mparta

The movement I wouldn't want to live without: Last movement of the First symphony.

Although....I heard Nelsons and VPO last spring (last hurrah prior to you know what) and their 2nd, especially the last movement, was worth the price of the entire cycle. Which is a problem because the entire cycle was rather bland.


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## brucknerian1874

Beethoven in 4K, of course!

The 5th Symphony...Klemperer, Karajan, Kleiber, Krivine


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## Brahmsian Colors

Current favorites in no particular order: 2,3,5,9


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## Notcarpal

Sorry, but if I never hear another overlong overwrought overbearing Beethoven symphony ever again it’ll be too soon.


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## maestro267

You signed up to a classical music forum just for that? Some people have too much time on their hands.


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## pianozach

I've seen this thread and just kept passing it by, as I just figured it's too difficult a question.

I finally decided to "dive in", and what's interesting is how highly regarded the *7th symphony* is. Most people have it in their top three, some as their fave, and everyone has it in their top 5.

I can't even recall the 7th. I like the 1st, 3rd, 5th, 6th, and to a lesser degree, the 9th, but only because of the 4th movement dragging on for so long. If I had to give a top of the top, best of the best, I suppose it's the *5th*, with the *3rd* and *6th* tied for a very close second.

But I'll put the *7th* in my listening queue and give it a fresh listen to see what all the fuss is about.


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## Helgi

When checking out a new cycle, I always start with No. 4. So maybe that's my favourite?

I tend to avoid 3, 5 and 7 because of overexposure, but whenever I listen to one of them I'm reminded of just how great they are.


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## pianozach

Helgi said:


> When checking out a new cycle, I always start with No. 4. So maybe that's my favourite?
> 
> I tend to avoid 3, 5 and 7 because of overexposure, but whenever I listen to one of them I'm reminded of just how great they are.


That's a pretty unusual choice. People mention Symphonies 3, 5, 6, 7, & 9, but this is the first time I've heard someone mention 4.

What makes it special for you?


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## Helgi

Difficult to say why exactly, but it stands up to repeated listening for me in a way that the others don’t. 

I love the contrasts between the light (and slightly manic), string and woodwind parts and the full-on orchestral drama, and the overall balance of the whole thing. The 4th movement is delicious in this regard, when it's done well


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## SixFootScowl

Extremely difficult question but I am going to have to go with the Ninth.


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## Rogerx

SixFootScowl said:


> Extremely difficult question but I am going to have to go with the Ninth.


I tend to agree, however 7 is also beautiful. :angel:


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## jim prideaux

The 4th.......for many reasons, some of which are reflected in helgi's post above.

Followed by 1, 2, 3, and 7.

With regard to the 4th.Yesterday I watched Kleiber and the Concertgebouw on YT. Wonderful!


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## eric1

936758412. 6 holds a special place in my heart.


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## SixFootScowl

eric1 said:


> 936758412. 6 holds a special place in my heart.


It holds a special place among LvB's symphonies too.


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## Helgi

I've been thinking about the 4th some more, and I think it's remarkable how it goes from joy to melancholy to anger and back again in a way that feels entirely natural.


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## jim prideaux

Listened to Skrowaczeski and the Saarbrucken orchestra performing the 4th.......and what a performance!

Have read your post and I fully agree, although the overall effect (to my ears anyway) is essentially uplifting and positive.


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## Helgi

Yes, that’s a great one!

Others I like are Wand/NDR and Jarvi/Bremen


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