# Mayakovsky Symphony Suggestions



## NightHawk (Nov 3, 2011)

Can anyone point me to even one of the Symphonies of Nicolei Myaskovsky that is an undeniable masterpiece?


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

My current favorites are his symphonies no. 19 for band and no. 27. Since no work is an undeniable masterpiece, I'll not go down that road.


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## EdwardBast (Nov 25, 2013)

NightHawk said:


> Can anyone point me to even one of the Symphonies of Nicolei Myaskovsky that is an undeniable masterpiece?


Hey, you're on a forum where some people deny Mozart was any good, so, "undeniable?," no.

I think no. 21 is among the best:






And no. 9:






(The Svetlanov performance on youtube is grotesquely slow, so I picked ^ ^ ^.


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## Vasks (Dec 9, 2013)

*#21...........for sure*


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## CnC Bartok (Jun 5, 2017)

16! The Aviation Symphony. I cannot necessarily state categorically that it is a masterpiece, but it's thoroughly brilliant. The second movement is either incredibly moving, or cheesy. Your choice!

No.6 is the perceived masterpiece. But this is the one that got me hooked!


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

Had I more time I could recommend twenty-seven symphonies by Myaskovsky that are worth a hearing. (I'm pleased to have the entire collection to which I've listened more than once.)


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Indeed, "undeniable" does not exist. But my favourite of the bunch is the 6th (get the version with choir).


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## jim prideaux (May 30, 2013)

27th....'undeniable masterpiece'-not sure about that BUT it has been my personal top 10 symphonies since I first heard it!

there is a Naxos recording of 24/25 that is a very persuasive account of both works.


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## Orfeo (Nov 14, 2013)

Try Symphonies nos.:


*XXVII*: a masterpiece, full of nobility, grace, and something of a dignified defiance in light of the BS Zhdanov Affair of 1948.
*XXV*: A beautiful, soulful first movement, an apotheosis ending, a sigh of relief after the ending of the Great Patriotic War
*XXIII*: Folksy, colorful work using the themes of the Kabardino-Balkar regions Myaskovsky took while he and many of his friends and colleagues were evacuated during the War.
*XXII*: The earliest response to the outbreak of the war, with its sincerity never in doubt.
*XXI*: It is a lucid work, with its tight, concentrated structure in a highly behaved sonata form (ABCBA). Its mysterious detachment in the outer layers of the work (AB & BA) evokes Rimsky-Korsakov while the middle section (C) brings to mind the warm yet passionate rhetoric a la Tchaikovsky.
*XX*: boasts a great slow movement, among his best.
*XVIII*: A work where the composer clearly played it safe. It was dedicated to the Twentieth Anniversary of the October Revolution, and given what happen by 1935/1936 (Shostakovich, Popov, Kirov), Myaskovsky laid low, sort to speak. But this work, songful, approachable as it is, manages to maintain the dignity that reminds one why Myaskovsky was deemed "The Musical Conscience of Moscow."
*XVI*: A tightly argued work, with a very moving Andante marciale (third movement).
*XV*: generally the sunniest of his symphonies. While it is not entirely devoid of the Tchaikovskian seriousness and drama (the busy yet melodious first movement in particular), it is a work with plenty of warmth and individuality.
*XIII*: An immensely striking yet fairly ambiguous and bleak.
*IX*: Disturbing yet searching, hauntingly beautiful yet profound.
*VI*: To many it was the first symphony to convey the aspirations, the yearnings of Revolution. To Myaskovsky, the musical traversal ran much deeper.
*V*: Predominantly restful and spacious, festive in the third movement that would have done Gliere proud, quite gleeful in the finale.
*II*: Somber and fierce, with the slow movement that is quite incredible.
Enjoy.
:tiphat:


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## dismrwonderful (May 5, 2013)

Well, a highly recommended composer I have never listened to. I guess I'm off to an adventure. [g]

I would like to have some recommendations of his significant chamber works, please.

Dan


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