# Your Favorite Fours?



## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Just a place to talk about the 4th Symphonies you like (or don't). If you have a few, how do they rank in your esteem? Favorite performances?


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## amfortas (Jun 15, 2011)

Probably the Brahms, one of the first pieces of classical music that got a hook in me. Not sure about a favorite recording, but I believe that initial encounter was the old Toscanini/NBC Symphony Orchestra performance.


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## Op.123 (Mar 25, 2013)

Me likey brahms


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## musicrom (Dec 29, 2013)

Tchaikovsky's is probably my favorite 4th symphony.

EDIT: Ooh, the Mendelssohn is also great. 
EDIT 2: And Beethoven, Schumann are pretty good as well.


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## Winterreisender (Jul 13, 2013)

My Top 4 fours are probably:
1) Mendelssohn
2) Vaughan Williams (a fine piece... RVW at his angriest)
3) Brahms
4) Nielsen


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## Vesteralen (Jul 14, 2011)

I like a LOT of 4s:
*
Beethoven *- One Beethoven symphony that seems to be a perennial favorite with me. Love the mysterious introduction and the propulsive feel to the whole thing. Favorite performance - _Steinberg / Pittsburgh Symphony (Command)_

*Schumann *- Not so much because of its being groundbreaking, but just because it has a glow to it. Favorite performance - _Klemperer / Philharmonia (Angel/EMI)_

*Brahms* - The Sophoclean symphony. Love it for the same reason I love Greek drama. Favorite performance - oddly enough - _Sawallisch / VSO_

*Bruckner* - Atmospheric and Bruckner at his most palatable. Favorite performance - (Tied) - _Steinberg / Pittsburgh Symphony (Capitol) / Klemperer / Philharmonia (Angel)_

*Mahler* - Prettiest Mahler symphony. Favorite performance - _Abravanel / Utah Symphony (Vanguard)_

*Vaughan Williams *- Fierce and shattering. Favorite performance - _Previn / LSO (RCA)_

*Nielsen-* "The Inextinguishable" Favorite performance - _Bernstein / NYPO (Columbia)_


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

4 of them: 

Bruckner, Nielsen, Sibelius, V-Williams.


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

My favorites are Mahler, Bruckner and Shostakovich.


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## mmsbls (Mar 6, 2011)

I won't put them in order, but I think these 4ths are wonderful:

Brahms, Mendelssohn, Mahler, Schumann, Bruckner.

There are probably others that I could put in this category as well.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

I'm definitely in agreement with Bulldog's three picks and I would also find it difficult to omit Tchaikovsky, RVW, Schnittke and Simpson. I think Ned Rorem stopping at three is a pity, though.


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## ptr (Jan 22, 2013)

Four's rule!

Mahler, Shostakovich, Nielsen, Sibelius, Lutoslawski, Weinberg, Simpson, Sæverud, Valen, Nystroem, Hermanson, Pettersson and not lest the greatest American composer mankind has seen, Charles Ives ...

/ptr


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## GGluek (Dec 11, 2011)

Brahms, Mahler, Beethoven in that order.


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

Two "fourth symphonies" I have previously promoted on this Forum are those by William Alwyn and Joly Braga Santos.

Take a listen to the final movements of each of those works. I consider the Alwyn his best work, the one in which he touches the sublime in that final movment in a melody so poignant and meltingly beautiful that I end up repeating play of the movement every time I program it for a listening session.

The Braga Santos Fourth's final movement is in an uncommon two-part form. I recall my first listen to the work, and the first section of the movement absolutely hooked me. So much so that I was totally unprepared for the great Chorale theme of the second part of the movement. This one, too, bears repeated listening.

Anyone interested in Fourth Symphonies should include those two works to their listening list.







and








Another Fourth worth consideration is that by Charles Ives. I find this piece his penultimate work, refreshing and wonderful. Too, I have long advocated Arnold Bax's Fourth, another stunning work and a great place to start if you are unfamiliar with this British composer and want to sample his wares. David Diamond offers a stunning Fourth; it's a good place to start with that composer, too. And has anyone listened to Miaskovsky's Fourth lately? There's a fascinating work which comes at you with a lot of unexpected twists and turns. Give it a go. And of course there's Albert Roussel's Fourth. Too many great Fourths to name, actually.

Explore. Have fun.

In the mean time, some great Fourths have already been mentioned on this thread. Good work.


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## techniquest (Aug 3, 2012)

Shostakovich, Nielsen and Mahler all composed 4th Symphonies that I really like, yet they are all completely different from each other. My favourite Mahler 4th is that conducted by Anton Nanut which has boy treble Max Emmanuel Cencic as the soloist in the final movement - a wonderfully clear sound, streets ahead of Helmut Wittek in the Bernstein DG recording. However, both this and Neilsen's 4th have been subjects of the 'Saturday Symphony' so I would refer you to those threads, while Shostakovich's 4th has yet to feature.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Mahler, Glass, Bruckner, Sibelius (in no particular order apart from Beethoven, Mahler and Sibelius which stand slightly above the rest)


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## trazom (Apr 13, 2009)

Brahms, Schumann, I forgot about the Mendelssohn 'Italian' but I like that one too, and Mozart's "Prague" symphony(it's the 4th from the last).


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## senza sordino (Oct 20, 2013)

In no particular order: Shostakovich, Brahms, Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky, Mahler

Mozart wrote a good 4th Violin Concerto. Saint Säens wrote a good 4th piano concerto. Mozart wrote a decent 4th horn concerto.


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## Alypius (Jan 23, 2013)

1. Brahms (1885): Kleiber / Vienna (DG, 1981)
2. Shostakovich (1935): Haitink / Chicago (CSO, 2008)
3. Sibelius (1911): Vänskä / Lahti (BIS, 1997)
4. Tchaikovsky (1878): Mravinsky / Leningrad (DG, 1960)
5. Nielsen: “Inextinguishable” (1916): Schonwandt / Danish National (DaCapo, 2011)
6. Beethoven (1806): Gardiner / Orchestre Revolutionnaire (DG, 1994)
7. Lutosławski (1994): Gardner / BBC Symphony (Chandos, 2012)
8. Nørgård (1981): Segerstam / Danish National Radio Symphony (1997)
9. Pärt: "Los Angeles" (2008): Salonen / Los Angeles (ECM, 2010) 
10. Schumann (1851): Gardiner / Orchestre Revolutionnaire (DG, 1997)


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## amfortas (Jun 15, 2011)

trazom said:


> Mozart's "Prague" symphony(it's the 4th from the last).


That is so . . . cheating!!!


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## GreenMamba (Oct 14, 2012)

Mendelssohn, Lutoslawski, Vaughan Williams and Bruckner for me.


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## dgee (Sep 26, 2013)

Good coverage of some great symphonies. If you find you crave more fourth the Honegger is rather lovely too


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## ProudSquire (Nov 30, 2011)

Dvořák, Brahms, Mahler, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Mendelssohn, Sibelius, Schumann, Schubert, Bruckner, Glazunov, Vaughan, Nielsen and Shostakovich. 

In no particular order. :]


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Good grief! Tomorrow I'll tote up the posts and see how many times each composer of a 4th is mentioned...


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## dgee (Sep 26, 2013)

Chronologically, Symphony in 3 movements is Stravinsky's fourth symphony. Just saying


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## StlukesguildOhio (Dec 25, 2006)

I don't know that I have a favorite 4th. Among those that I quite like I would include:

Schumann's
Mendelssohn's 
Brahms'
Bruckner's
Dvorak's
Tchaikovsky's
Mahler's


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Those with two or more mentions:

Mahler - 11
Brahms - 10
Bruckner - 9
Mendelssohn - 9
Schumann - 8
Nielsen - 7
Shostakovich - 7
Tchaikovsky - 6
Vaughan Williams - 6
Beethoven - 5
Sibelius - 5
Lutoslawski - 3
Dvorak - 2
Ives - 2
Simpson - 2

19 others have one mention each.


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

TheProudSquire said:


> Dvořák, Brahms, Mahler, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Mendelssohn, Sibelius, Schumann, Schubert, Bruckner, *Glazunov*, Vaughan, Nielsen and Shostakovich.
> 
> In no particular order. :]


oh - Glazunov. Yes.


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