# Your Top 10 First Symphonies!



## RobertJTh (Sep 19, 2021)

Stealing this from Hurwitz. What are, in your opinion, the greatest, or just your personal favorite first symphonies?
This includes one-shots by composers who wrote only one symphony.

Let's give this a try.

1. Elgar (greatest first symphony by anyone, ever, period)
2. Brahms
3. Bruckner (official 1, not 0 or 00)
4. Berlioz (Fantastique)
5. Schumann
6. Franck
7. Shostakovich
8. Sibelius (1, Kullervo isn't a symphony, Dave)
9. Brian (Gothic)
10. Wetz (guilty pleasure)

No Beethoven or Mahler, I'll save them for the symphonies 2-9 editions!


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

Alphabetical Order:

Bax
Berlioz
Chausson
Dutilleux
Elgar
Franck
Mahler
Martinů
Vaughan Williams
Weinberg


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## haziz (Sep 15, 2017)

Roughly in descending order of preference:

Tchaikovsky
Kalinnikov
Sibelius
Borodin
Beethoven
Brahms
Walton
Glazunov
Balakirev
Dvořák

P.S.: How can I forget the Bells of Zlonice?! ..... Added Dvořák!

P.S. 2: Added Glazunov's beautiful first symphony - a brilliant composition by a 15 year old musical prodigy!


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

1. Kalinnikov
2. Balakirev
3. Schmidt
4. Mahler
5. Gretchaninov
6. Brahms
7. Berlioz
8. Bloch
9. Korngold
10. Tchaikovsky


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

In order of preference (with a gap on purpose)

Berlioz
Mahler

Moeran
Brahms
Shostakovich
Franck, C
Bax
Elgar
Schmidt
Huber


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## Josquin13 (Nov 7, 2017)

The following are the top ten 1st symphonies that I most admire & listen to, with Nielsen and Kokkonen's being the most underrated of the bunch, in my view. Indeed Nielsen was a remarkably gifted & precocious composer, and he considered the young Kokkonen to be the most gifted Finnish composer to come along since Sibelius:

--Mahler
--Schumann
--Beethoven
--Debussy--Debussy called his "La Mer" a "symphony" or "three symphonic sketches". (Though I prefer his Trois Nocturnes, if we can call that symphony, too?)
--Sibelius
--Brahms
--Prokofiev
--Shostakovich
--Nielsen:




--Kokkonen:





Honorable mention:
--Martinu
--Chausson
--Mendelssohn


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## ORigel (May 7, 2020)

1. Brahms
2. Mahler
3. Balakirev
4. Franck
5. Norbert Burgmuller
6. Beethoven
7. Prokofiev
8. Schumann
9. Berlioz
10. Chausson


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## Prodromides (Mar 18, 2012)

Who's on foist? I tell ya - those post-WWII serialists from U.K. are on top of my world.

1. Richard Rodney Bennett (1965)
2. Benjamin Frankel (1958)
3. Roberto Gerhard (1953)
4. Humphrey Searle (1953)
5. William Walton (1935)
6. Stefan Wolpe's only Symphony (1956)
7. Marcel Landowski (1948)
8. Ellen Taaffe Zwilich (1982)
9. Eero Hämeenniemi (1983)
10. Henri Sauguet (1944)


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## Forster (Apr 22, 2021)

In no particular order...

Prokofiev
Messiaen
Berlioz
Beethoven
Sibelius
Mahler
Stravinsky (E flat)
Shostakovich
Debussy (B Minor)

Plenty of other symphonists yet to explore, which is why I've only nine.


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## Kreisler jr (Apr 21, 2021)

personal favorite: Brahms
most original/daring: Berlioz' Fantastique, Mahler
also very good: Elgar, Franck, Shostakovich, Sibelius
a bit underrated: Schumann, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky


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## Philidor (11 mo ago)

RobertJTh said:


> 6. Franck


César Franck wrote a symphony in G major in his youth. The work was premiered in 1840, however, the score is lost.

1. Mahler
2. Brahms
3. Sibelius
4. Schumann
5. Prokofieff
6. Vaughan Williams
7. Langgaard
8. Korngold
9. Norgard
10. Schnittke


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

Personal favourites:

Bernstein
Bliss
Franck
Chavez
Walton
Prokofiev
Hindemith Mathis
Bizet
Liszt
Ifukube


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## Xisten267 (Sep 2, 2018)

By order of preference today:

1. Brahms
2. Mahler
3. Elgar
4. Nepomuceno
5. Tchaikovsky
6. Debussy (_La Mer_)
7. Sibelius
8. Berlioz
9. Schumann
10. Prokofiev


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## Brahmsian Colors (Sep 16, 2016)

Favorites (alphabetically):

Beethoven
Bizet
Brahms
Elgar
Franck
Mahler
Prokofiev
Schumann
Sibelius
Tchaikovsky


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## maestro267 (Jul 25, 2009)

Assuming "only" symphonies count as firsts...

Korngold
Tchaikovsky
Vaughan Williams
Mahler
Elgar
Brian
Schnittke
Prokofiev
Langgaard
Bax


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## Bruce (Jan 2, 2013)

In alphabetical order (almost): 

Bernstein
Chavez
Lutoławski
Magnard
Rachmaninov
Rouse
Schubert
Schumann
Vaughan-Williams
Sibelius

But this selection could change tomorrow.


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## Prodromides (Mar 18, 2012)

RobertJTh said:


> I'll save them for the symphonies 2-9 editions!


When's your 2nd thread coming, RobertJTh(urwitz)?

I'm prepared to fling my No.2s at the TalkClassical fans.


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## tortkis (Jul 13, 2013)

Beethoven
Brahms
Schumann
Mahler
Schnittke
Elgar
Ives
Hersch
Magnard
Sibelius


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## Richannes Wrahms (Jan 6, 2014)

1. Webern
2. Debussy (La Mer)
3. Mahler
4. Beethoven
5. Tchaikovsky
The rest


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## RobertJTh (Sep 19, 2021)

Prodromides said:


> When's your 2nd thread coming, RobertJTh(urwitz)?
> 
> I'm prepared to fling my No.2s at the TalkClassical fans.


It's up, you can fling to your heart's content!

Also, thanks everyone for responding. There were quite some original choices!
Kallinikov gets mentioned a couple of times, I should give it a spin again, other Russians: Balakirev (great), Gretchanonow (I only know him from some chamber music and his works for the catholic liturgy, masses etc, very rare for a Russian composer!), Tchaikovsky I definitely should have included. I should check out Weinberg and Martinu.
As for the English, Bax and Vaughan Williams and Walton are the obvious choices out of those I prefer Bax, but some of his later symphonies (3, 5, 6) are even greater.
That applies to composers like Ives and Nielsen too: good 1st's but they pale in comparison to their later symphonies. I never cared much for Korngold.
Burgmuller is a really nice choice, though I prefer what he managed to get finished of his second symphony.


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## Anooj (Dec 5, 2021)

Kalinnikov
Bortkiewicz
Brahms
Mahler
Elgar
Korngold
Kalomiris
Prokofiev
Liszt
Walton


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## Waehnen (Oct 31, 2021)

I do not have ten!

I really like these 1st Symphonies, in the order of appreciation:

Brahms
Sibelius
Tchaikovsky
Kokkonen
Mahler
Beethoven
Schumann
Mendelssohn


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## Bill Cooke (May 20, 2017)

In no particular oder:

Bax
Shostakovich
Rachmaninov
Walton
Martinu
Korngold
Dutilleux
Penderecki
Copland (Symphony for Organ and Orchestra)
Berlioz


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## szabomd (Dec 13, 2021)

1.Brahms
2.Tchaikovsky
3.Berlioz
3.Nielsen
4.Mahler
5.Sibelius
6.Shostakovich
7.Franck
8.V.Williams
9.Scriabin
10.Mendelssohn


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## Coach G (Apr 22, 2020)

Favorite 1st Symphonies:

1. Sibelius
2. Mahler "Titan"
3. Prokofiev "Classical Symphony"
4. Roy Harris "1933"
5. Florence Price
6. Samuel Barber 
7. Vaughan Williams "A Sea Symphony"
8. Tchaikovsky "Winter Dreams"
9. Brahms
10. Beethoven


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## scott.stucky48 (7 mo ago)

I only have two—Walton and Shostakovich.


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## Prodromides (Mar 18, 2012)

RobertJTh said:


> the symphonies 2-9 editions!


We are only one-third through these editions. What are we waiting 4?


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## RobertJTh (Sep 19, 2021)

Prodromides said:


> We are only one-third through these editions. What are we waiting 4?


Coming right up!
I didn't want to rush this, maybe it's better to wait till the present threads are exhausted than having too many active ones at once.


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## HenryPenfold (Apr 29, 2018)

Straight off the top of my head and in no particular order


1. Debussy - La Mer
2. Messiaen - Turangalila
3. Elgar
4. Walton
5. Brian
6. Britten - Sinfonia Da Requiem
7. Bartok - Four Orchestral Pieces Op. 12
8. Webern
9. Brahms
10. Bliss

My beloveds, Bruckner, Mahler, Sibelius and Tchaikovsky, don't quite make it onto my top 10......

*EDIT*: *Schumann*! I forgot Schumann. Cant think who to take out to make way for my beloved Schumann........


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## HenryPenfold (Apr 29, 2018)

scott.stucky48 said:


> I only have two—Walton and Shostakovich.


Can I have your 8 others?


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## HenryPenfold (Apr 29, 2018)

szabomd said:


> 1.Brahms
> 2.Tchaikovsky
> 3.Berlioz
> 3.Nielsen
> ...


Nielsen 1 is a very underrated symphony. I've only recently realised that......


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## Andante Largo (Apr 23, 2020)

Reinecke - Symphony No. 1 in A major, Op. 79 (1858, rev. 1863)
Rheinberger - Symphony No. 1 in D minor, Op. 10 "Wallenstein" (1866)
Noskowski - Symphony No. 1 in A major (1875)
Sgambati - Symphony No. 1 in D major, Op. 16 (1881)
Sibelius - Symphony No. 1 in E minor, Op. 39 (1899)
Karłowicz - Symphony "Rebirth" in E minor, Op. 7 (1902)
Melartin - Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 30 (1902)
Paderewski - Symphony in B minor "Polonia", Op. 24 (1908)
Młynarski - Symphony in F major "Polonia", Op. 14 (1910)
Wetz - Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 40 (1916)


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

Favorite first symphonies...??? Hmm...

Sibelius
Shostakovich
Walton


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## Aries (Nov 29, 2012)

It is an interssting task to figure out such a personal ranking with so many symphonies with low numbers existing.

1. Wilhelm Furtwängler
2. Anton Bruckner (vienna version please)
3. Jean Sibelius 
4. Sergei Rachmaninov
5. Otar Taktakishvili (please record this in stereo, it maybe could be even first actually)
6. Georgy Sviridov
7. Joly Braga Santos
8. Max Bruch
9. Martin Scherber
10. Ludwig van Beethoven


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## leonsm (Jan 15, 2011)

1. Walton (unbeatable)
Bax
Sgambati
Coucounarás
Alwyn
Martinu
Nepomuceno
Sallinen
Grant Still
Alnæs


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

3 favorites:

Sibelius
Shostakovich
Walton

Wonderful firsts!!


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## Bone (Jan 19, 2013)

1. Brahms
2. Beethoven
3. Mahler
4. Sibelius
5. Prokofiev
6. Vaughn Williams
7. Korngold (I’m with *maestro267*)
(Update) 8. Hans Rott 
9-10. Eh…that’s really all I can agree to. Twist my arm and I’ll add Shostakovich, Rachmaninov, and Tchaikovsky under protest (something something ban errything Russian)


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## carteianus (Jul 29, 2021)

Brahms
Walton (love this one to bits)
Berlioz
Mahler
Shostakovich
Sibelius
Elgar
Prokofiev
Beethoven
Bruckner


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## MusicSybarite (Aug 17, 2017)

*Walton
Sibelius
Suk
Tchaikovsky
Borresen
Dohnanyi
Shchedrin
Lutoslawski
Raid
Rubbra*


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