# Best Symphonies By Key



## An Die Freude (Apr 23, 2011)

Probably to the disgruntlement of some here (*cough*Polednice*cough*), here's another list, inspired by the Best Symphonies By Numeral thread. Try and do as many keys as you can seeing as some keys are not well, erm, used a lot. So on your marks, get set, go!

EDIT: You can put a section for symphonies not listed with a key.


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## Polednice (Sep 13, 2009)

Hahahaha! You saw me coming! I was indeed going to say something along the lines of my brain being melted, and this is all seeming to be a deliberately constructed punishment for me, but seeing as I got a mention, I'll forgive you! Now I'll let you all carry on with your silly game. 

Btw, whatever keys Brahms's symphonies are in, they're the best ones.


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

Great idea! Poly will have to accept that there can be good ideas for symphony thread.

By key and order of greatness

C Major-
-Mozart 41-Jupiter
-Shubert no. 9 "the great"
-Bizet Symphony in C
-Stravinsky, symphony in C
-Boyce Symphony 3
-Balakirev Symphony 1
-Beethoven Symphony no. 1
-JCF Bach, Symphony no. 10
-Haydn Symphony 48 Maria Theresia
-Clementi Symphony 1 from the unpublished set

C Minor
-Suk Arael
-Brahms Symphony 1
-Beethoven Symphony 5
-Saint Saens Symphony 3 "Organ"
-Taneyev Symphony 4
-Tchaikovsky Symphony 2
-Mahler Symphony 2 
-Bruckner Symphony 1
-Joseph Martin Kraus Symphony in C Minor
-Haydn Symphony 95

C# Major
?

C# Minor
Joseph Martin Kraus Symphony in C Sharp minor
?

D Major
Haydn Symphony 101-The Clock
CPE Bach Symphony Symphony in D major Wq 183/1
Mahler Symphony 1
Prokofiev Symphony 1
Brahms Symphony 2
Beethoven Symphony 2
Haydn Symphony 104
Boyce Symphony 6
WF Bach Sinfonia in D Major
Haydn Symphony 96-Miracle
Clementi Symphony op. 18 no. 2
Haydn Symphony 53-Imperial
Henri Joseph Rigel Symphony no. 4(according to one numbering)
Dittersdorf Symphony in D(one of the many, this one is from a recording by the Lisbon Metropolitan Orchestra)

D minor
Dvorak Symphony 7
Beethoven Symphony 9
WF Bach Sinfonia/Adagio and Fugue in D minor

E flat Major
Beethoven Symphony 3
Elgar Symphony 2
Bruckner Symphony 4
Mozart Symphony 39
Joseph Martin Kraus Symphony in E flat
Michael Haydn Symphony 26

E flat minor
?

E Major
Bruckner Symphony 7

E minor
Rachmaninov Symphony 2
Dvorak Symphony 9
Brahms Symphony 4
Tchaikovsky Symphony 5
Haydn Symphony 44

F Major

Brahms Symphony 3
Beethoven Symphony 6
Beethoven Symphony 8
Dvorak Symphony 5

F Minor

Tchakovsky Symphony 4
Haydn Symphony 49 "La Passion"

F Sharp Major

Tcherepnin Symphony 3

F Sharp Minor
Haydn 45 "Farewell"

G Major
Dvorak Symphony 8
CPE Bach Symphony in G Wq 183/4
Haydn Symphony 94 "Surprise"
Haydn Symphony 100 "Military"
Mozart Symphony 27
CPE Bach String Symphony no. 1

G Minor
Tchaikovsky Symphony 1
Mozart Symphony 40
Mozart Symphony 25
Haydn Symphony 83 "The Hen"
Henri Joseph Rigel Symphony 7

G Sharp/Major or Minor
?

A flat Major or Minor
?

A Major

Beethoven Symphony 7
Bruckner Symphony 6
CPE Bach String Symphony 4
Boyce Symphony 2

A minor(why is this so hard, my brain must be tiring)
Rachmaninoff Symphony 3(don't know it that well, just know of it and had to look up to make sure)

B flat Major

Prokofiev Symphony 5
Chausson Symphony in B flat
Schubert Symphony 5
Haydn Symphony 51(best middle Haydn Symphony IMO)

B Major
Haydn Symphony 46
?

B minor
Tchaikovsky Symphony 6
Shostakovich Symphony 6
Schubert 8 Unfinished
Gliere Symphony 3
CPE Bach String Symphony no. 5
Tchaikovsky Manfred Symphony
Borodin Symphony 2

Other weird keys, D Sharp M/m, D flat M/m, E Sharp M/m, G flat M/m, A Sharp M/m, B Sharp M/m, C flat M/m, I'm not sure about. Nor do I know of modal symphonies. But there are quite a few I know that I didn't mention because they don't fit in any key signature really, and probably some that I forgot of my favorites/the ones I know well enough to mention.


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## Polednice (Sep 13, 2009)

Clavi, you are hereby declared officially sick in the head.


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## kv466 (May 18, 2011)

Polednice said:


> Clavi, you are hereby declared officially sick in the head.


lolololol...oh, man, I was thinking something similar but you nailed it! lolol

Really, tho...good job, Clavster.


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

Polednice said:


> Clavi, you are hereby declared officially sick in the head.


You don't want to know how long this took me, on a school computer. I'm really just avoiding doing homework, or maybe this stimulating task has served the purpose of re energizing me for getting back to it.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

I seem to have lost my keys... be back later.


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## Dodecaplex (Oct 14, 2011)

I don't know why I'm doing this, but . . .

C major: Mozart 40
A minor: Mahler 6
G major: Vaughan Williams 2
E minor: Shosty 10
D major: Mozart 38
*B minor: Alkan 1*
A major: Beethoven 7
F sharp minor: Haydn 45
E major: Scriabin 1
C sharp minor: Prokofiev 7
B major: Korngold
G sharp minor: Myaskovsky 17
F sharp major: Can't think of anything at the moment

And . . . I'm getting bored.


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

Wish I had discovered this sooner, my brain hurts now
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_symphonies_by_key

Just kidding, I thought of it half way through and used it to help me along.


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## Trout (Apr 11, 2011)

Edit: clavichorder beat me to it


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## DavidMahler (Dec 28, 2009)

great thread! 

for C Minor it's a toss up between the Mahler 2 and the Brahms 1 with Beethoven being a clear 3rd for me.

for D Major (if Mahler's 9th could be designated the key of D, I choose the Mahler 9) otherwise probably Sibelius 2

for E-flat Eroica


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## Klavierspieler (Jul 16, 2011)

C major - Schumann No. 2

D minor - Schumann No. 4, Beethoven No. 9

Eb major - Schumann No. 3

F major - Beethoven Nos. 6 and 8

A major - Beethoven No. 7

Bb major - Schumann No. 1

All other keys are irrelevant.


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## randomnese (Nov 30, 2013)

C major - Shostakovich 7 "Leningrad"
C minor - Brahms 1
C#maj/min - ????
D major - Sibelius 2 / Tchaikovsky 3
D minor - Beethoven 9 (I really only enjoy the entirety of the 1st and 2nd movements; some parts of the 3rd/4th don't sit well with me)
Eb major - Sibelius 5 / Beethoven 3 "Eroica"
Eb minor - ????
E major - ????
E minor - Tchaikovsky 5 / Brahms 4
F major - Brahms 3
F minor - Tchaikovsky 4
Gb major/minor - ???? (possibly Turangalîla-Symphonie, though the label of that as a tonal work is a stretch)
G major - Dvorák 8
G minor - Shostakovich 11
Ab major - Elgar 1
Ab minor - ????
A major - Shostakovich 15
A minor - Mahler 6
Bb major - Glazunov 5
Bb minor - Shostakovich 13
B major - ????
B minor - Tchaikovsky 6 / Tchaikovsky Manfred

Note: Some of the ???? just means that I don't like the symphonies that are in that key (some Prokofiev, Kabalevsky, etc.)


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## Guest (May 15, 2014)

Interesting thread. And if you check out the wiki link, it offers the uninitiated an insight into key choices - the most common reason given that trumpets and horns could only play in certain keys.

Can someone enlighten me...were there other instruments with similar limitations? Do any of them still apply? Can modern composers pick any old key they want, and if so, can any composers in TC explain why they choose the keys they do?


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## Couac Addict (Oct 16, 2013)

MacLeod said:


> Interesting thread. And if you check out the wiki link, it offers the uninitiated an insight into key choices - the most common reason given that trumpets and horns could only play in certain keys.
> 
> Can someone enlighten me...were there other instruments with similar limitations? Do any of them still apply? Can modern composers pick any old key they want, and if so, can any composers in TC explain why they choose the keys they do?


The limitation was that the trumpets/horns didn't have any valves. They were glorified bugles. You needed a different horn for each key. Eventually, someone invented a thing called a crook which changed the length of the tube, making them a transposing instrument. The problem was that it took time to fit them and composers kept using C to save the hassle during performances. 
Then they invented the valves in the 19th century and it became no longer necessary. Romantic composers continued to use C out of habit more than anything (and it makes for easier reading for the musician).

Composers often choose keys according to the colour in the music they want to demonstrate. For example, a common generalization is that major keys portray happier/brighter moods than the sad/darker minor keys.

...and of course, just because a piece is written in C doesn't mean everyone sounds like C. You'll need to google 'transposing instrument' as it's a bit too involved for this post.


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## maestro267 (Jul 25, 2009)

A few, off the top of my head.

C minor: Mahler 2
B minor: Tchaikovsky Manfred
E flat major: Mahler 8
G minor: Shostakovich 11
A major: Beethoven 7
B flat major: Bruckner 5
B flat minor: Walton 1


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