# Favorite Schumann symphony?



## Superflumina (Jun 19, 2020)

What's your favorite? I've always said the 3rd one is his best but I've been listening to the 2nd lately and it might be even better. I'll also say that Gardiner's recordings do all of them justice in my view.


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

Hard to say because I've not played them for a while and even when I have my preference changes every time. I love them all but have to admit I've always had a soft spot for the 4th.


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## Kreisler jr (Apr 21, 2021)

The 4th is probably my favorite because it is the most coherent overall. 
The greatest single movement is the slow one from the 2nd but its outer movements I find weak and the piece overall quite flawed. The 3rd also feels rather uneven to me with a very good first and second movement and the highly original "cologne cathedral" brass movement but weak mvmts. 3 and 5. The "Spring" is also very good, for me without obvious weaknesss but neither with such high points as the movements mentioned, nor such a poetic unity as #4.

The Gardiner recording certainly has the advantage that few would complain about orchestration here, it's bright like a shiny new penny.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

The third for me (predictably). It's the only one that stands out for me - the other numbered ones are good to listen to, but not more than that for me. Overall, I prefer Mendelssohn's symphonies, even though that cycle is far more uneven. In general, I tend to appreciate Schumann a bit less than many TC members.


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## EdwardBast (Nov 25, 2013)

The second or third for me but I didn't vote because there was no option to vote for both. I used to like the 4th but it's too much in the shadow of Beethoven. The transition to the finale is a poor imitation of the same passage in Beethoven's Fifth and I don't think the themes are good enough to bear the cyclic repetition.

Edit: Okay, I voted for the 2nd, although it was a toss up with the 3rd.


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## dko22 (Jun 22, 2021)

The second symphony is the finest overall, I think, though the first movement of the Rhenish is the most stirring of the cycle. Although it may not really scale the heights, I do find it greatly preferable to the Mendelssohn cycle which, apart, from the Italian, is for me often insufferably turgid. I think there's a case for regarding the Berwald four as the finest of the early romantics.


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

The 2nd for two reasons. The scherzo, played up to speed, is one of the most exhilarating things in existence. The coda just takes your breath away it is so exciting - but you have to have a string section of world-class ability. Then comes that third movement, one of the most achingly beautiful movements ever written. The harmonic tension is just thrilling. This is romanticism to the nth degree. Then the finale the coda has that remarkable harmonic progression that is thrilling (and Mahler cut in his edition!). In a great performance this symphony is just superb. Sawallisch, Bernstein, Kubelik.


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## larold (Jul 20, 2017)

The "Spring" symphony especially under Mehta and Vienna Philharmonic


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## RobertJTh (Sep 19, 2021)

A toss up between the 2nd (for the reasons mbhaub mentioned) and the revised 4th.


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## Kreisler jr (Apr 21, 2021)

I agree wrt the inner movements of the 2nd but I find its first movement one of the plausible examples of Schumann's drab orchestral writing, it's also repetitive and the finale is basically repeating ad nauseam first a banal march that would have worked better as a short piano piece and then the Beethoven lied quote. There is just no way I can accept this as a decent, much less a great symphonic finale...


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

Kreisler jr said:


> I agree wrt the inner movements of the 2nd but I find its first movement one of the plausible examples of Schumann's drab orchestral writing, it's also repetitive and the finale is basically repeating ad nauseam first a banal march that would have worked better as a short piano piece and then the Beethoven lied quote. There is just no way I can accept this as a decent, much less a great symphonic finale...


That "drab" orchestral writing is precisely what Mahler (and others) tried to improve. Mahler in particular really did a good job as the (at least) two recordings show. Toscanini supposedly never conducted any Mahler, but in fact he did: with the New York Philharmonic he used the Mahler editions when doing Schumann. Later conductors, notably Leinsdorf, also use the Mahler retouchings and restored the magical bars that Mahler had for some reason decided to cut. As to the "banal" march finale - it takes a conductor who really understands Schumann to do it justice. I heard Sinopoli with the London Philharmonic some 30 years ago and that performance still lingers in the mind.


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

The first Schumann symphony I ever heard was the First Schumann symphony, "Spring". I heard it in the spring of my life, as a youth, and loved it alongside the few pieces of "classical" music I knew at the time, mostly stuff by Tchaikovsky, Brahms, and Mendelssohn. So I hold a long-time fond affection for this particular symphony, which I always enjoy upon hearing.

But I'm not a big Schumann fan, which makes me all the more poorer. This particular thread whets my appetite for a revisiting of Schumann's symphonies, none of which I have heard recently. I do recall appreciating numbers 1 to 4, but never moving them to an altar for worship as I do symphonies by Beethoven, Bruckner, Brahms, Mahler and Shostakovich (among others). Rather, I enjoy the Schumann symphonies in that group that includes the music of mid- to late19th century composers such as Mendelssohn, Raff, Borodin, Goldmark, Glazunov ....

Still, I know Schumann deserves better. So I'm devoting some time to a revisit of the symphonies. I have several versions on hand.


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## HerbertNorman (Jan 9, 2020)

The "Rhenish" , has such a special place in my heart... My father was driving to the maternity ward from work when my mother went into labour before I was born. This Symphony was playing on the radio while he was driving. I got a recording of it later and he told me this story...


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

Superflumina said:


> What's your favorite





Superflumina said:


> What's your favorite?...,


Close call....1-4 are all good....i think today, i choose #3.


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## Malx (Jun 18, 2017)

mbhaub said:


> The 2nd for two reasons. The scherzo, played up to speed, is one of the most exhilarating things in existence. The coda just takes your breath away it is so exciting - but you have to have a string section of world-class ability. Then comes that third movement, one of the most achingly beautiful movements ever written. The harmonic tension is just thrilling. This is romanticism to the nth degree. Then the finale the coda has that remarkable harmonic progression that is thrilling (and Mahler cut in his edition!). In a great performance this symphony is just superb. Sawallisch, Bernstein, Kubelik.


I am curious to know if there is a specific recording you would suggest listening to that illustrates the scherzo in its best light as you describe.


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## HenryPenfold (Apr 29, 2018)

With Schumann, way more than any other composer, choosing a favourite symphony is nearly impossible. But by a gnat's cock, I will say 4. I can't help feeling that, that Furtwængler's 1953 BPO recording has something to do with my choice. IMO, that's not just the best Schumann 4 recording, it might just be the best recording of _anything _classical, ever!


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

Malx said:


> I am curious to know if there is a specific recording you would suggest listening to that illustrates the scherzo in its best light as you describe.


So many great ones: Sawallisch on EMI (Now Warner). Muti in Philadelphia. Bernstein with Vienna. Paray with Detroit. Sinopoli on DG. Gardner with the LSO...


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

I opted for the 1841 4th just cos its the one I've played most recently because its less familiar. I've so many Schumann cycles it's about time I returned to playing them again.


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## golfer72 (Jan 27, 2018)

HerbertNorman said:


> The "Rhenish" , has such a special place in my heart... My father was driving to the maternity ward from work when my mother went into labour before I was born. This Symphony was playing on the radio while he was driving. I got a recording of it later and he told me this story...


Thats cool !


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

Of the numbered symphonies, the 3rd, but the Overture, Scherzo and Finale trumps even that, it is just plain fun to listen to.


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

Heck148 said:


> Close call....1-4 are all good....i think today, i choose #3.


Because there are good bassoon parts in it, I see.


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## MusicInTheAir (Apr 21, 2007)

The first symphony holds a special place in my heart. It was the first Schumann symphony I became the most familiar with. To this day, the CBS/Sony Bernstein recording of that piece remains very special to me. However, my favorite Schumann symphony is number 2. As has been mentioned, the Scherzo is a lot of fun and is a fantastic world wind/ tour de force of a listening experience. And then there's the third movement. I can only listen to this symphony so many times because of the pain expressed in that movement. Love both Szell (both recordings) and CBS/Sony Bernstein for the 2nd.


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