# Rank Tchaikovsky's symphonies



## beetzart (Dec 30, 2009)

These important works deserve more talk time. I go through periods of just listening to PeterT all day long it's that amazing. Stirs the emotions for sure. 

My ranking (least favourite first):

Manfred,4,1,3,2,5,6.

I still like the Manfred symphony especially the ending of the first movement. Yet it doesn't have the guile and punchiness of the other symphonies.


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

I'll rank by preference: 4, 6, 5, Manfred, 3, 2. I've never heard the first one. 

As my favourite is the 4th I'd be interested to know why this work doesn't float your boat as much as the three early ones. :tiphat:


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## beetzart (Dec 30, 2009)

Just listening to it now, will let you know.


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## realdealblues (Mar 3, 2010)

I like all of them and my favorites change constantly but today would probably be:

Symphony 6
Symphony 1
Symphony 5
Symphony 4
Symphony 2
Symphony 3
Manfred

Symphony #1 always stays around the top for me. It's usually glanced over by most people, but that 1st movement is one of my absolute favorites. It's so wonderfully colored and textured and lyrical that it reminds me of Brahms in some ways. It usually rotates out with 4, 5 or 6 as my favorite. Today 6 is my favorite, but tomorrow it will probably be the 5th.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

I hate Manfred and don't care about 1-3.

Symphony No.4
Symphony No.5
Symphony No.6

Just the way they were composed. Symphony No. 4 is the best of them, IMO.


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## Orfeo (Nov 14, 2013)

Symphony no. VI
Symphony no. V
Manfred
Symphony no. IV
Symphony no. III
Symphony no. II (original)
Symphony no. I


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## Lord Lance (Nov 4, 2013)

..........................................................................................................................


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## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

Least < > Most

Manfred, 3, 2, 5, 1, 4, 6

B minor bookends!


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Best: 6, 5, manfred
Next: 4
Then: 2
Least: 3, 1


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## Richannes Wrahms (Jan 6, 2014)

Best: 1 and 5
Next: 4
Then: 6
Least: 2 and 3

Manfred is rubbish.


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

All of them are exceptional and I rank all of those equally to my ears . Great stuff too!


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## Saintbert (Mar 12, 2015)

I couldn't rank them but I'll chime in saying No. 4 is the one I feel drawn to the most. It's the melodies.


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## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

No.6 stands out to me, and the rest are more of less the same level of enjoyment.


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## dgee (Sep 26, 2013)

I've played 3 and it really is not very good. 2 is quite fun and 4 is mostly good but both are let down by the finales. There's something really yuck about 5, bombastic and empty for the most part, but the waltz is terrific. 6 is closest to a whole package, but I wouldn't care if I never heard it again. Actually, the real highlight of the lot is the first movement of 4 - that's some real symphonic stuff right there. Tried Manfred but couldn't make it all the way through


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

dgee said:


> I've played 3 and it really is not very good. 2 is quite fun and 4 is mostly good but both are let down by the finales. There's something really yuck about 5, bombastic and empty for the most part, but the waltz is terrific. 6 is closest to a whole package, but I wouldn't care if I never heard it again. Actually, the real highlight of the lot is the first movement of 4 - that's some real symphonic stuff right there. Tried Manfred but couldn't make it all the way through


I feel much the same. 3 never did much for me. 2 is enjoyable, though the finale is repetitious and tiresome. I prefer 1, "Winter Dreams," overall. 4 and 6 are about equal for me, but I agree that the finale of 4 is inferior to the rest. 5 I like in a light-textured, rhythmically tensile reading like Mravinsky's, but dislike as a heavy wallow. Manfred I've found interesting but need to know better.

Order: 4 and 6, 5, 1, 2, 3


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## Guest (Mar 26, 2015)

6, 5, 4, 1... then the other three in no particular order. Five was my fave for a long time until I really got to understand the sixth. The 5/4 Waltz seems like a statement of the composer's sexuality - romantic and beautiful to himself, but nobody else can keep in step with it. Then the March that starts off delicately but by the end is trampling everything in it's path. The power of it gives me chills every time. And then of course the complete and utter defeat that is the finale. He has given into his fate with the sure knowledge that he will never find true happiness. No way. Nothing beats The Sixth.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

For me it's 6, 5, 4, 1, Manfred then the other two in no particular order.

For the last 3 I turn to Mravinsky (the DG recordings plus a spectacular live 5th I have), and for the first three Karajan.

Petrenko's Naxos recording of Manfred is probably the best I've ever heard.


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## MagneticGhost (Apr 7, 2013)

Nice to see some love for No.1. One of the great unsung works of the 19thC

Very difficult to rank in complete order. So approximations only. 

Top Tier 6,5,1
2nd Tier Manfred, 4
Bottom Tier 2,3


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## Marschallin Blair (Jan 23, 2014)

I'm more 'movement oriented,' myself when it comes to an ordinal ranking the Tchaikovsky symphonies:

Third movement of the _Pathetique_, first movement of the _Seventh_, first movement of the_ Pathetique_, last movement of the _Fifth_, first movement of _Winter Dreams_, first movement of the _Fourth_, first movement of the _Fifth_, last part of the first movement of the _Manfred Symphony_.

Haitink/Concertgebouw for _Winter Dreams_; EMI/Karajan BPO for the_ Pathetique_ and the _Fifth_; Svetlanov/Orchestra of the Russian Federation for the_ Fourth_ (on Warner) and the _Manfred_ (on Melodiya).


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## Tristan (Jan 5, 2013)

I agree that 1 is great and probably underrated.

My ranking:

4, 6, 1, 3, 5, 2

Unlike most people here, I love the finale of the 4th but I acknowledge it's largely overshadowed by the other three movements. It is a pretty good optimistic finale, however, later denied by the pessimism of the 6th.

Overall I think the 5th is "meh" compared to the 4th and 6th, but it's still a good symphony. The 2nd always seems to be the one I remember the least about =\

I didn't include Manfred because I haven't heard it in so long; all I can remember is the 1st movement, which is excellent, but I'll have to listen to it again before I properly rank it.


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

Never could get into his symphonies. always sounded noisy and bombastic and a bit schmaltzy to me.
I like some of his other works though.
Violin concerto, piano concertos, love the Nutcracker
and Serenade for Strings


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Tchaikovsky's symphonies as ranked elsewhere. I pretty much agree with this.

1 - No. 4
2 - No. 6
3 - No. 5
4 - No. 2
5 - No. 3
6 - Manfred
7 - No. 1


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

I won't try to rank them in detail but I do find myself listening to 1-3 & 7 more often than 4-6 and those more often than Manfred.


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## Bevo (Feb 22, 2015)

Tchaikovsky's Symphonies are why he's my favorite composer. 4-6 are in a field of their own, but I'm shocked to see No. 2 not getting higher on people's lists. I think No. 2 is my next favorite. I love those Russian folk melodies. I greatly enjoy his First too though. I really need to go back and listen to his 3rd and Manfred Symphony again. So the top 3 can be in any order for me (changes daily), then 2, then 1. Can't rank the last 3 and Manfred yet though. I just know they're in my bottom 2.


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## Kopachris (May 31, 2010)

SELECT symphony_num FROM symphonies WHERE composer = 'Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky' ORDER BY score DESC;

4
5
6
1
2
3

Haven't listened to Manfred


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

6
The first 3rd of 4
the first half of 5
the first half of 1

Everything else.


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

Kopachris said:


> SELECT symphony_num FROM symphonies WHERE composer = 'Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky' ORDER BY score DESC;
> 
> 4
> 5
> ...


Arithmetic overflow error converting expression 'Manfred' to data type int.


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## Skilmarilion (Apr 6, 2013)

2 & 3 have their moments.

I love 1, 4, 5 and Manfred.

But the 6th ... is in a league all its own, and even he knew it.


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## Haydn man (Jan 25, 2014)

I am most enjoy 1,4 and 6 and would rank them about equal
The others I enjoy but have no strong order of preference, they are good but I can live without them


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## Gustav Ilych Shostakovich (Sep 4, 2015)

For me:

1. No. 6.
2. No. 4 and Manfred.
3. No. 5.
4. No. 1 and 2 (original).
5. No. 2 and 3.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

1
2
5
3
6
4

I haven't listened to Manfred in a long long time.


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## gardibolt (May 22, 2015)

Order: 6 (one of the most sublime things ever)
4 (one of the most dramatic openings ever)
5
1
2
3
I don't count Manfred.


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## Marschallin Blair (Jan 23, 2014)

gardibolt said:


> Order: 6 (one of the most sublime things ever)
> 4 (one of the most dramatic openings ever)
> 5
> 1
> ...












I wouldn't 'completely' rush to judgment on the _Manfred._

The ending of the first movement is one of the most heart-rending things Tchaikovsky ever wrote.

Have you ever heard Svetlanov do it?- tremendous.


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## MagneticGhost (Apr 7, 2013)

Ranked in numerical order

1
2
3
4
5
6


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

6,1,3,5,4,2. Early in my listening career it was 6,5,4,1,3,2. Do I win?


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## gardibolt (May 22, 2015)

Marschallin Blair said:


> I wouldn't 'completely' rush to judgment on the _Manfred._
> 
> The ending of the first movement is one of the most heart-rending things Tchaikovsky ever wrote.
> 
> Have you ever heard Svetlanov do it?- tremendous.


I didn't say it wasn't good; I just don't count it as a symphony.


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## JSL888 (3 mo ago)

6, 5, 1, 2, Manfred, 3, 4


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## Terrapin (Apr 15, 2011)

Tier 1: 5, 6
Tier 2: 4
Tier 3: 1, 2, Manfred
Tier 4: 3


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

Best : 1, 2, 3
Next: 6

Least 4, 5


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

JSL888 said:


> 6, 5, 1, 2, Manfred, 3, 4


I think we share the same ranking, welcome to the site by the way.


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## JSL888 (3 mo ago)

Hi! How are you? What other music do you like?


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## Xisten267 (Sep 2, 2018)

By order of preference today, with a score that shows how much I like each of them at the moment:

1. Symphony No. 6 in B minor "Pathétique", Op. 74; (9.5/10)
2. Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64; (9.0/10)
3. Symphony No. 4 in F minor, Op. 36; (8.5/10)
4. Symphony in B minor "Manfred", Op. 58; (8.5/10)
5. Symphony No. 1 in G minor "Winter Daydreams", Op. 13; (8.0/10)
6. Symphony No. 3 in D major "Polish", Op. 29; (8.0/10)
7. Symphony No. 2 in C minor "Little Russian", Op. 17. (8.0/10)

I consider Tchaikovsky one of the finest symphonists, and to me any of his works in the genre is "excellent" or better.


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## Animal the Drummer (Nov 14, 2015)

Becca said:


> I won't try to rank them in detail but I do find myself listening to 1-3 & 7 more often than 4-6 and those more often than Manfred.


Seconded.


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## Prodromides (Mar 18, 2012)

Who is Rank Tchaikovsky?

I've heard of Boris T., but ...


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## larold (Jul 20, 2017)

4-5-1-6-2-3-Manfred


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## Kreisler jr (Apr 21, 2021)

6,5,4,1,3,2
Admittedly, I don't much care for 3 or 2 or Manfred, I don't remember enough of "Manfred" to rank it. #1 one has a wonderfully atmospheric beginning but doesn't quite keep it up and gets slightly boring eventually.
#5 was one of my favorite symphonies when I got into classical as a teenager, maybe briefly my favorite, period, before I really got to know Beethoven's. 4 has better middle movements than 5 but I don't find it quite as coherent overall and don't much care for the finale. 6 is the masterpiece but unfortunately played to death, so at the end, I rarely listen to any of them nowadays...


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## haziz (Sep 15, 2017)

1. Symphonies Nos. 1, 2, 4, 5, 6
2. Symphony No. 3
3. "Symphony No. 7" (completed by Bogatyryov)
4. Manfred

All great! Even Manfred, which in the past did not entirely click for me, has been growing on me recently.

In my not so humble opinion he was the greatest symphonist of all time!


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## Highwayman (Jul 16, 2018)

1>5>4>6>Manfred>3>2

Just like Kreisler jr, I hardly listen to them anymore.


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## Kreisler jr (Apr 21, 2021)

Highwayman said:


> 1>5>4>6>Manfred>3>2
> 
> Just like Kreisler jr, I hardly listen to them anymore.


I really could not bear them for years. I recall that about 10 or 12 years ago I wanted to compare recordings of the 4th but could not stand listening to the piece twice in one evening. But nowadays I usually like them well enough _when_ I listen to them (which is rarely), I just almost never feel like listening to them in first place..


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