# The Best Symphonies by Numeral



## DavidMahler (Dec 28, 2009)

What do you think are the three best 1st symphonies... three best 2nd symphonies.... three best 3rd etc.... all the way to 10.

Please put them in order

For clarification, Dvorak's Symphonies should take on the today-standard of the New World being 9th and Schubert's 9th being The Great. Berlioz's 1st symphony being the Fantastique, and his second being the Harold etc

OK....

Look forward to your picks!

I'll post mine very soon

PS Bruckner already wins in the 0 category


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## DavidMahler (Dec 28, 2009)

Here is my vote....

No. 1
1. Brahms
2. Berlioz (Fantastique)
3. Mahler

No. 2
1. Mahler
2. Sibelius
3. Schumann
*Brahms bubbling under
*Vaughan Williams bubbling under

No. 3
1. Mahler
2. Brahms
3. Beethoven

No. 4
1. Brahms
2. Mahler
3. Tchaikovsky
*Bruckner bubbling under

No. 5
1. Sibelius
2. Mahler
3. Beethoven
*Tchaikovsky bubbling under
*Shostakovich bubbling under
*Prokofiev bubbling under

No. 6
1. Mahler
2. Tchaikovsky
3. Beethoven

No. 7
1. Mahler
2. Beethoven
3. Bruckner
*Dvorak bubbling under

No. 8
1. Beethoven (this is my favorite Beethoven symphony)
2. Bruckner
3. Schubert

No. 9
1. Mahler
2. Bruckner
3. Schubert

No. 10
1. Mahler (yes this is a great work even in Cooke's version)
2. Shostakovich
*nothing else in this league that i know of


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

I don't do fancy sub numbering, but its the order in which I place them that counts, as you might've guessed.

1.(a toughy, all these works I regard extremely highly)
-Suk
-Berlioz
-Brahms
-Tchaikovsky "bubbling under"
-Copland "bubbling under"
-Chausson "bubbling under"


2.
-Rachmaninoff
-Elgar
-Mahler
-Tchaikovsky "bubbling under"
-Brahms "bubbling under"

3.
-Saint Saens
-Brahms
-Beethoven
-William Schuman "bubbling under"
-Gliere "bubbling under"
-Alexander Tcherepnin "bubbling under"
-William Boyce "bubbling under"(baroque piece called a symphony, really incredible, all of them, but I like this one in particular)

4.
-Tchaikovsky
-Brahms
-Taneyev
-Alexander Tcherepnin "bubbling under"
-Bruckner "bubbling under"

5.
-Prokofiev
-Beethoven
-Tchaikovsky
-Dvorak "bubbling under"
-Schubert "bubbling under"

6.(this is a tough one)
-Tchaikovsky(Pathetique)
-Beethoven
-Shostakovich
-Bruckner "bubbling under"
-Mahler "bubbling under"
-William Schuman "bubbling under"
-Bax "bubbling under"

7.
-Dvorak
-Beethoven
-Bruckner

8.
-Dvorak
-Schubert
-Beethoven
-Bruckner

9.
-Dvorak
-Bruckner
-Beethoven

10.
-Johann Christoph Friederich Bach(the numbering is questionable, but it is HW 1/10), this third youngest of Bach's composer's sons was a very fine symphonist, of whom many works were destroyed in wars, sadly
-Haydn(not kidding, I know the work and its a very nicely crafted piece, as are most of his symphonies)


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## eorrific (May 14, 2011)

So difficult...
Except for Best Symphony no. 104, which title would definitely go to Haydn.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

#1
1. Brahms
2. Moeran
3. Mahler

#2
1. Suk
2. Mahler
3. Brahms

#3
1. Gorecki
2. Saint Saens
3. Mendelssohn

#4
1. Mahler
2. Brahms
3. Mendelssohn

#5
1. Beethoven
2. Vaughan Williams
3. Raff

#6
1. Beethoven
2. Mahler
3. Myaskovsky

#7
1. Shostakovich
2. Sibelius
3. Bruckner

#8
1. Schubert
2. Bruckner
3. Dvorak

#9
1. Bruckner
2. Mahler
3. Dvorak


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## Polednice (Sep 13, 2009)

No. I am definitely not going this far.


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

I edited mine to include Suk Asrael, Taneyev's 4th, and Saint Saens Organ. I almost lost sleep over my forgetfulness.

Oops, and looking at Art Rock's post, is it true that Asrael is the 2nd? Too bad I can't edit mine anymore.


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

Polednice said:


> No. I am definitely not going this far.


This is the best symphony related thread so far. It gives all us obscure repertoire folks a chance to champion lesser known works controversially amidst the "warhorses"!


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## Polednice (Sep 13, 2009)

clavichorder said:


> This is the best symphony related thread so far. It gives all us obscure repertoire folks a chance to champion lesser known works controversially amidst the "warhorses"!


Don't tell me you need a mind-numbing thread like this to do that! No one is going to read your dull little lists!


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## mmsbls (Mar 6, 2011)

#1
1. Brahms
2. Mahler
3. Berlioz Symphnie Fantastique (I never thought of this as his No. 1)

#2
1. Mahler
2. Sibelius
3. Brahms

#3
1. Beethoven 
2. Brahms
3. Mendelssohn

#4
1. Mendelssohn
2. Brahms
3. Mahler

#5 
1. Beethoven
2. Mahler
3. Tchaikovsky

#6
1. Mahler
2. Myaskovsky
3. Beethoven

#7
1. Beethoven
2. Bruckner
3. Sibelius

#8
1. Schubert
2. Dvorak
3. Bruckner

#9
1. Beethoven
2. Schubert
3. Dvorak


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

Polednice said:


> Don't tell me you need a mind-numbing thread like this to do that! No one is going to read your dull little lists!


Come on! This is so much more descriptive than those little top 3/5/3.14...ect. symphony threads! Top per each number. Or are you just ashamed because you can't fill out your top for 10?


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

Plus I've learned something----Myaskovky's 6th is regarded highly and Suk's Asrael is not his first.


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## Polednice (Sep 13, 2009)

clavichorder said:


> Come on! This is so much more descriptive than those little top 3/5/3.14...ect. symphony threads! Top per each number. Or are you just ashamed because you can't fill out your top for 10?


The lists on this thread are in NO way more descriptive! They're just LONGER!


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## mmsbls (Mar 6, 2011)

Polednice said:


> The lists on this thread are in NO way more descriptive! They're just LONGER!


But they're fun (at least for some of us)! I know that Vincent would probably have some drool comment along the lines of, "Fun, sir? Yessssssssss, so much fun and excitement that I'll need my heart medication." But can't piggy just let us have our fun?

p.s. To those shaking their heads, this post is a bit of an inside joke.


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## DavidMahler (Dec 28, 2009)

!!!! i forgot about the Taneyev's, Schmidt's and the Franck

Does no one love that Franck?


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## Polednice (Sep 13, 2009)

mmsbls said:


> But they're fun (at least for some of us)! I know that Vincent would probably have some drool comment along the lines of, "Fun, sir? Yessssssssss, so much fun and excitement that I'll need my heart medication." But can't piggy just let us have our fun?
> 
> p.s. To those shaking their heads, this post is a bit of an inside joke.


Very well, ssssssir, I think it was about time I was on my way!


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## DavidMahler (Dec 28, 2009)

Polednice said:


> Very well, ssssssir, I think it was about time I was on my way!


wait why you going?


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## Polednice (Sep 13, 2009)

DavidMahler said:


> wait why you going?


Because mmsbls has a grudge against me and wants me to leave. I wanted to stay but he's being ever so mean.


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## An Die Freude (Apr 23, 2011)

I got bored...

*#1
1. Mahler (Titan)
2. Beethoven
3. Prokofiev (Classical)

#2
1. Mahler (Ressurection)
2. Rachmaninov
3. Beethoven

#3
1. Beethoven (Eroica)
2. Mahler
3. Schumann (Rhenish)

#4
1. Mendelssohn (Italian)
2. Tchaikovsky
3. Brahms

#5
1. Tchaikovsky
2. Schubert
3. Beethoven

#6
1. Tchaikovsky (Pathetique)
2. Beethoven (Pastoral)
3. Mahler (Tragic)

#7
1. Beethoven
2. Vaughan Williams (Sinfonia Antartica)
3. Sibelius

#8
1. Beethoven
2. Mahler (Symphony Of A Thousand)
3. Schubert (Unfinished)

#9
1. Beethoven (Choral)
2. Schubert (The Great)
3. Dvorak (From The New World)
*

*Leaderboard (3 points for 1st, 2 for 2nd and 1 for 3rd)*

*1. Beethoven - 18 pts
2. Mahler - 11 pts
3. Tchaikovsky - 8 pts
4. Schubert - 5 pts
5. Mendelssohn - 3 pts
6. Rachmaninov & Vaughan Williams - 2 pts
7. Prokofiev, Schumann, Sibelius & Dvorak - 1 pt*

Also, Alfred Schnittke could beat Bruckner in the #0 category.


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## Jeremy Marchant (Mar 11, 2010)

Best twenty second symphony: Havergal Brian


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

DavidMahler said:


> Here is my vote....
> 
> No. 1
> 1. Brahms
> ...


Do you like Mahler?


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## Polednice (Sep 13, 2009)

Couchie said:


> Do you like Mahler?


There's no way he can like Mahler that much. He missed out the 8th.


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

Polednice said:


> There's no way he can like Mahler that much. He missed out the 8th.


The strange thing is I've often found that quite a few hardcore Mahler fans consider the 8th their least favorite symphony.


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## Nix (Feb 20, 2010)

violadude said:


> The strange thing is I've often found that quite a few hardcore Mahler fans consider the 8th their least favorite symphony.


Not strange, sensible.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

True that. Love all of them, except the 8th.


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

Not "the best" but the ones I like the best, right now, runners up come after (...), I'm avoiding depressing music so the more dark, top-heavy things are missing for the most part -

1 - Liszt (Faust), Bizet (in C major), Bernstein...Penderecki, Prokofiev, Messiaen, Mahler, Brahms

2 - Tchaikovsky (the _Little Russian_ rules!), Hovhaness, Martinu...Lutoslawski, Dutilleux, Hanson

3 - Beethoven, Prokofiev, Mendelssohn...Prokofiev, Schubert, Gorecki

4 - Nielsen, Mahler, Szymanowski...Shostakovich, Schumann, Brahms, Mendelssohn, Schubert

5 - Prokofiev, Nielsen, Schubert...Shostakovich, Mahler, Mendelssohn

6 - Bruckner, Beethoven, Schubert

7 - Bruckner, Beethoven, Bax

8 - Dvorak, Beethoven, Vaughan Williams

9 - Beethoven, Mahler, Schubert

10 - Mahler, Shostakovich

...Don't know what the number of Akira Ifukube's_ Sinfonia Tapkaara _was, but that would be somewhere in there as well, I like that work a lot, maybe TC's Tapkaara can fill us in on that?...


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