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colossus
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Hong Kong
Nov 1999
time: 05:25
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I think Scherherezade is a symphonic suite rather than a symphony(the CD booklet just say so...), although I can't tell the difference.
The version I owned is Karajan conducting Berliner Philharmoniker, published by DeutscheGrammophon. It sounds excellent, its just the type of music Karajan excelled-emotional and expressive.
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Boris Godunov
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Portland, OR
Aug 2001
time: 00:25
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*cracks knuckles*
Ok, first:
quote:
Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherezade. |
Not a symphony!
As for a specific recording, I'm partial to both the Riccardo Muti and the George Szell. I haven't heard it, but the recent Kurt Masur one is supposedly good as well.
quote:
What about Holst's "The Planets", |
Not a symphony! But indeed a great work, Especially Mars, Jupiter and Saturn.
Now, as for the poll's omissions... the most glaring is the absence of Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique. Oh monkie, how could you? It is the brightest symphonic star in the musical firmament between Beethoven's death and Brahms' 1st!  
Also absent are the Bruckner 6th and 8th (both easily outstripping the 7th and 4th), the Beethoven 7, the Brahms 1 (Monkie, I thought this was your favorite Brahms???), the Schubert 9th, the Schumann 2nd, the Mahler 8th, the Sibelius 2nd (his best), and the Shostakovich 5th.
As for the "best" symphony--this is rather difficult, because the symphonic languages changes so much from Haydn to Shostakovich. It's rather like saying James Joyce is better than Chaucer. How does one compare?
Setting aside my personal favorite, the Brahms 4th, I give the top spot, as cliched as it may sound, to the Beethoven 5th. It is simply a perfect symphony from beginning to end. The thematic unity is unmatched in any symphony before or since, and it is so tightly constructed that not a note is out of place. Many portray it as the struggle between Man and Fate, but that's not necessary to appreciate its greatness.
The rest of my "1st-tier Beethoven" symphonies are the 4th and 7th, and I vascilate over which I like more. Currrently, the 7th is in the lead. The Allegretto is sublime, and the finale is also one of Ludwig's best bits.
The 9th is...problematic for me. I love it as a piece of music, but as a whole symphony it's got problems. The first movement is great--titanic, in fact. But there are some orchestration problems I would like to fix, such as having the trombones come in on the huge climax. I know tradition said to reserve them for later on, but they really add oomph to that section. The biggest delight about the 9th is that after the 1st movement comes an even better 2nd movement, the Scherzo. So how much of a let down is it to move from those two movements into the 3rd movement? While by no means bad, it's really...unremarkable and, frankly, boring. It is sorely out of place amongst its two predecessors.
The finale stands alone as a great work of music, but in the symphonic context it's a little bumpy. The chorale theme, while justly famous, is useless for symphonic development, so Beethoven spends the movement working around this problem. He includes snippets of each of the previous movements, which comes across as a somewhat cheap way of bringing thematic unity to the work where none exists.
But these are quibbles, because it's undeniable that the Finale is rip-roaringly good, achieves the desired effect of uplifting the soul and bringing an audience to its feet in jubilation.
But ya know, I have to break my symphonic bests into categories. So here they are:
High Classical: Mozart's 40th (Runner up: Haydn's 96th)
Late Classical: Beethoven's 5th (Runner up: his 7th)
Early Romantic: Berlioz's Symphony Fantastique (Runner up: Schubert's 9th)
High Romantic: Brahms' 4th (Runner up: his 1st)
Late Romantic/Modern: Mahler 5th (Runner up: his 1st)
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thinkingamer
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Where's Beethoven's 7th symphony???
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S. Kroeze
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the Hague, the Netherlands, Old Europe
Dec 1999
time: 05:25
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quote:
Originally posted by Boris Godunov In G minor actually. |
Quite right; that's why I used lower case and NO CAPITAL.
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What does being well-known have to do with it? He's asking for the best. That could be an obscure one. |
I merely wanted to point out that in my opinion the Prager is the greatest symphony; yet I couldn't vote for it. And I don't blame the person who made this poll for not mentioning it, though it is not an obscure one.
He made an intelligent selection, though it didn't contain any modern piece of music (Schostakovitsch for example)
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I honestly don't understand people who enjoy classical music but don't like Beethoven...it's like enjoying Italian opera but hating Puccini! |
I do not have something against Beethoven, but I don't like aggression, which in my highly subjective view is a main ingredient of Beethoven's music. I wouldn't invite him for dinner.
And you might have guessed that generally I prefer pre-classical music. My favourite composers are Josquin desPrez, Palestrina, Monteverdi, Bach and Mozart.
I like Italian opera -especially Monteverdi- but generally do not like Verdi, though again I am willing to admit he is a great composer.
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And it's a pity Bach didn't write jazz numbers, too.  |
Didn't he? 
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Alex Woehr
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Greenville, SC
May 2001
time: 00:25
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Since my two top favorites are not on the list (Mahler's 2nd and 6th respectively) I'll have to vote for his 1st ( I am very much a Mahler fan) tied with Brahm's 4th and Tchaikovsky's 6th.
Some Symphonies I think were left out:
Mahler's 2nd "Resurrection"
Mahler's 6th "Tragic" (a nickname I DO NOT like)
Bruckner's 5th (almost a universally ignored work)
Havergal Brian's 1st "Gothic" (the official largest symphony ever written)
Just out of curiosity, even though I know it is not a symphony, how many of you have heard of Schonberg's "Gurrelieder" ?
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23-01-2003 10:39
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