Ten Favourite Symphonies

[Des]

Vaughan Williams 5 My fave symphony is a miraculous journey from anguish to radiant redemption. It's in me veins, mate.

Elgar 2 It really is a toss-up between Elgar 1 and 2, but this symphony just has the edge. Stoic and heartbreaking.

Sibelius 7 Because of its short, one-movement structure, this symphony sustains an unbelieveable tension and, by the end, the emotional impact is equal to symphonies three times as long. Essential.

Peter Maxwell Davies 5 The spirit of Sibelius presides over this towering work. Listening to this is like standing on a storm-lashed headland. Bracing. Wear yer oilskins.

Vaughan Williams 3 Those early critics who thought this was about cows peering over farm gates were tossers. This is one of the greatest of war symphonies - desolate, poignant, strange, intense and unbelievably moving.

Ives 2 The famous Mahlerian adagio is monumental, but the rest of the symphony ain't bad either - classic Americana.

Moeran Symphony in G minor Take an ounce of English pastoral melancholy, season with a pinch of celtic twilight and mix with Sibelian austerity. Often called the greatest British symphony with some justification.

Beethoven 3 I've heard performances that make this sound like Haydn, others that make it sound like Mahler. Do what you like with the bloody thing and it still sounds great.

Bruckner 4 Worth it for the first five minutes alone - the greatest opening of any symphony ever. In the world.

Lutoslawski 4 Beautiful orchestral colour, dramatic and mysterious. A bridge between romanticism and atonality. Presses all the buttons.

[Nigel w]

Haven't got time to annotate them as nicely as you have, Des, butI grew up on this stuff, so here you go:-

Haydn's London symphony #104

Mozart - all of the last four symphonies #38-41

Beethoven - 3rd and the 9th

Schubert - the great C major

Brahms - #4

Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique

Franck - D minor symphony

Bruckner - 7th in E

Mahler - everything this genius ever composed, but especially symphonies 5, 6 & 7 ,which are like a trilogy

Sibelius - 6th and 7th (agree with you about the single movement innovation of the latter)

Elgar - tempted to agree with you on # 2 , but will go for # 1 , just to be different. But like the Mahler 'trilogy' I see the two very much as companion pieces.

Vaughan Williams - Pastoral Symphony (which is #3, I think)

Messiaen - Turangalila

Penderecki - No 1 (just to show I'm vaguely contemporary...)

Whoops, I seem to have gone over your ten. But I refuse to remove any of these and if that means I'm banned from your (symphonic) desert island, so be it!

[uiwangmike]

I heard a couple of Haydn symphonies last night, the Surprise (not a surprise after you’ve heard it a few times, but still fun) and the Clock, with a couple of concertos in between. They were played by Haydn’s “homeâ€

[AndyM]

I have never heard a symphony all the way through.

And I'm quite chuffed about that.

(Never seen a whole James Bond film, either.)

[Des]

I've never seen Gone With the Wind. Frankly my dear I don't give a damn.

Bond? Goldfinger's the best cos it's quite short.

New thread beckons - films we've never seen...

[Dayna]

The Nutcracker. Swan Lake, ect. My Mom had the record. It's not just for Christmas.

[Ted]

It's not just for Christmas.

Like puppies.