I spent a ridiculous amount of time writing my last blog post. I mean, it was almost 5000 words. Who writes 5000 words just for fun? But luckily, all that work will yield not just one, but two (or maybe even more) blog posts. Just as PhD’s mine their dissertations for journal articles, I will mine the last post for more nuggets of symphonic information. We will count down the 100 symphonies ever written. Most of the work has already been done: I’ve ranked every numbered symphony I could think of (spoiler alert: Sibelius has the top 2 spots!) but there are some symphonies I’ve left out. We need to add some works numbered 10 and beyond; and we need to add a few symphonies without numbers at all. Likewise, we need to get rid of some of the “throwaways”. Sorry, Haydn #9.
What, exactly, is a symphony? I consider it a large-scale work for orchestra, for which soloists don’t play a major part. That’s a pretty broad definition, but it excludes things like Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra, Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos, and Beethoven overtures. There’s some subjectivity here: why exclude Lenore III when, in actuality, it’s longer than some Mozart symphonies? I don’t have a good answer except to say that Lenore III wasn’t meant to stand on its own…it was meant to be part of an opera. A symphony should be self-contained.
One further point. I’m not going to rehash all of the symphonies from the previous post. I am going to use the scores from that post, but in order to keep this post under 5000 words I’m going to limit myself to one sentence only for each symphony.
Here’s the countdown:
- Bruckner Symphony #1
Not the strongest Bruckner symphony, but worth a listen for the promise it conveys.
- Schumann Symphony #4
Schumann’s best symphony is well-constructed but kinda forgettable.
- Beethoven Symphony #6, “Pastoral”
Most people like it, but it’s too cheery for me (in a “drunken centaur” kind of way).
- Tchaikovsky Symphony #1, “Winter Dreams”
Not Tchaikovsky’s best, but sprightly and with a triumphant ending.
- Shostakovich Symphony #15
A demented toy shop: just listen for the quotes from the William Tell Overture.
Gottfried Helnwein, Untitled
95. Borodin Symphony #2
Good and bad in equal measure, it depends upon your mood.
- Beethoven Symphony #3, “Eroica”
The first memorable Beethoven symphony, but the funeral march is boring.
- Tchaikovsky Symphony #2, “Little Russian”
More serious, slightly improved version of Tchaikovsky’s 1st.
- Bax Symphony #7
Bax tries to emulate Holst’s The Planets, but only partly succeeds.
- Piston Symphony #7
Almost like a movie soundtrack, with hints of Copeland.
- Haydn Symphony #94, “Surprise”
Stereotypical late Haydn, which can be good or bad.
- Mahler Symphony #3
A glorious, epic mess; the singing parts are just weird.
- Schubert Symphony #6, “Little”
Even a weaker effort of Schubert is better than most people’s best.
- Shostakovich Symphony #2, “October”
Experimental, random, chaotic, but ultimately triumphant.
- Mahler Symphony #1
All-encompassing journey to a primordial alien world, marred by the presence of an insipid children’s song.
- Glass Symphony #9
This is what happens when Glass tries to sound more like Sibelius or Bruckner.
- Bax Symphony #6
This muscular symphony could be the soundtrack to Conan the Barbarian.
- Brian Symphony #1, “Gothic”
Gargantuan, beautiful, and over-long.
- Mahler Symphony #8
Mahler tries to make his own “Beethoven’s 9th” but dispenses with the foreplay.
- Bruckner Symphony #3, “Wagner Symphony”
The first fully mature Bruckner symphony…serious and masculine.
- Dvorak Symphony #8
Happy and mature…a hike for grown-ups.
- Tchaikovsky Symphony #4
“A sleigh ride through Siberia”, and proof that Tchaikovsky just kept getting better.
- Mozart Symphony #39
Underrated Mozart symphony that matches the heft and polish of the more famous last two (#40 and #41).
- Prokofiev Symphony #7
Melancholy and percussive, and proof that Prokofiev wrote more than just the “Classical” symphony and Romeo and Juliet.
- Shostakovich Symphony #12, “The Year 1917”
Some call it a film score looking for a movie, but it sounds good to me.
- Sibelius Symphony #1
The first sign that Sibelius is The Chosen One.
- Mendelssohn Symphony #4, “Italian”
It’s like crème brulee that’s been sitting out for an hour or so.
- Glass Symphony #3
The best symphony by Philip Glass.
- Haydn Symphony #88
This takes refinement to a whole new level.
- Vaughn Williams Symphony #8
Great and otherworldly, but the ending has me thinking of all the Who’s singing down in Whoville.
- Prokofiev Symphony #1, “Classical”
Hey, look Ma, I can write a classical Haydnesque symphony in the 20th century!
- Vaughn Williams Symphony #5
Pastoral and Faux-Sibelius, with Hobbits.
- Vaughn Williams Symphony #6
Hey, I know, let’s just depress everyone with this “nuclear wasteland” ending.
- Mahler Symphony #6, “Tragic”
It’s got some hammer blows in there somewhere?
- Mahler Symphony #5
A sublime Adagietto padded by an hour of epic Mahlerian mush.
- Sibelius Symphony #3
Leaner and more focused, this is a new direction for Sibelius.
- Shostakovich Symphony #10
Tense and colorful and oppressive, like a Soviet propaganda poster brought to life.
- Mahler Symphony #7
Strange, bleak, demonic, and then…triumphant?
- Mozart Symphony #35, “Haffner”
Mozart tries something a little…bigger.
- Hovhaness Symphony #63, “Loon Lake”
I have no idea where Loon Lake is, but I want to go there now.
- Haydn Symphony #82, “The Bear”
My favorite lesser-known Haydn symphony.
- Bruckner Symphony #6
Like Bruckner’s 5th on Xanax.
- Bruckner Symphony #4, “Romantic”
The age of chivalry made into music.
- Shostakovich Symphony #9
Goofy, sinister, vigorous, and off-putting.
- Tchaikovsky Symphony #5
Despair gives way to triumph.
Gottfried Helnwein, Midnight MIckey
- Schubert Symphony #5
You could call this “Mozart’s 42nd”.
- Schubert Symphony #8, “Unfinished”
Pristine, flawless, menacing…then peaceful.
- Shostakovich Symphony #1
A stroll through a museum of artworks by mental patients.
- Haydn Symphony #26, “Lamentatione”
Why didn’t Haydn write more symphonies in a minor key?
- Hovhaness Symphony #22, “City of Light”
Harmonious and magisterial.
- Mozart Symphony #38, “Prague”
The first Mozart symphony with real gravitas.
- Bruckner Symphony #7
Great Adagio, even if Hitler liked it, too.
Gottfried Helnwein, Epiphany I
- Sibelius Symphony #6
It’s like waking up to a foggy dawn in the Smokies, to discover autumn’s first frost.
- Beethoven Symphony #4
The most underrated Beethoven symphony.
- Tchaikovsky, Manfred Symphony
This is so good, how come no one has ever heard of it?
- Nielsen Symphony #4, “The Inextinguishable”
Eclectic, disturbing, psychological, with a timpani battle!
- Khachaturian Symphony #3
“Raw and strident” …it’s a single movement, dominated by an organ and 15 (!) trumpets.
- Shostakovich Symphony #8
Like a vacation in East Germany.
- Schubert Symphony #3
I challenge you not to like this.
- Mahler Symphony #10
Ah, what might have been…
- Bizet, Symphony in C
Here’s a teenager putting the rest of us oldsters to shame.
- Nielsen Symphony #5
Nielsen tops his 4th with an even more war-like symphony.
- Rachmaninoff Symphony #2
A harmonic mosaic that somehow conveys poignancy, joy, and sadness at the same time.
- Dvorak Symphony #7
My favorite Dvorak symphony other than the 9th…I wish I knew why.
- Ives Symphony #4
It’s like a church service with goblins besieging the place.
- Haydn Symphony #49, “La Passione”
Haydn + minor key = good.
- Mozart Symphony #40
Mozart + minor key = good.
- Górecki Symphony #3, “Symphony of Sorrowful Songs”
Threadbare songs of infinite sadness.
- Tchaikovsky Symphony #6, “Pathetique”
Tchaikovsky’s best; there’s just so much going on here.
- Haydn Symphony #39
Strum und Drang…must I say this was in a minor key?
- Strauss, Also Sprach Zarathustra
OK, maybe this isn’t a symphony, but holy shit….please, please, listen to more than just the cliched opening two minutes!
- Mahler Symphony #9
Funny, how much of the best Mahler is the Mahler that sounds most like Bruckner.
- Franck, Symphony in D minor
A French organist tries his hand at symphonic writing, and scores a home run.
- Mozart Symphony #29
Maybe the best opening movement of any Classical symphony.
- Mahler Symphony #2, “Resurrection”
Mahler’s best.
- Beethoven Symphony #5
Skip the first movement if you want to hear this with fresh ears.
- Mozart Symphony #25
Agitated, syncopated, minor key…are we sure this was written in 1773?
- Shostakovich Symphony #7, “Leningrad”
Trump’s ascent made into music: the banality of evil.
- Shostakovich Symphony #11, “The Year 1905”
Highly visual and emotional tour-de-force.
- Dvorak Symphony #9, “From the New World”
Maybe the catchiest symphony of all time.
- D’Indy, Symphony on a French Mountain Air
Like a picnic in the Alps, in springtime.
- Brahms Symphony #1
Some call it “Beethoven’s 10th” and that’s not far off the mark.
- Brahms Symphony #4
Better than the 1st, by a hair…Brahms proves here that rigid structure and control can still yield immense beauty.
- Saint-Saëns Symphony #3, “Organ Symphony”
The organ’s entry in the finale is spectacular…and is that a fugue?
- Bruckner Symphony #8
Apocalyptic in every sense of the word.
- Berlioz, Symphonie Fantastique
A fever dream: Downton Abbey on ecstasy, with some Satanism thrown in for good measure.
- Beethoven Symphony #7
Sublime.
- Mozart Symphony #41, “Jupiter”
Sounds simple, but if you look at the 4th movement along with the score, your mind will be blown by how complicated the fugue is!
- Bruckner Symphony #5
So Bruckner…so complex.
- Walton Symphony #1
The fragmented motifs, the iron-clad logic…every single movement makes me smile.
- Schubert Symphony #9, “The Great”
If this music doesn’t make you feel anything, you might want to check your pulse.
- Hovhaness Symphony #2, “Mysterious Mountain”
Subterranean caverns, glistening stalactites, corners with cobwebs, and sunlight glinting off giant broken geodes.
- Sibelius Symphony #4
Music that stares back at you, with a gaze “blank and pitiless as the sun”.
- Hovhaness Symphony #50, “Mt. St. Helens”
Mysterious Mountain on steroids, complete with a volcanic eruption unlike anything ever portrayed in symphonic form.
- Shostakovich Symphony #5
Even though it predates World War II, this is an invasion by Nazis, turned into music.
- Bruckner Symphony #9
Unrequited longing…unresolved harmonies…and then it—
- Sibelius Symphony #2
Has the greatest musical orgasm ever written.
- Beethoven Symphony #9
Encompasses all of human experience.
- Sibelius Symphony #5
The best symphony ever written.
- Sibelius Symphony #7
The best symphony ever written [stet].
[Note: after having written all this, I realize there are some good ones I’ve forgotten: Strauss’ Alpine Symphony, Vaughn Williams’ Sea Symphony, Rimsky Korsakov’s Scheherazade, Saint-Saëns’ Carnival of the Animals. I could probably justify not calling any of these symphonies per se (even the Sea Symphony sounds more like a cantata to me) but I’ll instead just call these honorable mentions. Having said that, they’re all very good, and if I wanted to spend another hour or so they’d bump Bruckner’s Symphony #1, Schumann’s Symphony #4, Beethoven’s Symphony #6, and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony #1 out of the top 100.]
[Note added 2-20-17: Since writing this piece I’ve been listening to symphonies I wasn’t familiar with before. Of these, I’ve really enjoyed Vaughn Williams’ 2nd and 3rd symphonies. The former (“London”) is notable for having the Phantom of the Opera theme embedded in it, 72 years before its time. The latter (“Pastoral”) is also good.]
Many Worlds Theory 
Im sad you didnt add Khachaturjans second
I’ll give it a listen.
I do believe Franck was a Belgian rather than French 😉
Thanks for the blog post: some useful listening for me over the coming months..
Well he was born in Liège, which is in Belgium today but at the time was in the Netherlands; but most of his career was spent in Paris. So…I don’t know. Glad you enjoyed the list.
Bruckner is greatest symphonic composer ever
He’s in the top 10.
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Four of the 10 greatest symphonies ever written are by…Sibelius? What the hell am I missing with that guy? I’m gonna give him another spin I guess.
I am afraid to say that your dismissal of great works such as Mahler 8, and rating Bruckner 5 higher than 4, 7, or 8 is frankly ridiculous (as is your inclusion of Bruckner 1 in this list for, although I adore Bruckner, host 1st is awful) and all the Beethoven symphonies should be in the top 50.
And I find that your elitist criticism of someone else’s OPINION is beyond ridiculous; it’s contemptible.
I really enjoyed your list although I am in disagreement with it. These lists tend to be very subjective. One thing is for certain and is hard to dispute in my mind (and a clear exception to my statement about subjectivity). The greatest Symphony ever written is Beethoven’s monumental 9th Symphony. It should be number one on most every listing.
To amend my previous comment let me say that you made me think in a new way, outside the box and that is a good thing. I had never really listened much to Sibelius although my Dad was a fan of his works along with those of Mahler and Bruckner. Sibelius wrote some wonderful symphonies. The problem is in our society we have to think of everything as a competition and I was able to listen to Sibelius’ works just for pure enjoyment and no ranking concern. Indeed they are wonderful and for that I want to thank you.
Nice to see your fondness for Sibelius.
Have you listened to Bliss’ Colour Symphony? I can recommend. And thanks for this list, really broadened my spectrum.
I am glad i dont have taste like you. Eroica on 94. place and 4 times sibelius in top 10 is hillarius. And on the top sibelius 7. symphony – it is a good symphony… for watching panorama pictures but it is hardly a representative of the best what western music canon can offer as it goes with most sibelius works.
Wow that was uncalled for. I don’t go down to your parent’s basement and make fun of your taste in Doritos, now, do I? Fuck off.
Love this list. Long time viewer, first time commenter, lol. Agree with you on Sibelius and Bruckner placements. A couple differences: I’d rank some of Mahler’s work a lot higher, and Hovhaness doesn’t resonate as much with me. I’d add some Atterberg to the list, Madetoja, and maybe also Rangström.
You should check out the work of Takashi Yoshimatsu. Best living composer of symphonies, IMO. All of his stuff is fantastic, especially symphonies 2, 5, and his memo flora concerto.
Please listen to Gliere’s 3rd symphony – I am positive with your taste you would put it in your top 50 at least.
What is a symphony? What about Berlioz’s ‘Romeo et Juliette Symphonie Dramatique’?? If this qualifies, It MUST be just about in the top TEN!!
But Beethoven’s epoch-making masterpiece at no.94?!! Get real! It should be numero uno!
Interesting that you’re obviously into the Scandinavians Sibelius & Nielsen – but what about Berwald?
I used to love Bruckner too – some great adagios, but his last movements are TEDIOUS!! (Except for the 7th.)
Shostakovich 2nd made the list but not 4th, that’s strange. His 4th is one of the his best symphonies.And where is Schumann 3rd Rhenish. The 4th made the list.
Proust wrote a million words, just for fun.