Favorite Symphonies Quiz

‘Very few bettered Mozart. ‘
Um, not to me. Mozart symphonies are a snooze. His operas slightly better. I would think most boring classical music listeners would contend Beethoven perfected the symphony. Regardless, I find them boring, especially to perform. Listen to Haydn 104 then Tchaikovsky 4, and I just can’t see how anyone who has any ability to emote would pick Haydn. 

I think the composer's time in history and life circumstances are significant.  I love Haydn, his works are playful and fun (and less prissy than Mozart) but not about emotion any more than Baroque works are.  

Tchaikovsky (like Mahler) certainly has emotional content which I guess is why they are popular.  Other characteristics speak more to others (including me) and Beethoven, Bruckner, Sibelius and Hovaness have other strengths.

Very hard to compose a list given this limitation.  Had to repeat. Leaves a good many great symphonies out. Not really fair.

1.Brahms
2. Rachmaninoff 
3. Beethoven
4. Schumann
5. Prokofiev 
6. Tchaikovsky 
7. Beethoven
8. Shostakovich 
9. Mahler

“Very hard to compose a list given this limitation.  Had to repeat. Leaves a good many great symphonies out. Not really fair.”

If you are unhappy about leaving composers out, why did you repeat?

Good, Hovhaness, anyone else?

Another way to think about Mahler is which ones could you possibly do without.  For me that would be 8, then 7, then 1.  And that would be it.

@mayoradamwest I can't do without the lovely last movement of the 4th.
My favorite is Felicity Lott with Franz Welzer-Most, which isn't particularly well known.