Favorite Symphonies Quiz

Symphony No. 5: Shostakovich 

It's a power house of a symphony, at least what I can remember, as I have not played it in a long while...

@edcyn sorry, not for me. Nothing Mozart ever wrote, to me, rivaled the finale of Mahler 2. There are videos of the end nearly bringing Bernstein to tears conducting it. Not so with Mozart. Or how about Mahler 5, mvt 4 - probably the most beautiful movement of any symphony ever written. 

There's plenty of emotion in Mozart, though it's not the on-your-sleeve variety of later composers. That doesn't mean that in his formal restraint he isn't expressive. What brings one to tears may induce a yawn in another, which often tells us more about the responders than the music itself. Read what Rubinstein and Schnabel said about Mozart's music, and how so many in the early 20th century foolishly reduced him to the maker of only pretty tunes, especially when compared to the Romantic titans then so in vogue. They knew compositional genius and depth, as well as deep emotion, and weren't fooled by popular opinion.

The 40th is a miracle. But the Adagio of the Clarinet Concerto is an entire world.

The Eroica, any number of recordings. Fürtwangler's, especially; wartime for white-hot playing, as if every note is the most important thing in the world.   

When you speak of emotion in Mozart, it cannot be measured by 19th century standards.  He was, to me, the most “human” of all composers.  The entire gamut of human feelings are expressed by him, but you must know his was a different musical language, having  its unique aesthetic symbols of expression.
Beethoven started off using the same language, but evolved to a language taken up by the entire 19th century. 

When you speak of emotion in Mozart, it cannot be measured by 19th century standards. He was, to me, the most “human” of all composers.

*eye roll* I get it, you like Mozart. Whatever. Calling him the most "human" is like calling the number 5 the most "5" of all numbers. Were the others part cyborg? Oh please.