Which Beethoven's symphony do you like the best?

Yes, who can forget the opening of Beethoven's 5th and the ending of 9th. It is like a laster printer print into my head since I was a kid first time listening to it. So strong and I can't forget it. The passion is not only strong but also very deep, so I like them even more after growing up. Several B's piano sonata also impress me so much that it is a joyful lifetime memory. There are also other work here and there which are great(e.g. concerto 5th and some violin works....). Mozart, Bach, Mahler Chopin..... are all great composers too. Every one has his own strength. However, when I saw people stating "Beethoven's symphonies are overrated", I have to step out to express my love to his work. Many people can hum the melody from the complex Beethoven symphony. And how many of them remember any melody from "Jupiter"(I may even spell it wrong)? Ask a kid to hum a symphony, and see if you hear a Beethoven or someone else.

Mozart was the greatest musical genius that ever lived. You might, or not like his work, but fact stands. Beethoven was great, but was depressed most of his life for not "being" Mozart. I love them all, and we are unfortunate there hasn't been one contemporary with 100/th talent of any of the Classical guys. Jazz folks? Do not even go there.

Evidently one cannot make any criticism of Beethoven in this company without being acused of being ignorant. For what it's worth, my appreciation of classical music, including Beethoven, dates from about 1948 when I attended a musically oriented boarding school in New Zealand, and it has continued ever since. I may disagree with you, but not because I am ignorant. Perhaps I've heard that 9th too many times. Does anyone else have the feeling that the choral part begins well but goes nowhere?

Eldartford: Yes. I guess that my problem with the 9th, and it was my problem with the Mahler symphonies as well, is that the ending just seems to start and stop too much to make it coherent to my admittedly structured way of analyzing music (contrast it with the 5th symphony, which is as perfect structurally--and musically--as any symphony ever written). I've probably got to listen to it more to fully understand it (I used to feel the same way about the Mahler 2nd's last movement, but now it's one of my favorites), but my overall feeling from that movement, while it is genuinely moving, inspired and brilliant for the most part, is that it tries to do too much and loses me at the end as a result.

Bluefin I would definitely acknowledge that the opening motif to the 5th of Beethoven is probably the most well known passage in music, little doubt about that. I would also bet that the 1st and 3rd movement of Mozart's G minor symphony (# 40) are instantly recognizable to at least as many folks, possibly more, than any particular passage in a Beethoven Symphony other than the 1st movement of the 5th and the final movement of the 9th. I would also guess that although many might recognize the G Minor, most probably wouldn't know who composed it. The point is the music stays with you from the first time you hear it, hooks galore :)