Jump to content

Greatest Orchesteral Works of All Time


Travis In Austin

Recommended Posts

  • Moderators

What are the Top 25?

 

Selection Criteria 

 

  1. No more than 3 selections from any one composer;
  2. All works have to be self-standing Orchesteral Works (excludes opera overtures and incidental music).  This would include symphonies,  concerti (solo or grosso), symphonic/Tone poems and suites. 

 

I'm trying to expand beyond opera.

 

I am putting my list together.

 

Edit:  More time to add to my list

 

Vivaldi - The Four Seasons 

Bach - Brandenburg Concerto No, 2

Bach—Violin Concerto in E Major 
Haydn—Symphony No. 104 
Mozart—Piano Concerto No. 24 in C Minor 
Mozart—Symphony in C Major, “Jupiter” 
Beethoven—Symphony No. 3

Beethoven—Piano Concerto No. 4

Beethoven—Symphony No. 9 
Schubert—Symphony No. 9 
Mendelssohn—“Italian” Symphony 
Schumann—Symphony No. 3 
Brahms—Symphony No. 4 
Brahms—Violin Concerto 
Tchaikovsky—Symphony No. 4 
Tchaikovsky—Violin Concerto 
Bedřich Smetana—Má Vlast 
Dvořák—Symphony No. 8 
Dvořák—Concerto for ’Cello 
Rimsky-Korsakov—Scheherazade 
Richard Strauss—Thus Spoke Zarathustra 

Mahler—Symphony No. 5

 

 

Holst  - The Planets 

 

I think that is 23, and I still have Rachmoninov and Stravinski, etc.

 

@LarryC

Edited by dwilawyer
Updating list
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Moderators
1 hour ago, oldtimer said:

You have to include Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, and Mozart.

I agree, but which 3?

 

Mozart:  piano Concerto No. 24; symphony in C Major, "Jupiter".  Would have to add another for Mozart.

 

Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4 and the Violin Concerto?

 

Rimsky-Lorsakov would have to be Scheherazade

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's a pretty wide bucket to draw from, it seems. 

 

Here is a list (for all you list lovers) put together by "151 of the world's leading conductors" of the best known symphonies via the BBC.  I'm not sure what the decision criteria were but this will at least get you calibrated to the musicians themselves...or at least the people that wave their wands around while orchestra musicians make the music...which may be biased to something that the listeners may not share:

 

https://www.wned.org/radio/wned-classical-945/20-greatest-symphonies/

 

872de48765_20_Symphonies_landscape_nls.j

 

No. 20. Bruckner: Symphony No. 7 
Written in 1883, just after the death of Richard Wagner, this symphony, as a homage to that great composer of operas, has parts for four Wagner tubas. And oh… what a glorious sound they make. 

No. 19. Beethoven; Symphony No. 6, Pastoral
This is the first symphony to make its inspiration obvious and, less obviously, the first symphony to ask of its listeners not “what do you think of this”, but “how does this make you feel?”

No. 18. Brahms: Symphony No. 2
At a time of Romantic excess this symphony, written by a composer on vacation in the Alps, manages to balance the highs and lows perfectly so that it has claims to being the best constructed symphony written in the second half of the 19th century. Still, it’s so pleasant you hardly notice the craft behind its constant flow of melody.

No. 17. Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5
The ambiguities of the 20th century mark this symphony as a great conundrum. Is it an ironic send up of triumphalist rhetoric or is it a sensational paean of hope? Answer: it could be both.

No. 16. Beethoven: Symphony No. 7
This symphony, called by Wagner “the apotheosis of the dance,” constitutes a vast feedback loop between the physical sensations the music evokes in the listener’s body and the emotions that course as a consequence through the mind. 

No. 15. Mozart: Symphony No. 40
Edgy and at least once positively atonal, this minor key symphony reveals its composer as at once the most human and the greatest dramaturge of the classical period. 

No. 14. Sibelius: Symphony No. 7
The composer of this brief symphony wrote it with a bottle of whiskey always within reach. He knew, if the world did not, that it would be his last symphony. No composer has ever left a better testament.

No. 13. Bruckner: Symphony No. 8
A vast work with Sierra-like gleaming snow-capped peaks and soft, forested valleys, this symphony pays homage to both Bach and Beethoven over the course of its high peak hike.

No. 12. Brahms: Symphony No. 3
No question about it, this symphony contains all kinds of personal messages. Over its four movements it tells the tale of an unconsummated love affair that begins with a musical clue to its content: just 4 notes: F, A, A-flat, F. Those notes stand for “Frei aber Froh,” German for “Free but Happy”.

No. 11. Beethoven Symphony No. 5
Perhaps the most famous, if not the greatest, symphony of all time. It is the first symphony that takes aim with its first notes at its very last notes, pushing the listener ever forward, sometimes relentlessly and sometimes gently on to the mighty C major ending.

No. 10. Mahler: Symphony No. 3
A gigantic symphony that began with a simple question that led to a very long answer. “What do the rocks tell me?” That’s the same question that geographer, explorer Alexander Humboldt asked a few generations before the composer got around to it. Both geographer and composer came up with profound if very different answers.

No. 9. Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6, Pathetique
This is a symphony that has always been associated with tragedy because the composer’s death soon followed the premier. Some have even interpreted this symphony as the world’s longest suicide note.

No. 8. Brahms: Symphony No. 1
 “You don’t know what it’s like for the likes of us when we hear footsteps behind us.” Those were the words of the composer of this symphony when he was asked why it took him so long to write it. And exactly whose footsteps was he hearing?

No. 7. Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique
This is the symphony that forever linked the autobiography of the composer to the music he might write. Like his life, his symphony is a mixture of reverie and wildness.

No. 6. Brahms: Symphony No. 4
This symphony is a last symphony that is a true summing up musically. It is a work by a man obsessed with music’s past and its great creators… Bach, Mozart and Beethoven. Yet it maps out a future for the symphony as well.

No. 5. Mahler: Symphony No. 2, Resurrection
Hearing this long symphony, the critics called it a “monster” and its composer “impious”. But audiences were transported by it; they hardly noticed its touches of Nietzsche and Freud. 

No. 4. Mahler: Symphony No. 9
This is another “last” symphony even though the composer didn’t know it. It is also the largest “last” symphony of them all with a percussion section that includes timpani, bass drum, triangle, cymbals, tam-tam, glockenspiel and three deep bells. 

No. 3. Mozart: Symphony No. 41, Jupiter
Yet another “last” symphony in which the composer seems to revel in creating conflicts that only he can unravel. It’s a symphony written deeper than most, a demonstration that harmony not melody is at the heart of what stirs us in music. 

No. 2. Beethoven: Symphony No. 9, Choral
What do you do when music alone won’t do what you want it to? You write this symphony, but only one deaf composer could do it.

No. 1. Beethoven: Symphony No. 3, Eroica
This symphony changed everything about music. Before it, music served as hand maiden to other purposes and activities. Symphonies were stimulating diversions, pleasing and, often, moving entertainments. This symphony, however had the power to change the people who heard it, to grab them, lift them, completely engage them and finally without reference to class or religion inspire them. 

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I greatly like two on that list (actually more, but could easily recognize two). I like Sibelius' 3rd better than 7, but I like all his works. I might also add Joaquín Rodrigo for his Concierto de Aranjuez.

 

How could you pick only three?

 

Bruce

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have a BD of Beethoven's piano concertos (Barenboim and the Staatskapelle Berlin) which I seem to play at least each season of the year.  It presents the concertos in numbered order (i.e., 1-->5), and I always think to myself, "how could this get any better?". As the first concerto finishes and the next begins, I remember saying, "well...how could THIS get any better?". 

 

51cyhn+CpLL._SX342_.jpg

 

Of course then the next piano concerto begins and I find myself asking the same question--again.  It's like that with Beethoven and his symphonies, concertos, sonatas, string quartets, etc. It's also like that with Mahler's symphonies, and Brahms, and a few others.  Some of the compositions are obviously written to be crowdpleasers, and then the composer invents something more musically complex that's a bit more difficult to listen to (e.g., Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Stravinsky, and even Mozart, etc.).

 

I don't consider myself much into vocal music (the greatest instrument of all as considered by many) but there is as much in that realm as purely instrumental compositions.  So it's pretty much impossible for me to pick favorites from among these--they are all great musical compositions. 

 

Chris

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Moderators
2 hours ago, Marvel said:

I greatly like two on that list (actually more, but could easily recognize two). I like Sibelius' 3rd better than 7, but I like all his works. I might also add Joaquín Rodrigo for his Concierto de Aranjuez.

 

How could you pick only three?

 

Bruce

The 3 was arbitrary, otherwise everyone would do Bach, Mozart and WVB and then you are done.

 

The list is 25, and max of 3 from any single composer.

 

Travis

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Moderators

Edit:  More time to add to my list

 

Vivaldi - The Four Seasons 

Bach - Brandenburg Concerto No, 2

Bach—Violin Concerto in E Major 
Haydn—Symphony No. 104 
Mozart—Piano Concerto No. 24 in C Minor 
Mozart—Symphony in C Major, “Jupiter” 
Beethoven—Symphony No. 3

Beethoven—Piano Concerto No. 4

Beethoven—Symphony No. 9 
Schubert—Symphony No. 9 
Mendelssohn—“Italian” Symphony 
Schumann—Symphony No. 3 
Brahms—Symphony No. 4 
Brahms—Violin Concerto 
Tchaikovsky—Symphony No. 4 
Tchaikovsky—Violin Concerto 
Bedřich Smetana—Má Vlast 
Dvořák—Symphony No. 8 
Dvořák—Concerto for ’Cello 
Rimsky-Korsakov—Scheherazade 
Richard Strauss—Thus Spoke Zarathustra 

Mahler—Symphony No. 5

 

 

Holst  - The Planets 

 

I think that is 23, and I still have Rachmoninov and Stravinski, etc.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Moderators

No. 20. Bruckner: Symphony No. 7   I didn't have room
No. 19. Beethoven; Symphony No. 6, Pastoral   I didn't have room

No. 18. Brahms: Symphony No. 2  I went with No. 4, which is No. 6 on this list
No. 17. Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5  I am thinking about 5 AND 10 but I don't have the room for both
No. 16. Beethoven: Symphony No. 7  I didn't have room
No. 15. Mozart: Symphony No. 40 Not enought room
No. 14. Sibelius: Symphony No. 7  Sibelius didn't make my list, I will have to go back and check this out
No. 13. Bruckner: Symphony No. 8  Same as 14
No. 12. Brahms: Symphony No. 3  I went with No. 4 and his violin Concerto
No. 11. Beethoven Symphony No. 5  It was tough, went with 3 and 9, and Piano 4; 
No. 10. Mahler: Symphony No. 3  I went with No. 5
No. 9. Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6, Pathetique  I went with his No. 4 and his Violin Concerto (hmmmm, I did the same with Brahms, wonder if this was subliminal?)
No. 8. Brahms: Symphony No. 1   I went with No. 4 and his violin Concerto
  No. 7. Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique  I just didn't have the room
No. 6. Brahms: Symphony No. 4   My pick, plus his Violin Concerto
No. 5. Mahler: Symphony No. 2, Resurrection  I went with No. 5
No. 4. Mahler: Symphony No. 9  I went with No. 5
No. 3. Mozart: Symphony No. 41, Jupiter  ON my list
No. 2. Beethoven: Symphony No. 9, Choral  ON my list
No. 1. Beethoven: Symphony No. 3, Eroica  ON my list

 

How could they not have Dvorak?  Schumann?  Schubert? Saint-Saens?  Stravinski? etc.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mahler symphonies 2 ("Resurrection") and 9 -- the last movement of 9 is a 25 minute, soft, meditation.

 

Beethoven Symphony 7 -- finale perfect to discharge sadness, anger, or other emotions, particularly if it is peaking at about 110 dB.

 

Copland Symphony 3 -- includes a version of "Fanfare for the Common Man."

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...