Greatest Symphony ever!! - Page 3

Here are 3 symphonies that I thought would have been mentioned but haven't. All 3 are more loved by record collectors than critics, but what does that tell you..?

Saint Saens; Organ Symphony (No3)

Rachmaninov; Symphony No2

Gorecki; Symphony No3  

Quote:

Originally Posted by One Eye 

Love the Saint Saens Levine's is my fave interpretation. The Rach 2 is another biggie for me I love the Ashkenazy set.

Sorry all But like rroseperry the Gorecki is not my cup of tea. It became over hyped in the music press but I personally could not get what all the fuss was about.

I'd like to add Bruckner's 5th which has been well served on disc, with Jochum being the stand out interpreter, for me anyway.

twas sordel that didn't like Gorecki not rroseberry (sorry just to save any backlash)

Yeah the Gorecki is a strange fish, I don't think its that original either. I must admit I do like the first movement with the thick textures, it has an almost hypnotic effect on me. I'm a world class insomniac and the only time I've ever listen to this symph is in the early hours and its very rare that I reach the final movement... So its great for that haha !

Along with Gorecki, another composer who has used minimalism to brilliant effect is Arvo Part. I'm going to have to recommend his latest Symphony No4 to anyone who hasn't heard it yet. It's very early days to say if its going be up there with the greats but I like it. I like all Part's recent works, I'm soo please he visited the Tate that day! I am deeply fond of his choral works (I think his St Johns Passion is probably the greatest religious peice of the late 20th century)  but there is only so much you can write without it getting stale considering the restrictions of his methodology. Even the good lord Bach wrote far too much religious music and a lot of it ended up being recycled.

Anyway's his recent change of gear has pleased some but not others.

Absolutely no problem at all my friend and you're very welcome!

Incidently, I love "Utrenja" too, its as good if not better than the more celebrated "St lukes Passion" I only have the Naxos version which is defo worth a look. Yeah record shops are becoming a thing from the past and thats a big shame. I've watched my local HMV's  Classical section get smaller and smaller through the years; it used to have its own floor! I'm from Durham in England and we have one classical music shop in nearby Newcastle but even that is pretty poor compared to what it used to be.

One bonus of the digital age however, the price of cd's on places such as amazon is fantastic, and you can allways find what you are after no matter how rare on the internet.

Cheers   

Although this is the "Greatest Symphony" thread, you're going to have to trust me on this one..!  As we journey through the seemingly endless sea that is classical music, we all have composers that we keep going back to time and time again. For the 18/19/20 centuries my faves are respectively Bach, Beethoven, Prokofiev.

I'm not going to bore you why I like him so much,other than; he is a true composer; never pretentious, never art for arts sake. We could argue all night whether Stravinsky was the better composer, but I think that because Sergei is the most played composer of the 20th century speaks volumes. The only problem that I have these days is that, its the same pieces recorded over and over again. "Romeo and Juliet" his "Classical Symphony" "Peter and the Wolf" to name a few.

His other symphonies are still for some reason unappreciated. My personal opinion is that they are a little harder work than his contemporaries. Not only that, they are misunderstood. His first Symphony was an instant hit because of the "Neo Classical" element (the first neo classical piece historically). His 2nd was a bounce effect of this and was scorned by the critics but for me is one of the great symphonic masterpieces from the 20th Century. Bla de bla de bla.. his 5th is the most celebrated, but for me doesn't stand out anymore than the other 7.

So my recommendation in regards to a possible contender for the greatest symphony ever; is all of Prokofiev's symphonies.

and you can do a lot worse than this set!

1891-1953 

Does anyone like Schumann? for me he was the greatest writer of piano music after beethoven in the 19 century, but what about his 4 symphonies? I like them, but they have never affected me the way that Beethoven or Brahms symph's have. That said his 4th is special, maybe I haven't given them enough time.