For Memorial Day Weekend, Symphony Hall -- Channel 78 on Sirius/XM Radio -- is counting down the top 78 symphonies of all time. Here are some of the ones we've had so far that I recommend:
Number 67: Ralph Vaughan Williams (ENG): Symphony No. 2 ("London Symphony")
Number 54: Joseph Haydn (AUT): Symphony No. 104 ("London")
Number 50: Alan Hovhaness: Symphony No. 2 ("Mysterious Mountain")
Number 48: Ralph Vaughan Williams (ENG): Symphony No. 3 ("Pastoral")
Number 37: Dmitri Shostakovich (URS): Symphony No. 7 ("Leningrad")
Now we have started Number 36, from Gustav Mahler (AUT): Symphony No. 9.
Josef Newgarden, who was born in Nashville and grew up in Hendersonville, Tennessee, just won the Indianapolis 500 for the second year in a row.
ReplyDeleteNumber 35: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (AUT): Symphony No. 25. You've heard the beginning of this one if you've seen the beginning of Amadeus, which is probably the best movie ever made about classical music, or maybe any kind of music.
ReplyDeleteMozart really is unbelievable. He's one of those artists like Shakespeare -- it just seems incredible that he could have existed at all.
DeleteNumber 34: Sergei Prokofiev (RUS): Symphony No. 1 ("Classical").
ReplyDeleteD.J. Wagner will be joining Coach Cal in Arkansas. I still think he's really good.
ReplyDeleteNumber 33: Gustav Mahler (AUT): Symphony No. 3, which has six movements and is over 90 minutes long.
ReplyDeleteAt a key moment in the Dallas/Minnesota game tonight, P.J. Washington (former UK star) hit a three-ball from the corner, and he was standing right in front of Patrick and Brittany Mahomes. Before going back up the court, P.J. turned and got a big high five from Patrick Mahomes, which I thought was very cool.
ReplyDeleteNumber 32: Aaron Copland: Symphony No. 3
ReplyDeleteThe fourth movement of this symphony begins with the Fanfare for the Common Man. I did not know that.
DeleteHere are some more on the list:
ReplyDelete31. Sibelius (FIN): Symphony No. 2
30. Mahler (AUT): Symphony No. 8
29. Beethoven (GER): Symphony No. 4
28. Schubert (AUT): Symphony No. 9 ("Great")
27. Beethoven (GER): Symphony No. 8
26. Brahms (GER): Symphony No. 3
25. Mahler (AUT): Symphony No. 5
24. Dvorak (CZE): Symphony No. 8
23. Brahms (GER): Symphony No. 2
22. Schubert (AUT): Symphony No. 8 ("Unfinished")
21. Shostakovich (URS): Symphony No. 5
20. Mozart (AUT): Symphony No. 40
19. Mendelssohn (GER): Symphony No. 3 ("Scottish")
18. Mozart (AUT): Symphony No. 41 ("Jupiter")
17. Rachmaninoff (RUS): Symphony No. 2
16. Mahler (AUT): Symphony No. 1
15. Brahms (GER): Symphony No. 4
14. Mahler (AUT): Symphony No. 2 ("Resurrection")
13. Tchaikovsky (RUS): Symphony No. 4
12. Tchaikovsky (RUS): Symphony No. 5
And that brings us to the current symphony:
ReplyDelete11. Johannes Brahms (GER): Symphony No. 1
All four of Brahms's symphonies are ranked between 11 and 26, which shows how solid he is. Personally, I would have put 1 and 4 in the top ten.
10. Felix Mendelssohn (GER): Symphony No. 4 ("Italian"). This recording is by Sir John Eliot Gardiner and the London Symphony Orchestra. I never listen to Mendelssohn as much as I should. He's like an earlier version of Tchaikovsky, with just one beautiful melody after another.
ReplyDelete9. Camille Saint-Saens (FRA): Symphony No. 3 ("Organ"). I don't know which recording Symphony Hall is using, but I recommend the Living Stereo recording done by Charles Munch and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. You will recall, of course, that the main theme of the Fourth Movement plays a prominent role in the movie "Babe."
ReplyDeleteThey did use the Charles Munch recording. Good for them!
Delete8. Peter Tchaikovsky (RUS): Symphony No. 6 ("Pathetique"). Tchaikovsky conducted this symphony on October 28, 1893, at the age of 53, and died nine days later. To this day, scholars cannot agree on what happened. Wikipedia reports: "the cause of Tchaikovsky's death remains highly contested, and it may never actually be solved." Anyway, this is plainly one of the greatest pieces of music ever written.
ReplyDeleteI don't have a preferred version for this symphony, because I don't listen to it very often. I find that spending almost an hour with this particular piece of music is extremely draining. This will be the first time in several years that I've heard it.
DeleteThis performance was by Daniele Gatti conducting the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
Delete7. Hector Berlioz (FRA): Symphonie Fantastique. This version is Pierre Boulez conducting the Cleveland Orchestra. I have never spent much time with this piece, although I know that Number 2 Son is fond of it.
ReplyDelete6. Ludwig van Beethoven (GER): Symphony No. 5. Well, you know this one. This version is the Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Carlos Kleiber.
ReplyDelete5. Ludwig van Beethoven (GER): Symphony No. 7. This version is the Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Andris Nelsons. Years ago, I heard the second movement of this symphony being played in a music appreciation class -- and I went out and immediately bought a copy. I have loved it ever since.
ReplyDeleteWe are down to the top 4, and we still have three symphonies left for Beethoven.
ReplyDelete4. Ludwig van Beethoven (GER): Symphony No. 3 ("Eroica"). This version is from the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by JoAnn Falletta. Of all of Beethoven's really famous symphonies -- the 3d, the 5th, the 6th, the 7th, and the 9th -- this is the one I listen to the least.
ReplyDeleteIf you really like Beethoven, you should listen to the versions conducted by Wilhelm Furtwangler, who has a cult following. But you'll appreciate him better if you're already familiar with the works he is conducting.
ReplyDelete3. Ludwig van Beethoven (GER): Symphony No. 6 ("Pastoral"). This version is from the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Yannick Nezet-Seguin.
ReplyDeleteThis piece, of course, is featured in Disney's "Fantasia." Beethoven wrote titles at the beginning of each movement. The title for the first movement translates as "Awakening of cheerful feelings on arrival in the countryside." I know those feelings very well, and it's a miracle to me that a person could put them into music like this.
Delete2. Ludwig van Beethoven (GER): Symphony No. 9 ("Choral"). We have the Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Andris Nelsons. For me, this is another challenging symphony, just because of the emotional content. I usually listen to it once or twice a year, but I have to be in the right mood. In my opinion, this is the single greatest work of art in existence. For me, it ranks above all books, all paintings, all sculpture, all architecture, everything: if we could only save one work of art in the whole history of the planet, this is the one I would save.
ReplyDeleteWow!
DeleteMeanwhile, Boston sweeps the Pacers, winning 105 to 102 in Indianapolis, and the rest of the country is grateful that we don't have to watch Indiana blow yet another lead in the last few minutes.
ReplyDeleteIn Game 1, Indiana led 117 to 114, and they had the ball, with 9 seconds to go. They lost in overtime.
DeleteIn Game 3, Indiana led 109 to 101 with 2:25 left. They lost in regulation.
Tonight, they led 98 to 90 with 5:40 left. They were outscored 15-4 down the stretch and were eliminated.
Since the Heath Post was created, neither the Boston Celtics nor the New York Yankees have lifted a trophy. We will see if that changes in the NBA Finals.
ReplyDeleteFor the record, the Lakers and Celtics each have 17 NBA Titles, but the Celtics have only one the title once since 1986. After the 1986 season, Boston led the Lakers 16 titles to 9. Since then, LA has eight titles to one for Boston.
ReplyDeleteThis the fourth time Boston has made the finals since 1986. The Celtics lost in 1987 (Lakers), 2010 (Lakers), and 2022 (Warriors). They won in 2008 (Lakers).
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, we have finished with Beethoven, and we are ready for the Number 1 Symphony on the list:
ReplyDelete1. Anton Dvorak (CZE): Symphony No. 9 ("From the New World"). This particular version is conducted by Marin Alsop and is played by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.
Dvorak wrote this symphony while he was living in America, and it was commissioned by the New York Philharmonic. The New York Philharmonic played the premier performance on December 16, 1893 in Carnegie Hall. According to Wikipedia, the end of each movement was met with thunderous clapping and Dvorak felt obliged to stand up and bow. Of course, everyone loves this symphony now. But it was originally written for Americans, and I'm always pleased to see that it retains its popularity over here. It was one of the first pieces of music I enjoyed as a child, and it is probably the symphony of all others that I have heard the most. I never tire of it -- if I start listening at any point, I will usually go on to the end.
DeleteI loved every word of this, and, as I do almost every time you report on some countdown of classical music, I've piled up references into my playlists to work to over the months ahead.
ReplyDelete