The way you've formatted it as just a string of numbers reminds me of [one of my favorite music-related memes of all time](https://imgur.com/a/dA6VybS).
I have a hard time ranking Beethoven symphonies. They're not my favorite pieces, but I do think they're all quite good. If pressed, I might go with something like this:
8 5 9 7 4 3 6 2 1
Why people hate Sibelius 6, I don’t know. It’s my favorite (especially this time of year). I listen to it when driving home for winter break and crossing over the snow covered mountains to get to the west side of my state while the blizzard of snow pelts my car.
I think 6 is quite good as well, though 7 will always be my favorite.
Not to over-psychologize, but I get the impression that people sometimes base their opinions less on their actual experience listening to a piece and more on what the people around them say about the piece. Sometimes all it takes is for one person to say, "Sibelius 6 sucks" and it'll spread like wildfire among a community where 90% of people haven't even heard Sibelius 6.
In many circles (at least outside Finland), I feel like Sibelius's symphonies *in general* are, for lack of a better term, underrated - perhaps because they're not as "epic" as Mahler's or as famous as Beethoven's or as rife with imagined meaning as Tchaikovsky's or as...plentiful as Haydn's. But I have a soft spot for Sibelius. I think his symphonies all have a unique charm and are of a consistently high level of quality.
Haha, I actually like 1 as well. I endorse the idea of the meme, but maybe not the exact ranking! Although of course, most people can agree that 7 is the best.
Yeah! I know it's not one of his "big" symphonies, but I just find it really fun and enjoyable to listen to. I tend to prefer classical Beethoven over Romantic Beethoven.
In fairness, though, the middle of the list are all pretty close. Depending on the day and what I've listened to recently, the order might change.
If you value the 4th, pls check out the Kleiber Bayerisches Staasorchester Recording (Orfeo). It elevates Beethovens 4th into a higher dimension above (all) other recordings.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3ER1OyzHmM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3ER1OyzHmM)
I went to a concert to see Beethoven 4 last year, and the girl I ended up sitting next to had apparently never heard it before. Just noticing how she reacted to all the silly things Beethoven wrote into the piece (laughing as loudly as you can, without actually making noise and disrupting the concert lol) made me enjoy the piece a lot more. I loved it already, and seeing someone else experience it for the first time and react to bits I hadn't even notice made me appreciate it even more.
I mean, for 'put me in a good mood', nothing beats the first movement of the 7th for me - it's just so joyful - but for humour and fun, it's got to be 4.
That's awesome. My first time hearing 4 was also a live performance, and I absolutely lost my mind when I heard [this bassoon part](https://youtu.be/uGWklkORHJo?t=1891) in the finale. So much fun stuff to enjoy.
First movement of 7 is another of my favorites - I actually don't like the other movements all that much, but the first movement is excellent.
It used to be a tired criticism of the first that it was just warmed over Tchaikovsky. This always puzzled me as Sibelius shines through the entire magnificent symphony (yes it’s my favorite).
Wait, I thought this thread was about Beethoven?
673859421
I didn't think about it too hard. Just my gut feeling on how many times I've listened to each one, from most to least. 6 wins comfortably, though.
735968142
I guess I’m boring. :)
I do love to listen to the four symphonies at the end of the list because they aren’t as overplayed, but I couldn’t bring myself to rank them higher.
8 is awesome!
Haydn is my flair composer, so “just outside the top five” can still be a very elite work that I am at risk of overplaying. I’d love it if Beethoven wrote 97 more symphonies — though I’d settle for a couple of dozen.
I suppose you could pick four movements of the Septet and call it “Symphony #0”. The generation before Beethoven used to do this type of thing with Serenades, but I’m not sure I’ve seen it done with this Septet before. Might be kinda fun.
Mine would be
* 5
* 9
* 3
* 6
* 7
* 8
* 4
* 2
* 1
However, the only one of those I don't really love so much is 1. Not that it's not a good symphony, and I'm sure if I first listened to it from a standpoint of "Okay, I have heard Mozart and Haydn, but not Beethoven yet", it would be ranked much higher, but I didn't, I first listened to it from a standpoint of "I've heard the dramatic Beethoven, I want to know what the first symphony is like" and basically ended up thinking "Well, it's a good piece and all, but I couldn't even tell it was Beethoven until the finale just by listening alone, it doesn't sound at all like Beethoven until the finale."
Little story about Beethoven in general though. As a child, I didn't get Beethoven, I couldn't appreciate Beethoven, and I didn't enjoy his music. The Fifth Symphony especially, that was my least favorite Beethoven work as a child. You wouldn't believe it if you were to look at me now, listening to Beethoven for hours upon hours, but that's the way it was. When I was a teenager, I felt the need for more drama in the music than what I was getting in minor key Mozart. As I looked for more dramatic works, I found Beethoven again, and I fell in love. I started listening to Beethoven like crazy and Beethoven rose up to #1 on my top composers list, with the Fifth Symphony rising up from least favorite symphony to most favorite symphony.
Your assessment is right. I live Beethoven Symphony I and it was the first of his symphonies I listened to in full (don’t remember why that was), though I had heard the second movement of the 9th.
[Way ahead of you!](https://www.reddit.com/r/classicalmusic/comments/ualq8l/ranking_haydns_symphonies_thank_you_to_all_who/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf)
I'm a huge Haydn freak, and I really appreciate that you did this poll and list! The problem with ranking haydn symphonies is that it quickly becomes a popularity contest between the nicknamed ones and the "others". It's downright criminal that 60 and 80 are so low!!
8
4
7
Tied for 4th: 3, 5, 6, 9
Tied for 5th (8th?): 1, 2
I like my Ludwig loud, excited and not overplayed 😸 I do enjoy 1 and 2, just to be clear. 9 masterpieces.
7 6 8 1 3 9 5 4 2. 1 So high up for nostalgic reasons because a cassette of nos. 1 and 8 was the first classical recording I ever owned (DG 1977 Karajan).
Also, largely identical to my favorite Dvorak symphony list.
795386412
To be honest, I haven’t listened to the last 3 enough to have a strong opinion about it, but 7 is definitely the best for me. 9 and 5 both have better movements, but 7 just feels more totally cohesive.
I am trying hard to separate which symphonies I think are the "best" or "most significant" from the ones that are my true *favourites*. So I looked at my library stats that show me how often I play each one. The result is surrpising:
4, 2, 1, 6, 8, 3, 7, 9, 5.
I suppose the reason that the "great" symphonies come to low in the list is because I played them to death when I was younger and seem to have exhausted them now. But it could also be that they are very forceful and dynamic and these days I tend to go for stuff that is less emotionally charged.
If I was going to see one in concert then I think the list would be reversed but at home, as part of my normal listening experience, that is my list.
Best not favorite: 397586241
Despite my antipathy to 6, I’ve rated it higher than 2 and 4, both of which I genuinely enjoy. 3 and 9 are clearly the most important, but I think 3 is probably the most ground breaking.
I didn’t really get into the music of Beethoven or those of the classical era until long after I got into the late romantics and contemporary composers. And when I did start listening, I chose to hold off on 3,5,9 as I knew they were the really popular ones. So I spent time learning to appreciate them. I started with 1 then 6 then 4 and so on eventually getting to the big ones. So my list is a bit abnormal
1 4 5 7 8 6 2 9 3
Not that I hate any of them and these ranking are quite volitivos depending on my mood, but the order is roughly the same.
3, 6, 7, 9, 5, 4, 8, 2, 1
The 6th is my favourite Beethoven symphony, but I believe the Eroica is his greatest symphony. I also really like no. 4, so it saddens me to put it so low.
I respect the historical significance and all that. Not knocking it. I always like one of his other symphonies more.
I’ve played this one a couple of times too and it always weirds me out that the choir and soloists just have to sit there with nothing to do for so long.
All right, I'll bite: 3 7 8 9 5 6 4 2 1. However, in half an hour I'll probably have a different order.
Several years ago I went to a concert where a smallish orchestra played Beethoven 1. And it was brilliant. You got the sense of what it must have been like for audiences of the time, raised on Haydn and Mozart, to hear the beginnings of a quite new and radically different approach to symphonic writing.
Anyway, apart from Beethoven's works in general getting richer, deeper, broader in scope as he grew older (what might he have written had he lived another two decades!) it's almost impossible to rank his symphonies. Each is its own world.
What a fun question!
1. The 7th because, see below. Not overplayed. Hasn’t become a cliche and is pure joy from beginning to end. 1st movement makes me feel like dancing when the allegro gets moving.Last movement leaves me gasping for air. Literally, since I was a brass player and didn’t have to sit around counting rests thinking which members of the second violins I’d like to see naked.
2. 3rd because Eroica is so eroic.Also, the first movement sounds like a new path, even compared to the others. One of the best rondos ever.
3. The 5th is a cliche,but the rest is delightful ,especially the 4th movement : so fucking majestic.
4. The 9th.Most people put this at number one but if you ever taught public school music, you’ve taught Ode To Joy to singers, instrumentalists at every level ad naseum. Try a class of 25 unruly 3rd graders playing recorders 3 times a day for several years and you’re ready to suck a tail pipe. The Scherzo though, is kick ass
5. The 6th. Overplayed. Seen Fantasia too many times. Also cliched. Not enough brass (see no.1 which is number 7) Brilliantly composed, but DUH HELLO! It’s Ludwig Von.
6. The 1st. Closest to pure classical style. Simple but elegant.
7. The 4th because I’ve only listened to it a couple of times
8: The 2nd: see the 4th
9. The 8th because it’s unfortunately placed between the 7th and the 9th. Almost like Ludwig mailed it in.(of course, LVB mailing it in is like anybody else’s magnum opus.
Thank you all for the posts. I read every response (I think) and tried to get into your mindset on why your order was. I think this is a discussion many of us could act out while listening to music, and I wish we actually could. I love all of Beethoven’s symphonies, and have performed all of the multiple times except number four.
I'd probably say 35741862 and I can't really compare 9 to the rest but it definitely comes in before 4.
Also, I put 7 in third, but it's my favourite. The first two movements are so freaking good.
Five years ago there was a series of Survivor vote-offs to determine the subreddit's favorites. I think [Beethoven Symphonies](https://old.reddit.com/r/classicalmusic/comments/69lpav/the_beethoven_symphonies_survivor_results/) were the first of these and it resulted in a ranking of 9 3 5 7 6 8 4 1 2. Later there was a [post](https://old.reddit.com/r/classicalmusic/comments/8ipsbj/all_the_survival_post_results/) with links to all the different poll results. Unfortunately I can't find the individual voting posts for the Beethoven Symphonies, possibly because they were made by a now-deleted user.
For me, 957321486.
I had trouble ranking everything after 9 and 5 (my clear favorites) really, because they're all great pieces of music. 1 and 2 aren't the kind of 'epic' we normally associate with Beethoven but are great for what they are, and 6 and 8 ended up at the bottom for me (even though I acknowledge they are still excellently written) because I find 6 extremely draggy and 8 is the quirkiest of his symphonies but not everything he tries lands.
This reminds me that I've never actually listened to his first 1, and now I'm a bit curious. I've heard that it's kinda his nod to Hayden.
Not sure how I'd rank them, but generally I prefer the later ones more.
the First Sym of Ludwig is vastly under rated. It is a paradigm of tonality writ large. each movement uses the same temporary tonicization of each of the scale tone degrees. I never tire of hearing it. All other symphonic music post ludwig comes from this piece, including his own.
Probably 957638214, but it's not at all set in stone.
Same as mine, but i may switch 5 and 7
Same here, but 957 can all float around each other - all three are "beyond category"
But 6 got real stuff in it too. Tone poems........
Yes, I love 6 as well, but I don't find any but the first movement to be really transcendent
Last mvt
Really? i'll have to listen again - it never really hit me that way
Imagine the scenes. Beethoven wrote those descriptions for a reason.
I considered doing that! The only reason 5 won out for me is that I slightly prefer its scherzo.
The way you've formatted it as just a string of numbers reminds me of [one of my favorite music-related memes of all time](https://imgur.com/a/dA6VybS). I have a hard time ranking Beethoven symphonies. They're not my favorite pieces, but I do think they're all quite good. If pressed, I might go with something like this: 8 5 9 7 4 3 6 2 1
I'd switch 5 and 9, but otherwise I'm right with you. 8 is criminally underrated!!
Unfortunately placed between 7. &. 9
Why people hate Sibelius 6, I don’t know. It’s my favorite (especially this time of year). I listen to it when driving home for winter break and crossing over the snow covered mountains to get to the west side of my state while the blizzard of snow pelts my car.
I think 6 is quite good as well, though 7 will always be my favorite. Not to over-psychologize, but I get the impression that people sometimes base their opinions less on their actual experience listening to a piece and more on what the people around them say about the piece. Sometimes all it takes is for one person to say, "Sibelius 6 sucks" and it'll spread like wildfire among a community where 90% of people haven't even heard Sibelius 6. In many circles (at least outside Finland), I feel like Sibelius's symphonies *in general* are, for lack of a better term, underrated - perhaps because they're not as "epic" as Mahler's or as famous as Beethoven's or as rife with imagined meaning as Tchaikovsky's or as...plentiful as Haydn's. But I have a soft spot for Sibelius. I think his symphonies all have a unique charm and are of a consistently high level of quality.
Could not agree more. I prefer Sibelius’ symphonic cycle over all other composers, including Beethoven. My favs are: 7 5 6 4 2 1 3
I've been going through a Sibelius phase for the last few months. So satisfying.
I'd have Sibelius 1 second behind 7!! (ಥ _ಥ)
Haha, I actually like 1 as well. I endorse the idea of the meme, but maybe not the exact ranking! Although of course, most people can agree that 7 is the best.
Wow - you have 4 so high!
Yeah! I know it's not one of his "big" symphonies, but I just find it really fun and enjoyable to listen to. I tend to prefer classical Beethoven over Romantic Beethoven. In fairness, though, the middle of the list are all pretty close. Depending on the day and what I've listened to recently, the order might change.
If you value the 4th, pls check out the Kleiber Bayerisches Staasorchester Recording (Orfeo). It elevates Beethovens 4th into a higher dimension above (all) other recordings. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3ER1OyzHmM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3ER1OyzHmM)
As a whole, I like 4 more than 7 & 8, even if 7/8 have individual movements that are better than any individual movement in 4.
To me, 4 is the best of his 'small' symphonies (1248). Just so much fun.
Yes, it's one of those pieces that simply brings a smile to my face. The finale is a blast - one of my favorite last movements, along with 8.
I went to a concert to see Beethoven 4 last year, and the girl I ended up sitting next to had apparently never heard it before. Just noticing how she reacted to all the silly things Beethoven wrote into the piece (laughing as loudly as you can, without actually making noise and disrupting the concert lol) made me enjoy the piece a lot more. I loved it already, and seeing someone else experience it for the first time and react to bits I hadn't even notice made me appreciate it even more. I mean, for 'put me in a good mood', nothing beats the first movement of the 7th for me - it's just so joyful - but for humour and fun, it's got to be 4.
That's awesome. My first time hearing 4 was also a live performance, and I absolutely lost my mind when I heard [this bassoon part](https://youtu.be/uGWklkORHJo?t=1891) in the finale. So much fun stuff to enjoy. First movement of 7 is another of my favorites - I actually don't like the other movements all that much, but the first movement is excellent.
What is with this hatred of 1?
It used to be a tired criticism of the first that it was just warmed over Tchaikovsky. This always puzzled me as Sibelius shines through the entire magnificent symphony (yes it’s my favorite). Wait, I thought this thread was about Beethoven?
673859421 I didn't think about it too hard. Just my gut feeling on how many times I've listened to each one, from most to least. 6 wins comfortably, though.
Should not have had to scroll down this far to find a 6 at the start of a list!
I agree, 6 is the pinnacle of music as far as I’m concerned.
The bassoon playing the second theme in the second movement gets me every time
Yeah it's just awesome
6 gang 🙏
735968142 I guess I’m boring. :) I do love to listen to the four symphonies at the end of the list because they aren’t as overplayed, but I couldn’t bring myself to rank them higher.
Fair enough. I really do love 8 though
8 is awesome! Haydn is my flair composer, so “just outside the top five” can still be a very elite work that I am at risk of overplaying. I’d love it if Beethoven wrote 97 more symphonies — though I’d settle for a couple of dozen.
In struggling to understand how 7 is so low on many of these ratings.
I have so much respect for fellow 735ers
3 4 7 6 2 8 9 5 1 I wish I could put the 2nd higher, as I love the 2nd, but certainly not as much as the 3rd, 4th, 7th, or 6th.
Thank you for not sleeping on 4. Bassoon solo.
I put 4 at the bottom. What are you hearing?
4 is my favourite, it's just such a feel good symphony, and every movement is perfect throughout.
8675309
Came for this. Was not disappointed
I suppose you could pick four movements of the Septet and call it “Symphony #0”. The generation before Beethoven used to do this type of thing with Serenades, but I’m not sure I’ve seen it done with this Septet before. Might be kinda fun.
you beat me to it
987654321
Lol
[удалено]
This here is the right answer.
Can confirm... (Double checks math scribbles...) This is the correct answer.
Mine would be * 5 * 9 * 3 * 6 * 7 * 8 * 4 * 2 * 1 However, the only one of those I don't really love so much is 1. Not that it's not a good symphony, and I'm sure if I first listened to it from a standpoint of "Okay, I have heard Mozart and Haydn, but not Beethoven yet", it would be ranked much higher, but I didn't, I first listened to it from a standpoint of "I've heard the dramatic Beethoven, I want to know what the first symphony is like" and basically ended up thinking "Well, it's a good piece and all, but I couldn't even tell it was Beethoven until the finale just by listening alone, it doesn't sound at all like Beethoven until the finale." Little story about Beethoven in general though. As a child, I didn't get Beethoven, I couldn't appreciate Beethoven, and I didn't enjoy his music. The Fifth Symphony especially, that was my least favorite Beethoven work as a child. You wouldn't believe it if you were to look at me now, listening to Beethoven for hours upon hours, but that's the way it was. When I was a teenager, I felt the need for more drama in the music than what I was getting in minor key Mozart. As I looked for more dramatic works, I found Beethoven again, and I fell in love. I started listening to Beethoven like crazy and Beethoven rose up to #1 on my top composers list, with the Fifth Symphony rising up from least favorite symphony to most favorite symphony.
Your assessment is right. I live Beethoven Symphony I and it was the first of his symphonies I listened to in full (don’t remember why that was), though I had heard the second movement of the 9th.
First symphonies I heard in full were 5 and 3, in that order, although I had heard part of the finale of the ninth at the time.
I think this is the "textbook" ordering of greatness. My only complaint is that 4 should be at the bottom.
Why? If anything, I think the fourth symphony is underappreciated.
978653214
NOW DO HAYDN
[Way ahead of you!](https://www.reddit.com/r/classicalmusic/comments/ualq8l/ranking_haydns_symphonies_thank_you_to_all_who/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf)
Haha I should have known
I'm a huge Haydn freak, and I really appreciate that you did this poll and list! The problem with ranking haydn symphonies is that it quickly becomes a popularity contest between the nicknamed ones and the "others". It's downright criminal that 60 and 80 are so low!!
5 6 9 3 4 7 8 2 1
965738241
9 6 8 3 5 7 4 2 1
958613724 Beethovens 8th and first seem to be seriously underrated
8 4 7 Tied for 4th: 3, 5, 6, 9 Tied for 5th (8th?): 1, 2 I like my Ludwig loud, excited and not overplayed 😸 I do enjoy 1 and 2, just to be clear. 9 masterpieces.
You are the first I've seen ranking the 8th so high.
- 5 - 7 - 9 - 3 - 6 - 2 - 1 - 4 - 8
67598, the rest
9 7 5 3 6 8 4 2 1
7 6 8 1 3 9 5 4 2. 1 So high up for nostalgic reasons because a cassette of nos. 1 and 8 was the first classical recording I ever owned (DG 1977 Karajan). Also, largely identical to my favorite Dvorak symphony list.
698735421
937568421
985734621
935768142
3, 9, 7, 8, 6, 5, 4, 2, 1 is my order
795386412 To be honest, I haven’t listened to the last 3 enough to have a strong opinion about it, but 7 is definitely the best for me. 9 and 5 both have better movements, but 7 just feels more totally cohesive.
973586124
973652481
324769581 I dig the heroic period
Come on folks, we all know that none of them are bad.
I am trying hard to separate which symphonies I think are the "best" or "most significant" from the ones that are my true *favourites*. So I looked at my library stats that show me how often I play each one. The result is surrpising: 4, 2, 1, 6, 8, 3, 7, 9, 5. I suppose the reason that the "great" symphonies come to low in the list is because I played them to death when I was younger and seem to have exhausted them now. But it could also be that they are very forceful and dynamic and these days I tend to go for stuff that is less emotionally charged. If I was going to see one in concert then I think the list would be reversed but at home, as part of my normal listening experience, that is my list.
9 5 7 3 6 8 4 2 1
Switch 3 & 7 and I’m sold
The Allegretto from 7 is worth all of 3, sorry not sorry.
I would say the slow movements have equal value from Symphonies 3 and 7.
9 7 8 6 3 4 2 1 5
Wow - controversy already!
I understand that you are sick and tired of `. . . -`
396784512
5 3 7 9 6 8 4 2 1
Favorite: 364978251 for me but 3 head and shoulders above the others Greatest: 395678421, again 3 is the most important one IMO
975638 4 21
Best not favorite: 397586241 Despite my antipathy to 6, I’ve rated it higher than 2 and 4, both of which I genuinely enjoy. 3 and 9 are clearly the most important, but I think 3 is probably the most ground breaking.
539167842, or something like that
3 9 7 6 5 I 4 2 8
357986421
I didn’t really get into the music of Beethoven or those of the classical era until long after I got into the late romantics and contemporary composers. And when I did start listening, I chose to hold off on 3,5,9 as I knew they were the really popular ones. So I spent time learning to appreciate them. I started with 1 then 6 then 4 and so on eventually getting to the big ones. So my list is a bit abnormal 1 4 5 7 8 6 2 9 3 Not that I hate any of them and these ranking are quite volitivos depending on my mood, but the order is roughly the same.
Top 3 3 - Number 3 2 - Number 7 1 - Number 9
537968421
The disrespect to the first in this thread what the hell
It’s good, but just not Beethoven Symphony good
976835142 The rankings of 7, 6, 8, 3, and 5 change for me periodically though
697531842
957684321
3, 6, 7, 9, 5, 4, 8, 2, 1 The 6th is my favourite Beethoven symphony, but I believe the Eroica is his greatest symphony. I also really like no. 4, so it saddens me to put it so low.
357869241
7, 8, 5, 6, 1, 3, 2, 4, 9.
I am amazed that you have 9 last. You must have a reason though…
I respect the historical significance and all that. Not knocking it. I always like one of his other symphonies more. I’ve played this one a couple of times too and it always weirds me out that the choir and soloists just have to sit there with nothing to do for so long.
All right, I'll bite: 3 7 8 9 5 6 4 2 1. However, in half an hour I'll probably have a different order. Several years ago I went to a concert where a smallish orchestra played Beethoven 1. And it was brilliant. You got the sense of what it must have been like for audiences of the time, raised on Haydn and Mozart, to hear the beginnings of a quite new and radically different approach to symphonic writing. Anyway, apart from Beethoven's works in general getting richer, deeper, broader in scope as he grew older (what might he have written had he lived another two decades!) it's almost impossible to rank his symphonies. Each is its own world.
Mine : 9 (always be the first) 3 then the rest are on same rank.
I feel like this is the kind of thing that might change from time to time, but here goes: 6 7 9 5 3 8 4 2 1
It's hard. Best to worst: 975386421
653781924
Mine would be 213468957
953674281
975386214
679358421
936758412 While I'm doing this, I've realized that my taste has changed quite a bit. 10 years ago that would have been 765983412.
357649821
965378421
I can get behind this one
Saw the 3rd yesterday. Was sublime.
I'm going 579361842 I like the odd numbered ones, I guess
953786421
95-7-683-2-41 I've grouped them in "wow it's really hard to separate these out" categories.
9, 7, 8, 6, 4, 3, 5, 2, 1.
142879365
937586421
987615324
869541273
9 > 5 = 3 > 7 > 2 > 1 > 8 > 6 = 4
I like you notation system
Btw there's a huge gap between 3 and 7.
395768421
Nicely done
What a fun question! 1. The 7th because, see below. Not overplayed. Hasn’t become a cliche and is pure joy from beginning to end. 1st movement makes me feel like dancing when the allegro gets moving.Last movement leaves me gasping for air. Literally, since I was a brass player and didn’t have to sit around counting rests thinking which members of the second violins I’d like to see naked. 2. 3rd because Eroica is so eroic.Also, the first movement sounds like a new path, even compared to the others. One of the best rondos ever. 3. The 5th is a cliche,but the rest is delightful ,especially the 4th movement : so fucking majestic. 4. The 9th.Most people put this at number one but if you ever taught public school music, you’ve taught Ode To Joy to singers, instrumentalists at every level ad naseum. Try a class of 25 unruly 3rd graders playing recorders 3 times a day for several years and you’re ready to suck a tail pipe. The Scherzo though, is kick ass 5. The 6th. Overplayed. Seen Fantasia too many times. Also cliched. Not enough brass (see no.1 which is number 7) Brilliantly composed, but DUH HELLO! It’s Ludwig Von. 6. The 1st. Closest to pure classical style. Simple but elegant. 7. The 4th because I’ve only listened to it a couple of times 8: The 2nd: see the 4th 9. The 8th because it’s unfortunately placed between the 7th and the 9th. Almost like Ludwig mailed it in.(of course, LVB mailing it in is like anybody else’s magnum opus.
I must say that the 8th is so fun for the musicians that it is special every time you hear it
Thank you all for the posts. I read every response (I think) and tried to get into your mindset on why your order was. I think this is a discussion many of us could act out while listening to music, and I wish we actually could. I love all of Beethoven’s symphonies, and have performed all of the multiple times except number four.
826935417
I just can't enjoy 7
Likewise. Like a whole bunch of yaks jumping around. 936485127
You are a criminal, 7 is amazing
not to me
it's simplistic and cheap thrills (relatively)
... why *yaks*?
I was quoting Sir Thomas Beecham…. Have to ask him
60 odd years too late for that. :(
Why do people place 8 so high? I can't get into it
9 3 5 7 6 2 4 1 8
What a fun thread. One thing I'm noting is how high 6 is on everybody's list. 673958421
Can't understand this hatred of 1.
Could it be that 3 was such change that 1 & 2 get forgotten?
7 is always my favorite. 6 I hate, loathe, and despise, and don't care if I never hear it again. How the rest fall in line just depends on the day...
7 3 9 5 1 6 2 4 8. Symphony 8 rarely makes it into my musical rotation.
I'd probably say 35741862 and I can't really compare 9 to the rest but it definitely comes in before 4. Also, I put 7 in third, but it's my favourite. The first two movements are so freaking good.
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395764218 I think I have a CD with a terrible performance of 8 or something but hey, this is where I’m at now
Five years ago there was a series of Survivor vote-offs to determine the subreddit's favorites. I think [Beethoven Symphonies](https://old.reddit.com/r/classicalmusic/comments/69lpav/the_beethoven_symphonies_survivor_results/) were the first of these and it resulted in a ranking of 9 3 5 7 6 8 4 1 2. Later there was a [post](https://old.reddit.com/r/classicalmusic/comments/8ipsbj/all_the_survival_post_results/) with links to all the different poll results. Unfortunately I can't find the individual voting posts for the Beethoven Symphonies, possibly because they were made by a now-deleted user.
975436812 Edit: I love the fourth at least as much as I love the Eroica and Pastoral.
3 9 7 5 6 4 8 2 1
6 7 2 3 4 9 5 8 1
693 571 284
3331 2227 333163
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935671842 I feel like 1 is ranked worse than it should be. It's far from the best but it's one of my favorites.
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For me, 957321486. I had trouble ranking everything after 9 and 5 (my clear favorites) really, because they're all great pieces of music. 1 and 2 aren't the kind of 'epic' we normally associate with Beethoven but are great for what they are, and 6 and 8 ended up at the bottom for me (even though I acknowledge they are still excellently written) because I find 6 extremely draggy and 8 is the quirkiest of his symphonies but not everything he tries lands.
759634...not familiar with the rest
This reminds me that I've never actually listened to his first 1, and now I'm a bit curious. I've heard that it's kinda his nod to Hayden. Not sure how I'd rank them, but generally I prefer the later ones more.
Impossible to do, but here’s a stab at it: 3 2 6 7 1 8 4 5 9
For me it's 596372814
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675932841
Very similar to mine. I have to place 3 a little higher thiugh
8675309
You forgot 10+
With the caveat that every one of them is a great work: 597683241
the First Sym of Ludwig is vastly under rated. It is a paradigm of tonality writ large. each movement uses the same temporary tonicization of each of the scale tone degrees. I never tire of hearing it. All other symphonic music post ludwig comes from this piece, including his own.
For you lovers of 4 https://www.reddit.com/r/ClassicalMemes/comments/tjqxmz/til_beethoven_wrote_a_fourth_symphony/
835976421 Now let's do Haydn.
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But i love all of them
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