trumpet blower88

http://www.digitaldreamdoor.com/page...ssic-symp.html

I don't know who actualy came up with this list, it's simply an opinion. But I agree with alot of it so I thought I'd post it here to see what you guys have to say.

The only thing I notice right away is that, in my opinion, 1 and 2 should be switched....

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dedalus78

It depends what the criteria for judgement of 'great' is. This list seems to be ranking these works' popularity, which is in my opinion, not the same as 'greatness'. Having said that, I think the Ninth of Beethoven has to be number 1, for its creation of a new symphonic form, and grand affirmation of the human spirit, ushering in a new era in art.

robertwhite

I love all of those works on that list. Maybe I'll come up with my own someday. I think my number 1 will be Sibelius 5.

rowuk

I can't do a tops list. I have works that are my favorites, but that doesn't make them great. The works themselves are only "great" when they become live music. After that, they can make their true impact on mankind. Selecting "impact" as the primary characteristic is not necessarily fair as not all symphonies get equal opportunities. Maybe we should first determine what great means, dedalus78 had a couple good starters!
My personal favorite would probably be Brahms 1st.

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trumpetmike

My top spot would be their second, Beethoven 5, simply an incredible piece of music.

Will have to put some serious thought into which others get into even my top ten.

trumpet blower88

There were a couple other lists on that site I took at look at, and I gotta say, some things are just quite out of wack.
In the "Greatest Classical Pieces" list, Barbers Adagio for Strings is #129... What the heck is up with that?
And the composer list, its broken off into sections, the "Modern Era" list has John Philip Sousa only as an honorable mention. Now, I'm not a huge fan of Sousa's works, in fact, some just annoy me, but he's gotta be in at least the top 50!

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tpter1

I think it's dangerous business to do a top 100 list...music is not a competitive sport. There are those that will then come back and say, "But what about auditions, festival contests, DCI, marching band, etc."

Well, this is a bit different. ALL of those works are great works. Who are we to say that Mahler's 2nd is a better piece than Shostakovitch's 5th or Beethoven's 3rd or Haydn's 104th or Mozart's 41st. They are different. They are saying different things. Entirely. It's kind of like saying Brownie's solos are better than Freddie's. No...they aren't. They're different.

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Dale Proctor

Where's "The Planets" by Holst? Surely it's a better piece than some of these.

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Vulgano Brother

Planets doesn't qualify as a symphony, I guess.

I have to agree with Glenn about such ratings.

Mathis der Maler is #1 on my list, not because it is the "greatest," but because every atom in my soul resonated with every hearing of it, right from the very first note the very first time. (Subjective opinions from Vulganos, however, are very subjective.)

Perhaps a more practical and useful list to post would be to rank the masterworks by programming -- what piece gets played the most? What shows up on the most auditions?

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robertwhite

Clearly this list was just for fun. No need to worry about it.