Top Ten Non-Beethoven Symphonies

[hal 9000]

I no longer have to wait...

[hal 9000]

At least one minute...

[hal 9000]

To make a new post!



Okay, I'll stop now, point made

[navneeth]

Okay, it's going to be a bunch of requests for string quartets this week.

[Trumpetmaster]

And here is the list of the most accurate selectors (matching not considered):

Thalberg: 86.7%
Serenity: 82.0%
Shapley: 80.0%
hal 9000: 80.0%
jamiebk: 72.5%
navneeth: 70.0%
Bones: 68.0%
Catmando: 66.7%
dai bread: 66.0%
Marye: 65.0%
bignaf: 60.0%
TrumpetMaster: 57.5%

All Right...
I can't do worse....

Only move up!!!

[Catmando]

12th place- Catmando Matches: 3 Score: 13.40 Avg Acc: 66.7%.

01. Brahms- Symphony No. 1
02. Berlioz- Symphonie fantastique 2.00 points.
03. Mendelssohn- Symphony No. 5
04. Mozart- Symphony No. 40 in Gm 7.20 points.
05. Brahms- Symphony No. 4
06. Dvorak- Symphony No. 7
07. Schumann- Symphony No. 3
08. Mahler- Symphony No. 1 in Dm "Titan" 4.20 points.
09. Bruckner- Symphony No. 4
10. Schubert- Symphony No. 5

Hal 9000, this is a desperate plea to try and get me out of last place.

If you'll recall from my list, I put down the Italian symphony for # 3 under Mendelssohn. However, I did indeed write down # 5 (an error on my part). I did mean to put down # 4 Italian (Nav and TM can attest that the # 4 Italian is indeed my favorite Mendelssohn).

And also, it would affect the Italian Symphony's position within the Top 10 rankings, perhaps moving it a few spots up the ladder.

[Catmando]

Well, let's try the top ten works for strings.

That can be solo, duet, trio, quartet, quintet, symphony for strings, etc., as long as it's a work for strings. Feel free to further define/refine the definition if need be, Hal. It's not my area of expertise.

V/R
Shapley

Nor mine. Which makes this an ideal poll for me to learn from!

How about we narrow the field and go with Top Ten String Quartets?

Hal, how about we include as Shap indicated, string trios, string quintets and string sextets to help increase participation? Just a thought. I don't mind either way we go though. I can easily name a Top 20 of my favorite string quartets, let alone 10.

[Catmando]

Well the lists are in and the scores are tallied. After receiving 12 lists nominating 44 unique symphonies from 16 different composers, the Top Ten Non-Beethoven Symphonies are:

01. Dvorak- Symphony No. 9 in Em, Op. 95 "From the New World" 77 points.
02. Mahler- Symphony No. 2 in Cm "Resurrection" 46 points.
03. Mozart- Symphony No. 40 in Gm 43 points.
04. Mahler- Symphony No. 1 in Dm "Titan" 38 points.
05. Mozart- Symphony No. 41 in C "Jupiter" 37 points from 6 votes.
06. Mahler- Symphony No. 5 37 points from 5 votes.
07. Berlioz- Symphonie fantastique 32 points.
08. Schubert- Symphony No. 8 in Bm "Unfinished" 27 points.
09. Mendelssohn- Symphony No. 4 in A, Op. 90 "Italian" 25 points from 6 votes.
10. Tchaikovsky- Symphony No. 6 in Bm, Op. 74 "Pathétique" 25 points from 5 votes.

Very interesting results. The biggest surprises for me were: 3 Mahler symphonies made the Top 6, and no Brahms or Bruckner made the Top 10. Another surprise (a pleasant one at that) was seeing Mozart's Symphony No. 40 finish ahead of the No. 41 Jupiter.

The other biggest surprise (not as pleasant ) was me finishing in last place.

[hal 9000]

12th place- Catmando Matches: 3 Score: 13.40 Avg Acc: 66.7%.

01. Brahms- Symphony No. 1
02. Berlioz- Symphonie fantastique 2.00 points.
03. Mendelssohn- Symphony No. 5
04. Mozart- Symphony No. 40 in Gm 7.20 points.
05. Brahms- Symphony No. 4
06. Dvorak- Symphony No. 7
07. Schumann- Symphony No. 3
08. Mahler- Symphony No. 1 in Dm "Titan" 4.20 points.
09. Bruckner- Symphony No. 4
10. Schubert- Symphony No. 5

Hal 9000, this is a desperate plea to try and get me out of last place.

If you'll recall from my list, I put down the Italian symphony for # 3 under Mendelssohn. However, I did indeed write down # 5 (an error on my part). I did mean to put down # 4 Italian (Nav and TM can attest that the # 4 Italian is indeed my favorite Mendelssohn).

And also, it would affect the Italian Symphony's position within the Top 10 rankings, perhaps moving it a few spots up the ladder.

Yes, this discrepency does change the results:

Top Ten Become:

01 77 Dvorak- Symphony No. 9
02 46 Mahler- Symphony No. 2
03 43 Mozart- Symphony No. 40
04 38 Mahler- Symphony No. 1
06 37 Mozart- Symphony No. 41 (8 votes)
05 37 Mahler- Symphony No. 5 (6 votes)
07 33 Mendelssohn- Symphony No. 4
08 32 Berlioz- Symphonie fantastique
09 27 Schubert- Symphony No. 8
10 25 Tchaikovsky- Symphony No. 6

Matching rankings become:

01 Shapley 8
02 jamiebk 8
03 Marye 6
04 bignaf 6
05 Serenity 5
06 dai bread 5
07 Bones 5
08 navneeth 4
09 TrumpetMaster 4
10 hal 9000 4
11 Catmando 4
12 Thalberg 3

Score rankings become:

01 Shapley 36.10
02 jamiebk 33.90
03 Serenity 27.50
04 Marye 24.50
05 Thalberg 23.50
06 dai bread 22.20
07 Bones 22.00
08 navneeth 18.60
09 bignaf 18.30
10 TrumpetMaster 17.20
11 hal 9000 16.60
12 Catmando 15.00

And accuracy rankings become:

01 Thalberg 86.7%
02 Serenity 78.0%
03 Shapley 77.5%
04 hal 9000 77.5%
05 navneeth 72.5%
06 jamiebk 71.3%
07 Bones 70.0%
08 Marye 68.3%
09 dai bread 64.0%
10 Catmando 62.5%
11 bignaf 61.7%
12 TrumpetMaster 57.5%

But the winner stays Shapley.

[navneeth]

Woohoo! I'm up to fifth spot!

[bignaf]

finishing in last place is the best in my opinion. it shows that you have special taste.
just would like to point out, that Mozart couldn't be Beethoven's heir in the symphonic realm...

[Shapley]

Regarding the sting selections, I would like to stay with a variety of types, rather than just quartets, since I don't know that I can select 10 favourites if limited to just quartets.

How about if we go with the the top ten compositions for one to six string instruments?

I don't have an opinion on the exclusion of 'plucked' instruments, unless you count the harp, which I would prefer not to exclude (I can think of at least one string work which includes a harp, although I doubt that I would include it in the top ten.)

V/R
Shapley

[Catmando]

I was the only one not having Dvorak's New World Symphony in his/her top 10 list (I did though include Dvorak's 7th).

It definitely would have been in my Top 15 list.

[jamiebk]

Interesting that Shap and I (1st and 2nd place) both picked Saint Saens "Organ" (#3) as our third choice, yet it did not score in the final top ten. I would have thought that to have a broader representation.

Thanks for doing this Hal...perhaps we could talk HRH into doing a "top 10 picks" weekend.

[Catmando]

Thanks for doing this Hal...perhaps we could talk HRH into doing a "top 10 picks" weekend.

jamie, that's an awesome idea!

[Shapley]

Jamie,

RE: Saint-Saens. I noticed that, too. I believe it came in somewhere around 11th place.

V/R
Shapley

[Catmando]

A couple of other interesting results......

No votes at all for any Haydn symphony. And none for Bizet's Symphony, which is apparently quite popular (from what I've read anyways).

[Shapley]

I hadn't even noticed that Haydn didn't even make the list. For my own part I would say that, while most of his symphonies I've heard (which is relatively few) are enjoyable, I don't count them as 'great', at least by the standards by which symphonies are now judged (compare Mahler to Haydn, big difference!).

I'm not familiar with Bizet's Symphony in C. It seems like I've heard it, and may even have it on vinyl, but I don't remember anything about it.

I do like his opera music, though!

V/R
Shapley

[Catmando]

Dvorak's New World Symphony is definitely by far the general favorite.

8 Top 5 picks, and 3 # 1 picks.

[Shapley]

I had originally included Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 2 in my list, but a miscount had placed at as #11 (I had listed two #4's). This left Thalberg as the only person listing Rach in his line-up (Symphony #3).

Must be a Missouri thing.