Five exceptionally fine first symphonies

[vandermolen]

Nice to see so much love for the Gothic here. I shall include it in my list too.

Brian
Vaughan Williams
Alwyn
Schnittke
Walton

As all the others are works that I greatly admire I clearly need to listen to the one by Schnittke. In recent years I've come to appreciate 'A Sea Symphony', especially in Haitink's recording. For a long time the work was a blind spot for me.

[Christo]

Bloch Symphony in C ( think it's his first one)

Your endless plea for the great Bloch in C made me buy all the Bloch symphonies over the years - there are more than a handful - always looking for the one in the right key. 

[vandermolen]

Your endless plea for the great Bloch in C made me buy all the Bloch symphonies over the years - there are more than a handful - always looking for the one in the right key. 

It has a wonderfully doom-laden yet paradoxically redemptive ending - reminding me of Maximilian Steinberg's No.2 which I'm sure influenced the young Shostakovich in its use of the orchestral piano.

[SymphonicAddict]

I can't leave out the magnificent A Hebridean Symphony by Bantock. Extremely poetic and evocative.

[vandermolen]

I can't leave out the magnificent A Hebridean Symphony by Bantock. Extremely poetic and evocative.

+1

[kyjo]

I think most of us can agree that the first symphonies of Brahms, Beethoven, Mahler, Elgar, Sibelius, Walton, Barber, and Nielsen are highly accomplished. I'll add five lesser-known examples:

Martinu
Atterberg
Berwald
Bernstein (well-represented on record but hardly ever played in the concert hall)
Casella

Honorable mentions: Roussel, Tippett, Scriabin, Kalinnikov, Rorem, Gordon Jacob

[Sergeant Rock]

My five favorite Firsts:

Havergal Brian
Mahler
Elgar
Schmidt
Sibelius

[(poco) Sforzando]

I have some quibbles about the Brahms 1st but even so it still beats all others 1sts I know.

Aye, except for the Berlioz.

[(poco) Sforzando]

Schumann (if Berlioz is cheating)

Berlioz never cheated. He was always faithful to his beloved Harriet.

[kishnevi]

Brian
Shostakovich
Prokofiev
Rachmaninov
Mendelssohn, if the string symphonies don't disqualify his first full orchestra symphony--if they do the slot goes to Berlioz.

I have to confess I could do completely without Beethoven's first two symphonies.

[kyjo]

Mendelssohn, if the string symphonies don't disqualify his first full orchestra symphony--if they do the slot goes to Berlioz.

I should've included Mendelssohn's First; it's a great, easily overlooked work. It's a similar situation with Enescu's fine First Symphony - there are in fact four "Study Symphonies" that preceded it.

[kyjo]

How stupid of me to forget one of my all-time favorite Firsts - Rachmaninoff's! I'm a big fan of Tchaikovsky's as well.

[Florestan]

I should've included Mendelssohn's First; it's a great, easily overlooked work. It's a similar situation with Enescu's fine First Symphony

+ 1.

[vandermolen]

How stupid of me to forget one of my all-time favorite Firsts - Rachmaninoff's! I'm a big fan of Tchaikovsky's as well.

A great score! That magnificent 'toppling into the abyss' conclusion is one of my all time favourites.

[Ken B]

Somebody ought to at least mention Kalinnikov and Franck and Bizet

[Karl Henning]

I have to confess I could do completely without Beethoven's first two symphonies.

+ 1

[Karl Henning]

Somebody ought to at least mention Kalinnikov and Franck and Bizet

Well, and then someone might say Henning.

[Wanderer]

Brahms
Elgar
Langgaard
Vaughan Williams
and, last but not least, Korngold's Sinfonietta, written when he was 16. The diminutive title refers to the sunny character of the work, not its size, orchestration, length or ambitions. Listen and be awed.

[Jo498]

Brian
Shostakovich
Prokofiev
Rachmaninov
Mendelssohn, if the string symphonies don't disqualify his first full orchestra symphony--if they do the slot goes to Berlioz.

I have to confess I could do completely without Beethoven's first two symphonies.

I probably prefer the larghetto from Beethoven's second symphony to most works mentioned in this thread, but it is not a first symphony by any stretch.

[kyjo]

Somebody ought to at least mention Kalinnikov and Franck and Bizet

I mentioned Kalinnikov - an exceptional work. While we're on the topic of Russians, Balakirev and Borodin also wrote some really fine first symphonies.