Five exceptionally fine first symphonies

[SymphonicAddict]

List No.3

Walton
Sauguet
Popov
Raid
Arnold

I had forgotten the Raid. A true accomplishment from a young composer. That is one of my favorite Baltic symphonies.

[vandermolen]

I had forgotten the Raid. A true accomplishment from a young composer. That is one of my favorite Baltic symphonies.

Yes, a fine work Cesar, showing the influence of his teacher Tubin, whose First Symphony I also greatly admire and could have included on my list.

[vandermolen]

Also the very impressive (only) one by F. Lopes-Graca which I have been listening to, with much pleasure, today.

[relm1]

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

This.  I pretty much agree entirely with kyjo except I haven't heard Berwald or Roussel No. 1 so will have to check it out.  I have performed the Kalinnikov.  Interesting choice,  Very fine and ambitious work of the Tchaikovsky mold.  Audience and orchestra loved it.  It's a bit tough endurance wise but no worse than any of the brassy Tchaikovsky works are. 

I would switch Halvor Haug's No. 1 for Berwald with the caveat that I haven't heard Berwald.   

[kyjo]

This.  I pretty much agree entirely with kyjo except I haven't heard Berwald or Roussel No. 1 so will have to check it out.  I have performed the Kalinnikov.  Interesting choice,  Very fine and ambitious work of the Tchaikovsky mold.  Audience and orchestra loved it.  It's a bit tough endurance wise but no worse than any of the brassy Tchaikovsky works are. 

I would switch Halvor Haug's No. 1 for Berwald with the caveat that I haven't heard Berwald.   

I'm sure you'd enjoy the Berwald and Roussel 1sts. I'll have to check out the Halvor Haug; I have a friend who thinks highly of his music. Regarding Kalinnikov, I've come to prefer his 2nd Symphony over his 1st, though I still love the 1st. The 2nd is a work of extraordinary melodic invention worthy of Tchaikovsky but without the more famous composer's occasional repetitiousness and bombast.

[Mirror Image]

Let's see...(in no particular order):

Nielsen
Brahms
Martinů
Tubin
Dvořák (I've always loved this symphony and never understood/agreed with the criticism of it)

[kyjo]

Let's see...(in no particular order):

Nielsen
Brahms
Martinů
Tubin
Dvořák (I've always loved this symphony and never understood/agreed with the criticism of it)

Interesting choices, John! I'll have to give the Dvořák another listen - I remember liking the third movement but finding the work as a whole rather overlong for its material. Then again, my admiration for Dvořák is constantly growing, so I'll probably like it better the second time around. 

[TheGSMoeller]

Vaughan Williams A Sea Symphony - perhaps not a consensus favorite of RVW, but I find it extremely bold for a 1st symphony.
Berlioz fantastique.
Schnittke

These are the three that popped into my head right away.

[kyjo]

I'm shamelessly extending my list to 10 because there are just so many fine first symphonies out there:

Atterberg
Bax
Borodin (why does this piece never get mentioned, it's fantastic!)
Casella
Dutilleux
Elgar
Rachmaninoff
Sibelius
Suk
Walton

Runner-ups: Andreae (F major), Barber, Braga Santos, Bloch (C# minor), Martinu, Nielsen

[Cato]

Speaking of Brahms. and Mahler...


Bruckner

Hans Rott

Others not yet mentioned (I think) from more recent years...

Karl Amadeus Hartmann

Bernard Herrmann

Zoltan Kodaly

Vyacheslav Ovchinnikov

Karl Henning

Thanks to YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/v/nfemhSHDlrY&t=657s

and

https://www.youtube.com/v/MUZuhU87yiU

Have 4 years gone by?  After visiting the Kodaly topic this week and mentioning his only Symphony (1961), I kept thinking that I had already mentioned it somewhere on GMG!


Today allow me to recommend another "first and only" Symphony and this particular performance:

The Chausson  Symphony conducted by Charles Munch with the Boston Symphony.

https://www.youtube.com/v/bM3deZ3U9io

[Brian]

My list would likely be:

Haydn
Berlioz (cheating?)
Schumann (if Berlioz is cheating)
Mahler
Roussel
H. Brian

Honorable mention: Niels W. Gade

Four years on, my list now would be:

Berlioz
Walton
Mahler
Nielsen
Prokofiev

The "next five": Langgaard, Tchaikovsky, Barber, Roussel, Schumann (the original version of the Fourth Symphony is his first)

[Karl Henning]

Four years on, my list now would be:

Berlioz
Walton
Mahler
Nielsen
Prokofiev

The "next five": Langgaard, Tchaikovsky, Barber, Roussel, Schumann (the original version of the Fourth Symphony is his first)

Nice!

[LKB]

In no particular order, and probably surprising nobody:

Beethoven
Mahler
Brahms
Vaughan Williams
Berlioz

[Brahmsian]

Not sure if these are the finest, but they are favourites:

Franck
Dvořák
Mahler
Schumann (Spring)
Kalinnikov

[Brahmsian]

Not sure if these are the finest, but they are favourites:

Franck
Dvořák
Mahler
Schumann (Spring)
Kalinnikov

I totally forgot about Rachmaninov's, thus I would have to take out Schumann's or Kalinnikov's.

Honorable mention of Vaughan Williams 1 clocking in as about the 89,573rd favourite.

[Brian]

Franck

aw man, good one.
I eliminated "only one symphony" composers just to make it easier to choose 

[Brahmsian]

aw man, good one.
I eliminated "only one symphony" composers just to make it easier to choose 

Probably my favourite of the lot.

[Mirror Image]

Let's see...(in no particular order):

Nielsen
Brahms
Martinů
Tubin
Dvořák (I've always loved this symphony and never understood/agreed with the criticism of it)

Upon further reflection, I'd substitute the Brahms with Roussel. I love the other symphonies, so I'll just leave it. I'm not too enamored with Mahler's 1st or I'd definitely would have chosen it. The same goes for Bruckner.

[Symphonic Addict]

Sibelius (I'm choosing the E minor, but I'm not sure if Kullervo counts like his genuine first)
Walton
Langgaard
Rubbra
Lutoslawski

Then: Nielsen, Arnold, Weingartner, Melartin, Glazunov

[Florestan]

Haydn
Schumann
Tchaikovsky
Mahler
Sibelius

My current list,. four years later: substitute Mozart for Haydn, all others remain.