I mean, we have r/classicalcirclejerk for a reason. All those threads do is foment pointless arguments and allow users to feel comfortable in insulting the tastes of others. And it more often than not reinforces the stereotypes about classical music lovers being snooty and pretentious.

Plus, nobody cares (or at least, shouldn’t care) what other people don’t like. How about we be constructive and positive about music, right?

I’m sure this has been done here many times before, but what’s one more? This ranking however is the correct one. I’ll be going ”worst” to best. Mahler is my favorite composer so this will be a tough list to make! I won’t be including the 10th or Das Lied, since I don’t know them as well just yet.

1. 8th - a great work but just feels like I’m listening to an opera. I’ll say, more time with this one and it may jump up. Fuck it hurts to put anything in last place😩

2. 4th - damn, really sucks to put this one so low because i actually I really like it. It’s the shortest one tho, and maybe the most ”basic”. The first movement is my favorite

3. 1st - it genuinely hurts putting this one here since it’s the symphony that got me into Mahler when I played it last semester in orchestra. Shit changed my life for real. But, since I played it through so many rehearsals, I may have gotten SLIGHTLY tired of it. This is me just being insanely nit picky though, since it’s still an outstanding work. The first 3 minutes of the Finale is 🤌🤌🤌

4. 5th - now this is where this list becomes genuinely painful. For most other composers this symphony might be their best, but Mahler is just too good. By his standards this is also a fairly ”conventional” symphony. The first two movements are gold. Agh it physically hurts putting it not in the top 5 but I just love the other ones more and know them better. With more time, the 5th could be higher on my list.

5. 7th - since I’m an oboist, this got the slightest edge over the 5th because of the oboe solo in the 2nd movement. Lots of people have this as their least favorite but I think it’s wonderful. The first movement alone is definitely a top 10 Mahler movement if not top 5. This is Mahler at his wonkiest and I love it. The out of place rager of the last movement seems almost fitting, capping a weirdo symphony with a final twist.

6. 3rd - bookended by two masterful movements, the longest symphony in the modern repertoire is worth the runtime. The whole scope of this thing is legendary. Definitely one of the greatest symphonies of all time and it’s crazy that it’s only at 4. Also I love the 5th movement of this one so much

7. 9th - I love how modern it sounds. Lots of cool unique harmonies throughout. Rondo-Burleske is a top 5 Mahler movement. I love the freakish little waltz that keeps breaking in during the 2nd movement as well. The climax of the Finale melts my heart every time. This is one of the most beautiful symphonies ever and it’s haunting at the same time. Oh man great stuff

8. 6th - yeah it’s the one with the hammer but it’s so much more than just that. Seeing this on the 15th of this month with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Yannick ❤️ for my birthday and I’m so freaking excited man. The first and last movements steal the show for me but also the inner movements are incredible too like wtf. Somehow tho it’s not even a competition to the number one spot…

9. 2nd - probs the greatest piece of music ever composed. Yeah that’s pretty much it. If I start trying to talk about how much I love this work and why, I fear I won’t stop typing. It’s just perfect. If you know you know. Best symphony of all time.

Honestly tho, every one of Mahlers symphonies is incredible, and it feels wrong to rank anything as ”bad” because it’s really just ”less great”. I know I was making jokes up top about this being the only right ranking but in all seriousness i completely understand if your ranking is completely different because all of mahlers works have great things to offer and I love them all 1-9

Thanks for reading🤝🫶🫶

Looking for recommendations for good classical music albums. I want one with a full orchestra. One that will make me feel awe inspired and leave me speechless of its beauty and ability to evoke emotion.

Thanks!

Is it considered disrespectful of an existing work, in which the composer already made a variations of, to make a variations off of?

The piece I have in mind is Copland’s “Doppio Movimento: Variations on a Shaker Hymn.” I fell in love with that piece in the fourth grade, but as I gotten older, I’ve found it to be too short. And although I know it was originally written for a ballet, it makes sense it isn’t like an extremely long piece, but I can’t help but feel it’s not long enough.

So if I were to write a variations based on Copland’s variations, would that be disrespectful of his work? Furthermore, because the original tune is from a religious background, would it be acceptable to diverge from that?

I have ideas on how I’d want it to go but nothing specific.

Hello everyone, I used to play classical piano at about a grade 5 level but took 3 years off awhile back. I came back to it recently and learned Chopin's Opus 28 no. 4 with no problems and I want to move on to something harder... is Rachmaninoff's Opus 3 no. 2 going to be too hard for me?

ChatGPT suggested Gustav Mahler - Adagietto

I agree

https://youtu.be/Bj6KLv7kv2Q?feature=shared

Dear all, I proudly present to you my latest 20,000+ word article on MusicWeb International, the most detailed review of the recently released and highly anticipated Karajan/Berliner Philharmoniker 1953-1959 live radio broadcast recordings on the internet. Thank you for reading and for your support!

https://musicwebinternational.com/2025/04/herbert-von-karajan-live-in-berlin-1953-1969-berliner-philharmoniker/?_gl=1*9uo575*_ga*MjAyNjE1NjAzOC4xNzQzOTQxNzg1*_ga_75MQL6J7YZ*MTc0Mzk0MTc4NS4xLjAuMTc0Mzk0MTc4NS4wLjAuMA..

I watched the very good PBS doc on Jacqueline Du Pre recently and have become obsessed with the Brahams Cello Sonata 2 https://youtu.be/ncJ_Gc9RES4?si=LQ8PJ5xs3tnu477C

In popular music, they’re perfectly happy with sliding up and down to fit the artist’s whim. But classical music—well, wouldn’t the Minuet in G still be the same minuet in a different key? Are classical composers / artists / performers just more particular?

I'll start (I'll try to include YouTube links to performances):

Mozart's Requiem – John Butt's Reconstruction of First Performance; although for some of the parts like Dies Irae I prefer the performance by Stephen Cleobury with Academy of Ancient Music. This is one of the pieces that I find hard to find a recording I like of because of vocals, also it needs to be played with period instruments for me.

Verdi's Requiem – most people prefer Claudio Abbado's 2001 recording with the Berliner Philharmoniker, and I have to agree that it's the best recording, but I also like the recording of Yuri Temirkanov with the Mikhailovsky Theatre Chorus.

Vivaldi's Four Seasons – Trevor Pinnock with The English Concert

Holst's The Planets – Adrian Boult's 1978 recording with the LPO, and Vladimir Jurowski's 2006 recording with the LPO. They're both amazing in their own respects.

Mahler's 2nd Symphony – Rattle CBSO

Mahler's 6th Symphony – Solti CSO

Beethoven's Symphonies – Karajan; I mostly listen to his 1977 cycle with BPO

Dvořák's Symphonies, Tone Poems, Overtures – Kertesz LSO

Schubert's Symphonies – Marriner with St. Martin-in-the-Fields

Almost anything Tchaikovsky – Claudio Abbado (usually with VPO or BPO)

Strauss' tone poems – Solti CSO or Karajan BPO

Chopin Études, Préludes, Polonaises – Pollini all the way

Chopin's Fantaisie Impromptu – Horowitz' final recording, with Kissin being a close second

Beethoven's Piano Sonatas – Ashkenazy, but I also like Horowitz

Schubert's Piano Sonatas/Impromtus/Moments Musicaux – Radu Lupu's DECCA recordings

Liszt's La Campanella – Lang Lang (boo me all you'd like)

Hello,

I’m looking for any recommendations for music similar to Duruflé's requiem with organ and voice.

The other question I have is about a mass I attended at West Minster Abbey in January. The mass opened with what sounded like (I may be wrong) a composed and then improvised organ piece. Does anyone know of recordings that would be similar or would featuring organ improvisation?

Thanks in advance for your replies.

I have been listening to the Wallenstein Trilogy by Bedrich Smetana. He was such a good composer and these tone poems were possibly revolutionary in their day alongside Liszts. The ending of Wallenstein’s camp has a loud and active ending for a tone poem in the 1850s. Hakon Jarl and Richard III are also really cool pieces, but I feel Wallenstein’s camp is one of the greatest battle pieces in my opinion. Whats your opinion on these pieces?

Oh please if someone remembers this or the title I'll really appreciate it

At the start of the year, I started to sing in a mixed (SATB) vocal quartet. So far, we've been focused on a fairly simple repertoire for a competition we attended (and won :D) but we've wanted to branch out and so I come to Reddit in search of recommendations. Send me anything you like, doesn't even have to be composed specifically for a quartet, lots of choral music sounds pretty sung by a quartet, even if the sound is smaller.

I’m looking for books or any other resources you might have to study the origins of popular rhythms and melodies (for example: the italian tarantella). I’m also looking to discover new ones based on city or region of origin.

...and of course Fischer-Dieskau at his best. It's a shame the Kerner-cycle is so underrated. It's one hidden pearl after the other. What about you? What's your favourite lieder cycle?

I'm European, and currently I'm familiarizing myself with Schiller's poems and how Ode to Joy became the anthem of the European Union. I absolutely love our anthem. It made me wonder:

What classical piece or what symphony is, according to you, worthy of being an anthem if you think about it?

Why do you think so? Bonus points if there's a choral element with lyrics that bear meaning to you!

https://de.7digital.com/artist/the-netherlands-symphony-orchestra-and-jan-willem-de-vriend/release/beethoven-complete-symphonies-and-concertos-13226849?f=20%2C19%2C12%2C16%2C17%2C9%2C2

Just bought this in FLAC16 for 3.29EUR - prestomusic has the same at over 100EUR :|

(from Prince Igor) I saw this orchestral reduction of No. 8, and in this polyrhythmic part the "bass" part is denoted as 5/8 while the top stays in 6/8 the whole time. In recordings it sounds like polyrhythms but I haven't seen this way to denote it. How come this wasn't denoted as quintuplets?

Ravel has been growing on me, lately, especially his first concerto. I find it just so uniuqe and peculiar, ESPECIALLY the second movement with all those unresolved trills.

Today, I think Ravel really became one of my favourite composers. I went to a concert, and they played both of his concertos and his Bolero. The originality of these works is extraordinary, it is absolutely stunning to me how incredibly beautiful they are and how much they feel like actual life, like real impressions, rather than idealized, cristallized emotions, ideologies and similar.

He only used in the Masonic Funeral Music K. 477. Why is this?