# What is the last great symphony? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 16, 2014, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-last-great-symphony/707388 "2014-12-16T12:52:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2014, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-last-great-symphony/707388/21 "2014-12-17T15:03:34Z")
> [@Art\_Rock](#): > > Symphonies by definition exclude operas and movie scores. Looks like you are asking the wrong question. If you are looking for any composition for an orchestra, then various movie score excerpts would qualify, since they are regularly recorded and performed (thinking of major themes from Star Wars, Schindlers List, and so on). He may have had in mind things like Howard Shore’s _Lord of the Rings_ Symphony (that **GIGObuster** mentioned), which was constructed from the film scores. “What counts as a symphony?” is a reasonable question, but the simplest answer for our purposes may be “Anything that’s _called_ a ‘symphony’,” at least as long as there’s no good reason to rule it out. Another possible contender: Malcolm Arnold’s 9th (of 1986), which [this article](http://www.overgrownpath.com/2005/09/arnolds-9th-neglected-20th-century.html) claims is “a neglected 20th century masterpiece.” ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2014, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-last-great-symphony/707388/22 "2014-12-17T16:09:59Z")
There’s always Peter Schickele’s “Unbegun Symphony” (from 1966), so named because he was born too late to write the first two movements. ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2014, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-last-great-symphony/707388/23 "2014-12-17T18:43:18Z")
Sibelius #5 (1915, revised 1916 and 1919) ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2014, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-last-great-symphony/707388/24 "2014-12-18T22:07:00Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > That’s also the year of “composition”, since it was assembled from pieces Beethoven had never put together (Or, critics argued, he never intended to put together). Prior to 1988, there was no “tenth” symphony in any sense. Sure there was. It’s also known as Brahms’s First. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2014, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-last-great-symphony/707388/25 "2014-12-20T08:12:18Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Yes, except that Rachmaninoff 2 is later. And, of course, Rach 2 is also the last great piano concerto (although No.3 is a close contender). ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2014, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-last-great-symphony/707388/26 "2014-12-20T15:38:44Z")
[John Corigliano, **Symphony No. 1**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KskXS9euKQY) ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2014, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-last-great-symphony/707388/27 "2014-12-20T15:48:52Z")
> [@Tibby or Not Tibby](#): > > And, of course, Rach 2 is also the last great piano concerto (although No.3 is a close contender). It’s a dead heat between Rach 2 & 3 concerti. But as for symphonies, it’s 2. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2014, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-last-great-symphony/707388/28 "2014-12-20T16:46:42Z")
> [@Tibby or Not Tibby](#): > > And, of course, Rach 2 is also the last great piano concerto (although No.3 is a close contender). Nah, Prokofiev’s 3rd, for one, is later. ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2014, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-last-great-symphony/707388/29 "2014-12-20T17:54:09Z")
Ravel’s G Major Piano Concerto was composed 20 years after Rach 2 ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2014, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-last-great-symphony/707388/30 "2014-12-20T18:11:57Z")
Recent superb symphonies, since (let’s say) 1989. This is not an exhaustive list. Per Nørgård: Symphony No. 8, 2011(I also like much his Sixth (1999) and Seventh (2006)) John Adams: Dr. Atomic Symphony, 2007 (yes, the music is from his opera _Dr. Atomic_, but it works great as a symphony and he’s not the first composer to do this.) John Adams: Naive and Sentimental Music, 1999 (a symphony in all but name!) Elliott Carter: Sinfonia, 1996 Witold Lutosławski: Symphony No. 4, 1992 Shulamit Ran: Symphony, 1990 Poul Ruders: Symphony No. 1, 1989 (he’s written three more, but I only know No. 2 in addition to No. 1, and No. 2 struck me as not as good.) My own Symphony No. 1 is forthcoming…(for real, I’m a composer professionally.) We’ll see how it turns out. I expect it to be bitchin’. Fall 2016 is the likely time for completion/premiere. As for truly great piano concertos post-Rachmaninoff, there are almost too many to name: Bartók (all three!), Ravel (both the G major and the one for the Left Hand), Prokofiev (No. 3 for sure but all 5), Schoenberg Op. 42, Shostakovich No.1 and No. 2, Barber, Copland, Gershwin, Lutosławski, Ligeti … (Disclosure: I’m one who greatly prefers Rachmaninoff’s choral music and mostly dislikes his concerti and piano solo oeuvre.) ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2014, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-last-great-symphony/707388/31 "2014-12-20T18:20:46Z")
It’s a shame people assume that because mass media mostly isn’t paying attention, it must mean no one is, and that simply isn’t true. ---
**Author:** ![Flywheel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Flywheel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flywheel)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2014, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-last-great-symphony/707388/32 "2014-12-20T18:27:51Z")
> [@K364](#): > > Ravel’s G Major Piano Concerto was composed 20 years after Rach 2 The Piano Concerto for the Left Hand isn’t half bad either. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2014, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-last-great-symphony/707388/33 "2014-12-20T23:23:24Z")
> [@Flywheel](#): > > The Piano Concerto for the Left Hand isn’t half bad either. I love it. Best opening to a concerto ever! (Solo contrabassoon, what’s not to like?) ---
**Author:** ![LC\_Strawhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19adc/32.png) [@LC\_Strawhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LC_Strawhouse)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2014, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-last-great-symphony/707388/34 "2014-12-21T01:32:14Z")
Check out [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0b3Q-YqkYUw) piece of corporate Baby Boomer heaven. It’s, like, passing the torch from the old masters to the new masters, man! ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2014, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-last-great-symphony/707388/35 "2014-12-21T03:42:49Z")
> [@LC\_Strawhouse](#): > > Check out [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0b3Q-YqkYUw) piece of corporate Baby Boomer heaven. I thought it would be a link to one of Philip Glass’s David Bowie symphonies. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-last-great-symphony/707388.md?page=1)