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 claims is “a neglected 20th century masterpiece.”
There’s always Peter Schickele’s “Unbegun Symphony” (from 1966), so named because he was born too late to write the first two movements.
Sibelius #5 (1915, revised 1916 and 1919)
Sure there was.
It’s also known as Brahms’s First.
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.
Nah, Prokofiev’s 3rd, for one, is later.
Ravel’s G Major Piano Concerto was composed 20 years after Rach 2
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.)
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.
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?)
Check out this piece of corporate Baby Boomer heaven. It’s, like, passing the torch from the old masters to the new masters, man!
I thought it would be a link to one of Philip Glass’s David Bowie symphonies.