# What's your favourite Beethoven symphony? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 27, 2010, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favourite-beethoven-symphony/555247 "2010-09-27T17:36:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favourite-beethoven-symphony/555247/21 "2010-09-27T21:46:28Z")
There was a PBS show a few years back called “Keeping Score” – an episode of which had Michael Tilson Thomas drilling very deeply into Beethoven. He picked one 1st movement, one 2nd, etc. to examine, from 4 different symphonies. I wish I could remember which choices he made (I know that he picked the 4th movement of Eroica), but I remember loving his choices. I think the 2nd movement of the 7th may be the most beautiful thing ever written. I voted for the 5th. ---
**Author:** ![Gil-Martin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Gil-Martin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gil-Martin)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favourite-beethoven-symphony/555247/22 "2010-09-27T23:48:26Z")
Ninth. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2010, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favourite-beethoven-symphony/555247/23 "2010-09-28T00:23:18Z")
---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2010, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favourite-beethoven-symphony/555247/24 "2010-09-28T00:54:05Z")
I know it’s not something I share with others, but I love the 4th. My mind knows the 9th is better, but my heart loves the 4th. I think his piano concertos are equal, by the way. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2010, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favourite-beethoven-symphony/555247/25 "2010-09-28T01:06:25Z")
Favorite - 9th. Second - 6th. Because of Fantasia and a kids’ 45 that used it as background music. Perhaps a more interesting poll would be of your favorite Beethoven symphony other than the 9th. ---
**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:** [September 28, 2010, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favourite-beethoven-symphony/555247/26 "2010-09-28T04:05:26Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > I think the 2nd movement of the 7th may be the most beautiful thing ever written.. I wouldn’t go that far, but it’s certainly near the top. And it’s why I had to vote for the 7th, even if the other movements had been total crap, which of course they’re not. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2010, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favourite-beethoven-symphony/555247/27 "2010-09-28T04:33:58Z")
In the 7th Symphony, the 2nd movement gets all the love. But if Beethoven ever wrote a piece more joyous, more exuberant, than the 1st movement of the 7th Symphony, I haven’t heard it. Yeah, even the Ode to Joy. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2010, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favourite-beethoven-symphony/555247/28 "2010-09-28T07:26:13Z")
I’ll go for Beethoven’s 9th too (4th movement, then 2nd, then 1st, then 3rd), closely followed by the 7th (2nd movement). ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2010, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favourite-beethoven-symphony/555247/29 "2010-09-28T07:35:46Z")
6th, but the 9th is a very very close second. I have the Karajan disks, I should listen to them more often. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2010, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favourite-beethoven-symphony/555247/30 "2010-09-28T07:37:55Z")
I love most the one I’m performing. No way could I choose otherwise. Any notion that the “odds are better than the evens” is just dumb. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2010, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favourite-beethoven-symphony/555247/31 "2010-09-28T08:36:38Z")
I like the 6th, the Pastoral, and also the 8th. Currently I like the Cleveland Orchestra w/ von Dohnanyi version best, but the Szell version is a classic for a reason. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2010, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favourite-beethoven-symphony/555247/32 "2010-09-28T12:13:53Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > The greatest is, of course, the 9th. > > But you’re asking for our “favorite,” and that would be the 7th. Exactly. ---
**Author:** ![Art\_Rock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/art_rock/32/525_2.png) [@Art\_Rock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Art_Rock)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2010, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favourite-beethoven-symphony/555247/33 "2010-09-28T14:37:54Z")
6\>5\>3\>7 I hate the 4th movement of the 9th SO MUCH! ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2010, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favourite-beethoven-symphony/555247/34 "2010-09-28T19:16:01Z")
9th, 3rd, 6th, 5th, 7th, 1st ---
**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:** [September 28, 2010, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favourite-beethoven-symphony/555247/35 "2010-09-28T22:35:08Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > But if Beethoven ever wrote a piece more joyous, more exuberant, than the 1st movement of the 7th Symphony, I haven’t heard it. Then you haven’t heard the beginning of the 8th. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2010, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favourite-beethoven-symphony/555247/36 "2010-09-28T22:39:15Z")
The Ninth is one of the few pieces of music which can bring me to tears. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favourite-beethoven-symphony/555247/37 "2010-09-29T01:10:13Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > The Ninth is one of the few pieces of music which can bring me to tears. It made my heart pound with excitement the first time I heard it and I was very much a rock & roll kid, with minimal appreciation for classical music at the time. ---
**Author:** ![DaveRaver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daveraver/32/1078_2.png) [@DaveRaver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaveRaver)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favourite-beethoven-symphony/555247/38 "2010-09-29T01:11:47Z")
The moonlight sonata is the moonlight itself. I find it by far to be his most moving work. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favourite-beethoven-symphony/555247/39 "2010-09-29T01:19:20Z")
I love the 9th Synphony, 4th movement so much that **Suburban Plankton** and I had it played for our recessional at our wedding. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favourite-beethoven-symphony/555247/40 "2010-09-29T01:23:01Z")
I incorporated a short passage of the 9th into a costume competition entry at Toronto Trek (the former name of the Polaris convention). I wore a lizard mask and a tuxedo and pretended to be conducting the chorus. I was Toskanini. Won for best latex mask, so my lifetime record is 1 and 0. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favourite-beethoven-symphony/555247.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favourite-beethoven-symphony/555247.md?page=3)