I'll look them up
Thanks Rondo

I think the most balanced and musically accomplished has to be No 10.

No 5 has so many votes as it's the only one many people have ever heard (sadly) but it's a great considering the circumstances under which it was written (immediately after a savaging from the Communist Party hacks and having to withdraw the 4th Symphony from rehearsal).

No 4 is a great piece in its own right, although perhaps a little spawling and undisciplined. It's powerful emotional effect is overwheleming, however.

No 6 is wonderful in its strange lop-sided way.

I would cite No 8 as being among the very best. It hasn't done so well in the concert hall because it's rather hard to listen to - being a threnody for the horrors of the Second World War, which was raging as Shostakovich wrote it (at around the time of the Siege of Stalingrad)

No 13 is a great hybrid of symphony and cantata and awesome in the courage of both the composer and the poet (Yevgeni Yevtushenko) whose critical words were set.

I also have admiration for the 14th - a cycle of 11 songs on the theme of Death for two solists and a tiny chamber orchestra of just strings and percussion (but no timpani).

No 1 is great for an 18-year-old but it's hardly 'esch'-Shosyakovich in my opinion

In this order: 4, 11, 10, 5, 13, 1, 15, 7. These are my favorites. The first movement of the 4th is kind of a mishmash, I have to admit, but few pieces have ever left such an impression on me.

5, but surprised the 8th is not even listed in the poll...

Well,i have two favourites but neither is on the poll list:4 and 8.

I love the 4th because it is the only symphony in which we can see the inside world of Shostakovich in its very complex,Mahlerian idiom.Incredible dramatic surprises,big climaxes and a lot of grotesque sarcasm which,i believe,is a signature for this obsessive genius.The finale is heart-breaking and depressing.Wonderfully thought and carefully considered throughout.

The 8th is another masterpiece.In my music listening experience no other piece managed to deliver the message it intended this deliberately.The horrors of the war not only the WW2 but also war in general is at your ears.When i first listened to this live i remember broking into tears in the first movement thema which Mariss Jansons calls in the recording of his rehearsal sequence of this symphony "first impressions on seeing everything destroyed",the one which comes around 5 minutes into the first movement,which is played by a string.This symphony is incredibly depressing throughout but at the finale there is little hope a little light at the end of the very,very long tunnel which gives us power to survive.It is a memorial to DSCH's outstanding genius.

After these two my favourites are:13,7,11,10,6,14,15,,9,12.I love these symphonies too.However not so fond of the 5th but this may be because of the stupid usage of the piece in popular culture(films,commercials etc.) in my home country.

Oh, this was impossible! I finally settled on #15, because I've always loved the mystery of the conclusion, as well as the incredibly powerful slow movement. But really the only Shostakovich symphonies that I'm not especially fond of are 3 and 12. Incredible music!

I pick 5, but I've only heard 5, 10 and 11 and 5 is the only one which I actually own. That said, it's one hell of a symphony!

I opted for no. #15, #5 is close second-- most days anyway.

Ed

For me, the 8th is my favorite symphony. It's so different than the 7th because it depicts World War II in a very personal way.

I voted for the fifth, but it was a tough decision.

There is an expression "familiarity breeds contempt" (to which Mark Twain added, "— and children," but that's beside the point), and while I wouldn't say that I have contempt for the fifth, I am so familiar with it that I find little new understanding with subsequent listenings, which diminishes my enjoyment. In that sense, I have outgrown it, and currently the ones I get the most enjoyment out of are the 1st, 6th, and 12th, simply because I still find details that escaped my notice on each listening. (I enjoy the 14th as well, but I have a hard time considering it a "symphony," despite what it says on the label.)

My solution was to look at the question from another angle: If I could only leave a single Shostakovich symphony to posterity, which would it be? Looked at that way, it had to be the fifth. To me, it expresses the ability of the human spirit to remain hopeful under the most oppressive circumstances of forced conformity... a message that applies equally well to a world dominated by corporate interests or one dominated by a totalitarian regime. (Although the 10th came pretty close; it was nearly down to a coin toss.)

But if I could only leave a single work to future generations, it would have to be his String Quartet No. 8...

I'd have to say that #11 just totally chills me to the bone whenever I hear it, it's a genuinely bleak and harrowing musical experience, especially in the recording by Haitink, which to be honest is one of only 2 or 3 recordings of the 11th that I have heard. There is just so much anguish and cold Russian landscape in that work, it's just a marvellous symphony.

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Oh dear - it is like asking to chose a favorite child!

I went for number 10 - but yesterday it might have been a different one, and tomorrow I am sure it will be different again.

It's not on the list so I can't vote, but if Symphony No. 8 had been there, that's the one I'd have gone for. And specifically, this recording:




FK

I would have voted for No.8

Uhhh- yes you can*. There is an "Other (please specify in post)" category in this poll.

For those who remain curious about my omissions, my 'alibi' is back here.

[Edit- perhaps you did, anyway. I did a quick review of this thread, and noticed six opting for #8, two selecting #4, and one choosing #3. This seems to account for all nine votes in the "other" category.]