Thread: Favorite Mahler Symphony Poll

Forgive me if this has been done before but I haven't seen one recently.

Which Mahler symphony is "YOUR" personal favorite? Not which one is most popular or is the greatest, but which one is your personal favorite.

I'm curious to see if the "most popular" symphonies are honestly voted the same as personal favorites on this board.

I also included Das Lied Von Der Erde because it is a "Symphony for Tenor and Alto".

My personal favorite is the 3rd. It starts with nothing but the will to life and progresses to total enlightenment.

I selected the 5th, but because of one recorded performance, otherwise it would be the 4th - because of one recorded performance.

Hah!

I have only ever listened to the 1st in full and part of the 6th so I'll withhold a vote.

I selected the 5th, but because of one recorded performance, otherwise it would be the 4th - because of one recorded performance.

Okay, I'm intrigued - what are those recordings?
By the way, my favourite has, and always will be, the 2nd VERY closely followed by the 3rd.

The seventh in all its power and beauty.

3,5,9 in no part. order, enjoy them all though...

Originally Posted by ComposerOfAvantGarde

The seventh in all its power and beauty.

From darkness, to light. The seventh all the way

Nothing in the history of symphonic music is as exciting as 4:14 to 5:02 here

Originally Posted by techniquest

Okay, I'm intrigued - what are those recordings?
By the way, my favourite has, and always will be, the 2nd VERY closely followed by the 3rd.

The 4th is the old Vanguard recording, Abravanel/Utah Symphony - because of it's finale featuring Davrath. The 5th is an obscure recording by Alain Lombard and his Aquitaine orchestra - because it works so well in his interpretation. My point in being unspecific was, in the case of the 4th, that I probably place too much weight on the Davrath element, and for the 5th that the interpretation doesn't come near the 'standard' that folks reference it by; and it's hard to find.

A competitive field- but I "take the 5th." [Ahead of 9 & 2.]

I possess four versions and a study-score... so it's on my (very) short list of all-time favorite symphonies.

No. 4 is my favourite...it is less grandiose and more naive. Very unique among these symphonies. Even Mahler said that it is "utterly different from the other symphonies". The fourth movement, especially, is hauntingly charming and simple. And the viola's tuning in the second movement is genius.

My favourites are the 6th, the 2nd and the 9th. Just for the record, my least favourite is the 8th.

Originally Posted by CarterJohnsonPiano

No. 4 is my favourite...it is less grandiose and more naive. Very unique among these symphonies. Even Mahler said that it is "utterly different from the other symphonies". The fourth movement, especially, is hauntingly charming and simple. And the viola's tuning in the second movement is genius.

I love the fourth one, almost as good as the seventh IMO. Especially the last movement!

I have not listened through all of Mahler's symphonies yet: I've heard the first three, and then Das Liede. So I'm basing my choice on these four. I cannot come to terms yet with the 3rd symphony's first movement. I don't feel it fits with the rest of the symphony, I don't really enjoy it. But I'm working on it.

That said, from the second movement on, the third is quite wonderful. Enough that it's still my favorite.