The last 3 are great.
I switch between liking 40 or 41 best: the romantic 40 or 41 with its brilliant use of cliched phrases in the first and last movement.
I have a fondness for No 37 too (and he didn't even write that one!)

 

I think the 'Prague' just as fine as the last 3.

 

Favourites would be 40 and 41 for me, next level 38 and 39. That said, Even 40 and 41 would probably not rank among my top 100 symphonies.

 

my favorite is #38 and I think it is as good as the last three.
then 36, 35, 34, 33, 29, 28, 25. That's 11, so I'd have to get rid of one for top 10, probably 28 although I think it is about as good as 29 and 25. Some of these Mozart symphonies were among the first classical works I got to know, so they will have a special place with me. IIRC I first had one LP with 38, 39 and a double with 6 "Salzburg symphonies", so I heard the "litte g minor" before I got to #40 and 41!
While it's not music I listen to frequently nowadays, I am still more likely to listen to Mozart's #28, 26, 31, 32 than to Tchaikovsky 1-3, Bruckner 0-2 or any of Glazunov's, for some random examples.

 

my favorite is #38 and I think it is as good as the last three.
then 36, 35, 34, 33, 29, 28, 25. That's 11, so I'd have to get rid of one for top 10, probably 28 although I think it is about as good as 29 and 25. Some of these Mozart symphonies were among the first classical works I got to know, so they will have a special place with me. IIRC I first had one LP with 38, 39 and a double with 6 "Salzburg symphonies", so I heard the "litte g minor" before I got to #40 and 41!
While it's not music I listen to frequently nowadays, I am still more likely to listen to Mozart's #28, 26, 31, 32 than to Tchaikovsky 1-3, Bruckner 0-2 or any of Glazunov's, for some random examples.

So you think 38-41 are great symphonies?

and the others you mentioned in a category below?

 

I would place the 40th and 41st in roughly the top 5-10 top symphonies. I would also include 38 and 39 as "great". I love several others (25, 29, 31, 35, 36) but think of them as below those top 4.

 

My own favourite is and always has been 29, K201. I am also fond of the Prague. Can do without most of the rest - hate the Jupiter.

What is Mozart's 37th symphony?

 

My own favourite is and always has been 29, K201. I am also fond of the Prague and occasionally 39. Can do without most of the rest - hate the Jupiter.

What is Mozart's 37th symphony?

Michael Haydn wrote it and Mozart tacked on a slow introduction and fiddled with some of the orchestration.

 

Mozart wasn't really a symphony-priority composer...most of his 40-some were written before he had fully matured as a composer. He was really an opera-first composer who wrote a lot of concertos for income and a lot of chamber music for performances with friends/colleagues...symphonies weren't as much a priority for him (at least based on what I've gathered from reading various biographies and the like). That being said, I think his last 3 are great, as are the 25th, and the rest from 26-onward were at least very good to me with the exception of 37, which obviously isn't Mozart's work. I think my favorite of his might be the 39th, where I hear a lot of parallels to Beethoven's 3rd (beyond just both being in E flat).

 

They got greater and greater but I think that by the standards we generally use most of the symphonies from 20 onwards are great pieces of music, works of art.

 

For me:

Great: 41 (A top-10 symphony)
Very, very good: 31, 38, 39 & 40
Very good: 25, 29, 33, 34, 35 & 36
Good: 18, 30 & 32

I haven't yet listened to the rest.

 

Great: 38-41
Very good: 25, 29, 31, 35, 36
Good: 28, 33, 34

 

Recently I listened to all his symphonies in chronological order. There were a lot of beautiful ones among them. The first symphony also falls into the 'great' category for me. Beautiful slow movement. Unbelievable that such a young person composes such a melody full of melancholy.
Other symphonies that I think are great are: symphony 25, 29, 33, 40. I generally find the symphonies in which the timpani are prominently present less beautiful.

 

The ones I listen to most often are 40 and 41.

 

I'm not much a fan of Mozart's symphonies; his "Linz" and "Prague" are my favorites.

 

31, 35, 36, 38, 39, 40 and 41 are the only ones I go back to occasionally. 25 and 29 are decent but tire quickly. I haven't listened to all of the early symphonies (<25) but I don't think I'm missing anything essential.

 

My favorites are Nos. 1, 8, 11, 12, 21, 25, 29, 31, 35, 36, 38, 39, 40 and 41. I think it's very difficult to properly delimit what's great and what's not, and I wouldn't say I have proper knowledge to tackle with this task, but my impression is that most would agree that at least Nos. 38-41 should be viewed as impressive feats of music.

 

My favorites are Nos. 1, 8, 11, 12, 21, 25, 29, 31, 35, 36, 38, 39, 40 and 41. I think it's very difficult to properly delimit what's great and what's not, and I wouldn't say I have proper knowlodge to tackle with this task, but my impression is that most would agree that at least Nos. 38-41 should be viewed as impressive feats of music.

Would any be in your top 10 symphonies?

 

I once heard from a professional conductor that orchestras usually have around 10 Mozart symphonies in their regular repertoire. If that is correct, they have to include earlier symphonies together with the last 6 (which are the most recorded). For me, all of Mozart's mature symphonies are among the greatest in the genre, along with his popular early works such as #25,29 and 33.

 

31 has the advantage of a large orchestra and a nickname but I find it a bit shallow. 33 was a favorite of Erich and Carlos Kleiber's. In Carlos' last years he conducted (for the rare occasions he conducted at all) always the same orchestral program, I believe: Coriolan ouverture, Mozart 33 and Brahms 4.

 

Which of Mozart's symphonies do you consider to be great?
Just the last 3?
The last 5?
or maybe you'd include...25? 29? 31? 36?

The last 6 are great, for sure...I also think highly of #25, 31, 34...

 

Due to this thread I listened to symphonies 25, 29 and 31 conducted by Klemperer. All of them were in my opinion as good as symphonies by Haydn.

It was with the very last symphonies (39-41) where Mozart finally surpassed Haydn, in my opinion. What he did was strengthening the profile of the melodic and rhythmic material towards the concept of ”emotionally high profile material of romanticism”. Beethoven was then to carry on the torch.

Only Symphony no. 40 by Mozart is in my top 10 of symphonies.

Beethoven: 6, 7, 9
Brahms: 1, 4
Mozart: 40
Sibelius: 2, 4, 7
Tchaikovsky: 6

 

It's the saddest thing ever that Mozart died so young. I can only imagine what he'd have done with the symphony in the 1790s. It would have changed the trajectory of the symphony before Beethoven even tried it out.

 

25, 29, and 35 - 41 are varying degrees of "pretty great" to "great"... aren't they?

 

Mozart Symphony No 37 K444 is a great symphony. One of Michael Haydn’s best symphonies in fact 😆

 

I'm hearing some echoes of the Prague symphony's 1st movement in the Magic Flute overture.

 

Hi Wilhelm, actually I used to only know few symphonies like you. Over last few months I had crazy idea to listen to the all set at work. I was curious which ones would stick to mind, I mean that kind of keep singing in your head long after. Surprisingly, not those that you would think! Give a try to young Mozart Have a good day

 

Jupiter is #1

Top Ten?

Jupiter
40
Prague
Linz
Haffner
36
25
Paris
28
29

 

Edited: added ''in order of preference''

My top ten in order of preference


40
39
41 (Jupiter)
38 (Prague)
35 (Haffner)
36 (Linz)
31 (Paris)
25 (Little G minor Symphony)
29
34

 

The only I regularly return to are nos. 25, 40, and 41. The Haffner's probably my favorite of the rest. Perhaps I should give number 39 another go sometime.

In general, I've gotten a lot more out of the piano concertos than the symphonies.