Good evening, all.
It's been a long time since one of these came up, but I'll throw this one up because this is such a fun concept.
I found this blog post the other day with the most interesting--and tough--challenge. It's one of those "desert island" challenges where you choose what you would take. This one is CDs of Symphonies.
Here's the challenge: You only get to choose nine CDs. Now, by itself that would be a fun and agonizing challenge as you go through all this great music. I mean, I would have on my list things from Johann Stamitz to Charles Ives. BUT--and it's a big BUT--there are rules to this game:
You can only pick one symphony per composer
You must choose numbered symphonies 1 through 9 only. No Symphonie fantastique, Symphony of Psalms, Symphonic Dances, etc. And no, the Franck is not a numbered Symphony.
Once you choose a numbered symphony, you cannot choose another similarly numbered symphony by a different composer (i.e. no choosing both Beethoven’s 7th and Sibelius 7th).
Use only current numbering conventions; so if you were to pick the New World Symphony by Dvořák, you’d have to put it in the 9th Symphony spot, not the 5th Symphony where some folks 50 years ago may have put it.
Bonus point for including symphonies by composers who actually composed at least nine numbered symphonies.
So jump below the Chee-to to see the nine I chose:
Brahms 1. Because Brahms 1
Sibelius 2. Because who doesn't love a D minor scale?
Mendelssohn 3, "Scottish". Because I'm putting Beethoven and Mahler somewhere else.
Tchaikovsky 4. Because bassoon.
Vaughan-Williams 5. Because the ending is absolutely sublime.
Mahler 6. Because Mahler 6
Bruckner 7. Because I need a Seventh.
Dvorak 8. Because it's better than 9.
Beethoven 9. What else would one end on? Some notes about this version I chose: It's probably not the greatest performance out there, as the orchestra and chorus probably had little time to rehearse together, being made up of many different groups. Also, this was one of Bernstein's last performances, and I think he knew it. And he also probably didn't get a lot of time to rehearse everyone. But it's the performance, and the emotion communicating from orchestra and chorus to audience that matters.
One more note: You will notice some slight changes to the words. An example is "Freiheit" instead of "Freude". That is, "Freedom" instead of "Joy". These were made for the performance, and coincidentally, were what Schiller intended the words of his poem to be. However, the political climate of the time dictated that Schiller use the words he ultimately did.
Anyway, that's my list.