Any more 5's out there?

6th is it.

Sorry, I would need to vote seven times.
(But only seven - I prefer not to follow the present fashion to count the Lemminkäinen Suite and Kullervo as symphonies.)

Andrew B's point about 7 votes is well taken, in that each symphony is very unique with no hints of derivativeness (or derivation? Pardon my english) as can be found in, say, Shostakovich (cue snare drum).

I voted for #2, but really #5 and #7 are close contenders and really these three are all in constant rotation as my favorites.

Badger

I voted for #1! not to mean it's the best...just my favorite.

dj

I voted for the 2nd. Truly one of the greatest pieces of music ever written by any composer.

I chose the 5th - it's the most purifying of his symphonies, and I became sentimentally attached to it.

But I also love the nos. 1, 3, 6 and 7... well, all of them in fact. It's only the 4th I can't get into - I guess I'll have to listen to it repeatedly again.

I chose the 2nd symphony because I find it to be the most moving. The 5th would probably be my second choice.

I voted for 2nd, but I would vote also for no. 5 or no. 6

OK, Kurkikohtaus, I finally got around to voting for number 4, and noticed that another favorite, 3, hasn't gotten any votes, yet, either.

Hmmmm. I woulda thought that the hardcore Sibelius folks would be split between 4 and 7, myself. But there you are.

Anyway, 4 is undoubtedly the most interesting thing Sibelius ever did, and saying so is just my way of courting doubt.

(Sibelius never did much in the way of uninteresting things, though, did he?)

I voted for number 7. It was the piece that won me over to Sibelius and it still has the greatest power over my imagination.

some guy wrote:

Hmmmm. I woulda thought that the hardcore Sibelius folks would be split between 4 and 7, myself. But there you are.

I think as a HC fan I stand with 6th. I think the work is new to the 4th but very keen to the 7th. Just look at the pale score, enrichened with harp and bass clarinet on 6th, then look at the scoring of 7th...

Arenan, I appreciate this comment you made about the interesting tone colour that the Harp and Bass Clarinet add to the 6th.

Unfortunately, it is precisely the inclusion of these instruments that prevent my orchestra (and many others of similar size) from playing this work. Because otherwise, it has an intimate quality that doesn't need a gigantic orchestra. But as smaller orchestras are always worrying about money, I simply cannot justify programming this piece to my Board of Directors, seeing that it probably won't attract an audience in a small spa town.

Hey! I'm the first to vote for #3! It's the least understood of the lot, but I like it better than any other except 7 - that one ties with 3 for me!

With World Violists vote for number 3, that makes at least one vote for each symphony, rather appropriate, I think.

I voted no. 3 - because of the second movement's beauty and how exciting and optimistic, yet not Wagnerian triumphant, the 1st and 3rd movements are.

I concur with Andrew B on this one in that I love all seven with equal passion, but if I could grab just one of the symphonies before the boat went down, then it would have to be number 4. In my book, Sibelius 4 is the greatest orchestral work of the 20th century. This reminds me of a quip from Sir Thomas Beecham 'Gentlemen, we will now rehearse the greatest symphony of the 20th century......not that thats saying much'.--kullervopete.

I finally got around to voting here -- No. 6 it is. It's fruitless trying to explain these things in a coherent fashion, so I won't even try. I just really like it, okay?

My three favorites are the third, sixth, and seventh. Probably the seventh now is far ahead of all the others for me, but the third is still second (however distant it may be) and the sixth is a very close third.

I just realized how awkward that statement came out to be... the third is a distant second and the sixth is the third... not to mention the seventh being first.

Ignore that completely, please. Just my random thoughts once again.