Tonight I want to talk about some of the "3rds" that great composers have done. I'm not sure why I was thinking of 3rds earlier, but I just got to thinking about it, and a lot of them are fabulous! I'm gonna focus on symphonies right now.
Most of the best symphonists of the last couple centuries have really hit a home run with their 3rd symphonies. I'm basing this not only on how I like them, but how music-lovers like them (i.e. their popularity).
Beethoven's 3rd - A great place to start, I think. It really seemed to raise the bar for the Classical symphony, and was Beethoven's first to have a subtitle, although I'm not sure if he's the one responsible for the title. I just love this symphony for a number of reasons, but I'll only share a couple now. Of course, i love the horn trio in Mvt. 3 (which hornists don't!?), as well as the funeral march movement. I also like the idea of the key of Eb in a symphony. I'm just weird like that.
Mendelssohn's 3rd - Definitely my most favorite piece by Mendelssohn, and on my wish list of pieces I want to perform someday. It's a great symphony from start to finish, and I'm particularly addicted to the 2nd movement, as well as the last several minutes of the Finale. The horn writing is quite challenging (still the natural horn era, I think), and he uses 4 of them (while he sticks with 2 horns for his 4th symphony). I love this symphony.
Schumann's 3rd - I get the pleasure of playing this piece next spring. What a gem of a piece! It's actually quite challenging, but just expertly written for the horn section, and there's a lot of beauty to it.
Brahms' 3rd - All of Brahms' symphonies are great, and are popular with audiences. This isn't my favorite of Brahms' symphonies, but I had a great experience performing 4th horn on it this last summer. I had to tacet on the inner movements, which sucked, but the 4th movement was a real kick.
Bruckner's 3rd - This symphony has some good moments, and is worth mentioning, but it's actually probably my least favorite of all of his symphonies! It seemed to be that way for audiences during his time, too!
Saint-Saen's 3rd - My most favorite piece of music by a Frenchman, and among my top 10 all-time favorite compositions. This piece is just so amazing, and there's so much variety to it. I'm having trouble coming up with more to say about it! It's just incredible.
Tchaikovsky's 3rd - Not a very popular symphony, and it's a shame. This symphony is really quite fantastic. It's Tchaik's only 5-movement symphony. The 3rd movement has some really nice colors to it.
Mahler's 3rd - This symphony is at the very top of my wish list to perform. It's just an amazing piece with amazing horn parts all around. Listening to this symphony just makes me feel so happy to play the horn and be a musician. Can't go wrong with this one.
Copland's 3rd - My most favorite American composition EVER. It's also in the top 5 on my wish list. If you haven't heard the NY Phil's recording of this, you haven't truly lived (calm down…just an expression). But seriously, listen to it if you haven't. It's…amazing.
Sibelius' 3rd - I got the pleasure of playing this symphony a couple of years ago, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's a little underrated, I think, although it's form is hard to grasp and may be a little more difficult as a whole for audiences to enjoy. But it has some absolutely gorgeous moments in it, particularly in the first movement.
Nielsen's 3rd - This is on my wish list, too. Having a look at the score makes be want to play this piece even more every time. And, it just sounds really, really good. The first movement's energy is addicting, and it seems to display so many different moods.
Hanson's 3rd - Also not a popular piece, but it should be. Every movement is brilliantly written, and I hope to play it someday. It's got this patriotic feel to it, but it's got such a strong tie to Western European Music that it distinguishes itself from the music of Copland.
Harris' 3rd - I'm not a huge fan of this symphony, but it is one of the more popular 20th-Century orchestral works out there. There's a lot of good unison horn section writing.
Of course, there are more 3rd symphonies out these which I have not listed, but they are ones I'm not as familiar with. I should mention that Rimsky-Korsakov and Kachaturian both wrote 3rd symphonies that I have heard once and are quite good, but I just don't remember much else about them.
Definitely feel free to leave feedback about this!