Why 7 is the symphony’s lucky number?

While there are far fewer 7^th symphonies than 2nds or 3rds, one very rarely encounters a sour seventh. Perhaps it’s just a result of the fact that with six previous attempts, most would-be composers of 7ths have either given up or mastered their craft. Here is the official, definitive list of the 7 greatest 7^th symphonies.

Please share your nominations for the Honorable Mention list in the comments!

David Matthews Symphony No. 7

Written to precede a performance of Mahler’s Seventh, David Matthews borrowed Mahler’s use of the tenorhorn, but wrote a single movement symphony stressing fluidity and elegance of form deeply influenced by Sibelius’ 7th

Mahler Symphony No. 7

It is a sign of just how high the standards are among 7^th symphonies that Mahler’s most unjustly underrated symphony isn’t higher on this list. It’s one of his most imaginative, wide ranging, witty and forward looking works.

Bruckner Symphony No. 7

What a glorious work this is. If we were voting on the basis of first and second movements, it might top the chart here. Although the Finale isn’t quite on the same level, the gorgeous coda is enough to make one forgive whatever sins Bruckner may have committed earlier on. How appropriate for symphonic music’s most devout Catholic.

Beethoven Symphony No. 7

It may not be Beethoven’s greatest symphony, but I suggest it is his most perfect and his most exciting.

Dvorak Symphony No. 7

We used to joke that Dvorak 7 was Brahms’s greatest symphony, but as the years go by, I feel that this pithy line rather misses the point. It’s certainly Dvorak’s greatest symphony, and is imbued with a lyricism and a passionate temperament that even Brahms doesn’t quite have.

Shostakovich Symphony No. 7

I’m perhaps overprotective of this work because when I grew up, it was considered almost a joke of a piece. God spare us any more cotton-eared assessments from such ‘musical’ commentators. This is life and death music, literally.

Sibelius Symphony No. 7

If Shostakovich 7 is life and death, Sibelius 7 is beyond life and death. It’s the perfect soundtrack for the end of all things – a loving recollection of every beautiful moment that has ever been as the Earth is finally engulfed by the Sun’s fire.