During 2009, the Australian ABC Classic FM radio station conducted a survey of listeners' favourite symphonies. Participants were permitted to vote for their three preferred symphonies. The survey closed at the end of June 2009.

The works were broadcast (from number 100 to number 1) from 12–19 September 2009.

Survey summary

RankComposerWorkKeyOpusCompletedLength (minutes)100HaydnSymphony No. 100 MilitaryG majorHob. I/10017942599GlassSymphony No. 4 Heroes19964498DvořákSymphony No. 5F majorOp. 76, B. 5418753797SchumannSymphony No. 1 SpringB flat majorOp. 3818413396DvořákSymphony No. 6D majorOp. 60, B. 11218804395RachmaninoffThe Bells, choral symphonyOp. 3519133794StravinskySymphony of Psalms19302193SibeliusSymphony No. 6D minorOp. 10419232592ShostakovichSymphony No. 4C minorOp. 4319366891NielsenSymphony No. 5Op. 5019223590NielsenSymphony No. 4 The InextinguishableOp. 2919163489MendelssohnSymphony No. 2 Song of PraiseB flat majorOp. 5218406588TchaikovskySymphony No. 2 Little RussianC minorOp. 1718723387BerliozHarold in Italy, symphony for viola and orchestraOp. 1618344486ProkofievSymphony No. 5B flat majorOp. 10019444285HaydnSymphony No. 45 FarewellF sharp minorHob. I/4517722584MahlerThe Song of the Earth19096483O'Boyle, SeanRiver Symphony19992482RachmaninoffSymphony No. 1D minorOp. 1318954781Bračanin, Philip Symphony No. 2 Choral19953980SibeliusSymphony No. 4A minorOp. 6319113379HaydnSymphony No. 104 LondonD majorHob. I/10417952878MendelssohnSymphony No. 5 ReformationD major/D minorOp. 10718322977WaltonSymphony No. 1B flat minor19354476Vaughan WilliamsSymphony No. 7 Sinfonia Antartica19524275TchaikovskyManfred SymphonyB minorOp. 5818854874TchaikovskySymphony No. 1 Winter DaydreamsG minorOp. 1318664473SchumannSymphony No. 3 RhenishE flat majorOp. 9718503072MozartSymphony No. 36 LinzC majorK. 42517832671BorodinSymphony No. 2B minor18762570MozartSymphony No. 35 HaffnerD majorK. 38517822369BrucknerSymphony No. 9D minor18965968MozartSymphony No. 25G minorK. 18317732667Edwards, RossSymphony No. 1 Da pacem Domine19912966BrucknerSymphony No. 7E major18836265Vaughan WilliamsSymphony No. 2 A London SymphonyG major19134364RachmaninoffSymphony No. 3A minorOp. 4419364163BeethovenSymphony No. 2D majorOp. 3618023362Vaughan WilliamsSymphony No. 1 A Sea Symphony19096661DvořákSymphony No. 7D minorOp. 70, B. 14118853760BeethovenSymphony No. 4B flat majorOp. 6018063259Vaughan WilliamsSymphony No. 3 A Pastoral Symphony19213458HaydnSymphony No. 101 The ClockD majorHob. I/10117942957ElgarSymphony No. 2E flat majorOp. 6319115656MessiaenTurangalîla-Symphonie19487355MozartSymphony No. 29A majorK. 20117742954MahlerSymphony No. 6 TragicA minor19048753SibeliusSymphony No. 7C majorOp. 10519242152BrucknerSymphony No. 8C minor18907651MozartSymphony No. 38 PragueD major K. 50417862550ShostakovichSymphony No. 11 The Year 1905G minorOp. 10319576449Strauss, R.An Alpine SymphonyOp. 6419154848SibeliusSymphony No. 1E minorOp. 3919003747Shostakovich Symphony No. 10E minorOp. 9319535146BrucknerSymphony No. 4 RomanticE flat major18886445HaydnSymphony No. 94 The SurpriseG majorHob. I/9417912444Vaughan WilliamsSymphony No. 5D major19434043SibeliusSymphony No. 3C majorOp. 5219072942FranckSymphony in D minorD minor18883941MahlerSymphony No. 9D major19098140SchubertSymphony No. 5B flat majorD. 48518162739MahlerSymphony No. 3D minor18969338MozartSymphony No. 39E flat majorK. 54317883037BeethovenSymphony No. 8F majorOp. 9318122536MahlerSymphony No. 8 Symphony of a ThousandE flat major19078035BrahmsSymphony No. 2D majorOp. 7318774134BizetSymphony in CC major18552833MahlerSymphony No. 4G major19015832Dvořák Symphony No. 8G majorOp. 88, B. 16318903631ShostakovichSymphony No. 7 LeningradC majorOp. 6019418530ElgarSymphony No. 1A flat majorOp. 5519085329BrahmsSymphony No. 3F majorOp. 9018833728TchaikovskySymphony No. 4F minorOp. 36 18784427ProkofievSymphony No. 1 ClassicalD majorOp. 2519171426Shostakovich Symphony No. 5D minorOp. 4719374825SibeliusSymphony No. 5E flat majorOp. 8219193024MendelssohnSymphony No. 3 ScottishA minorOp. 5618423423MendelssohnSymphony No. 4 ItalianA majorOp. 9018332722BrahmsSymphony No. 1C minorOp. 6818764421MahlerSymphony No. 1 TitanD major18945420BrahmsSymphony No. 4E minorOp. 9818854019SchubertSymphony No. 8 UnfinishedB minorD. 75918222718MahlerSymphony No. 5C sharp minor19027117GóreckiSymphony No. 3 Symphony of Sorrowful SongsOp. 3619765616RachmaninoffSymphony No. 2E minorOp. 2719075915BerliozSymphonie fantastiqueOp. 1418305614MahlerSymphony No. 2 ResurrectionC minor18948413MozartSymphony No. 40G minorK. 55017883512MozartSymphony No. 41 JupiterC majorK. 55117882711TchaikovskySymphony No. 5E minorOp. 6418884610SchubertSymphony No. 9 GreatC majorD. 9441826609SibeliusSymphony No. 2D majorOp. 431902448BeethovenSymphony No. 3 EroicaE flat majorOp. 551804457TchaikovskySymphony No. 6 PathétiqueB minorOp. 741893456BeethovenSymphony No. 5C minorOp. 671808325BeethovenSymphony No. 7A majorOp. 921812394Saint-SaënsSymphony No. 3 OrganC minorOp. 781886353BeethovenSymphony No. 6 PastoralF majorOp. 681808452BeethovenSymphony No. 9 ChoralD minorOp. 1251824671DvořákSymphony No. 9 From the New WorldE minorOp. 95, B. 178189343

Programming For more details about the works broadcast, see ABC Classic FM's programming notes: Day 1: Numbers 100 to 86 Day 2: Numbers 85 to 71 Day 3: Numbers 70 to 58 Day 4: Numbers 57 to 47 Day 5: Numbers 46 to 34 Day 6: Numbers 33 to 23 Day 7: Numbers 22 to 13 Day 8: Numbers 12 to 1 (including a live concert featuring symphonies 5 to 1)

Only one movement from symphonies 5 to 2 was played during the live concert on day 8 (all other works were played in their entirety).

The complete performances of symphonies 5 to 2 were played on the day following the conclusion of the countdown (see here for programming details).

The countdown contained approximately 72 hours and 35 minutes of music (this total includes works 2 to 5 played in their entirety).

By composer The following 32 composers were featured in the Classic 100 Symphony countdown: ComposerSymphoniesBeethoven8Berlioz2Bizet1Borodin1Bračanin, Philip1Brahms4Bruckner4Dvořák5Edwards, Ross1Elgar2Franck1Glass1Górecki1Haydn5Mahler9Mendelssohn4Messiaen1Mozart8Nielsen2O'Boyle, Sean1Prokofiev2Rachmaninoff4Schubert3Saint-Saëns1Schumann2Shostakovich5Sibelius7Strauss, Richard1Stravinsky1Tchaikovsky6Walton1Vaughan Williams5

See also Classic 100 Countdowns

References

Official ABC Classic FM Classic 100 Symphony site