18th Century

Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)

Joseph Haydn is often mentioned to have written 104 symphonies (the last being called as the 'London Symphony'). However, Anthony van Hoboken's list of Haydn symphonies is listing 108 - some of them fragmentary or more or less in a concerto form.

Haydn is considered as the father of this form. It explains why in music literature Haydn has a nickname 'Papa Haydn'. Also Joseph's brother Michael was a composer (now slightly forgotten) with a respectful amount of over 40 known symphonies.

Haydn's number has been generally considered as a 'record', but perhaps surprisingly Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf (1739-1799) apparently wrote more symphonies than Haydn (around 120 symphonies) but is much more lesser known as a composer than Haydn.

Even more unknown aspect is that Czech composer Frantisek Xaver Pokorný (1729-1794) wrote at least 145 symphonies - most of which after his death were attributed to other known composers(!). This amount surpasses greatly the number of Haydn's symphonies.

Karl von Ordoñez (1734-1786)

Karl von Ordonez was an Austrian composer; wrote at least 73 symphonies.Leopold Hofmann (1738-93) is known to have written nearly 70 symphonies.

Giovanni Battista Sammartini (1700/1701-1775)

Giovanni Battista Sammartini wrote amount of over 60 symphonies, stylistically not too far from Haydn. Sammartini was an important early pioneer of the symphony form.

Czech composer Johann Baptist Vanhal (1739-1813) was also an important figure, with over 70 symphonies attributed to him. Another Czech composer Johann Stamitz (1717-1757) was an important early contributor to the Symphony form, although he died at a relatively young age of 39. His works list has 58 symphonies. Johann's son Carl wrote also more than 50 symphonies.

Iganz Holzbauer (1711-1783)

Iganz Holzbauer wrote 69 symphonies. Carl Joseph Toeschi (1731-1788) is not a well-known composer, but wrote at least 66 symphonies. Christian Cannabich (1731-1798) wrote over 60 symphonies - possibly even more.

Czech composer Pavel Vranicky (Paul Wranitzky; 1756-1808) has a list of 51 symphonies.

Francois-Joseph Gossec (1734-1829)

Gossec, who worked in France, wrote over 50 symphonies. Ignaz Pleyel (1757-1831), also very active in France, has a list of 41 known symphonies.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

He needs no introduction. Usually Mozart is reported to have written a total of 41 symphonies. In actual fact, Mozart completed at least 68, sometimes later revising into some other form. Despite this fact 41 are still the ones 'canonized' into his works list.

Carl Friedrich Abel (1723-1787) and Anton Fils (1733-1760)

They wrote over 40 symphonies, little-known Czech composer Fantisek Xaver Dusek (1731-1799) 39 symphonies, and Franz Ignaz Beck (1734-1809) well over 30 symphonies.

Also Italian-Spanish Luigi Boccherini (1743-1805), famous for his Cello concertos, wrote a total of 29 symphonies into his works list.

Also, very notably, Johann Sebastian Bach's sons wrote in total some hundred symphonies; almost 40 by Johann Christian Bach (1735-1782), nearly 30 by Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach (1732-1795) and over 20 by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714-1788).

19th century

By the 19th century symphonies gained more length and wider perspectives. Considering this, only few composers could surpass number 10. Anton Bruckner (1824-1896) was one of them (if his symphonies "No. 0" and No. 00" are counted alongside with his 9 numbered ones). Also Joachim Raff (1822-1882) wrote a total of 11 symphonies but has been somewhat lesser-known figure until late years.

20th and 21st century

More modern times have shown a wider diversity in regard of the symphony form. For some time symphony was considered as a "dead" form. However, in some respects it is still far from becoming extinct!

From better-known 20th century composers Darius Milhaud wrote 12 symphonies (plus few others without number) as well as Brazilian Heitor Villa-Lobos. Also, Dmitry Shostakovich is very well-known of his legendaric 15 symphonies.

From Danish composers Vagn Holmboe completed 13 symphonies, Rued Langgaard 15 symphonies. Another Scandinavian, Allan Pettersson, wrote 17 large scale symphonies.

American composers Roy Harris wrote 15 and Henry Cowell a total of 20 symphonies.

A little-known composer is Romanian philosopher and multi-talent Dimitrie Cuclin (1885-1978) who created own aesthetics for the symphony form. He wrote 20 symphonies, one of which has a duration of 6 hours.

Another Eastern European composer, Latvian Janis Ivanovs (1906-1983) has catalogue of 21 symphonies. Also Nikolai Myaskovsky (1881-1950) wrote more than 20 symphonies, a total number of 27.

British composer Havergal Brian (1876-1972) completed 32 symphonies during his long life.

One composer who has been largely forgotten and neglected also in his native country is Finnish composer Erik Fordell (1917-1981) who wrote massive amount of works - including 44 symphonies.

American-Armenian Alan Hovhaness (1911-2000) was an extremely profilic contemporary symphonist. His output contains 67 numbered symphonies, and he is often mentioned as the person who revived symphony back into the 21st century.

The composer with the highest number of symphonies (upto today) is not from the classic period but comes from the contemporary scene.  Well-known Finnish conductor Leif Segerstam was born in 1944. But he is also a lively composer. In September 2008 the amount of his completed symphonies has already surpassed number 210.

This work seems to be one of the favorites of Mozart, the writer of the opera. He attended several of the first performances with some of his friends.

The masterpiece's story revolves around Pamina, who was the daughter of the Queen of the Night, and Tamino, who had been sent by Pamina's mother to rescue Pamina from Sarastro. Sarastro was a messenger sent by Isis and Osiris to take Pamina to the temple to be free from her mother's influence.

The couple deeply desire to be together, which is the crux of the story. Their attempts to be reconciled make up the major elements of this opera.

A few other colorful characters include some priests, some armored men, an older woman and three boys who assist the couple.

This opera differs from so many because it is a positive and inspirational story.

For example, one of Mozart’s well known modes of composition was imitating sounds. Since childhood, he had the gift of capturing various sounds from his daily life or environment, and later incorporated them into his compositions. Beethoven, meanwhile, took every single note seriously. He endlessly wrote drafts of his compositions, edited and reedited them, similar to a man building a structure one stone upon another. Aside from his actual compositions that came out to the general public and became part of history, his works have dozens of different variations. Lots of people are unaware that these same compositions first evolved from different themes, revisions and variations before becoming a masterpiece.

I believe that without an understanding of the art and architecture of the Classical and Romantic periods, we will not fully understand the extent of their music also. The truth is, the art and architectural styles of the time heavily impacted the way composers created their music during that period. Mozart, Hayden, Beethoven and other great composers were molded by the overall progress of the society in which they lived in. The works of Classical and Romantic composers were simply products of the flourish of creativity and expression of that particular time in history. Art and architecture bloomed alongside music.

For me, music and art are just two separate modes of expression, and they reflect each other. So if we never had an idea about the art and architecture of the Classical and Romantic periods, or if such information never came to us, we wouldn’'t have the same perception of their music as we have now.

There is indeed a true relationship between the musical styles and artistic styles of the Classical and Romantic periods. The common thing between the musical styles and artistic styles was that they both mirrored the advancements of their age. In the same way that the rock and pop music of our day heavily reflect the kind of society we live in, so did Beethoven, Mozart and other composers mirrored and demonstrated the creative advancement of their era. By doing so, they left a mark on history which can never be erased.

This musical instrument originated from the indigenous peoples coming from the northern part of Australia. It is called a “didgeridoo”. It was first created using the trunk of a eucalyptus tree which had had its inner plant cells completely eaten by the ants, so that it would create a mysterious buzzing sound when blowing through it. Most musical scholars believe that this is the most ancient musical instrument. Its origin can be tracked back to nearly 40,000 years ago.

When blowing through this instrument, one trembles the lips and mouth in order to make the traditional sounds. Its sound brings to mind an in-depth resonance of the earth if it is played properly. Modern research has revealed that blowing through this instrument can help in the treatment of snoring and shortness of breathe, as it is found to be very useful when used to exercise the related respiratory muscles.

Glass Piano

This odd musical instrument was invented by Benjamin Franklin in 1761. He once declared: “In all my inventions, this glass piano satisfied me a lot.” He had the idea to invent this instrument when he found that friction at the mouth of the glass bottle with water inside it could create some unusual musical sounds. Franklin then took advantage of this principle by inventing a glass bottle that could be rotated by his legs while he used moist hands to "play" the bottles, creating unique musical sounds. It is alleged that Mozart liked this type of instrument so much that he specifically composed two songs for the glass piano.

Tsabouna

This instrument was invented by Greek shepherds about 2000 years ago and is made with goat's skin. It shrinks to become a flat mat when it is not inflated, but when blowing through it, it will expand to its full size. It has a short tube used to play with the mouth, while the other part is a wider tube with holes for the fingers. Unique melodies and musical tones are created when playing this traditional instrument.

Hand Drum

Eight years ago, the Swiss invented this unusual instrument whose outer appearance somehow resembles a strange UFO flying saucer. It is made of metal and the sound is created when the fingers and palms are used to hit percussively against the instrument. Its tone can change in accordance with the force of the hands. Some have said that this instrument can sound like an additional performer on the stage.

Bonang

This is one of the legendary Java musical instruments said to have been invented by the Sang Hyang guru 230 years ago. This instrument is played by hitting two rows of alternately arranged and tuned drums with each drum creating the different musical notes. The sound of these drums are somewhat similar to bells or chimes.

It seems to me that rap and hip hop have made their way into a lot of formerly "traditional" styles of music, such as rock, R&B, funk, and EVEN COUNTRY! Now, I know that music changes over the years, for instance: Pearl Jam or Eve 6 probably wouldn't go over too well in James Brown's time. (I Feel Good knowing that). (Get it?). I think it's unfortunately becoming a reality that musicians are forgetting the early stuff. Just because it's "old school," doesn't make it bad.

It's like Mike Tyson. He may not be the number one boxer today, but I would be pretty sure the average guy wouldn't last long in the ring with him. The same goes for music. Take a piano player like Art Tatum. He was so good, he was often accused of sounding like there were two sets of hands playing. Even some of today's best players can't play Art Tatum's stuff. In fact, a lot of really good players today, haven't even heard of him.(If you really like jazz piano he's the man).

I'm shocked at how many people (especially kids), don't know-and don't care about where the music they listen to came from. For example, what we would call "classical" music Bach and Mozart would have most likely considered "hip" in their day. ( Those two would have been the "hippest"). Then you have rag time and jazz, which were borrowed from classical; blues and swing borowed from jazz; country, rock, funk, and disco borrowed from blues. How did rap get in there? I would think rap is more like poetry or a writing style than music.

Whatever happened to straight forward blues? Or straight forward rock and roll; or sraight forward country. (And so on).

Then there is the lifestyle associated with the music. Just because a person listens to classical, doesn't mean they have to be an "Ivy League snob." If a person listens to hip hop and rap, does that mean they have to become a violent, drive- by shooting thug? I don't think so. How about country? Does that mean you are automatically a redneck; or you have to be a drunk; or drive a beat up truck. Does that mean that you live on a farm?(I know people who wouldn' know what a tractor even looks like). If you are a rock listener, does that make you a drug addict just because you like Pink Floydd?

Whatever happened to the blues? Three chords, a good beat, and raw instruments like piano, guitar, organ, and maybe a little clav thrown in?

Let' appreciate the art of the many forms of music, and not the lifestyle attached to it. I hope I struck a note here.