Curse of the 4th?

DriveYourCarDownToTheSea · 04-12-2023, 05:02 PM

Much has been made of composers who wrote 9 symphonies only to bite the dust afterwards, starting with Beethoven. It became known as "the Curse of the 9th."

But in my extensive explorations of Classical music, it seems there are at least as many composers who wrote FOUR symphonies, and then bit the dust. Here are some I'm aware of.

Johannes Brahms (the best known of these)
Franz Schmidt
Albert Roussel
Georges Onslow
Étienne Méhul (completed 4, partially completed 1st movement of 5th)
Albéric Magnard

I know I'm missing some, I'll add more later. If you know of any please add them here.

DriveYourCarDownToTheSea · 04-12-2023, 07:51 PM

Franz Berwald
Charles Ives (though he had an incomplete 5th symphony he was going to call the "Universe Symphony")
Witold Lutosławski
James MacMillan
Robert Schumann
Karol Szymanowski
Michael Tippett

Pet_Sounds · 04-12-2023, 09:58 PM

I wonder how much of this can be attributed to the Law of Small Numbers

Berlioz also wrote four symphonies before biting the dust (if you count all four of them as symphonies...)

tinadawson · 12-17-2023, 02:02 AM

So interesting, I have never heard about it. Need to investigate it more. Thanks!

04-12-2023, 05:02 PM	#1 (permalink)
DriveYourCarDownToTheSea AllTheWhileYouChargeAFee Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: Kansas City Posts: 1,187	Curse of the 4th? Much has been made of composers who wrote 9 symphonies only to bite the dust afterwards, starting with Beethoven. It became known as "the Curse of the 9th." But in my extensive explorations of Classical music, it seems there are at least as many composers who wrote *FOUR* symphonies, and then bit the dust. Here are some I'm aware of. Johannes Brahms (the best known of these) Franz Schmidt Albert Roussel Georges Onslow Étienne Méhul (completed 4, partially completed 1st movement of 5th) Albéric Magnard I know I'm missing some, I'll add more later. If you know of any please add them here. __________________ Stop and find a pretty shell for her Beach Boys vs Beatles comparisons begin here Last edited by DriveYourCarDownToTheSea; 04-12-2023 at 07:49 PM.

04-12-2023, 07:51 PM	#2 (permalink)
DriveYourCarDownToTheSea AllTheWhileYouChargeAFee Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: Kansas City Posts: 1,187	Franz Berwald Charles Ives (though he had an incomplete 5th symphony he was going to call the "Universe Symphony") Witold Lutosławski James MacMillan Robert Schumann Karol Szymanowski Michael Tippett __________________ Stop and find a pretty shell for her Beach Boys vs Beatles comparisons begin here

04-12-2023, 09:58 PM	#3 (permalink)
Pet_Sounds Remember the underscore Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: The other side Posts: 2,488	I wonder how much of this can be attributed to the Law of Small Numbers Berlioz also wrote four symphonies before biting the dust (if you count all four of them as symphonies...) __________________ Everybody's dying just to get the disease

12-17-2023, 02:02 AM	#4 (permalink)
tinadawson Groupie Join Date: Nov 2023 Posts: 21	So interesting, I have never heard about it. Need to investigate it more. Thanks!