#ClassicsaDay #Curseofthe9th Week 2

This month the Classics a Day team takes on the "Curse of the 9th." Beethoven wrote his ninth symphony and died. Since then, the Curse of the Ninth has circulated through the classical music world. Mahler sincerely believed in it. He wrote nine numbered symphonies and died. As did Bruckner, Schubert, Dvorak, and Vaughan Williams. 

But how real is the curse? The Classics a Day team challenges folks to post Symphony No. 10s by composers who followed Beethoven.

And it turns out there are quite a lot of them. 

Here are my posts for the second week of #Curseofthe9th.

10/09/23 Leif Segerstam (born 1944): Symphony No. 11

There's no stopping this Finnish composer. He composed his 9th symphony in 1984 at age 30. Currently, he has 352 symphonies in his catalog. Not all of his works have been recorded -- No. 11 was the lowest number (after 9) available.

 

10/10/23 Henry Cowell (1897–1965): Symphony No. 10

This American composer finished his 9th symphony in 1953. Experiencing no ill effects, he went on to compose 11 more symphonies (a 21st exists only as sketches). He also wrote a Sinfonietta for chamber orchestra (1928) and an incomplete Symphonic Sketch (1943).

 

10/11/23 Edmund Rubbra (1901-1986): Symphony No. 10, Op. 145 "Sinfonia da camera"

This British composer wrote his 9th symphony in 1971. In the remaining 15 years of his life, he would compose two more, plus several other orchestral works.

 

10/12/23 Eduard Tubin (1905-1982): Symphony No. 10

This Estonian wrote his 9th symphony in 1969. He completed his 10th four years later. He had almost completed the first movement of his 11th symphony when he died.

 

10/13/23 Janis Ivanovs (1906-1983): Symphony No. 10

The Curse of the 9th meant nothing to this Latvian composer. He finished his 9th symphony in 1960, his 10th three years later, and was working on his 21st symphony when he died.