Curse of the ninth "serious" music criticism. Though composers can indeed be found who died after achieving nine symphonies (the most famous example perhaps being Ludwig van Beethoven), nine is not a statistically predominant total in the history of the symphony. In addition, while some very prominent composers (e.g. Schubert, Dvořák, Spohr, Bruckner, Mahler, and Vaughan Williams) are regularly adduced as examples, several of them are only credited with having "composed nine symphonies" as a result of error or oversimplification (see below). According to Arnold Schoenberg, this superstition began with Gustav Mahler, who, after writing his Eighth Symphony, wrote "Das Lied von der Erde",
Symphony No. 3 (Beethoven) Symphony No. 3 (Beethoven) The Symphony No. 3 in E major, Op. 55, (also Italian Sinfonia Eroica, "Heroic Symphony") is a symphony in four movements by Ludwig van Beethoven. One of the composer's most celebrated works, the "Eroica" symphony is a large-scale composition that marked the beginning of Beethoven's creative middle-period. Composed mainly in 1803–1804, the work is grounded in the Classical symphonic tradition while also stretching boundaries of form, length, harmony, and perceived emotional and possibly cultural content. It has therefore widely been considered an important landmark in the transition between the Classical period and the Romantic era. Symphony