Beethoven wrote 9 symphonies. Mozart’s are numbered up to 41, and the true count is about 50. Haydn wrote 106. The numbers differ so much because a symphony in Haydn’s day was a short piece written as part of a job. By Beethoven’s time, it had become a composer’s biggest statement.
The count for 16 composers
| Composer | Symphonies | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Haydn | 106 | Numbered 1 to 104, plus two early ones found later |
| Mozart | About 50 | Numbered up to 41 |
| Beethoven | 9 | |
| Schubert | 7 finished | Plus the famous “Unfinished” |
| Mendelssohn | 5 | Plus a set for strings that he wrote as a boy |
| Schumann | 4 | |
| Brahms | 4 | |
| Tchaikovsky | 6 | Plus one with a title and no number |
| Dvořák | 9 | |
| Mahler | 9 | He left a tenth unfinished |
| Sibelius | 7 | |
| Florence Price | 4 | One is lost |
| Shostakovich | 15 | |
| Bach | 0 | The symphony had not yet taken shape |
| Chopin | 0 | He wrote almost all his music for the piano |
| Debussy | 0 | He wrote other kinds of pieces for orchestra |
Why did Haydn write so many?
Haydn worked for a prince for close to 30 years. The prince kept a private orchestra and wanted new music all the time. Writing symphonies was part of Haydn’s job.
His early symphonies are short. Many last 15 minutes or less and need about 20 players.
People call Haydn “the father of the symphony.” He did not invent it. He did more than anyone to turn it into the four-part form that later composers used. Read Haydn for kids.
Why is Mozart’s number unclear?
The numbers 1 to 41 were given to Mozart’s symphonies long after he died. Since then, scholars have learned more.
- A few of the numbered ones turned out to be by other composers. Mozart had copied them out by hand, and that fooled people.
- Some early symphonies were found after the numbers were fixed.
So lists today count about 50. The last three, numbers 39, 40, and 41, are the most played. He wrote all three in the summer of 1788. Read Mozart for kids.
Why did Beethoven write only nine?
Beethoven did not have a prince to write for every week. He earned his living from concerts, publishers, and wealthy supporters. He could take his time.
He made each symphony larger and more personal than the one before. His first lasts under half an hour. His ninth lasts over an hour and adds a choir. He spent years on some of them. Read Beethoven for kids.
The nine symphonies at a glance
| Number | Nickname | Known for |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | A bright start in the style of Haydn | |
| 2 | Written as his hearing began to fail | |
| 3 | “Eroica” | A hero’s symphony, with a funeral march |
| 4 | Light and quick | |
| 5 | The four-note opening | |
| 6 | “Pastoral” | A day in the country, with birds and a storm |
| 7 | Strong dance rhythms | |
| 8 | Short and full of jokes | |
| 9 | “Choral” | The “Ode to Joy” |
The curse of the ninth
After Beethoven, a superstition grew among composers. It said that a composer would die after writing a ninth symphony. Schubert, Dvořák, and Mahler all stopped at nine.
Mahler is said to have tried to dodge the curse. He wrote a symphony with singers and gave it a title in place of a number. Then he wrote his ninth. He died while working on his tenth.
It is only a superstition. Shostakovich wrote 15.
Who wrote the most?
Haydn’s 106 is the most by any famous composer. A Finnish composer and conductor named Leif Segerstam, who died in 2024, wrote more than 300.
Where to start
- Haydn: Symphony No. 94, “Surprise.” Read the Surprise Symphony listening guide.
- Mozart: Symphony No. 40, first movement. Read the Symphony No. 40 listening guide.
- Beethoven: Symphony No. 5, first movement. Read the Symphony No. 5 listening guide.
Things to do together
Short and long. Play the first minute of Haydn’s Symphony No. 1 and the first minute of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9. Ask which one sounds bigger, and why.
Chart it. Draw a bar chart of the table above. Haydn’s bar will need a long sheet of paper.
Number hunt. Look at a concert program or a playlist. Find a symphony and read its number out loud.
Print and play
See when each composer lived on the composer timeline. To learn what a symphony is, read symphony, concerto, and sonata explained for kids and what is a movement in classical music.
For more composers by era, see classical composers for kids.
More from this guide
This article is part of Classical composers for kids: a guide by era, from Vivaldi to Britten.
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Use it with your kids
Print a listening page, a practice chart, or a composer fact sheet. Or try a tool, such as the composer timeline or the piece picker.