This piece is (and has been for quite some time) my favorite musical work. My favorite parts include: (1) the first fermata, which just feels like a leisurely sigh of relief, and it very nicely sets the pastoral/parkland scene; (2) the building sections in movement 1 where a duple melody in the violin 1 and flutes/oboes is overlayed on triple in the violas and cellos; (3) the rolling, gurgling lines of movement 2, reminiscent of the stream this movement represents; (4) as a hornist, I must admit how much I biasedly like how many points in this movement are horn-centric (notably the 1 solo and the soli with the bassoons); (5) the recurring oboe solos with the descending bassoon bell tones over the dancing strings; (6) the horn solo at the start of movement 5; (7) the melody of movement 5 in general, which is my favorite melody ever; (8) the very end of the piece, which to me ensonifies a final moment of gratitude for the passing of the storm—a perfect callback to the sigh that began the symphony.

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My second favorite symphony after Beethoven's 6th. While I do find some of the melodies to be not my favorite, Maslanka's way of composing for wind ensemble is truly like nobody else's. The saxophone soli and end of movement 2 especially are some of my favorite sections in all of music that I've heard. Maslanka also has a way of bringing out and mixing colors in truly unique ways, almost reminiscent to me of Grainger and (L.) Boulanger's (though not in concert band) compositions, especially with his scrumptious usage of the soprano saxophone.

My favorite minimalist work. I can't imagine the complexity that goes into learning and rehearsing it, let alone memorizing the full 1+ hour of it. The shifts between the tambres of the 4 parts are executed perfectly, and the whole thing is quite the experience to listen to.

Oh boy where do I even start on this one? The 1st, 2nd, and 4th movements are fun, and especially the 2nd is extremely enjoyable to listen to (as its entitling "Gay but Whistful" would suggest), but the 3rd movement is a absolute masterpiece. This movement alone holds most of the (in my opinion) best-built musical tambres that I have ever heard. The way all the parts and solo/soli lines dovetail and fade into one another creates this melting, suspended-in-fluid feeling throughout the piece. The listener feels adrift in some huge body of water, where in one moment they may be immersed in a soothing steel marimba/piano/muted string soundscape with winds floating above, and the next struck by harsh, high range piano, harp, and celeste drifting further and further away from the tonic drone still being held by the same steel marimba as before. Going further with my body of water analogy, there's even a section marked flowingly, featuring rippling winds, long runs/glisses, and accelerating descending lines throughout, evoking mental imagery of waves in a great ocean. The great loud climax at measure 69 especially stands out to me with rippling piano/harp/celeste combinations reaching up until they crest into the air, different lines in the rest of the orchestra fighting for melodic dominance, and an overwhelmingly loud original entrance, until suddenly it just calms down. The runs soften and quiet, and the entire mood becomes much more tranquil. I don't want to make this section too long, so I'll just mention two additional sections: the muted horn solis near the end. The "very feelingly"-marked section featuring a slow, swelling line all over a melting non-rhythmically aligned steel marimba creates a very soft, beautiful lontano passage. After two other similarly beautiful passages, the piece is capped off with another horn soli, opening with just a harp harmonic and muted horn 1, before the other horns join in (also muted) and give us this divine descending, swelling line, followed up with a mallet-struck piano to end the piece. Goosebumps.

The general mocking nature of this symphony makes it fun to begin with, but the main reason I include it as one of my favorites is because it includes my favorite musical tambre ever: the (suspendd) cymbal/trumpet/viola/cello combination in the 4th movement.