Ludwig van
Beethoven
A Listing of Complete Beethoven Symphony Sets on CD or SACD, with Timings for Every Movement of Every Cycle.
Thank you for visiting Beethoven.is, a website dedicated to complete recordings of Ludwig van Beethoven's nine symphonies released on CD or SACD.
Beethoven's symphonies occupy a unique place in the history of Western classical music, and their recorded legacy is extraordinarily rich. Over the past century, generations of conductors and orchestras have approached these works from widely differing musical perspectives, leaving behind an extensive and fascinating record of changing interpretative traditions.
The aim of Beethoven.is is to bring together as many complete recorded cycles as possible in a single, accessible catalogue. Drawing on my own collection and a wide range of published and online sources, I have sought to identify and document recordings spanning the history of the gramophone, from the earliest complete cycles to contemporary interpretations.
The catalogue is arranged alphabetically by conductor's surname and includes recording dates, orchestras, record labels and detailed movement-by-movement timings. Visitors can explore individual cycles, compare recordings and examine differences in duration across conductors, orchestras and historical periods. The website also provides information on repeats in Beethoven's symphonies, statistical overviews of recorded performances and my personal selection of 14 particularly outstanding complete cycles.
Although the catalogue is extensive, it is not exhaustive. Further recordings undoubtedly remain to be identified, particularly those that have long been out of print. I would therefore be grateful for information about missing cycles, as well as corrections or additional details concerning existing entries.
The catalogue is restricted to complete cycles released on CD or SACD. Recordings available exclusively on LP, DVD, Blu-ray or as digital downloads are not included.
A separate Methodology page explains the criteria for inclusion, the sources used, the treatment of recording dates and reissues, and the principles underlying the timing comparisons and statistical charts.
I hope Beethoven.is will prove a useful resource for collectors, musicians, researchers and anyone interested in the extraordinary recorded history of Beethoven's symphonies.
How long does Beethoven take?
Every dot is one complete cycle, placed by the year it was recorded and the time it takes to play all nine symphonies.
between the shortest cycle, Felix Weingartner (5 h 7 min), and the longest, Takashi Asahina (6 h 55 min). The median has barely moved in a century: 5 h 44 min before 1970, 5 h 44 min since 2000.
Explore the timings →How the charts are calculated
All timings come unchanged from the editor’s track listings. Each dot is one recording, placed at its recording year; where a cycle was recorded over several years the dot sits at the midpoint of that span.
The line is the running median: for every year, the middle value of all recordings made within six years either side, shown only where at least twelve recordings fall in that window, then lightly smoothed. The band covers the middle half of those recordings (25th to 75th percentile). Recordings with unknown dates are left out of the chart but kept in the tables.