Who is your favorite classical composer?

no_name · Post by **no_name** » Tue Dec 20, 2011 9:34 pm

Look up and see!

Toons · Post by **Toons** » Tue Dec 20, 2011 9:37 pm

Frédéric Chopin

redymed · Post by **redymed** » Tue Dec 20, 2011 10:00 pm

Schumann

V572625694 · Post by **V572625694** » Tue Dec 20, 2011 10:02 pm

Mozart

Mr. Gatti · Post by **Mr. Gatti** » Tue Dec 20, 2011 10:04 pm

Mozart

bob90245 · Post by **bob90245** » Tue Dec 20, 2011 10:10 pm

I have a few favorites. Dvořák. With Rachmaninoff as a close second.

BachFan · Post by **BachFan** » Tue Dec 20, 2011 10:11 pm

J.S Bach - Primus inter pares – first among peers.

Steelersfan · Post by **Steelersfan** » Tue Dec 20, 2011 10:33 pm

1. Mozart
2. Beethovan
3. Mahler

But Rachmaninov's " Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini" is my single favorite piece.

evancox10 · Post by **evancox10** » Tue Dec 20, 2011 10:35 pm

Definitely Dvořák!

jmr1948 · Post by **jmr1948** » Tue Dec 20, 2011 10:41 pm

1) Beethoven, easily. been doing a close listening of the late quartets. No one else comes close.
2) Tie between Mozart and Bach who, among other things, made Beethoven possible.
4) Wagner ... the only person to meaningfully go beyond Beethoven (but you have to suck it up and actually watch/listen to Tristan and the Ring Cycle to experience that transcendence)
5) Tie between Brahms, Chopin and Schubert (greatest in period between Beethoven and Wagner)

555 · Post by **555** » Tue Dec 20, 2011 10:57 pm

Brahms

dgm · Post by **dgm** » Tue Dec 20, 2011 10:58 pm

beethoven
tschaikovsky
rachmaninoff

nimo956 · Post by **nimo956** » Tue Dec 20, 2011 10:58 pm

Here is a list of my favorite composers, and as difficult as it is, I'll try to pick out a favorite piece for each:

1. Rachmaninoff- Piano Concerto No. 2
2. Ravel- Piano Concerto in G
3. Brahms- Symphony No. 3
4. Chopin- Ballade No. 1
5. Sibelius- The Swan of Tuonela
6. Bach- Toccata in C minor

Prokofiev · Post by **Prokofiev** » Tue Dec 20, 2011 11:07 pm

No opinion.

Fallible · Post by **Fallible** » Tue Dec 20, 2011 11:13 pm

Beethoven, ever since I first heard the Minuet in G in grade school and started humming it as best I could remember it. Umpteen years later, while my musically-inclined friends are into mostly Mozart, I'm into everything Beethoven.

dgm · Post by **dgm** » Tue Dec 20, 2011 11:33 pm

Prokofiev wrote:No opinion.

lol

magician · Post by **magician** » Tue Dec 20, 2011 11:39 pm

J. S. Bach
Mozart
Beethoven

(Last week I saw an ad for a 7-year-old, grey, Arabian gelding named Beythoven; I phoned but they'd already accepted an offer on him. Rats!)

madbrain · Post by **madbrain** » Tue Dec 20, 2011 11:42 pm

Technically he is a baroque composer, but definitely J.S. Bach for me.
My favorite works of his are the Goldberg variations, which I have been learning to play on piano and harpsichord.
Most of his works are exceptional, though, it's very hard to find anything he wrote that's average.

GregLee · Post by **GregLee** » Wed Dec 21, 2011 12:44 am

Debussy. Here is his Golliwogg's Cakewalk, played by Debussy himself (recorded on a piano roll):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMrdhgWR9Zk

555 · Post by **555** » Wed Dec 21, 2011 1:15 am

Prokofiev wrote:No opinion.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphony_No._1_(Prokofiev)

bertilak · Post by **bertilak** » Wed Dec 21, 2011 6:00 am

Depends on my mood, but most generally Beethoven.

Kenkat · Post by **Kenkat** » Wed Dec 21, 2011 7:48 am

It is a tough call but I would go with Beethoven. I don't think anyone can match the raw power and emotion in his music.

My favorite American classical composer is Aaron Copland.

FabLab · Post by **FabLab** » Wed Dec 21, 2011 7:55 am

J.S. Bach

Regal 56 · Post by **Regal 56** » Wed Dec 21, 2011 8:06 am

Don't want to pick a favorite, but I know the world would be a tad more dreary without Haydn.

randomwalk · Post by **randomwalk** » Wed Dec 21, 2011 8:33 am

J.S. Bach

dumbmoney · Post by **dumbmoney** » Wed Dec 21, 2011 8:52 am

Those of you who like the more prolific composers are fortunate. I seldom listen to my favorite (Samuel Barber), since I don't want to ruin the magic by overplaying.

rdmayo21 · Post by **rdmayo21** » Wed Dec 21, 2011 9:02 am

Mahler

gkaplan · Post by **gkaplan** » Wed Dec 21, 2011 9:05 am

Just off the top of my head, in alphabetical order, with no limits:

Bach
Beethoven
Brahms
Handel
Mahler
Mendelssohn
Mozart
Puccini
Rachmaninoff
Shostakovich
Sibelius
Tchaikovsky
Verdi

drewmo · Post by **drewmo** » Wed Dec 21, 2011 9:17 am

JS Bach, Mozart, Debussy, Berlioz, Chopin, Strauss (all of them), Rachmaninoff, Ravel, Poulenc, Joaquin Rodrigo, Piazzolla, Beethoven.... I could go on...

Midpack · Post by **Midpack** » Wed Dec 21, 2011 9:19 am

Picking one is impossible, prob Beethoven if pressed. All my favs have already been mentioned except one, added below:

Beethoven
Brahms
Handel
Haydn
Mozart
Prokofiev
Sibelius
Tchaikovsky
Vivaldi

nisiprius · Post by **nisiprius** » Wed Dec 21, 2011 9:47 am

Oh, hard to pick one. Tends to depend on what I haven't heard for a while, suddenly a piece of music will go through my head and I'll say, gee, I'd like to hear it. And of course there are a number of "one-hit wonders," that I can't really call a favorite composer because they just have a one or a handful of works that I love.

Composers I love multiple works of and from time to time will go looking for another if there are any:
Dvorak, Beethoven, Borodin, Gershwin if he counts, Rimsky-Korsakov, Prokofiev.

One-hit wonders: Bruch's Scottish Fantasy and Violin Concerto. Hanson, Symphony #2 and Song of Democracy. Yeah, Honegger, Pacific 231. Yeah, Barber's Adagio for Strings.

Now, here's something offbeat perhaps. The marches of John Philip Sousa, the waltzes of Johann Strauss, and the whatchamacallits of Leroy Anderson. I find them all similar, in a way. What's similar is that they are short, accessible, tuneful, hummable, and popular hits of their day... yet they are complex, layered, beautifully orchestrated, exquisitely crafted, and if they do not count as classical, they use pretty much use every bit of the classical music vocabulary. The number of tunes Strauss uses for one short waltz would provide enough thematic material for a symphony.

I'm particularly fond of Sousa's "The Invincible Eagle," particularly one little bit, don't know the name for the structural part of it, maybe it's the "trio" or third part: about a minute and a half in, there's this a sweet, wistful little tune, then a big brassy thing that swings into an incredibly complicated modulation... the first time I heard it I felt literally transported, as if Sousa had picked me up out of my chair and transported me "on wings of song" about a half a mile in fifteen seconds. And, unless it has become hackneyed by thousands of repetitions... honestly, in your heart... don't you think the piccolo solo in "The Stars and Stripes Forever" is one of the great musical moments of all time?

P.S. Darn, wish I could remember the name of a book. There's a book that analyzes popularity cycles in classical music. Despite the Victorian notion of classical music as "immortal," classical music has its trends and fashions like anything else, and this book has charts of the number of times various composers and pieces are programmed in symphony orchestra concerts and so forth. One example from my own life. When I was a kid the Beethoven symphony was the fifth, now it seems to me that ninth has overtaken it. (Same for Dvorak but not for the same reason!)

albedo · Post by **albedo** » Wed Dec 21, 2011 10:03 am

"If ever the hand of God has reached into the affairs of man it was to touch the mind of Ludwig van Beethoven." I can't remember where I read this, but it rings true to me.

Midpack · Post by **Midpack** » Wed Dec 21, 2011 10:59 am

albedo wrote:"If ever the hand of God has reached into the affairs of man it was to touch the mind of Ludwig van Beethoven." I can't remember where I read this, but it rings true to me.

Considering he was still composing (Sym #9 etc.) when he was reportedly completely deaf, seemingly so...

natureexplorer · Post by **natureexplorer** » Wed Dec 21, 2011 11:10 am

Eminem

Dave_M · Post by **Dave_M** » Wed Dec 21, 2011 11:20 am

Mussorgsky
Mahler
Dvorak

Van · Post by **Van** » Wed Dec 21, 2011 11:22 am

Buddy Holly

Grt2bOutdoors · Post by **Grt2bOutdoors** » Wed Dec 21, 2011 1:29 pm

Bach
Mozart
Beethoven
Handel
Schumann
Copland
I could keep going.......

chaz · Post by **chaz** » Wed Dec 21, 2011 1:33 pm

Mendelssohn and
Mozart.

dgm · Post by **dgm** » Wed Dec 21, 2011 1:40 pm

albedo wrote:"If ever the hand of God has reached into the affairs of man it was to touch the mind of Ludwig van Beethoven." I can't remember where I read this, but it rings true to me.

you know, i am almost willing to bet this was written by will durant -- the author of history of the world, lessons of history, greatest ideas and minds of all time. its probably from the last book.

his writing--and david swensen's--for some reason is very distinctive to me.

I recognized a forward in a book was written by Swensen before I finished reading it.

nisiprius · Post by **nisiprius** » Wed Dec 21, 2011 1:49 pm

I still haven't figured out what the original poster, jumpin, meant when he said "look up and see." Anyone else figure it out?

rwm · Post by **rwm** » Wed Dec 21, 2011 1:51 pm

Steelersfan wrote:1. Mozart
2. Beethovan
3. Mahler

But Rachmaninov's " Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini" is my single favorite piece.

Hey, great to see the Paganini as favorite. I don't know if I can call it my favorite but it probably had the most profound impact on my musical development. Amazing and beautiful set of variations.

I agree with jmr1948 on Wagner. Many non-opera listeners may under-appreciate his music. The harmonies of Tristan are incredible and way ahead of their time. Try the Sigfried Idyll if you can't get past the singing.

richard · Post by **richard** » Wed Dec 21, 2011 2:05 pm

nisiprius wrote:I still haven't figured out what the original poster, jumpin, meant when he said "look up and see." Anyone else figure it out?

Look up and see the title of the thread

richard · Post by **richard** » Wed Dec 21, 2011 2:06 pm

Chamber music from any of the usual suspects

SP-diceman · Post by **SP-diceman** » Wed Dec 21, 2011 3:06 pm

Whoever wrote the typewriter song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2LJ1i72 ... =fvwp&NR=1

Probably the original:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fxm0TN5WDQI

greenspam · Post by **greenspam** » Wed Dec 21, 2011 4:01 pm

So, an award winning director has decided to make an action film about famous classical music composers brought back to life to go on a dangerous secret mission to save the world. It's going to be an extremely big budget film featuring many major action stars and the director eventually decides that he wants the film to star Jean-Claude Van Damme, Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger. He wants their input on which composer they would like to portray in the film, so he gathers them all together for a meeting.

The Director asks Van Damme, and he says "Oh, I think I'll be Mozart. I've always enjoyed his music, and i played it on the piano as a child."

Then the Director asks Stallone, and he says "Um, I think I'll be Beethoven. But isn't there already a dog movie about him?"

Finally, the Director asks Arnold, and, after a long pause, Arnold glares at the director and slowly grumbles "I'll be Bach." :lol

:peace

JupiterJones · Post by **JupiterJones** » Wed Dec 21, 2011 4:02 pm

That's a toughie.

As far as symphonists go, it's tough to beat Beethoven, with Brahms a very close second, IMHO.

For something like a violin concerto, you can't go wrong with Mendelssohn or Tchaikovsky. Or Vivaldi for that matter.

Baroque anything? Well, J. S. Bach of course.

Quartets? Beehoven again, and Haydn too.

But what if you're looking for an all-rounder? Someone who can blow your mind with a symphony, a concerto, chamber music, opera, an improvised fugue... anything you want to throw at him?

Gotta go with Mozart then.

JJ

brisni · Post by **brisni** » Wed Dec 21, 2011 4:03 pm

Beethoven. The symphonies are one thing, but also listen to range of emotion in the last few piano sonatas (29 through 32).
The second movement of sonata 32 (opus 111) is one of my favorites. He basically invented ragtime.

filmtheory · Post by **filmtheory** » Wed Dec 21, 2011 4:10 pm

Stravinsky, Ravel, Boulez, Schoenberg, Ives, the 20th Century stuff....

Whiggish Boffin · Post by **Whiggish Boffin** » Wed Dec 21, 2011 4:13 pm

SP-diceman: The Typewriter was composed by Leroy Anderson. He also wrote The Syncopated Clock, which I think is used for the Final Jeopardy thinking music.

I favor the Baroque trio of Bach, Handel, & Scarlatti, all born in 1685.

Fallible · Post by **Fallible** » Wed Dec 21, 2011 5:18 pm

nisiprius wrote:I still haven't figured out what the original poster, jumpin, meant when he said "look up and see." Anyone else figure it out?

I also wondered and hope he/she will respond and clear up this intriguing line.

Meanwhile, I thank you Nisiprius for a marvelous post on composers. BTW, I'm also not certain Gershwin "counts" as classical and would be interested to know more about why you questioned that.