# What is Your List of Personal Core Composers?



## 20centrfuge (Apr 13, 2007)

I'm always making lists. I love lists. The crux of this list is:

*WHO ARE THE COMPOSERS WHOSE MUSIC MOST SPEAKS TO YOUR CORE? *This is different than a list of best or greatest composers. At least my list of greatest wouldn't be identical to those who most speak to my soul. I guess you could say it's a list of favorites, though that sounds a little more trivial. 

Anyhoo, my CORE TWELVE (descending birth order) are:

Davies, Adams, Chin, Bartok, Prokofiev, Hindemith, Messaien, Barber, Fauré, Elgar, Debussy, Sibelius

*WHAT WOULD YOUR LIST BE?*


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## mmsbls (Mar 6, 2011)

Well, my list would have a large overlap with those that generally occupy the top of "greatest" lists.

Mozart
Beethoven
Bach
Brahms
Wagner
Vivaldi
Mendelssohn
Schubert
Tchaikovsky
Mahler
Dvorak
Haydn

I think there are particular pieces by composers who would be much lower on "greatest" lists that I adore quite highly, but for composers, my list is fairly tame.


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## TwoFlutesOneTrumpet (Aug 31, 2011)

Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Bruckner, Chopin, Dvorak, Haydn, Mahler, Prokofiev, Sibelius, Shostakovich, Stravinsky (Mozart just misses the list) ... and of course I could include Schubert, I mean he could easily replace Stravinsky in my original list ... lists are hard.


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## Plague (Apr 4, 2020)

My personal list, in birth order:

Zelenka, Scarlatti, Mozart, Onslow, Brahms, Wagner, Bruckner, Mahler, R.Strauss, Janacek, Shostakovich

Bach and Beethoven are among my favorite composers, but I don't feel their styles speak to me personally like the above composers do, so they are not included. Maybe some day I'll add Berlioz and a few more late romantic composers to the list.


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## Allegro Con Brio (Jan 3, 2020)

In order: Bach, Sibelius, Schubert, Brahms, Chopin, Mahler, Messiaen. I think these are the composers that seem to speak to me most intimately.


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

My Core 12:

Bach
Berlioz
Chopin
Handel
Haydn
Mahler
Mozart
Myaskovsky
Scriabin
Shostakovich
Weinberg
Zemlinsky


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

My Top 25 are:

1	Bach
2	Brahms
3	Stravinsky
4	Debussy
5	Liszt	
6	Duruflé
7	Schumann	
8	Machaut
9	Beethoven
10	Ravel	
11	Poulenc
12	Palestrina
13	Schoeck
14	Weinberg
15	Feldman
16	Carter
17	Bernstein
18	Satie
19	Fauré 
20	Webern
21	Golijov
22	Wellesz
23	Dufay
24	Ockeghem
25	Meyer, Krzysztof 

But to be honest, it is always changing, although the first 10 names remain almost exactly the same except for Beethoven. He seems to lose his place more often than any of the others.


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## Highwayman (Jul 16, 2018)

In an order:

Brahms
Schumann
Fauré
Dvořák
Schubert
Reger
Medtner
Stanford
Parry
Mendelssohn
Saygun
Vierne

This list rarely coincides with the lists of the greatest/favourite composers.


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## Fredrikalansson (Jan 29, 2019)

I refer to some composers as "companion" composers in that their music almost immediately touched me at my emotional, spiritual and intellectual "core", and has continued to do so uninterrupted for the past 50 years. 

I have only five:
Thomas Tallis 
Claudio Monteverdi
Hector Berlioz
Bohuslav Martinu
Ralph Vaughan-Williams


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

*What is Your List of Personal Core Composers?*



20centrfuge said:


> ...
> 
> *WHO ARE THE COMPOSERS WHOSE MUSIC MOST SPEAKS TO YOUR CORE? *This is different than a list of best or greatest composers. At least my list of greatest wouldn't be identical to those who most speak to my soul. I guess you could say it's a list of favorites, though that sounds a little more trivial. ...


I sheepishly confront the notion that the list of composers who speak most to my core would be folks on the lines of The Beatles, CCR, Jefferson Airplane, Grand Funk, Cream ... and several others. Though I remain respectful to the artistry of those aforementioned (and to whose music I still turn with regular frequency) I feel fortunate that my core has been reshaped.

It's not so much that Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Brahms, Mahler, Puccini and Schoenberg speak so loudly to my core, it's rather that the core I currently possess has been irrevocably reshaped by these masters (and others, including Miles Davis, Cole Porter, Thelonious Monk, Bessie Smith, Antonio Carlos Jobim) that I have become an altered sensibility. And I'm thankful for that.

I know many of my generation who have seemingly never stepped away from that initial core of youth and whose musical (and larger _artistic_) tastes have not grown much over the decades. I feel nothing short of delight to understand that my core being is determinant upon so many artistic consciousnesses who have touched my "soul" these several decades and who have taken me beyond the simple joys of The Beatles, CCR, Jefferson Airplane, Grand Funk, Cream ... and others, and have led me into a world of more difficult pleasures yet ultimately so much more satisfying pleasures.

It is definitely the experience of Plato's cave dweller, who is eventually forced away from the dark shadowy wall and prodded up the steep, rugged incline to the outside world of sunlight.

I've long agreed with Charles Ives's conjecture that most people listen to music with their feet. I appreciate that I may have lifted a bit to now listen not only with my ears but also with my brain (intellectually and emotionally) as well.

Perhaps we are, as someone suggested, _what we eat_. I feel that I am much so _what art I've absorbed_ over a lifetime.

So, with those notions in mind, I refuse to further confront this question.


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## BrahmsWasAGreatMelodist (Jan 13, 2019)

The core? Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms. Favorites is a different question altogether, though I might give you the same answer.


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## ORigel (May 7, 2020)

The composers that make up my core repertoire are:

1. Beethoven (esp. Late)
2. Bach (mostly his greatest works)
3. Brahms 
4. Haydn
5. Bartok (I have almost all of his works)

The composers whose music speaks to my emotional core are:

1. Beethoven (Late stuff plus Razumovskies and symphonies)
2. Bach (mostly his greatest works)
3. Brahms
4. Bruckner 
5. Schubert (his chamber works)
6. Dvorak (his melodies resonate with me)
7. Haydn (the quintessential Classical Era composer
8. Bartok
9. Mozart (I have a sort of resistance to his music, but he is the most subtle of composers)


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## MatthewWeflen (Jan 24, 2019)

"Core":
Beethoven
Sibelius
Brahms

Greatly Admired:
R. Strauss
Tchaikovsky
Mendelssohn
Haydn
Schubert

Enjoyed (I am certainly missing composers in this non-exhaustive list):
Mozart
Copland
Bruckner
Schumann
Shostakovich
Nielsen
Grieg
Rossini
Wagner
Holst
Vivaldi

Still working on appreciating:
Bach
Mahler


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## chu42 (Aug 14, 2018)

Core: Schumann, Brahms, Bartok, Ives, Sibelius, Scriabin, 

Core periphery: Beethoven, Bach, Mozart, Mahler, Verdi, Wagner, Prokofiev, Rachmaninov, Shostakovich, Stravinsky, Haydn, Schubert, Ravel

Casual enjoyment: Liszt, Chopin, Tchaikovsky, Mendelssohn, Debussy

Many more I can't sort at the moment


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## MusicSybarite (Aug 17, 2017)

I consider these composers whose music I feel that speaks more straight to my soul and I feel identified with:

Beethoven
Nielsen
Shostakovich
Schubert
Strauss
Janacek
Dvorak
Tchaikovsky
Brahms
Vaughan Williams
Sibelius


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## Ethereality (Apr 6, 2019)

Core connection?

7:01-7:23

10:10-11:15

12:18-12:42


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## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

Wagner, Mahler, Dowland, Shostakovich, Britten, R. Strauss, Schubert, Puccini, Nielsen, Beethoven, Haydn and Chopin.


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## Kilgore Trout (Feb 26, 2014)

20centrfuge said:


> Davies, Adams, Chin, Bartok, Prokofiev, Hindemith, Messaien, Barber, Fauré, Elgar, Debussy, Sibelius


Tansy Davies?

For me: Ives, Szymanowski, Dean, Xenakis, Kagel, Hartmann, Koechlin, Debussy, Schnittke, Weinberg, Hersch.


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## erudite (Jul 23, 2020)

Beethoven
Sibelius
Mahler

I will happily give my time of day to most other composers… so beyond the first three I have no preferences.


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## Kjetil Heggelund (Jan 4, 2016)

Mozart
JS Bach
Schubert
Lassus
Albeniz
Shostakovich
Messiaen
Schnittke
Beethoven
Haydn
Denisov
Davies

I usually only have the 3 top on my list, like erudite above.


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## flamencosketches (Jan 4, 2019)

I'm a bit surprised that multiple people have chosen a composer I've never heard of in my life in their personal "core". Evidently I still have much to learn. Who is Davies?


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## gregorx (Jan 25, 2020)

20centrfuge said:


> *WHO ARE THE COMPOSERS WHOSE MUSIC MOST SPEAKS TO YOUR CORE? *This is different than a list of best or greatest composers. At least my list of greatest wouldn't be identical to those who most speak to my soul. I guess you could say it's a list of favorites, though that sounds a little more trivial.


Speaks to my soul? I think I understand that and so this list is a bit different from favorites as well as very different from any attempt on my part to make a list of "greatest" composers. In no order and including two who are not "classical" composers (although I would think they would be included in Western Art Music).

Bartok, Debussy, Saariaho, Lutoslawski, Shostakovich, Ravel, Sibelius, Stravinsky, Takemitsu, Varèse, Miles Davis, John Coltrane.


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## Wilhelm Theophilus (Aug 8, 2020)

My favourites (who I think are the greatest) are Mozart & Wagner.

...then probably Beethoven & Haydn.

...then followed by a bunch of others.

struggled to get into Brahms and Chopin.


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## consuono (Mar 27, 2020)

Bach, Beethoven, Haydn, Mozart, Handel, Brahms.


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## Kilgore Trout (Feb 26, 2014)

flamencosketches said:


> I'm a bit surprised that multiple people have chosen a composer I've never heard of in my life in their personal "core". Evidently I still have much to learn. Who is Davies?


My guess would be Tansy Davies for 20centrfuge and Peter Maxwell Davies for Kjetil Heggelund.

Is it really surprising that people name some less-known composers if they're talking about their personal core? They're less known because they don't speak to the majority like the big names, yet they are more susceptible to speak to certain specific parts of ourselves. I mean, I love and respect Mahler or Brahms or whoever, but they don't speak almost personnaly to me like Michael Hersch does.


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## EnescuCvartet (Dec 16, 2016)

Not really ordered:

Schubert
Bach
Enescu
Beethoven
Brahms
Mozart
Chopin
Ives
Webern
Borodin
Honegger (admittedly, his film scores)
Scriabin


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## BrahmsWasAGreatMelodist (Jan 13, 2019)

Kilgore Trout said:


> They're less known because they don't speak to the majority like the big names, yet they are more susceptible to speak to certain specific parts of ourselves.


This is an interesting thesis (I suppose it also applies to individual pieces). I don't think I agree but it's something I've thought about and it's worth discussion. Care to elaborate?


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## Guest002 (Feb 19, 2020)

My top ten is sadly conventional (in descending order of the number of times I've listened to them over the past 12 years):

Benjamin Britten
Johann Sebastian Bach
Ralph Vaughan Williams
George Frideric Handel
Jean Sibelius
Henry Purcell
Dmitri Shostakovich
Giuseppe Verdi
Jean-Philippe Rameau
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

I'd regard the top 4 of them to be 'core' to me, ones I would hate to go without. The others, I would also hate to go without, but I could probably get over it.

My next 5 are also not exactly going to rock any boats:

Antonio Vivaldi
Claudio Monteverdi
Hector Berlioz
Arthur Sullivan
Leoš Janáček

Elgar, R. Strauss, Wagner, Stravinsky and Beethoven complete my top 20. By the time we get down to them, I really wouldn't mind terribly if I never heard them again. Which is not to say the Four Last Songs or the Emperor concerto aren't glorious pieces, but they are tucked away in my head and if I didn't hear them ever again, I'd cope. Probably.


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

Chronologically:
Monteverdi, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Berlioz, Tchaikovsky, Ravel, Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Bartok, Varese, Arnold


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## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

1. Brahms
2. (tie) Mozart and Bach
4. Schubert
5. Mahler
6. Haydn

Probably in that order

Honorable mention to Domenico Scarlatti who delights me more than any other composer except Mozart.

If I'm allowed to consider both the lyrics and music then Sondheim.


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

A list of my core composers? My favourites / the greatest? The most influential? But the idea of there being a core among all the wonderful composers that I know is an attractive one. OK, how about

Monteverdi
Purcell
Bach
Handel
Haydn
Mozart
Beethoven
Schubert
Schumann
Brahms
Verdi
Wagner
Mahler
Sibelius
Stravinsky
Bartok
Schoenberg
Britten

- with these I do feel I have got to the core even though I have left out many composers who wrote loads that I love. But before and after those I feel my acquaintance is less complete so it is more difficult for me to use the word "core" for these and feel I have nailed it:

Victoria
Josquin des Prez
Gibbons
Dowland
Lutoslawski
Messiaen
Ligeti
Kurtag
Carter 
Boulez
Birtwistle
(Maxwell) Davies


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## Eclectic Al (Apr 23, 2020)

There's certainly a difference between Core and Favourite - albeit with overlap. Nor do I necessarily listen to my Core composers as frequently as some others.

Core: The ones who I feel bonded to, and where I didn't need to work at all to enjoy them -
Brahms, Bach, Sibelius, Vaughan Williams.

Favourites: The ones whose work I most enjoy, but didn't necessarily "get" so immediately - 
The above four, plus Haydn, Bartok, Ravel, Poulenc, Schubert (chamber music)

Frequently listened to, but from a less intimate place -
Many of the above, plus Beethoven, Prokofiev, Richard Strauss.


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## Fabulin (Jun 10, 2019)

Beethoven, Berlioz, Mendelssohn, Bruckner, Tchaikovsky, Khachaturian, Shostakovich, Herrmann, Williams, Elfman


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## flamencosketches (Jan 4, 2019)

Kilgore Trout said:


> My guess would be Tansy Davies for 20centrfuge and Peter Maxwell Davies for Kjetil Heggelund.
> 
> Is it really surprising that people name some less-known composers if they're talking about their personal core? They're less known because they don't speak to the majority like the big names, yet they are more susceptible to speak to certain specific parts of ourselves. I mean, I love and respect Mahler or Brahms or whoever, but they don't speak almost personnaly to me like Michael Hersch does.


Ah of course. Peter Maxwell Davies. I think I didn't recognize it on account of the barreling of his full name. It's not that I'm surprised that people are picking lesser known composers, it's just that I thought I knew all of the lesser known composers.


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## thejewk (Sep 13, 2020)

In 'classical' music, I currently only have enough familiarity with the work of one composer to firmly place them in this category: Ligeti. 

His work has become essential to me in the same way that I feel about John Coltrane, Scott Walker, The Fall, and some other groups and individuals I have listened to for decades. 

That said, I have been blown away by Bartok and Shostakovich in the last few weeks and I fully intend some more thorough investigations. 

My other classical music likes have always been for a handful of pieces, with no real interest in fully exploring everything they did. Chopin is the closest I've gotten, but there is too much that doesn't do much for me to claim him as a core composer.


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## poconoron (Oct 26, 2011)

Core 10:

Mozart
Beethoven
Schubert
Haydn
Brahms
Rossini
Grieg
Handel
Vivaldi
Bach


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## Coach G (Apr 22, 2020)

It's hard for me to differentiate between "core" and "favorites", so I'll take a different approach and tell everybody the composers who I think should be part of any "core curriculum" having to do with classical music enjoyment:

*Bach* because he was the greatest composer of the Baroque era; and the one whose religious works are the most profound.
*Mozart* because he was the greatest composer of the Classical era, and the one whose music has the most seamless sense of flow; as if the music writes itself.
*Beethoven* because he was also (tied with Mozart) the greatest composer of the Classical era, AND because the spirit of Beethoven dominated the creative thinking of the Romantic era: Schubert, Schumann, Brahms, Bruckner and Mahler all revered Beethoven).
*Wagner* because his style dominated the grand style of the late Romantic era. 
*Stravinsky* because he played such a huge role the Early Modern style.
*Schoenberg* because the was seminal to the international serial movement. 
*Tchaikovsky* because he is the most loved composer by common folk, derided by snobs, usually the hook as the _Nutcracker_, _Swan Lake_, or _1812_ (in my case) is the first piece of classical music that speaks to people; and even little children like the _Nutcracker_ when they go see it as their first concert in first or second grade.


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## Kjetil Heggelund (Jan 4, 2016)

I forgot Bartok & Britten!!!...and probably others too that have been important to me for 30 years and more. My list is based on 45 years of classical music listening. Schumann, Grieg, Sibelius, R. Strauss and all the superstars should be there too, except Wagner & Satie. I'll try them again some day...


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## Guest002 (Feb 19, 2020)

Kjetil Heggelund said:


> I forgot [...] Britten!!!


Tsk! Tsk!



Never forget Britten!


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## D Smith (Sep 13, 2014)

Bach, JS
Brahms
Bruckner
Chopin
Copland
Debussy
Durufle
Franck
Ravel
Poulenc
Prokofiev
Saint-Saëns
Shostakovich


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## Tasto solo (Sep 7, 2015)

Core composers in rough date order (I nearly only listen to Baroque music):

Rosenmüller, Purcell, Fux, Porpora, Zelenka, Graupner, Heinichen, Zach, Jomelli, CPE Bach, JM Haydn, Reger, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, Finzi


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## realdealblues (Mar 3, 2010)

To me the core are the ones I listen to most frequently but there are a lot of composers who speak to me but I just don't listen to as frequently. Sometimes it's because only specific works speak to me but they speak to me in volumes so it's kind of difficult to really make a list because I would consider everyone I listen to with any kind of regularity (even if it's just 1 work) to be a part of my core. I'll have to ponder it...


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## Simon Moon (Oct 10, 2013)

I'm having a bit of a problem differentiating my core composers that speak to 'soul', from my favorites. 

But if I understand well enough, I'd have to go with:

Stravinsky and Bartok, mostly because they were the composers that originally got me into classical. 

Since then, it would be:

Elliott Carter
Charles Wuorinen
Joan Tower
Arnold Schoenberg
Bruno Maderna
Magnus Lindberg


And of course, with all lists like these, ask me again in a week, and it would probably be different.


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## Oldhoosierdude (May 29, 2016)

Too many to list.


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## caracalla (Feb 19, 2020)

Only three: Bach, Victoria, Palestrina.

There are many specific works by other people I would consider 'core' personal music though. Biggest contributors have probably been Tallis, Monteverdi, Handel & Beethoven. Plenty of others, major and minor, have chipped in.


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## HerbertNorman (Jan 9, 2020)

Difficult one... but here's ten...

Beethoven
Schubert
Dvorak
Shostakovich
Tchaikovsky
Mendelssohn
Mozart
Schumann
Prokofiev
Sibelius

there are so many more


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## Jacck (Dec 24, 2017)

Julius Bittner
Riccardo Broschi
George Onslow
Antonio Casimir Cartellieri
John Knowles Paine
Honoré d'Ambruys
Luzzasco Luzzaschi
Domenico Mazzocchi
Václav Jan Tomášek


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## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

Jacck said:


> Julius Bittner
> Riccardo Broschi
> George Onslow
> Antonio Casimir Cartellieri
> ...


Excellent. I have been listening to music of every kind for 54 years and can, with hand on heart, promise you I have not heard a note of any of these composers music. Nor have I actually heard of any of them. One lives and learns, but not necessarily!:tiphat:


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## Brahmsian Colors (Sep 16, 2016)

The ones I most most invariably return to:

Brahms
Mozart
Haydn
Dvorak
Sibelius
Vaughan Williams
Debussy
Ravel
Mendelssohn


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

In order to avoid just another list of favourites, I tried to define what a core composer would be for me. The best I could come up with is a composer where I can pick a composition at random and almost certainly will enjoy it. That resulted in the following ten (in alphabetical order):

Bach
Bax
Bruckner
Dvorak
Mahler
Moeran
Ravel
Shostakovich
Sibelius
Takemitsu

Some major names on my list of favourites are missing, including #3 (Brahms), #4 (Schubert), and two more top10 composers (Wagner and Mozart)


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## adriesba (Dec 30, 2019)

Wagner and Beethoven. Perhaps Richard Strauss and Puccini as well. I don't really have big lists of composers I like or that speak to me, but have lists of individual works.


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## Jacck (Dec 24, 2017)

Barbebleu said:


> Excellent. I have been listening to music of every kind for 54 years and can, with hand on heart, promise you I have not heard a note of any of these composers music. Nor have I actually heard of any of them. One lives and learns, but not necessarily!:tiphat:


you are missing a lot. Listen to this magnificent symphony


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## NLAdriaan (Feb 6, 2019)

JS Bach
Bartok
Beethoven
Mahler
Messiaen
Monteverdi
Prokofiev
Ravel
Schubert
Wolf


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## Luchesi (Mar 15, 2013)

TwoFlutesOneTrumpet said:


> Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Bruckner, Chopin, Dvorak, Haydn, Mahler, Prokofiev, Sibelius, Shostakovich, Stravinsky (Mozart just misses the list) ... and of course I could include Schubert, I mean he could easily replace Stravinsky in my original list ... lists are hard.


You rated Chopin so highly. We agree. But many don't.


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## Agamenon (Apr 22, 2019)

Core of core : 

BACH
Monteverdi
Wagner
Debussy
Brahms

The rest is noise.


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## Dick Johnson (Apr 14, 2020)

Sort of in order (changes daily):

Verdi
Handel
Rossini
Mozart
Puccini
Donizetti
Beethoven
Bellini
Mahler
Faure
Pergolesi
Vivaldi
Shubert
Dvorak
Gershwin
Rachmaninov
Chopin
Tchaikovsky
Mercadante


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## Pat Fairlea (Dec 9, 2015)

Core composers, those whose music most profoundly 'speaks' to me? Much the same short list for the last 40+ years, I think.

Sibelius
Rachmaninoff
Vaughan Williams
Debussy
Beethoven
Ravel
Borodin

Bit of an old Romantic, me.


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## Ethereality (Apr 6, 2019)

Borodin is a superb composer, not sure why he's on so few lists.


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## Olias (Nov 18, 2010)

There is only one composer that "speaks to me" in nearly every single composition and that is Beethoven.

Having said that, there are individual works that elevate me to a spiritual level I can't reach with other works. These include:

Mozart - Marriage of Figaro, Clarinet Concerto, Jupiter Symphony
Haydn - Symphony 100 and 104
Dvorak - Cello Concerto, Violin Concerto, Symphonies 7, 8, 9
Mendelssohn - Violin Concerto
Tchaikovsky - Violin Concerto
Rachmaninoff - Piano Concerto 2
Shostakovich - Symphony 5


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## Littlephrase (Nov 28, 2018)

Beethoven, Mahler, Brahms, Schubert, Wagner, Bartok, Shostakovich, Janáček, and, in the most recent addition, Schnittke.


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## Roger Knox (Jul 19, 2017)

Monteverdi
Byrd
Bach
Mozart 
Beethoven
Schumann
Faure
Debussy
Tippett
Dutilleux


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## mmsbls (Mar 6, 2011)

Jacck said:


> Julius Bittner
> Riccardo Broschi
> George Onslow
> Antonio Casimir Cartellieri
> ...


I know Onslow, Paine, and Tomasek. You gave a work by Bittner. Would you mind suggesting a work by the others?


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## Prodromides (Mar 18, 2012)

When I joined TC, I selected a user name based upon a composer who wrote music for both cinema & television as well as 'absolute' music for stage & concerts - and who continued to remain little-known (or unknown) in all these areas.
Thus, "Prodromides" is a core composer for me because the albums of his music represent either of my two fields of interest.

Below are my core composers whose discographies are split between soundtracks and contemporary 'classical'.

1. Richard Rodney Bennett
2. Toru Takemitsu
3. Jean Prodromides
4. Tristram Cary
5. Giorgio Gaslini
6. Benjamin Frankel
7. Malcolm Arnold
8. Gerard Schurmann
9. Mikis Theodorakis
10. Daniele Amfitheatrof

These are not my Top 10 favo(u)rites, per se ... plus their discs are not necessarily the bulk of my music collection, either ... but they embody my two halves as a listener.


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## techniquest (Aug 3, 2012)

My core composers, i.e. those who have written music that speaks to my innermost self are:

Mahler
Vaughan Williams
Shostakovich
Prokofiev
Sibelius
Khachaturian
Tchaikovsky

There are many other composers I really like, but these are the ones who have been able to deeply affect me.


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## Jacck (Dec 24, 2017)

mmsbls said:


> I know Onslow, Paine, and Tomasek. You gave a work by Bittner. Would you mind suggesting a work by the others?


Broschi 
Arias for Farinelli 
Luzzaschi
Concerto Delle Dame Di Ferrara
D'Ambruys
Le doux silence de nos bois
Cartellieri 
Clarinet Concerto No.3 in E-flat major
Tomášek 
Requiem
Mazzocchi 
Lagrima Amare


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## Andante Largo (Apr 23, 2020)

Albinoni, Tomaso
Berg, Natanael
Brahms, Johannes
Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Mario
Chopin, Fryderyk
Delius, Frederick
Dobrzyński, Ignacy Feliks
Dohnányi, Ernő 
Gernsheim, Friedrich
Graener, Paul
Howells, Herbert
Hummel, Johann Nepomuk
Järnefelt, Armas
Karłowicz, Mieczysław
Melartin, Erkki
Noskowski, Zygmunt
Paganini, Niccolò
Perosi, Lorenzo
Peterson-Berger, Wilhelm
Reger, Max
Respighi, Ottorino
Rheinberger, Josef
Röntgen, Julius
Różycki, Ludomir
Sgambati, Giovanni
Sibelius, Jean
Stenhammar, Wilhelm
Tartini, Giuseppe
Wieniawski, Henryk
Żeleński, Władysław


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## 8j1010 (Aug 29, 2020)

*oldest - most recent and my favorite pieces*

Pachelbel




This whole set is amazing

Kuhnau




The Allemande is so good

Clementi




I like all of his sonatas so it was hard to chose this one

Chopin




I've been listening to this for a long time and it gets better every time I listen to it, Ashkenazy is probably one of my favorite Chopin interpreters

Spindler





Chaminade





I threw together this list list pretty fast, but this is an accurate short list.


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## chu42 (Aug 14, 2018)

Andante Largo said:


> Albinoni, Tomaso
> Berg, Natanael
> Brahms, Johannes
> Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Mario
> ...


Both eclectic and eccentric, I love it. I take it you're a violinist?


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## numisma (Nov 18, 2020)

Top 10 for me : 

1/ Ravel, Maurice (france)
2/ Debussy, Claude (france)
3/ Saygun, Ahmed Adnan (turkey)
4/ Dutilleux , Henri(france)
5/ Bartok, Bela (hungary)
6/ Szymanowski, Karol (poland)
7/ Rimsky-Korsakov, Nikolai (russia)
8/ Stravinsky, Igor (russia)
9/ Boulanger, Lili (france)
10/Ifukube, Akira (japan)


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## Gold Member (Aug 23, 2021)

"Core composer." This concept perfectly describes Schumann for me!


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## Neo Romanza (May 7, 2013)

Well, my "Top 5" favorite composers are (in order): Debussy, Mahler, Strauss, Sibelius and Bartók. These five composers speak directly to my soul, but here are some others that do as well (in no particular order): Ravel, Barber, Vaughan Williams, Copland, Rachmaninov, Tchaikovsky, Bruckner, Martinů, Villa-Lobos, Berlioz, Poulenc, Szymanowski, Scriabin, Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Saint-Saëns, Respighi, Malipiero, Casella, Korngold, Schnittke, Liszt, Wagner, Beethoven (esp. the late SQs), Dvořák, Britten, Koechlin, Weinberg, Honegger et. al.


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## ORigel (May 7, 2020)

Very often:
Beethoven
Dvorak
Haydn (though he isn't the composer to turn to for darker emotions, the joy of his music is infectious)
Schubert

Often:
Mozart (in his more inspired works)
Mendelssohn (sometimes is restrained emotionally, but when he isn't...)
Bach (not always emotional, but often speaks to my soul)


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

Gershwin
Schoeck
Duruflé
Bernstein
Golijov


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## Blancrocher (Jul 6, 2013)

I was about to start typing, but I decided to ask my wife. Her answer was prompt: "Bach, Mozart, Haydn, Schubert, Shostakovich...maybe Beethoven is on a tier slightly below those. Haydn is somewhat surprising on that list, but I've been hearing him for years. You go through phases, but I think that's it." Well, I've been told.


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

At or near the top of the list:

Brahms
Prokofiev
Ravel 
Sibelius
Rachmaninoff
Debussy 
Bach
Mozart 
Bartok
Schumann


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## Xisten267 (Sep 2, 2018)

In alphabetical order:

Bach
Beethoven
Berlioz
Brahms
Bruckner
Mahler
Mendelssohn
Mozart
Prokofiev
Schubert
Sibelius
Tchaikovsky
Wagner


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## 4chamberedklavier (12 mo ago)

As someone new to classical (only started late last year), I can't really give out as much names as you guys. But as of late, Haydn, Mozart, & Brahms have been the ones I go back to regularly.


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## 59540 (May 16, 2021)

It's changed a little over the years (or months, even), but:

Bach
Beethoven
Mozart
Wagner
Mahler
Schoenberg
Webern
Stravinsky
Hindemith
Pärt


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## David Phillips (Jun 26, 2017)

Bach
Haydn
Mozart
Schubert
Schmann
Brahms
Elgar
Schmidt
RVW
Holst


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## haziz (Sep 15, 2017)

Tchaikovsky
Beethoven
Dvořák
Grieg
Sibelius 
Kalinnikov
Borodin
Shostakovich
Mussorgsky
Chopin
Rachmaninoff
Berwald
Mendelssohn


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## ORigel (May 7, 2020)

4chamberedklavier said:


> As someone new to classical (only started late last year), I can't really give out as much names as you guys. But as of late, Haydn, Mozart, & Brahms have been the ones I go back to regularly.


I have been listening intensively for a few years but I listen mostly to a limited number of Big Name composers.


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## Agamenon (Apr 22, 2019)

My Core:

Bach
Gesualdo
Monteverdi
Wagner
Debussy
Brahms
Chopin

honorable mentions: Beethoven, Mozart, Shostakovich and Haydn.


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## Andante Largo (Apr 23, 2020)

1. Sibelius, Jean (1865 – 1957) [Finland] 
2. Respighi, Ottorino (1879 – 1936) [Italy] 
3. Brahms, Johannes (1833 – 1897) [Germany] 
4. Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Mario (1895 – 1968) [Italy] 
5. Karłowicz, Mieczysław (1876 – 1909) [Poland] 
6. Reinecke, Carl (1824 - 1910) [Germany]
7. Perosi, Lorenzo (1872 – 1956) [Italy]
8. Rheinberger, Josef (1839 – 1901) [Liechtenstein]
9. Wieniawski, Henryk (1835 – 1880) [Poland]
10. Chopin, Fryderyk (1810 – 1849) [Poland]
11. Noskowski, Zygmunt (1846 - 1909) [Poland]
12. Rachmaninov, Sergei (1873 - 1943) [Russia]
13. Melartin, Erkki (1875 – 1937) [Finland]
14. Delius, Frederick (1862 – 1934) [England]
15. Saint-Saëns, Camille (1835 – 1921) [France]
16. Paganini, Niccolò (1782 - 1840) [Italy]
17. Fuchs, Robert (1847 - 1927) [Austria]
18. Peterson-Berger, Wilhelm (1867 - 1942) [Sweden]
19. Bruch, Max (1838 - 1920) [Germany]
20. Glazunov, Alexander (1865 - 1936) [Russia]
21. Novák, Vítězslav (1870 - 1949) [Czechia]
22. Żeleński, Władysław (1837 – 1921) [Poland]
23. Sgambati, Giovanni (1841 - 1914) [Italy]
24. Lipiński, Karol (1790 - 1861) [Poland]
25. Różycki, Ludomir (1884 - 1953) [Poland]


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## Ethereality (Apr 6, 2019)

Andante Largo said:


> 2. Respighi, Ottorino (1879 – 1936) [Italy]


Respighi for sure! is one of my tip top composers as well. Such a great story-teller like Schreker, but much more thematic!


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## Dulova Harps On (Nov 2, 2018)

Handel
Bach
Mozart 
Schubert
Vivaldi

Then: Faure, Chopin, Tchaikovsky Telemann, Rimsky K, Shosty, Arensky,

Brumel, Byrd,Sweelinck, Josquin


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## dko22 (Jun 22, 2021)

the two most important are Bruckner and Janacek. Then probably Weinberg because he wrote so much and varied.


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## ericshreiber1005 (7 mo ago)

Top ten:
Bach, Beethoven, Handel
Wagner, Verdi, Puccini
Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, The Beatles, Tangerine Dream


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## Carpentier (Oct 29, 2013)

My top twelve (in no particular order):

Haydn
Beethoven
Liszt
Tchaikovsky
Verdi
Dvorak
Mahler
Ravel
Nielsen
Sibelius
Vaughan Williams
Stravinsky

Flirting with throwing in de Falla, Villa-Lobos & Wirén there as well. It's interesting when one can sense that a composer, while not necessarily being the best, still speaks the most intimately to you. So no Mozart or Bach for me!


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## Chilham (Jun 18, 2020)

My personal top-rated composers to 1820:

Beethoven
Mozart
Haydn
Handel
Mendelssohn
Byrd
Monteverdi
Vivaldi

JS Bach didn't make the list as, despite the fact that I rate some of his works as outstanding, there were just a couple too many that didn't sit well with me forcing his average down.

I'll update for composers born after 1820 in six months time.


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## Simon Moon (Oct 10, 2013)

Simon Moon said:


> I'm having a bit of a problem differentiating my core composers that speak to 'soul', from my favorites.
> 
> But if I understand well enough, I'd have to go with:
> 
> ...


This is what I mean by the last sentence in my post from a couple years ago.

At the time, I was so enthralled with Maderna's 3 oboe concertos, Composition for Orchestra No. 1 and No. 2, that he made my list. But, as much as I still like him, I would not consider him one of my core composers. 

I would add Berg and Webern to my list. Ernst Krenek, Harrison Birtwistle, might also make my list.


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## Ethereality (Apr 6, 2019)

Chilham said:


> I'll update for composers born after 1820 in six months time.


Well since none of the more modern works qualify to the majority as top tier, it's more logical spending those 6 months listening to works nobody's ever heard 😋 Then you could tell us if there's something good.

Thanks for taking one for the team.


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## Chilham (Jun 18, 2020)

Ethereality said:


> Well since none of the more modern works qualify to the majority as top tier, it's more logical spending those 6 months listening to works nobody's ever heard 😋 Then you could tell us if there's something good.
> 
> Thanks for taking one for the team.


You think nobody has heard works by composers born since 1820, or are you just not good with numbers?


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## Neo Romanza (May 7, 2013)

My list:

1. Debussy
2. Mahler
3. Strauss
4. Sibelius
5. Bartók
6. Ravel
7. Stravinsky
8. Martinů
9. Berlioz
10. Shostakovich
11. Vaughan Williams
12. Saint-Saëns
13. Schoenberg
14. Berg
15. Villa-Lobos
16. Dvořák
17. Tchaikovsky
18. Janáček
19. Prokofiev
20. Britten
21. Rachmaninov
22. Schnittke
23. Szymanowski
24. Ives
25. Weinberg
26. Bruckner
27. Respighi
28. (K. A.) Hartmann
29. Copland
30. Koechlin
31. Takemitsu
32. Gubaidulina
33. Penderecki
34. Bernstein
35. Korngold
36. Liszt
37. Walton
38. Kodály
39. Ligeti
40. Scriabin
41. Hindemith
42. Glazunov
43. Poulenc
44. Honegger
45. Tippett
46. Roussel
47. Barber
48. Lutosławski
49. Enescu
50. Yun
51. Nielsen
52. Milhaud
53. Malipiero
54. Langgaard
55. Pettersson
56. Silvestrov
57. Adams, J.
58. Elgar
59. Holst
60. Smetana
61. Wagner
62. Zemlinsky
63. Ginastera
64. Grieg
65. Schuman, W.
66. Sculthorpe
67. Tubin
68. Boulez
69. Henze
70. Rimsky-Korsakov
71. Mussorgsky
72. Gershwin
73. Schulhoff
74. Chávez
75. Suk
76. Fauré
77. Bacewicz
78. Casella
79. Khachaturian
80. Diamond
81. Tansman
82. Bloch
83. Ifukube
84. Kabalevsky
85. Berio
86. Delius
87. Schmidt
88. Pärt
89. Vasks
90. Novák
91. Harrison
92. Górecki
93. Braunfels
94. Dallapiccola
95. Varèse
96. Revueltas
97. Scelsi
98. Duruflé
99. Hahn
100. Shchedrin


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## EvaBaron (Jan 3, 2022)

Neo Romanza said:


> My list:
> 
> 1. Debussy
> 2. Mahler
> ...


No Bach?


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## premont (May 7, 2015)

Maybe the composition of my collection of recordings (CD's and downloads) tells the most about my core composers, which indeed are many.

J S Bach 40%
Beethoven 20 %
Medieval and Rennaissance composers (mostly vocal but both secular and sacred) 17 %
Renaissance and Baroque keyboard composers (harpsichord,organ,clavichord) other than Bach 17 %
20th century composers (first and foremost Bartok, Hindemith, Nielsen and to a lesser degree Stravinsky and Martin) 6 %


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## Wigmar (7 mo ago)

Neo Romanza said:


> My list:
> 
> 1. Debussy
> 2. Mahler
> ...


To me, there are some major composers, as follows:
Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, Schumann, Brahms. 
As well, some other composers to my delight:
Aguado, Sor, Mendelssohn, Grieg, Albeniz, Granados, Moreno-Torroba, Ponce

Besides the overleaf mentioned composers, there are as well several other composers whose music I treasure. But Brahms is indeed a favourite. 

Best regards 
wigmar


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## NicoleEB (9 mo ago)

Mine would have to be Bach, who is my primary preacher and connection to God, and Scarlatti, whose music I to me speaks to eccentricity and inwardness I find poignant. Schumann is the composer closest to my heart. I often when I am struggling or depressed wonder what this man who lived so long ago would say to me or think. It's maybe a bad thing to do. His music feels deeply sympathetic and kindhearted, and I relate to his nostalgic depictions of childhood very intensely. I like to imagine he would sympathize with me, and idealize him in my head a lot, but I know that's not good to do. It's just my little guilty pleasure, and he definitely speaks to my core a severe amount for that stuff to happen. Eusebius and Florestan, the love of childhood, short, clear structures, I love so much about his music and find it very close to the heart.


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## Marlowe (May 12, 2021)

Shostakovich
Bach
Stravinsky
Beethoven
Copeland
Gesualdo
CPE Bach
Glass
Villa-Lobos
Debussy


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## Yabetz (Sep 6, 2021)

Bach
Beethoven
Wagner
Mozart
Mahler
Stravinsky
Bruckner
Webern
Brahms
Pärt


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

I probably already posted my list, but I am equally sure that it is obsolete.

Here's today's list:

1. Guillaume de Machaut (1300-1377)
2. Giovanni Perluigi Palestrina (1525-1594)
3. J.S. Bach (1685-1750)
4. Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
5. Wolfgang Mozart (1756-1791)
6. Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
7. Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
8. Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
9. Franz Liszt (1811-1886)
10. Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901)
11. Richard Wagner (1813-1883)
12. Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
13. Gustav Mahler (1860-1911)
14. Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
15. Erik Satie (1866-1925)

These are the composers whom I continually return to, year after year, playing through their entire output, and never getting tired of their music. Other composers may dominate my attention for short periods of time, but these fifteen composers never disappear from my playlists.


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## justekaia (Jan 2, 2022)

De Morales
De Victoria
Josquin
Monteverdi
Mozart
Beethoven
Schubert
Brahms
Wagner
Mahler
Bartok
Debussy
Stravinsky
Varese
Scelsi
Xenakis
Lucier
Murail
G.F.Haas


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## justekaia (Jan 2, 2022)

I feel guilty not to have mentioned the ladies: therefore i share with you a list of favourite female composers most of whom are contemporary composers for reasons our members will probably understand. 
Jacquet de la Guerre
Farrenc
Gubaidulina
Saariaho
Czernowin
Martinaityte
Medeksaite
C.Lamb
Thorvaldsdottir
Janulyte


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