# Which composer is most like you?



## SottoVoce (Jul 29, 2011)

Which composer do you connect most on a personal level - maybe not directly through their music, but through their lifestory and temperament and philosophy towards life and art, and even their approach to music (dramatic, intimate, experimental)

For me, I've always felt close to Schoenberg - looking at music as an extremely intense and internal art form, seeking expression of deep, non-representational emotions rather than relateable, external emotions that Chopin seems to have more for me.


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

Liszt. 

I am also a womanizer famous for my good looks. He was a piano virtuoso, while I am the tango terror of the East.


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

But seriously, maybe Brahms. Aside from musical talent...


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

I think* Janacek. *

His impulsiveness and often not caring what people think of him saying. Doing things rashly that he would later regret. Also, he could be a shy man but really open up to those who were his intimates. I probably lack his overt passion, but I do have that inner passion and sometimes anger. & that iconoclastic, anti-authoritarian aspect. No sacred cows for this guy.

He was nicknamed _the Lion with the white mane_, but inside he was a sensitive man.

But a big difference...I don't have his immense talent, but I can relate to him as a person!


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

I think I'll say *myself.*


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

Probably Joseph Haydn, without the mistress and churlish wife. I'd speak of my modesty and probity, but that would be immodest . And we feel the same about God.


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## kv466 (May 18, 2011)

Musically, I would have to say Debussy and Rachmaninov. Personality-wise, I haven't a clue.


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## Crudblud (Dec 29, 2011)

I have respect for anyone who seeks to create art, but I feel a sense of _kinship_ with any composer or artist who seeks to do things not "differently" but in their own way. To get to the point; I can't say I have ever felt any sense of sameness with anyone, composer or otherwise.


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## neoshredder (Nov 7, 2011)

Most are incredibly intelligent. I can't relate to any of them. My favorite is Antonio Vivaldi.


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## Taneyev (Jan 19, 2009)

Vissarion Shebalin. Short, bald and quite neurotic.


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## Argus (Oct 16, 2009)

Carlo Gesualdo.:devil:


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## Polednice (Sep 13, 2009)

I fantasise about being like Brahms, but I don't think he's a good match really - I'm too timid and reserved so only think acerbic thoughts rather than share them. I don't know enough about biographical information to really say.


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## Cnote11 (Jul 17, 2010)

I'm going to say ComposerofAvantGarde or Violadude.


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

Cnote11 said:


> I'm going to say ComposerofAvantGarde or Violadude.


Wow how flattering 

I'm not sure I can relate to any one composer totally, but if I may, I could take pieces of personality from a number of composers that I can relate to and might form the whole of my personality.

Mahler- Plenty of psychological issues stemming from childhood and his non-pragmatic and questioning view of life and death.
Mozart- His childish attitude. A lot of the time I definitely feel like I still want to be a big child. Also, his trouble holding a steady job. I can't find a job either 
Bartok- His sickly childhood and his more shy (I think) personality overall in contrast to most composers who were loud and proud. This could perhaps apply with Tchaikovsky as well.
Haydn- I'm a pretty humble person I guess. I don't really assume greatness of myself or my music and am always very flattered by people's praise of it. Also I am generally good natured to most people, or I try to be at least.


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## Lukecash12 (Sep 21, 2009)

Alkan- He was a recluse, had witty humor, was cerebral, he translated the whole Bible and was a student of the Talmud, had the musical outlook of a classicist and baroque enthusiast, was fascinated by Reform era music and used Lutheran melodies, primarily played the keyboard instruments, could be misanthropic, somewhat mellodramatic, and we know little personal details of his life. Sounds just about like me.
Vivaldi- Provocative thinker, helter skelter, a bit reckless, obsessed with meter, wrote quite a bit of sacred music, etc.


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## Whipsnade (Mar 17, 2011)

Which composer took the most naps?


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

Richard Wagner

Minus the general hatred for Jews. I like those guys.


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## Lukecash12 (Sep 21, 2009)

Couchie said:


> Minus the general hatred for Jews. I like those guys.


Yeah, but you're not supposed to betray that as a Wagnerite. I'll just have to forget that and remember that you're really an anti-semite.


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## Crudblud (Dec 29, 2011)

I think he's just saying he likes to eat them.


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## neoshredder (Nov 7, 2011)

Couchie said:


> Minus the general hatred for Jews. I like those guys.


Shocking post. You admit fault in your hero?


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## jhar26 (Jul 6, 2008)

Mozart. I'm friends with his wife on My Space.


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

jhar26 said:


> Mozart. I'm friends with his wife on My Space.


Say hi to Constanza for me.


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## aleazk (Sep 30, 2011)

I would like to have that "dandy" gesture of Ravel. Look that suit, all of his appearance is perfectly (and coldly) calculated:


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## Cnote11 (Jul 17, 2010)

Ravel's music is baby making music.


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## aleazk (Sep 30, 2011)

Cnote11 said:


> Ravel's music is baby making music.


Do you have sex when hearing Ravel's music?


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## Cnote11 (Jul 17, 2010)

Perhaps I was conceived to Ravel's music. Somehow I doubt this, since my parents have never heard of him. I'm putting it on my list of things to do during summer break.


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## opus55 (Nov 9, 2010)

I don't know exactly why but I can identify myself with Brahms. Aside from him being one of my favorite composers, I think of him whenever I'm outside for fresh air - imagine Brahms taking a walk through the woods, deep in his thoughts. I thought of him a lot especially during my last vacation in Smoky Mountains - I listened to his Symphony No.4 on the balcony watching sunset and it was emotionally overwhelming.

I might be pretending to be Brahms unconciously


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

opus55 said:


> I don't know exactly why but I can identify myself with Brahms. Aside from him being one of my favorite composers, I think of him whenever I'm outside for fresh air - imagine Brahms taking a walk through the woods, deep in his thoughts. I thought of him a lot especially during my last vacation in Smoky Mountains - I listened to his Symphony No.4 on the balcony watching sunset and it was emotionally overwhelming.
> 
> I might be pretending to be Brahms unconciously
> 
> View attachment 4292


I think you mean subconsciously. If you were pretending to be Brahms unconsciously...well, I think your typing skills would be seriously handicapped.


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## peeyaj (Nov 17, 2010)

Schubert. How I wish I would die young, penniless and ill with syphillis.. Alas. It is not the case! ^_^


PS:

I'm 20, so perhaps, I should be looking hopeful at the next 11 years.


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## opus55 (Nov 9, 2010)

violadude said:


> I think you mean subconsciously. If you were pretending to be Brahms unconsciously...well, I think your typing skills would be seriously handicapped.


Subconsciously is what I meant. Shows my English is still not that good  Now that I read my post, it makes me :lol:


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## ProudSquire (Nov 30, 2011)

Chopin, I think.


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## Fsharpmajor (Dec 14, 2008)

It's unquestionably Richard Strauss for me.


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## waldvogel (Jul 10, 2011)

Hector Berlioz. He couldn't play any instrument well, was completely over the top in all his relationships, reacted to his successes as if they were failures, and still changed the musical world forever.


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## brianwalker (Dec 9, 2011)

Haydn, definitely.


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## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

This may or may not be a surprise, but really, for me it's Glazunov.

Having studied his music and his person for over 4 years, I have been struck over and over again how similar I am to how he was. It may be bizarre to imagine, but the things he cared about in music, I've discovered in myself I've always cared about but wasn't sure how to articulate. And not only mentality toward music, but his mentality towards the whole world.

"Glazunov [his music] culminates in a world of happiness, joy, peace, flight, ecstasy, meditation and *much, much more,* always happy, always clear and profound, always incredibly noble, winged ..." -Lunacharsky (I added bold)

It's an extremely bold statement to say that one's music is "always happy" but with Glazunov it sort of _can _be said, because even when he's sad, he expresses and inner joy more powerful than the temporary grief. But when I read that quote in a biography some months ago, that "much, much more" really struck me the most. That sense of something _overwhelming _in his music, something that can't be grasped, but is sublime, indeed transcendent. It's something not everyone feels or _can _feel, but I, along with Glazunov, have tapped into it! It's a personal knowledge we share in this life's continuum, despite never having known each other personally in time and space. It's a connection which I feel is spiritual. That may have been what he meant when he said he wrote his music for himself, "and a few others."

What I have experienced and discovered will not be in vain.


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## frankentomato (Feb 3, 2012)

I think Debussy, because he really looked at music from a solely aesthetic stance, as an art, not a science. 

Some people wish above all to conform to the rules, I wish only to render what I can hear. There is no theory. You have only to listen. Pleasure is the law. -Claude Debussy


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## Operadowney (Apr 4, 2012)

I have a bit of Bartok and Mozart in me. I take on a collector's personality when it comes to classical music, which reminds me of Bartok's incessant collecting of folk melodies. In my every day life I'm a fan of many styles of music and expression but at the end of the day I'm a creature of the stage, which lends a lot of Mozart's personality to me.


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## Hermanberntzen (Oct 17, 2011)

Edvard Grieg iguess.


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## EarthBoundRules (Sep 25, 2011)

Probably Tchaikovsky. Shy, depressed and self-critical... sounds too much like me.


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## Klavierspieler (Jul 16, 2011)

Haydn, probably. He's the only happy composer I can think of off the top of my head.


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## Pizzicato (Mar 13, 2012)

I'd say Franz Joseph Haydn. I'm quite a modest and happy composer.


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## Jeremy Marchant (Mar 11, 2010)

As a committee member of the Havergal Brian Society, I was somewhat embarrassed when I was interviewed for an Australian documentary on the composer, and I was repeatedly asked questions about his personal life and had to admit I wasn't really sure about any of it. Or much interested, either, in truth. So I can't say



SottoVoce said:


> Which composer do you connect most on a personal level - maybe not directly through their music, but through their lifestory and temperament and philosophy towards life and art...


However the composer whose music I find most expresses my own temperament is Hans Werner Henze.






The composers whom I find the most compelling - fascinating, intoxicating - precisely because they seem to have the _opposite _temperament to mine include Monteverdi, Berlioz, Sibelius, Tippett and Brian.


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## Illuminatedtoiletpaper (Apr 12, 2012)

I look most like Schumann.


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## regressivetransphobe (May 16, 2011)

Not gonna say I'm like him, but the only composer's life that interested me was Satie's.


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## Il_Penseroso (Nov 20, 2010)

I wish I was like Sibelius (just a little bit at least) but I know I'm not !  you can not climb that mountain so easily...


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## TresPicos (Mar 21, 2009)

Bartok and Schubert, I think.


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## martijn (May 4, 2011)

In terms of talent: Justin Bieber
In terms of character: Richard Wagner


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

martijn said:


> In terms of talent: Justin Bieber


Am I hallucinating?


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

martijn said:


> In terms of talent: Justin Bieber
> In terms of character: Richard Wagner


NOOO Martijn! Don't sell yourself short


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## Moira (Apr 1, 2012)

Mozart. He was also broke.


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## martijn (May 4, 2011)

Ok, I have to admit, I forgot some things:

in terms of emotional stability: late Schumann
in terms of intellectual humour: Mozart
in terms of behavior towards others: Beethoven
in terms of behavior towards cheating women and their lovers: Gesualdo
in terms of behavior towards rivals: Salieri
in terms of drinking: Mussorgsky
in terms of eating: Rossini
in terms of physical appearance: Schubert
in terms of modesty: Scriabin


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

martijn said:


> Ok, I have to admit, I forgot some things:
> 
> in terms of emotional stability: late Schumann
> in terms of intellectual humour: Mozart
> ...


Hmm if we ever cross paths in person, remind me to walk in the opposite direction.


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## martijn (May 4, 2011)

Why god oh why you say such things? And I already felt so ugly. It makes me want to jump off a bridge. Ha, my *ss, I was only kidding. But seriously, next time you say it I throw eggs at you! And don't you dare to take my wife, you with all your talent, here, drink this poison, while I take a double wodka myself. And I will take tournedos with it. Ain't I just brilliant?


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## Moira (Apr 1, 2012)

martijn said:


> Ok, I have to admit, I forgot some things:
> 
> in terms of emotional stability: late Schumann
> in terms of intellectual humour: Mozart
> ...


This made me smile broadly. Mwah!


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

martijn said:


> Ok, I have to admit, I forgot some things:
> 
> in terms of emotional stability: late Schumann
> in terms of intellectual humour: Mozart
> ...





violadude said:


> Hmm if we ever cross paths in person, remind me to walk in the opposite direction.


I on the other hand want to go clubbing with you!


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## martijn (May 4, 2011)

Ok, but do you pay, Science? I spend money like Mozart.


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## TheComposer (Apr 22, 2012)

Musically, Richard Strauss/Mahler
Emotionally, Tchaikovsky
Physically?, hmm... Shostakovich?


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

TheComposer said:


> Musically, Richard Strauss/Mahler
> Emotionally, Tchaikovsky
> Physically?, hmm... Shostakovich?


Oh dear I feel sorry for you.


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## Xaltotun (Sep 3, 2010)

Mahler, I guess. Everything is either Heaven or Hell to me (often both at the same time). Also, since the age of 7 or something, I've aspired to be a tormented, romantic hero; I guess I'll be like that to the end of my days.


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