# Your Favorite Composers by Period?



## musicrom (Dec 29, 2013)

This is just a fun little exercise; I hope it hasn't been done before. It might encourage people to explore music they don't listen to as much. The point is to name your favorite composer born in each half-century. I'm starting in the year 1401, but feel free to start earlier if you have that knowledge.

Here are mine:

1401-1450: *Josquin des Prez*. Starting with kind of a cheat, since he was born in 1450. There don't seem to be many choices (Ockeghem and Agricola are the only others I've heard of). Anyways, this one's tough because I'm not a huge fan of vocal music, but I do like Josquin's _Mille regretz_.

1451-1500: *None*. I wish I could choose someone, but I'm literally not sure if I've ever listened to any music by composers from this half-century. I've heard of John Taverner, but I don't remember any of his music. Maybe people will give me suggestions.

1501-1550: *William Byrd*. Once again, not too many highlights for me from this period. However, I remember listening to his Mass for 5 voices, and I thought it was decent.

1551-1600: *Thomas Weelkes*. _As Vesta was from Latmos Hill Descending_ is a very fun piece, and so he gets my vote here.

1601-1650: *Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber*. The Mystery Sonatas are great, and the Passacaglia is a particular highlight.

1651-1700: *J.S. Bach*. There really isn't any competition. There is, but there isn't. Bach might be one of the best composers that ever lived. His music is absolutely perfect, time and time again, and it perpetually amazes me.

1701-1750: *Joseph Haydn*. He's certainly the big name in this period. His symphonies are great, witty, and fun to listen to. Admittedly, I need to listen to more of his non-symphonic repertoire, but what I've heard of that has also been quite good.

1751-1800: *Ludwig van Beethoven*. Sorry Mozart, you're close, but Beethoven is right down my alley, and one of my very favorite composers. The symphonies and piano sonatas could have been enough, but when you add his overtures, concerti, and violin sonatas, it makes it even tougher to vote against him. I need to listen to his string quartets in more depth though.

1801-1850: *Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov*. He's my favorite composer (you might be able to guess by my avatar), and his music is magic. From his warhorses of _Scheherazade_, _Capriccio Espagnol_, and _Russian Easter Festival Overture_, to less-known works of his like Kitezh, The Tsar's Bride, Antar; his music is orchestrated to perfection, and is always entirely captivating. His sense of musicality, in my mind, is unmatched by any composer.

1851-1900: *Jean Sibelius*. Whenever I listen to his music, I feel transported a foreign, yet somehow familiar place. His music embodies nature itself to me.

1901-1950: *Dmitri Shostakovich*. A lot of good choices in this period, but I felt like I had to go with Shosty. His music is often very deep and powerful, yet some of his music is, on the contrary, very fun and light-hearted. Sure, he might have been inconsistent, but he was a unique composer, and his music is instantly recognizable.

1951-2000: *Magnus Lindberg*. His Clarinet Concerto, Violin Concerto, and Gran Duo are some of my favorites. I don't know, I just really like his style.

2001-present: *Alma Deutscher*? :lol: I think it's too early to have any favorites from this period yet. There are only two composers born after 2000 listed on Wikipedia.

I'd really like to see other people's lists. If it's too much work, feel free to produce a smaller list.

(By the way, Nereffid's lists helped me with the dates, it might help you too: https://sites.google.com/site/nereffid/composers-leaderboard)


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

I'm afraid your time periods are a bit off!


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## musicrom (Dec 29, 2013)

KenOC said:


> I'm afraid your time periods are a bit off!


How so? I'm going by birth year, because that seems like the simplest thing to do.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

OK, sorry! Missed that.


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## Jacob Brooks (Feb 21, 2017)

I will format mine differently.

Medieval: Machaut
Renaissance: Palestrina
Baroque: JS Bach
Classical: Mozart
Romantic: Beethoven
Late Romantic: Mahler

These opinions are not controversial. Perhaps in a few years my opinions will diversify a bit more. I will say that Joseph Haydn is extremely close to Mozart, and I confess that truly Haydn is the superior whenever I hear his music, and Mozart the superior whenever I hear his instead. Beethoven wins out of me not pursuing early-mid romantics much yet (although I have explored Classical period and earlier extensively). Mahler is gorgeous, and wrote my favorite piece of music, his Symphony #8. Multiple Bach pieces are close behind, then Palestrina's Missa Papae Marcelli, which does not betray its reputation as a truly stellar early vocal work. I have made the distinction between renaissance and early polyphonic music for the sake of advertising Machaut, whose work is supreme and horrible underrated.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Date of birth in these time frames:

1501-1550 Victoria, Tomás Luis de (1548-1611)
1551-1600 Monteverdi, Claudio (1567-1643)
1601-1650 Buxtehude, Dieterich (1637-1707)

Not a big fan of the pre-Bach period, but I quite like Victoria, and the Buxtehude organ works.

1651-1700 Bach, Johann Sebastian (1685-1750)
No contest. My #1 favourite composer.

1701-1750 Haydn, Joseph (1732-1809)
Consistently good, but not an absolute favourite. 

1751-1800 Schubert, Franz (1797-1828)
Yes, Schubert, clearly ahead of Mozart and Beethoven for me.

1801-1850 Brahms, Johannes (1833-1897)
A clear winner in this time frame, ahead of Mendelssohn.

1851-1900 Mahler, Gustav (1860-1911)
There can only be one to list here, in spite of so many other great composers born in this period.

1901-1950 Shostakovich, Dmitri (1906-1975)
Another clear winner, a top 5 composer for me.

1951-2000 Chin, Unsuk (1961--)
The most difficult choice. Almost all my favourite living composers were born before 1951.


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## jailhouse (Sep 2, 2016)

medieval: cant say i know much from the 13-1400s but i love leonin and perotin and the anonymous composers from the 12th century
renaissance: palestrina 
baroque: J.S. Bach
Classical: Haydn
Early Romantic: Beethoven
late Romantic: Wagner
Early modernism: Bartok
Middle 20th: Messiaen
Late 20th: Ligeti
Today: Reich


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## Kjetil Heggelund (Jan 4, 2016)

1401-1450 Josquin
1451-1500 Francesco da Milano
1501-1550 Lassus
1551-1600 Dowland (Monteverdi)
1601-1650 Buxtehude
1651-1700 Bach
1701-1750 Haydn (sometimes CPE Bach)
1751-1800 Mozart
1801-1850 hey...gotta have Schubert on the list...and some Russians!
1851-1900 Albeniz or Bartok...
1901-1950 Denisov/Schnittke or Britten/Davies...Messiaen
1951-2000 Lindberg
oh, just remembered I have a hard time with favorite composers...


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## Tchaikov6 (Mar 30, 2016)

1400-1550- None
1551-1600- Monteverdi
1601-1650- Lully
1651-1700- Bach
1700-1750- Haydn
1751-1800- Beethoven
1801-1850- Tchaikovsky
1851-1900- Ravel (But tomorrow it could be Mahler, and the day after that Sibelius, and then Stravinsky, Prokofiev, etc.)
1901-1950- Shostakovich
1951-2000- Ferrero


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## mmsbls (Mar 6, 2011)

Pre-1400 de Machaut
1401-1450 Josquin
1451-1500 Antoine Brumel (Many composers born between 1401-1450 that I like more than Brumel)
1501-1550 Palestrina (Part of me wanted to put Tallis here because Spem in alium is my favorite pre-Bach work)
1551-1600 Monteverdi
1601-1650 Buxtehude
1651-1700 Bach
1701-1750 Haydn 
1751-1800 Mozart (Beethoven is my second favorite composer, but he won't show up on my list)
1801-1850 Brahms
1851-1900 Mahler
1901-1950 Shostakovich (Dutilleux and Schnittke are close)
1951-2000 Not sure - Toss up between Abrahamsen and Ades


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## Bettina (Sep 29, 2016)

Going by period instead of birthdate:

Renaissance: Ockeghem

Early Baroque: Sweelinck

Late Baroque: Bach

Classical: Mozart

Late Classical/Early Romantic: Beethoven

Romantic: Liszt

20th-century: Debussy


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Medieval: Machaut
Early Renaissance: Dufay
High Renaissance: Josquin 
Early Baroque: Lawes
Mid-Baroque: Purcell
Late Baroque: J. S. Bach
Rococo: C. P. E. Bach
Classical: Haydn
Beethovenian: Beethoven
Early Romantic: Mendelssohn
High Romantic: Wagner
Late Romantic: Brahms
Post-Romantic Romantic: Rachmaninoff
Nationalist: Sibelius
Modernist: Prokofiev
Mid 20th century: Barber
Late 20th century: Sallinen
21st century: Rautavaara


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## lluissineu (Dec 27, 2016)

Am I The only one who's not in love with Bach?


Renaissance: Palestrina.
baroque:HAENDEL.
Classical: Mozart (love him).
Romantic: BRAHMS (superb).
Late romantic: Sibelius, Mahler.
20th century: SHOSTAKOVITCH (with capital letters).

Always: Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky, Elgar, Ravel.


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese (Jan 8, 2013)

1400-1550- None
1551-1600- None
1601-1650- None
1651-1700- None
1700-1750- None
1751-1800- None
1801-1850- None
1851-1900- None
1901-1950- Varese
1951-2000- Zappa


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Clara Schuman, by default.


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## itarbrt (Feb 9, 2017)

Orlando di Lasso
Monteverdi
J.S.Bach + Handel ( good year 1685 for music )
Mozart
Mendelssohn
Grieg
Busoni


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

hpowders said:


> Clara Schuman, by default.


Did William marry a Clara too?


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## Harmonie (Mar 24, 2007)

Medieval - Guillaume de Machaut
Renaissance - Thomas Tallis (vocal), Claude Gervaise (instrumental)
Mid-Baroque - Antonio Vivaldi
Late-Baroque - Both Handel and J.S. Bach are wonderful
Classical - Mozart (with the admittance that I don't know many composers from this era)
Romantic - Beethoven (same as above)
French Impressionism - Claude Debussy
Later Styles (it's all muddy to me from there) - Gustav Holst, Igor Stravinsky

A lot of cliche choices there, but I didn't put anyone here just because. I like them for my own reasons.


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## ST4 (Oct 27, 2016)

Medieval - Machaut/Perotin
Renaissance - Lassus/Gesualdo/Dowland/Josquin
Baroque - Monteverdi/Rameau/Biber/Bach
Classical - Boccherini/Beethoven
Romantic - Berlioz/Liszt/Mahler (Ravel and Debussy too)
20th Century - Webern/Stravinsky/Messiaen/Xenakis/Stockhausen/Kagel
21st Century - Zorn/Neuwirth/Barrett


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## haydnfan (Apr 13, 2011)

I'll skip the eras I do not listen enough to... these are my current favs

Late Baroque-- Bach
Classical-- Beethoven
Early Romantic-- Schubert
Late Romantic-- Brahms
post-Wagner Late Romantic-- Mahler
Early 20th Century-- Vaughan Williams
Mid 20th Century-- Shostakovich
Late 20th Century-- Penderecki/Gorecki (toss up)


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## Nereffid (Feb 6, 2013)

1351-1400 Dufay
1401-1450 Ockeghem
1451-1500 Josquin
1501-1550 Lassus
1551-1600 Monteverdi
1601-1650 Buxtehude
1651-1700 Bach
1701-1750 Haydn
1751-1800 Beethoven
1801-1850 Liszt
1851-1900 Mahler
1901-1950 Glass
1951-2000 Gordon/Lang/Wolfe


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