# Is there a composer you can say I like him best?



## atsizat (Sep 14, 2015)

I am going between Antonio Vivaldi and Johann Sebastian Bach. A part of me says Vivaldi and the other part of me says Bach. Bach and Vivaldi have lots of musics that make me feel like I am drunk or something. I don't know how to put it in English cuz English is my second language but these two give me this kinda feeling. I am doing cardio, I am running to lose weight. I am running while listening to Bach and Vivaldi and I feel like I am drunk or something while I run because of their musics. Do you have composers with whom you feel this way?


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## mmsbls (Mar 6, 2011)

As far back as I can remember, Mozart's music has seemed the supreme example of musical beauty. I have posted several times on TC that no composer has produced more beautiful music, and to me it doesn't really seem close. It may not matter, but I think the fact that he composed such wonderful music in so many genres further enhances my feeling for his music.


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## Aramis (Mar 1, 2009)

> Is there a composer you can say I like him best?


I don't know your taste well enough, but I'd guess Vivaldi and Bach.


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## Dim7 (Apr 24, 2009)

Well I'll let you guess, from these options: 

1. Mozart
2. Beethoven
3. I know enough to decide


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## Simon Moon (Oct 10, 2013)

Aramis said:


> I don't know your taste well enough, but I'd guess Vivaldi and Bach.


I see what you did there...

For me, it changes quite often.

If I had to pick one this week, it would have to be Bartok.

As part of the anual "Grand Ave Arts Festival" (a festival of visual arts, dance, and music in LA), I saw the Colburn School's orchestra play "Concerto for Orchestra" a couple of weekends ago.

For a youth orchestra (late teens), they really did a phenomenal job.

This got me on a Bartok binge.

I'm sure if I were to answer this question again in a couple of weeks, it would be another composer. A month ago, it might have been Berg.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

For me, Beethoven, ever and always--the man and the music.


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

I don´t think I have a favourite composer.
The favourite composer is the one whose music I listen to and enjoy very much at the moment.


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## Morimur (Jan 23, 2014)

Out of habit I would say Bach but the more I listen to ancient music, the more I appreciate Desprez, Monteverdi, Tallis, Byrd, etc.


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## Svitlana (Nov 6, 2015)

Oh yes, your situation is very similar to mine. Sometimes I myself amazed at how differently I react to music in different moments of my life


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## Stavrogin (Apr 20, 2014)

Beethoven and Prokofiev definitely stand out from the rest of the bunch for me. 
Between them two it's a toss up.


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

For me, it's always been JS Bach, my musical soulmate. However, I have to admit it took me quite a few years to really get into his organ music.


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

I'm a big fan of Brahms and Prokofiev, but if the question is rephrased to ask which composer pleases me most with the highest percentage of their work, the answer would be Rachmaninoff--didn't write that much, but it sure was pleasing to these ears.


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## Stavrogin (Apr 20, 2014)

Aramis said:


> I don't know your taste well enough, but I'd guess Vivaldi and Bach.


Eheheheheheheheh


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

I am one of those fortunate people able to appreciate and enjoy a wide range of music. If pushed hard I's say Mozart, Beethoven, Bach, but that would leave me wanting the romantics.


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## poconoron (Oct 26, 2011)

Mozart.......Mozart........Mozart.........


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## TwoPhotons (Feb 13, 2015)

Torn between Stravinsky and R. Strauss.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Wagner, Sibelius, and Rachmaninoff.


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

I think I might be able to respond to that other thread that asked for the top 20  I just tried to get three, but......

NO!


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Bach, ahead of Mahler, Brahms and Schubert.


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## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

*sighs drearily* I'm afraid I'm such _heavy artillery_ today to answer this question.
(but just refer to the handsome man named Glazunov who's standing next to me in my profile pic and you got the answer)


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

atsizat said:


> I am going between Antonio Vivaldi and Johann Sebastian Bach. A part of me says Vivaldi and the other part of me says Bach. Bach and Vivaldi have lots of musics that make me feel like I am drunk or something. I don't know how to put it in English cuz English is my second language but these two give me this kinda feeling. I am doing cardio, I am running to lose weight. I am running while listening to Bach and Vivaldi and I feel like I am drunk or something while I run because of their musics. Do you have composers with whom you feel this way?


Verdi/ Mozart/ Bellini/ Donizetti :cheers:


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## helenora (Sep 13, 2015)

For me it's more a matter of time.....I want to say that now for sure it's Bruckner and...early masters before JSBach and contemporaries of Bach. But it's all about development, my personal development, musical taste changes. May be here it's better to talk not just about a taste, but about how music of one or another composer relates to you NOW (who you are now), how you perceive it at this time of your life. Well, I think it's more or less for everyone is the same, for example once one enjoys JSBach immensely ( please, all big fan of Bach, don't take me wrong , he is worth of admiration and I'm one of great admirers of his talent), but then one discovers or better to say rediscovers music of another composer and simply can't live without this music. It can explain such things as deep understanding of Mozart's music or Wagner ( just examples) can come with experience in music. That's why all the depth of Mozart is not clear for a beginner, what a beginner hears is just nice sounds, prettiness, and it's more of entertainment, but only later having wide experience as a listener one can really realize what is it behind of this "prettiness".


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## SalieriIsInnocent (Feb 28, 2008)

You know, Mozart just does so much for me. It seems like I'm just going with an easy choice, but I grew up with Mozart. Mozart was like a family member for me. I could literally connect to his music in a way that I was never able to connect to another person growing up. I still have a deep connection to that music. I play music, and I love all kinds of music, but what I get from guys like Mozart, Beethoven, and Bach is just something else. It's art that taps into your soul. Mozart helped me cope with things. I have nostalgia for things I did while listening to Mozart. I still can't put into words just what Mozart does for me.


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## Aramis (Mar 1, 2009)

Huilunsoittaja said:


> *sighs drearily* I'm afraid I'm such _heavy artillery_ today to answer this question.
> (but just refer to the handsome man named Glazunov who's standing next to me in my profile pic and you got the answer)


Is that some new way of saying "I have a period"?


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## Bayreuth (Jan 20, 2015)

Shostakovich's music is the one with which I find the deepest "introspective" connection. Beethoven is probably the one that has composed the largest amount of music that I love. I don't know which one of them I would call my favorite


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

I can no longer say that I like something "the best," but I can like a composer more frequently. In that case it's still probably Beethoven.

But even Beethoven doesn't always give me the joy of some of lesser known or second tier names on occasion, Martinu, Ligeti, Turina, Kraus, Kagel, Sibelius, Vaughan Williams . . . I could go on and on.


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## Abraham Lincoln (Oct 3, 2015)

The 20-kid army and the deaf composer.


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## Open Lane (Nov 11, 2015)

For me they are Prokofiev and Chopin right now


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## JD Reyes (Nov 3, 2015)

When I was young, I thought I liked Bach best. Now that I'm older, I can honestly say that I don't have a favorite. I go through phases where I listen to a lot of one composer, but I always come back to others feeling that I want to revisit some stuff that I haven't heard in a long time.


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## Open Lane (Nov 11, 2015)

Jd, i am the same way but with musical styles. 2 months ago i was listening to basically all death metal, then avantgarde jazz... Had very little interest in classical music again until like a week or two ago (i own a lot of brahms, schubert, bach, chopin, schoenberg, Rachmaninoff, wolpe, prokofiev etc etc so its a good thing) Its definitely phases i go through, and it always seems like it goes full circle


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## TradeMark (Mar 12, 2015)

Mozart. He's the one composer that just gets everything right.


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## DiesIraeCX (Jul 21, 2014)

Definitely Beethoven (anyone surprised?), but Debussy and Mahler are close!


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## Chronochromie (May 17, 2014)

Debussy, Schubert and Messiaen, with Ligeti, Rameau and Mahler not far behind.


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## Abraham Lincoln (Oct 3, 2015)

And now a certain Mozart is inching his way to the top of my liszt.


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## gardibolt (May 22, 2015)

It rather goes without saying, yes.


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## Überstürzter Neumann (Jan 1, 2014)

Without doubt Bruckner.


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## Haydn man (Jan 25, 2014)

Well I think my choice is clear, and has remained so for many years.
That said Schubert is just pushing a close second


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## sam93 (Nov 9, 2015)

Such a toughie. As a pianist, I'd say Chopin... but then as someone who appreciates music and its beauty, I'd say Beethoven or Mozart (neither can do wrong n my opinion).


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

I can say that I feel offended when I see that someone don´t like Bruckner, Brahms, Puccini, Carl Nielsen and Schubert. So I must like these composers.


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

I haven't read many biographies - Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert, Moscheles, Brahms, Bartók. If they were all 'real', it's a tossup between Beethoven and Moscheles. If you are referring to their compositions, then it's a tossup between Beethoven and Bartók. No music has made me feel drunk; I am quite familiar with 'drunk'.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Ukko said:


> If you are referring to their compositions, then it's a tossup between Beethoven and Bartók. No music has made me feel drunk; I am quite familiar with 'drunk'.


Here's "Slightly Tipsy" from Bartok's Hungarian Sketches.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGiLCe566xw


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## Vronsky (Jan 5, 2015)

Without second thought Stravinsky & Berlioz.


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## Cosmos (Jun 28, 2013)

It's a toss up between Bach and Mahler, so I'll choose Bach for his larger and more diverse collection


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

sam93 said:


> Such a toughie. As a pianist, I'd say Chopin... but then as someone who appreciates music and its beauty, I'd say Beethoven or Mozart (neither can do wrong n my opinion).


I am not so fond of solo piano music sorry to say that but Chopin is definitely an exception. I heard his second piano concerto recently very good. I have been told that I am not supposed to like the orchestral music by Chopin but I like it anyway. I liked especially that the piano do not get too 
much alone time as in many other concertoes.


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