# Top 5 composers



## Miz (Aug 5, 2011)

Okay, my new thread will be sent to all of you and what I'd like is for you to make your top 5 list.

Round 1:

Here is my top 5 list:

1. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
2. Giovanni Battista Pergolesi
3. Johann Sebastian Bach
4. Franz Schubert
5. Joseph Haydn

Get it?


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## chalkpie (Oct 5, 2011)

Ives
Mahler
Stravinsky
Ligeti
Shostakovich


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

1. Beethoven
2. Bach
3. Wagner
4. Mozart
5. ...Wagner


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

Couchie said:


> ...3. Wagner
> ...5. ...Wagner


I know one of them is *Richard Wagner *& assume the other must be "the Austrian march king," Josef Wagner? :lol: ...Or more likely, Couchie is doing a "Double Dutch"...or should that be "Double Austro-Germanic?"  ...


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

Well this varies week to week or month to month...I go through phases with classical, I have a short attention span compared to others...But judging from my listening recently, it's something like this, in no particular order (the first two will most probably always be on my list of favourites) -

Beethoven
Brahms
Boccherini
Castelnuovo-Tedesco
Peter Sculthorpe

...for the first two, it's their chamber works, for the last three, it's their guitar works...


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

Sid James said:


> I know one of them is *Richard Wagner *& assume the other must be "the Austrian march king," Josef Wagner? :lol: ...Or more likely, Couchie is doing a "Double Dutch"...or should that be "Double Austro-Germanic?"  ...


A Double Deutsch!


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## Trout (Apr 11, 2011)

I don't know what this is for, but here is my tentative list in no particular order:

Bach
Beethoven
Schubert
Strauss, Richard
Stravinsky

One composer each to represent the baroque, classical, romantic, late romantic, and contemporary eras.


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

Miz said:


> Get it?


Let's see. The top 5 composers in my catalog are:

Adams, John
Adamson, J. Brendan
Aho, Kalevi
Albeniz, Isaac
Albinoni, Tomaso


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

Not to put down anyones thread, but this is just the top 25 composers.... -20.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

1, JS Bach
2. Mahler
3. Brahms
4. Schubert
5. Shostakovich


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

Based on nothing but how much I enjoy their music, I guess

1. Mozart
2. Chopin
3. Brahms
4. Beethoven
5. Dvorak, Schubert, Debussy, Stravinsky (tie)


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## pjang23 (Oct 8, 2009)

1. Georg Philipp Telemann

The rest are all hacks who wrote less than 3000 works.


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

pjang23 said:


> 1. Georg Philipp Telemann
> 
> The rest are all hacks who wrote less than 3000 works.


:lol: ...Yeah but it's like nobody has heard the vast majority of those 3000 works. I mean it's like we all know Elvis is still alive living somewhere in Africa or something, but has anybody actually seen him?  ...


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

My personal top 5:

Bach
Messiaen
Berg
Bellini
Verdi


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## HarpsichordConcerto (Jan 1, 2010)

I have lots. My all time favourites:-

1. Michele Bokanowski
2. Chrisitne Groult
3. Berangere Maximin
4. Beatriz Ferreyra
5. Natasha Barett
6. Elsa Justel
7. Diane Simpson
8. Marisol Jimenez
9. Alice Shields
10. Eliane Radigue, her three hour epic masterpiece _Trilogie de la Mort _ is sublime.
11. Pauline Oliveros
12. Lyn Goeringer

etc. etc.


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## mmsbls (Mar 6, 2011)

1. Mozart
2. Beethoven
3. Bach
4. Brahms
5. Schubert


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

Oh what the heck, I'll try to be a little more objective

Beethoven-inhuman
J.S. Bach-the big boss
Tchaikovsky-my all time favorite, the most emotional of any composer
Haydn-my 2nd favorite, form is flawless and always fun
Medtner-best body of work for piano, extremely complex but always makes perfect sense and really jazzy, eye squinting modulations and rich but highly functional harmonies


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## Vesteralen (Jul 14, 2011)

There's something hopelessly redundant about this, for me. So, I'm going to create more interest for myself by asking the following:

A new and undiscovered symphonic work by this composer has just been found!

Which five names would create the most excitement for me?

Brahms

Nielsen

Elgar

Barber

Schumann


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## Klavierspieler (Jul 16, 2011)

Schumann 
Beethoven
Bach
Elgar
Chopin


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## Nix (Feb 20, 2010)

1. Beethoven
2. Bach
3. Mozart
4. Brahms
5.... Mahler, Schubert, Bartok, Haydn?


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## Miz (Aug 5, 2011)

pjang23 said:


> 1. Georg Philipp Telemann
> 
> The rest are all hacks who wrote less than 3000 works.


 What does the quantity of Telemann's works have anything to do with Telemann's greatness? If anything, the ratio of his popular works VS how many works he writes does things with Telemann's greatness.


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## Polednice (Sep 13, 2009)

1. Shakespeare's left foot, after a light pickling.
2. The tree outside my bedroom window which gives me nightmares.
3. Little baby Jesus.
4. The population of the central 10,000km sq. of Azerbaijan.
5. A close tie between Beowulf and Grendel. Probably Beowulf, but only when he's naked.


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

Polednice said:


> 4. The population of the central 10,000km sq. of Azerbaijan.


Azerbaijan actually *does* have some pretty amazing traditional music. lol


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## Polednice (Sep 13, 2009)

violadude said:


> Azerbaijan actually *does* have some pretty amazing traditional music. lol


That stuff is nothing like the amazing music being written by the current inhabitants of those 10,000km.


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## kv466 (May 18, 2011)

Almost impossible question to answer, but these touch me very profoundly:

- J.S. Bach
- van Beethoven
- W.A. Mozart/Haydn/Hummel 
- Edvard Grieg
- Rachmaninov/Debussy


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## Polednice (Sep 13, 2009)

kv466 said:


> Almost impossible question to answer, but these touch me very profoundly:
> 
> - J.S. Bach
> - van Beethoven
> ...


Bach has only ever touched me inappropriately. Probably illegally, actually.


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## Vaneyes (May 11, 2010)

Okay, I'll bite. For their ingenuity, resulting in a wide variety of compositions.

Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Shostakovich.


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

Vaneyes said:


> Okay, I'll bite. For their ingenuity, resulting in a wide variety of compositions.
> 
> Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Shostakovich.


Sorry - incorrect. You should have used your lifeline:

Ring, ring.

Hello?

Hi Couchie, this is Meredith from Millionaire. Your friend Vaneyes needs help answering a question. You have 30 seconds. Your time starts NOW.

Couchie, who are the top 5 composers?

Well Vaneyes, we know that Wagner is there, and Haydn isn't. That's all the help I can give you. Good luck. *beep*

Well Meredith, I'm going to have to go with Wagner, Mozart, Beethoven, and... Bach? Furthermore, TRICK QUESTION. There are only 4 top composers. Final answer.

That is correct for $100,000!!!!!!  DUH, DUH DUH DUH DUH DUH DUH DUHHHHHHHH!


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

I think I've done a list before. I wonder how it matches up. Anyway, here's the top five as of now. Ask me again tomorrow.

Bruckner
Beethoven
Webern
Bach
Haydn


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

Some more Top composers:








Karl Weigl in the Alps








Karlowicz in the Tatras (perhaps a studio production, but likely not, and he was a keen mountaineer)








Mahler hiking in an alpine valley








Grieg, Julius Röntgen and Franz Beyer in the Norwegian mountains








The young Langgaard and friends at the Kullen cliffs above the sea, to the North of Copenhagen


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## Pierrot Lunaire (Dec 16, 2010)

HarpsichordConcerto said:


> I have lots. My all time favourites:-
> 
> 1. Michele Bokanowski
> 2. Chrisitne Groult
> ...


It's funny because they are women and everyone knows that women can't be great composers! Wait. No. No, that's just misogynistic. My mistake.


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## Lisztian (Oct 10, 2011)

My top 5 composers - those I enjoy the most, not necessarily who I think are the best.

1. Liszt (being a Lisztian )
2. Beethoven
3. Chopin
4. Rachmaninoff
5. Brahms

However I still have a lot of rep to explore. A LOT.


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

I suppose I should give a serious answer now. 

The classical music that has the most profound positive physiological effect (which may or may not have anything to do with greatness) is by:

1. Beethoven
2. J. S. Bach

3-5. Just about everyone else. Seriously, most composers, even those I don't much care for, have some output that sends a chill of awe up my spine. I love music that much. It would be easier to list the composers I don't yet appreciate.

Some of my favorites that come to mind in stream of consciousness order are: Vaughan-Williams, Sibelius, Bruckner, Brahms, Schubert, Schumann, Handel, Stravinsky, Dowland, D. Scarlatti, Ligeti, Tournemire, and Gliere. I'll stop there.


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## samurai (Apr 22, 2011)

Miz said:


> What does the quantity of Telemann's works have anything to do with Telemann's greatness? If anything, the ratio of his popular works VS how many works he writes does things with Telemann's greatness.


@ Miz, I really thought he was only joking, no?


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## Rasa (Apr 23, 2009)

You must construct additional lists


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## HerlockSholmes (Sep 4, 2011)

1. J. S. Bach
2. W. T. F. Bach
3. J. C. P. E. N. N. E. Y. Bach
4. A. N. O. T. H. E. R. S. T. U. P. I. D. A. C. R. O. N. Y. M. Bach
5. Charles-Valentin Alkan


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## Olias (Nov 18, 2010)

1 - Beethoven
2 - Dvorak
3 - Dvorak
4 - Dvorak
5 - Mozart


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## Miz (Aug 5, 2011)

Polednice said:


> 1. Shakespeare's left foot, after a light pickling.
> 2. The tree outside my bedroom window which gives me nightmares.
> 3. Little baby Jesus.
> 4. The population of the central 10,000km sq. of Azerbaijan.
> 5. A close tie between Beowulf and Grendel. Probably Beowulf, but only when he's naked.


 I've heard on you with you top 5 list with composers. My guess on your top 5 would be:

1. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
2. Johann Sebastian Bach
3. Ludwig Van Beethoven
4. Johannes Brahms
5. Frederic Chopin

True or
False?


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## Miz (Aug 5, 2011)

I'll update my top 5 list with Lists:

PRIMRAY LIST

1. Mozart
2. Pergolesi

SECONDARY LIST

3. Bach
4. Schubert
5. Haydn


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## samurai (Apr 22, 2011)

My Top 5: {I'm just referring to symphonic works here}

1. Sergei Prokofiev
2. Ludwig Van Beethoven
3. Antonin Dvorak
4. Dmitri Shostakovich
5. Carl Nielsen and Jean Sibelius

I really wish we could expand this list, as I would also wish to include Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Peter Tchaikovsky and Johannes Brahms. Just saying. Oh well, cest la vie!


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## Trout (Apr 11, 2011)

Miz said:


> I've heard on you with you top 5 list with composers. My guess on your top 5 would be:
> 
> 1. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
> 2. Johann Sebastian Bach
> ...


More like:
1. Brahms
2. Brahms
3. Brahms
4. Brahms
5. Schubert


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## Polednice (Sep 13, 2009)

Trout said:


> More like:
> 1. Brahms
> 2. Brahms
> 3. Brahms
> ...


Trout, I think I'm falling in love with you...


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## Ravellian (Aug 17, 2009)

The top 5 composers I am enamored with at this point in time:

1. Gabriel Faure
2. Alexander Scriabin
3. Guillaume de Machaut
4. Jean-Henri d'Anglebert
5. Jean Sibelius


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## Miz (Aug 5, 2011)

Weston said:


> I suppose I should give a serious answer now.
> 
> The classical music that has the most profound positive physiological effect (which may or may not have anything to do with greatness) is by:
> 
> ...


 What about Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart?


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## Polednice (Sep 13, 2009)

Miz said:


> I've heard on you with you top 5 list with composers. My guess on your top 5 would be:
> 
> 1. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
> 2. Johann Sebastian Bach
> ...


Hahahahaha! No idea where you got that from - for starters, I've got a thread running where I talk about how I dislike Bach completely! 

If I really, really must write a silly little list, then it would go like this:

1. Johannes Brahms.
2. Antonin Dvorak.

3. Franz Schubert.
4. Pyotr Tchaikosky.

5. Changes a lot; could be Grieg, could be Mendelssohn, could be Rimsky-Korsakov once I've listened to him a little more.


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## Kieran (Aug 24, 2010)

Mozart!
Schubert (but maybe like the next guy chasing Usain Bolt!)
Bach
Beethoven
Handel

:tiphat:


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

Miz said:


> What about Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart?


 He rarely has a positive I effect on me. Sorry. I enjoy his later piano concertos and symphonies, but that's about it.


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

Polednice said:


> Hahahahaha! No idea where you got that from - for starters, I've got a thread running where I talk about how I dislike Bach completely!
> 
> If I really, really must write a silly little list, then it would go like this:
> 
> ...


I didn't you ranked Tchaikovsky so high, Polednice. What's your favorite piece?


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## Conor71 (Feb 19, 2009)

1. J.S. Bach
2. Beethoven
3. Shostakovich
4. Sibelius
5. Mozart


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## Rapide (Oct 11, 2011)

Ravel, Shubert, Beethoven, Mozart, Rachmaninov, Chopin.....many more.


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## Webernite (Sep 4, 2010)

At the moment: 

1. Bach
2. Brahms
3. Mozart
4. Schumann
5. Beethoven


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## Fsharpmajor (Dec 14, 2008)

1. Shostakovich
2. Mahler
3. R Strauss
4. Sibelius
5. Rimsky-Korsakov


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## Polednice (Sep 13, 2009)

violadude said:


> I didn't you ranked Tchaikovsky so high, Polednice. What's your favorite piece?


Although I think some of his works are more perfectly crafted, I instinctively go for his 4th Symphony. The _Manfred_ Symphony has also had a profound effect on me and has a special place in my heart. I particularly like him because I think his literary tone poems are the best in the genre.


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## Miz (Aug 5, 2011)

Couchie said:


> 1. Beethoven
> 2. Bach
> 3. Wagner
> 4. Mozart
> 5. ...Wagner


 I think that Mozart's Requiem, his "Sonata in C Major" and his "The Marriage of Figaro: Overture" are really good. So let me get this straight, I hear that you might like the Requiem by Mozart, his Sonata in C Major, his "The Marriage of Figaro: Overture", and his The Magic Flute.


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

Miz said:


> I think that Mozart's Requiem, his "Sonata in C Major" and his "The Marriage of Figaro: Overture" are really good. So let me get this straight, I hear that you might like the Requiem by Mozart, his Sonata in C Major, his "The Marriage of Figaro: Overture", and his The Magic Flute.


I'm confused, are you hitting on me?


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## Terrapin (Apr 15, 2011)

1. Beethoven
2. Brahms
3. Tchaikovsky
4. Haydn
5. Schubert/Dvorak


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## Rapide (Oct 11, 2011)

Ravellian said:


> The top 5 composers I am enamored with at this point in time:
> 
> 1. Gabriel Faure
> 2. Alexander Scriabin
> ...


Faure wrote BEAUTIFUL keyboard music and chamber music. I love it.


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## Miz (Aug 5, 2011)

Alright, why not? Here is my list:

1. Ludwig Van Beethoven
2. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
3. Johann Sebastian Bach
4. Joseph Haydn
5. George Frederic Handel


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## Miz (Aug 5, 2011)

Couchie said:


> 1. Beethoven
> 2. Bach
> 3. Wagner
> 4. Mozart
> 5. ...Wagner


 I'd only agree with your Nr. 1.


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## Trout (Apr 11, 2011)

Geia said:


> I'd only agree with your Nr. 1.


You don't happen to be the same person as the OP (Miz)?


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## Miz (Aug 5, 2011)

Trout said:


> You don't happen to be the same person as the OP (Miz)?


 I'm a woman, and Miz is a man so therefore, I'm not the same person as him.


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## pjang23 (Oct 8, 2009)

Geia said:


> I'm a woman, and Miz is a man so therefore, I'm not the same person as him.


Nice, you know Miz in person, eh?


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## Trout (Apr 11, 2011)

Geia said:


> I'm a woman, and Miz is a man so therefore, I'm not the same person as him.


I was only joking at first because your posts were almost identical (compare here and here). But now you've created another thread nearly identical to Miz's thread even with the same wording. This is far from coincidence.


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## Miz (Aug 5, 2011)

pjang23 said:


> Nice, you know Miz in person, eh?


 We know eachother.


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

Miz said:


> We know eachother.


Are you two related? Identical twins that somehow ended up with identical personalities?


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## DavidMahler (Dec 28, 2009)

Mahler
Brahms
Schubert
Schumann
Sibelius
Debussy


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## aleazk (Sep 30, 2011)

Ravel
Ravel
Bach
Prokofiev
Stravinsky

(and the fact that I mentioned Ravel twice it's not a typo  )


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## Trout (Apr 11, 2011)

Ah, I see the two users have been combined into one.

Folks, if you're going to use two separate accounts (as two "separate" people) at least put some effort into creating different personalities.


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## chalkpie (Oct 5, 2011)

Ives
Zappa
Stravinsky
Mahler
Shostakovich


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## maxshrek (Sep 14, 2011)

Well
1. Bach
2. Beethoven
3. Wagner
4. Mozart
5. Schoenberg in cohabitation with Strauss.


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## Jeremy Marchant (Mar 11, 2010)

William Byrd
Josquin des Prez
Guillaume Dufay
Claudio Monteverdi
Tomás Luis de Victoria


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## Tapkaara (Apr 18, 2006)

I don't normally participate in these list thingies, but I guess I will try. I always feel if I include one composer, I am leaving another out. Here it goes, in no particular order:

Sibelius
Ifukube
Hayasaka
Khachaturian
Rozsa

I think Beethoven, Kilar and Mussorgsky and Glass just barely didn't make it into my top 5.

Interesting to note that all of my top 5 are "nationalist" composers.


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## poconoron (Oct 26, 2011)

My top 5:

Mozart
Beethoven
Schubert
JS Bach
Brahms


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## Miz (Aug 5, 2011)

Tapkaara said:


> I don't normally participate in these list thingies, but I guess I will try. I always feel if I include one composer, I am leaving another out. Here it goes, in no particular order:
> 
> Sibelius
> Ifukube
> ...


 How about WA Mozart, Wagner, Verdi, JS Bach, Mahler, Dukas, J Williams, Holst, Shostakovich, Jenkins, Saint-Saenes and Xenakis and Ligeti and Schoenberg?


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## ascension (Oct 30, 2011)

1. Mahler
2. Shostakovich
3. Brahms
4. Wagner
5. Rimsky-Korsakow


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## opus55 (Nov 9, 2010)

Top 5 list at the moment

1. Beethoven
2. Mozart
3. Shostakovich
4. Brahms
5. Prokofiev


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## myaskovsky2002 (Oct 3, 2010)

HarpsichordConcerto said:


> I have lots. My all time favourites:-
> 
> 1. Michele Bokanowski
> 2. Chrisitne Groult
> ...


I know no one of these!

Martin, ignorant


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## myaskovsky2002 (Oct 3, 2010)

5? This is really hard.

Glinka
Rimsky-Korsakov
Schreker
Zemlinsky
Berg

trying to forget about 30 more...


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## myaskovsky2002 (Oct 3, 2010)

Glinka, amazing!

Martin


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## Miz (Aug 5, 2011)

Jeremy Marchant said:


> William Byrd
> Josquin des Prez
> Guillaume Dufay
> Claudio Monteverdi
> Tomás Luis de Victoria


 Why do you enjoy music made in the renaissance? What about the three greatest composers of all time that are Beethoven, Bach, and Mozart?


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## hocket (Feb 21, 2010)

Yeah, that's a really stupid answer Marchant. Don't you realise that the whole point is for people to arrange the names of Bach, Beethoven and Mozart in varying orders? For the other two spots you have a choice from Schubert, Wagner, Stravinsky, and Haydn. We don't need people like you going around treating this as if it were some kind of excuse to indulge your weird predelictions.

...how come the obvious troll is still posting here? I'd have thought that using multiple identities to provoke people was all the evidence that was required.


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

Well Aramis just killed the top 25 composers thread, unless someone wants to give their soul to him.


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## Tapkaara (Apr 18, 2006)

Miz said:


> How about WA Mozart, Wagner, Verdi, JS Bach, Mahler, Dukas, J Williams, Holst, Shostakovich, Jenkins, Saint-Saenes and Xenakis and Ligeti and Schoenberg?


How about them?


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## Miz (Aug 5, 2011)

Tapkaara said:


> How about them?


 Dukas was born in the same year as your top 1 favorite alright not to pick on you. WA Mozart and JS Bach are the greatest composers of all time like Beethoven. Xenakis, Schoenberg, Ligeti, Holst, Shostakovich, John Williams, and Jenkins are the modern composers that you might like. Saint-Saenes is not that bad. And Mahler, Verdi and Wagner are one of the greatest composers of all time.


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## Tapkaara (Apr 18, 2006)

Miz said:


> Dukas was born in the same year as your top 1 favorite alright not to pick on you. WA Mozart and JS Bach are the greatest composers of all time like Beethoven. Xenakis, Schoenberg, Ligeti, Holst, Shostakovich, John Williams, and Jenkins are the modern composers that you might like. Saint-Saenes is not that bad. And Mahler, Verdi and Wagner are one of the greatest composers of all time.


I am sorry, but I do not see what any of that has to do with my selection of my top 5 favorite composers.


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

Vesteralen said:


> A new and undiscovered symphonic work by this composer has just been found!
> 
> Which five names would create the most excitement for me?


Hmmm. I'd add that it has to be a mature work (not some notebook from Mozart's childhood) and then I'd say:

1. Beethoven
2. Brahms 
3. Mozart
4. Debussy
5. maybe Chausson / maybe Schubert / maybe Saint-Saens / maybe Tchaikovksy / maybe Dvorak


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