# Think before you decide: If these composers weren't an option, then who?



## vtpoet (Jan 17, 2019)

If you couldn't take any of these composers:


JS Bach
Bartok
Beethoven
Berlioz
Brahms
Bruckner
Couperin
Debussy
Dvorak
Faure
Handel
J Haydn
Mahler
Mendelssohn
Monteverdi
WA Mozart
Prokofiev
Rameau
Ravel
Schubert
R Schumann
Shostakovitch
Sibelius
R Strauss
Verdi
Vivaldi
Wagner
Or any other composer generally considered "great" or "first tier"... 

Who would you take with you?

Some CPE Bach maybe? Telemann? Bruch? Salieri? Clara Schumann? Hummel? :devil:


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Who is W Schumann? There is W Schuman, but as good as he is, he looks out of place given the others. I assume you mean R Schumann?

Of the ones not listed, Dvorak and Richard Strauss come to mind as prime candidates for me, but they would probably qualify as "other composer generally considered "great" or "first tier"...".

So Arnold Bax it is, then.


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## vtpoet (Jan 17, 2019)

Yeah, I meant R Schumann. Got William stuck in my head, but that would be Schuman. *Edit*: Added Dvorak and Herr Strauss.


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## Livly_Station (Jan 8, 2014)

vtpoet said:


> Who would you take with you?


Who would I take with me? You mean the person? To where? A desert island? Then probably a cute composer.

But if the question is which composer's oeuvre I'd choose to listen to for the rest of my life if I couldn't listen to any other... then I'd choose *Villa-Lobos*. I'd be tempted by Scriabin, but I don't want to go crazy.


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## Ethereality (Apr 6, 2019)

This topic was described better here. Unfortunately when things are better described they're not always better understood.

The Slavic and Russians I chose there wouldn't be my first choices in this scenario, since this scenario is asking for 'best.' But it's more indicative of who I _might_ choose, ie. some tier 2 composers who acheieved better things than them. Not sure.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

vtpoet said:


> *Edit*: Added Dvorak and Herr Strauss.


Not my favourite (hohum), but in fairness, Handel should be added to your list as well.


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## vtpoet (Jan 17, 2019)

Livly_Station said:


> Who would I take with me? You mean the person? To where? A desert island? Then probably a cute composer.


Go on...!

This is an even better subject.

If I had to choose according to cuteness? Fanny Mendelssohn. Hands down. Mic drop.


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## vtpoet (Jan 17, 2019)

Art Rock said:


> Not my favourite (hohum), but in fairness, Handel should be added to your list as well.


Yeah. You're right. Fine. Added.


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## Neo Romanza (May 7, 2013)

It would be nice if members stop posting these kinds of threads. I mean this is nothing in the world but a "Pick your favorite" or some other variation on the same theme that has been done ad nauseam.


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## Livly_Station (Jan 8, 2014)

vtpoet said:


> Go on... This is an even better subject.
> 
> If I had to choose according to cuteness? Fanny Mendelssohn. Hands down. Mic drop.


Well, Caroline Shaw is cute and I like her music. Alma Mahler was said to be quite beautiful, and I also like her _Lieder_. And I want to make a joke about this forum, but that would be gross.


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

Machaut, Palestrina, Duruflé, Schoeck, Bernstein, Gershwin, Golijov, Weill, Braunfels, Satie, Zemlinsky, Hugo Wolf.


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## KevinJS (Sep 24, 2021)

Livly_Station said:


> Well, Caroline Shaw is cute and I like her music. Alma Mahler was said to be quite beautiful, and I also like her _Lieder_. And I want to make a joke about this forum, but that would be gross.


I saw what you did there. Well played.


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## vtpoet (Jan 17, 2019)

Livly_Station said:


> Well, Caroline Shaw is cute and I like her music. Alma Mahler was said to be quite beautiful, and I also like her _Lieder_. And I want to make a joke about this forum, but that would be gross.


Yeah, Caroline Shaw is defs cute and I like her music too.


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## vtpoet (Jan 17, 2019)

Neo Romanza said:


> It would be nice if members stop posting these kinds of threads. I mean this is nothing in the world but a "Pick your favorite" or some other variation on the same theme that has been done ad nauseam.


We've moved on to cuteness now. But if you have a favorite classical music thread to take with you to your island, glad to hear it.


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## Subutai (Feb 28, 2021)

Why is Tchaikovsky (Peter) not on the above list? How is he not a 1st class Composer?

The only 2 who come to mind after reading this 1st page are Carl Nielsen and Nicholai Rimsky-Korsakov. Prefer them over most of the usual suspects you've named.


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## Neo Romanza (May 7, 2013)

vtpoet said:


> We've moved on to cuteness now. But if you have a favorite classical music thread to take with you to your island, glad to hear it.


As I stated in the other thread of the same theme, I'm not taking ANY music with me to the desert island if I were only allowed one choice.


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## vtpoet (Jan 17, 2019)

Subutai said:


> Why is Tchaikovsky (Peter) not on the above list? How is he not a 1st class Composer?


Because Tchaikovsky is a second tier composer.

JUST kidding. Just kidding. I tried to think of everybody but... you know.


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## fluteman (Dec 7, 2015)

Fortunately for me, the OP does not mention Stravinsky, Hindemith, Martinu, Ibert, or any of Les Six, or Ives, Copland, Bernstein, or Rorem, or Schoenberg, Berg, or Webern, or Weill, or Carter, or Messiaen, or Dutilleux, or any of the post 1950 crowd such as Boulez, Crumb, Del Tredeci, Corigliano and Vasks. They're in.

I'll also take SanAntone's Machaut, Palestrina, and Duruflé (actually his entire list is good), and raise him a Gluck, Scarlatti, Pergolesi (even just what is now definitively considered to be from his pen), Boismortier and Corrette.

Bizet, Donizetti and Puccini are must haves, too. And Respighi, Villa Lobos, and Ginastera. Let's not forget Paganini and his violin virtuoso followers Vieuxtemps, Wieniawski, Sarasate and Ysaye. And I'd keep Elgar, Delius and Vaughan Williams.

And maybe the OP forgot to exclude Chopin, Liszt and Rachmaninov. I'll take them, too.

I could go on quite a ways further.


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## vtpoet (Jan 17, 2019)

Neo Romanza said:


> As I stated in the other thread of the same theme, I'm not taking ANY music with me to the desert island if I were only allowed one choice.


Not even if the composer is super cute?


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## vtpoet (Jan 17, 2019)

fluteman said:


> Fortunately for me, the OP does not mention Stravinsky, Hindemith, Martinu, Ibert...


Yes I did. It was the last option:

_Or any other composer generally considered "great" or "first tier"... _

That was my "Escape Clause".


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## Neo Romanza (May 7, 2013)

vtpoet said:


> Not even if the composer is super cute?


If I'm taking a composer with me to a desert island that is super cute, I'm taking Roxanna Panufnik with me:










Not her music, but actually her as in physically.


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## Xisten267 (Sep 2, 2018)

From the great names absent in your list I would choose the obvious one missing, the elephant in the room: Beethoven. Now, no solid criteria were established as to who are the composers to be "generally considered 'great' or 'first tier'", so, if I suppose that they are those who belong to this list, then I'll be able to give you a proper answer, and it is: Khachaturian!


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## vtpoet (Jan 17, 2019)

Neo Romanza said:


> If I'm taking a composer with me to a desert island that is super cute, I'm taking Roxanna Panufnik with me:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Damn. You make a persuasive argument.


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## vtpoet (Jan 17, 2019)

Xisten267 said:


> From the great names absent in your list I would choose the obvious one missing, the elephant in the room: Beethoven. Now, no solid criteria were established as to who are the composers to be "generally considered 'great' or 'first tier'", so, if I suppose that they are those who belong to this list, then I'll be able to give you a proper answer, and it is: Khachaturian!


Okay. I added Beethoven. Don't know if he's top tier cute though...


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

I'd take a close friend of Shostakovich - Weinberg.


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## Ethereality (Apr 6, 2019)

I feel like Beethoven would smack around trees and try to escape the island. Might never see him again.

Bach on the other hand would be useful, inventing shelter mechanics, sundials and chimes (or something ).


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## Red Terror (Dec 10, 2018)

Stravinsky
Ligeti
Kurtág
Lutosławski
Xenakis
Feldman
Schoenberg
Webern
Berg
Chopin
Prokofiev
Weinberg
Brahms


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

I'd take a lot of good books and listen to the wind and the waves.


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## vtpoet (Jan 17, 2019)

MarkW said:


> I'd take a lot of good books and listen to the wind and the waves.


I'd take a sailboat.


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## allaroundmusicenthusiast (Jun 3, 2020)

It's a good thing you left out most of the 20th century and everything pre-Bach, so I'll be just fine


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## vtpoet (Jan 17, 2019)

//It's a good thing you left out most of the 20th century...//

I based my list on this thread: Really think before you decide: If you could only listen to one composer from now on

But if it's more fun and trolly, I'm willing to include the Beatles, Pink Floyd, Rolling Stones, Nirvana, The Doo... Oh wait. You meant those other "classical" composers nobody really listens to? :devil:


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## 59540 (May 16, 2021)

Probably Franck. I don't know if he's made either of these lists.


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## fluteman (Dec 7, 2015)

I've decided to change my answer. I would not "take" any music with me. Rather, I would immerse myself in the indigenous or otherwise generally available music of wherever I was going.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Rachmaninoff for sure!


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## Simon Moon (Oct 10, 2013)

Not in any order...

Penderecki
Elliott Carter
Joan Tower (for her music)
Charles Wuorinen
Magnus Lindberg
Ligeti
Berg
Schoenberg
Ernst Krenek
Harrison Birtwistle
Luciano Berio


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## vtpoet (Jan 17, 2019)

fluteman said:


> I've decided to change my answer. I would not "take" any music with me. Rather, I would immerse myself in the indigenous or otherwise generally available music of wherever I was going.


And then fluteman became a member of their orchestra: his skull and shinbones making a delightful percussive instrument.


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## StDior (May 28, 2015)

Chopin
Puccini
Telemann
Tchaikovsky
Liszt
Janácek
Cavalli
Franck
Rossini
Buxtehude

I would pick these 10 composers who are not on the initial list.


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## Doublestring (Sep 3, 2014)

Of those not listed these are my favorites:


Stravinsky
Schoenberg
Chopin
Liszt
Tchaikovsky
Ligeti
Lassus
Josquin Des Prés
Palestrina
Villa-Lobos
Berg
Rachmaninoff
Rimsky-Korsakov
Grieg
Puccini
Britten
Gershwin 
Xenakis
Stockhausen
Kaija Saariaaho
Scriabin
Gubaidulina
Purcell
Machaut
Franck


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## Roger Knox (Jul 19, 2017)

Glazunov and Grey Goose


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## 59540 (May 16, 2021)

,.............d.e.l.e.t.e.d.........


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## Red Terror (Dec 10, 2018)

Ethereality said:


> I feel like Beethoven would smack around trees and try to escape the island. Might never see him again.


He'd likely go on a murderous rampage. That guy was kooky. Artists aren't the most stable people, generally speaking.


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## fluteman (Dec 7, 2015)

vtpoet said:


> And then fluteman became a member of their orchestra: his skull and shinbones making a delightful percussive instrument.


So, if I don't take any music, I'll have room in my valise for some small firearms, body armor, and other protective devices. Good to know I'll be entering a war zone. OTOH, once I die of natural causes after a long, prosperous life, they can do what they want with dem bones.


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