# Composer Explorer: A website I'm making as the ultimate Classical Music portal



## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

Introducing *Composer Explorer*: My project to create the most comprehensible Classical Music website ever!

This project arouse out of a singular idea I had: It is 2021, why is it not possible to view the composers, all the works they have written, and play the best recordings of their works? The technology is there, the idea exists in fragments, the work listings are on Wikipedia and IMSLP, though navigating both are a mess, the recordings are available on Spotify, though not organized properly for classical music, and nobody has put the pieces together quite yet. Until now. 










Site navigation is as follows:

The *Main* page:
A listing of the major composers sortable by birth, nationality, and filterable on key metrics such as era. Both timeline and tabulated views are available. Clicking on the composer opens a dialog with a blurb about their life and a preview of their characteristic "sound". From that dialog, you can "explore" a composer, and the user is directed to the "composer" page.

The *Composer* page:
The composer's life work, on a page. Works are presented on a timeline or in tables, dated to year of composition and grouped by genre. The goal is to provide a comprehensive resource to both newcomers and veterans alike. Page view is filterable to the recommendations made by the TalkClassical.com community (Compilation of the TC Top Recommended Lists). Users can "check off" and keep track of which works they have listened to and are familiar with via a button on the "albums" page.

The *Albums* page:
Clicking on a work opens the albums page. Here is the listing of albums for the work, sorted initially by popularity on Spotify and also with the ability for users to "like" albums, a system which over time votes the best albums to the top. Users can immediately compare and contrast different performances. Albums can be filtered by performer/artist.

Other features:
- Database searches for works and artists. For instance, you can easily discover which composers and works Karajan conducted, and be directed to those recordings.
- Users can favorite composers for quick access later
- Automatic tabulation of top composers, works, artists, and performances, as derived from Spotify metrics and user voting.
- Generate Spotify playlists for composers automatically, or create custom Spotify playlists manually

Have a look and let me know what you think! Always open to new ideas, help, and suggestions! 

https://www.composerexplorer.com/


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozart's_nationality


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## Livly_Station (Jan 8, 2014)

Good luck with your enterprise!


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

hammeredklavier said:


> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozart's_nationality


I tended to go with the present-day nationality of the city in which they were born. Hence Mozart is Austrian. Besides, the Germans already have Bach and Beethoven, they are just being greedy with Mozart too.


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

Livly_Station said:


> Good luck with your enterprise!


Thank you! I'm new to programming so it's been quite the learning curve.


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

Couchie said:


> I tended to go with the present-day nationality of the city in which they were born. Hence Mozart is Austrian. Besides, the Germans already have Bach and Beethoven, they are just being greedy with Mozart too.


But you're fine with them being greedy with Handel?


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

hammeredklavier said:


> But you're fine with them being greedy with Handel?


Handel was born in Germany, but moved to England, where he composed his mature output. So I gave him a German flag but grouped him with the British composers, a compromise. :tiphat:


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

Wow. That's quite an undertaking. I would have given up at Bach!


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

Manxfeeder said:


> Wow. That's quite an undertaking. I would have given up at Bach!


Bach wasn't too bad, his works are numerous but he has an excellent cataloging system. The composers like Ives who constantly revised their works and made no attempt to give them opus numbers or otherwise catalog them were the least fun to sort through and get into the system.


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## mmsbls (Mar 6, 2011)

I will say that I'm quite impressed. I'm currently listening to Abrahamsen's Let Me Tell You. The site seems easy to use and contains a fairly large number of works from top composers. Having said that, I don't understand why the home page doesn't default to Wagner and do so again after clearing.


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

mmsbls said:


> Having said that, I don't understand why the home page doesn't default to Wagner and do so again after clearing.


Don't tempt me! I'm doing my best to be composer-neutral. :lol:


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

Couchie said:


> Don't tempt me! I'm doing my best to be composer-neutral. :lol:


LOL.. Btw, it's good to see you being very active in the general discussion forum these days. Also, would you consider adding Haydn's younger brother to the list as well? After all, his requiem is the earliest music in history that makes me think "Ah, Wagner..". I'm not exactly sure why; it might be because of the use of instrumentation/dynamics, or because, to me, the Renaissance feels too "slimy" in terms of form, and the Baroque feels too "busy" in terms of "breathing pace" to make me feel the same way.


Couchie said:


> Anything before Wagner that I like I say, "ah, this inspired Wagner"


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## Forster (Apr 22, 2021)

It's excellent! I'm very impressed. Obviously a work in progress, as you fill out the works of the composers already listed and you add to the composer list, but there's already plenty to explore. The chronology is really helpful to this amateur.

Thank you!

(PS, Pastoral Symphony is missing from Vaughan Williams list of symphonies, though it's visible in the 'timeline' for the composer's works.)


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## Xisten267 (Sep 2, 2018)

Impressive work, thanks for sharing. It's already on my favorites list.


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

hammeredklavier said:


> LOL.. Btw, it's good to see you being very active in the general discussion forum these days. Also, would you consider adding Haydn's younger brother to the list as well? After all, his requiem is the earliest music in history that makes me think "Ah, Wagner..". I'm not exactly sure why; it might be because of the use of instrumentation/dynamics, or because, to me, the Renaissance feels too "slimy" in terms of form, and the Baroque feels too "busy" in terms of "breathing pace" to make me feel the same way.


Yup, I have some 300+ composers indexed so far, but I will always be adding to this list. I'll make a note for Michael Haydn!


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

Xisten267 said:


> Impressive work, thanks for sharing. It's already on my favorites list.


Thank you! It was quite a lot of work, so its nice to get positive feedback!


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

Forster said:


> It's excellent! I'm very impressed. Obviously a work in progress, as you fill out the works of the composers already listed and you add to the composer list, but there's already plenty to explore. The chronology is really helpful to this amateur.


Thanks! I was hoping to make something to appeal to both amateurs and veterans. I will be adding to the composers and works as time goes by.



Forster said:


> (PS, Pastoral Symphony is missing from Vaughan Williams list of symphonies, though it's visible in the 'timeline' for the composer's works.)


The table by default shows only the most recommended works, you can click on "*Show all playable works*" at the top to show more works. The timeline defaults to showing all the works.


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