# Romantic Era Composers



## Arsakes

Which [post Beethoven] composer was the most talented one and has the finest works? 15 options isn't enough at all, but 'Other' option doesn't work most of the time. So If you don't find your first composer, vote for the best among these 15 options.


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## Webernite

Where's Chopin?


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## Arsakes

Blame Mahler Fans for that!

I hope the mods increase the limit to 20. with 20 option I could put all the major composers.


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## Polednice

My favourite composer is Brahms. I refuse to vote in the poll as I dislike the question.


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## Chi_townPhilly

Polednice said:


> ...I dislike the question.


It *is* an imprecise question...


Arsakes said:


> Which... composer was the most talented one and has the finest works?


We can see the point that the most talented composer won't _necessarily_ have the finest works, all right?! For example, on the list, Mendelssohn strikes me as freakishly talented... perhaps the one composer who ever lived who can be mentioned in the same breath as Mozart in this regard. (Well, maybe I might add Schubert...) That said, I don't think he's in the discussion for having composed the finest works among the listed composers. Hard to hold it against Mozart, Schubert or Mendelssohn for dying in their 30s... but for me, I believe that, considering the composers mentioned here, the best works were written by Wagner. [Big surprise, right?] Here I'd like to add that, among the major composers, perhaps none made so _little_ a deal of their innate talent as Wagner.


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## Webernite

Polednice said:


> My favourite composer is Brahms. I refuse to vote in the poll as I dislike the question.


Shut up and vote for him before the Wagnerians get here!


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## Klavierspieler

Betcha' can't guess who I voted for!


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## Pizzicato

Probably Wagner. To be honest I'm not the biggest fan of the Romantic Era.


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## StevenOBrien

I'd vote Chopin...


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## Huilunsoittaja

I'd vote for "all of the above and then some" :tiphat:


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## Couchie

Bull**** poll.


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## pjang23

Couchie said:


> Bull**** poll.


Yay, it worked!


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## Turangalîla

I disagree with the choice to include Sibelius and Rimsky-Korsakov and not Chopin.
Perhaps we could have a separate poll for that...


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## peeyaj

Where's Schubert?

Have I woken up in a world where Schubert is not considered a transitional and early Romantic composer? He died a year after Beethoveen, too.


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## pjang23

peeyaj said:


> Where's Schubert?
> 
> Have I woken up in a world where Schubert is not considered a transitional and early Romantic composer? He died a year after Beethoveen, too.


Agreed, Schubert is the most glaring omission, and he would be my first pick.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde

I vote Wagner.

And I think that Schubert is nowadays regarded to be more late classical than early romantic.


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## Arsakes

Schubert and Beethoven were living almost in the same years. So I didn't put Schubert.

Chopin? he is overrated!


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## peeyaj

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> I vote Wagner.
> 
> And I think that Schubert is nowadays regarded to be more late classical than early romantic.


Schubert is a transitional composer and he is one of the earliest Romantic composers.

Wikipedia agrees:



> Today, Schubert is seen as *one of the leading exponents of the early Romantic era in music* and he remains one of the most frequently performed composers.


@Arsakes

Beethoven is 27 years older than Schubert.


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## StevenOBrien

Arsakes said:


> Chopin? he is overrated!


Well I never.


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## Arsakes

You're right, I mostly remember their death years that were near each other.

So I'm beaten enough not to make a "huge" poll after this!

I don't know if they're made or not, but I suggest these polls to create:

- Favorite 3rd symphony
- Best Russian Composer
- Best German Composer


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde

Arsakes said:


> You're right, I mostly remember their death years that were near each other.
> 
> So I'm beaten enough not to make a "huge" poll after this!
> 
> I don't know if they're made or not, but I suggest these polls to create:
> 
> - Favorite 3rd symphony
> - Best Russian Composer
> - Best German Composer


Best Hungarian composer and best Australian composer might make interesting polls. Also best 10th symphony.


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## Romantic Geek

Webernite said:


> Where's Chopin?


I would hope most talented implies being able to write well for more than one instrument, which Chopin does not. Talented, yes. Most talented, absolutely not.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde

Romantic Geek said:


> I would hope most talented implies being able to write well for more than one instrument, which Chopin does not. Talented, yes. Most talented, absolutely not.


Chopin's two piano concertos would the worst pieces in the orchestral repertoire if Elgar didnt exist.


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## myaskovsky2002

Rimsky-Korsakov, romantic? NO! I voted my dear Richard Wagner, I am surprised you haven't mentioned the late romantic Richard Strauss though...
R-K is from Glinka School considered modern, not romantic.

Martin


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## Taneyev

Romantic Geek said:


> I would hope most talented implies being able to write well for more than one instrument, which Chopin does not. Talented, yes. Most talented, absolutely not.


It seems that you don't know Chopin's works for cello and piano, nor his piano trio. But don't feel bad for that. 90% of Chopin's fans don't know it.


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## TheBamf

I really like Grieg.


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## Vesteralen

I like Elgar.


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## myaskovsky2002

:lol:I like me. 



Martin


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## Romantic Geek

TheBamf said:


> I really like Grieg.


Me too, but I couldn't vote for him over Brahms. It was a tough decision though.


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## Romantic Geek

Odnoposoff said:


> It seems that you don't know Chopin's works for cello and piano, nor his piano trio. But don't feel bad for that. 90% of Chopin's fans don't know it.


Ok...so that's two more pieces for a total of four instruments. And yet, you wonder why his PCs are so horrifically orchestrated (and boring...ask any string player) if some of his other works for strings are masterful. Just questions to ponder on.

Like I said, Chopin is talented, but I would absolutely not consider him the most talented composer in the Romantic Era. There are way too many other composers to consider.


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## Romantic Geek

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> I vote Wagner.
> 
> And I think that Schubert is nowadays regarded to be more late classical than early romantic.


Well when I listen to Schubert's works, it just screams Romanticism. I mean, modulations to chromatic mediants is not something classical composers did very often. I'd say the Waldstein (which does feature such modulations) is probably the first piece of the Romantic era. Also...his lieder are entirely Romantic. An den Tod...is in no way a Classical work.


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## neoshredder

Really a tough choice. Schubert, Tchaikovsky, Dvorak, or Grieg.


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## myaskovsky2002

A tough choice? Tell me about it! :






LOL

Martin


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## myaskovsky2002

Or this l-o-v-e-l-y voice






:lol:

Martin


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## Polyphemus

I notice from the results so far that Brahms is in the lead, is someone or multiple thereof having a laugh.


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## myaskovsky2002

I won't laugh even if I love Brahms, I love many other composers much better.

Martin


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## mleghorn

I don't know much or care about composers' talents. Could Chopin play his etudes while standing on his head? That's talent. What I care about is the end result, i.e. their music.


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## mleghorn

The Romantic era was so broad, it hardly makes sense to compare the the great Romantic composers. I consider Schubert to be Romantic, despite the time he lived in. Compare his songs with Mozart or Haydn. I also consider Mahler and Elgar to be Romantic composers. It doesn't make much sense comparing Elgar with Schubert. 

Most glaring omissions: Schubert and Chopin.

The runt of the litter: Mendelssohn. Even though he was extremely gifted, his music lacks depth (to me, anyway).


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## Ukko

St. Saens had the talent. His muse was missing a scintilla of inspiration, and he did a helluva job working around that lack.


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## tdc

mleghorn said:


> The runt of the litter: Mendelssohn. Even though he was extremely gifted, his music lacks depth (to me, anyway).


Strongly disagree. I sense in many of Mendelssohn's works, more depth than most can easily comprehend.


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## Ukko

tdc said:


> Strongly disagree. I sense in many of Mendelssohn's works, more depth than most can easily comprehend.


Hah! It ain't easy being one of the elite, eh _tdc_?


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## myaskovsky2002

I LOVE Anton...Anton Rubinstein, of course. But because he was Russian nobody seems to notice him.






and the Belgian Cesar Franck






Martin, sad


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## tdc

Hilltroll72 said:


> Hah! It ain't easy being one of the elite, eh _tdc_?


I don't know, as I've never claimed to be elite. The comment was meant to compliment many of Mendelssohn's great works. It had nothing to do with me, as I don't claim to be one who can _easily_ comprehend these works either.


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## Ukko

tdc said:


> I don't know, as I've never claimed to be elite. The comment was meant to compliment many of Mendelssohn's great works. It had nothing to do with me, as I don't claim to be one who can _easily_ comprehend these works either.


Well alright then. He swings with me, of course.


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## Turangalîla

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> Chopin's two piano concertos would the worst pieces in the orchestral repertoire if Elgar didnt exist.


Oh, they're piano concertos, so the orchestra doesn't really matter.


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## Taneyev

Problem with poor Rubinstein was that for the Russians, he was German; por the Germans he was a jew, and for the jews he was a renegade.


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## Tero

I only listen to two of those on a regular basis. I am sort of baroque nut then jumping to 1900s classical and the popular music, skipping most of the 1800s. Other than Spanish guitar music.


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## Ravndal

grieg, without hesitation!


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## TrazomGangflow

Are you trying to imply something by putting Wagner before Brahms? Alphabetical order should have been used to avoid favoritism. (then maybe Chopin would have been on this list!)

I'm not answering this anyway. I don't feel worthy to be a judge.


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## Olias

While many of these composers could rightfully be labeled as the most talented (however you choose to define that term). However, I think there can be made a strong case for Dvorak. He certainly was the most diverse and composed more masterworks in more genres of music than anyone since Mozart: symphonies, concerti, string quartets, chamber music, violin sonatas, piano miniatures, operas, tone poems, songs, choral music, sacred music, dance music, and more. Plus he was a teacher, conductor, family man, and pigeon breeder. Pretty talented guy.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde

The vast majority thinks that someone other than Brahms was the most talented composer of the romantic period.


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## elgar's ghost

If the yardstick for actual talent was measured by precocity at an early age then Saint-Saens (and the unlisted Korngold) would win hands down but a lot of his music lacked the heart-on-sleeve aspect of Romanticism, maybe because he found composition too easy and couldn't - or chose not to - plumb the emotional depths too often. Berlioz and Mahler were polar opposites in this case - what a shame they largely eschewed chamber music which would have given their output another dimension. Out of the names listed Brahms, Dvorak and Tchaikovsky probably tick the most boxes for me given their respective contributions to a combination of genres rather then specialising in just one or two.


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## Romantic Geek

Olias said:


> While many of these composers could rightfully be labeled as the most talented (however you choose to define that term). However, I think there can be made a strong case for Dvorak. *He certainly was the most diverse and composed more masterworks in more genres of music than anyone since Mozart: symphonies, concerti, string quartets, chamber music, violin sonatas, piano miniatures, operas, tone poems, songs, choral music, sacred music, dance music, and more*. Plus he was a teacher, conductor, family man, and pigeon breeder. Pretty talented guy.


Really? More than Brahms? Yes, he composed more...but in terms of level of "masterworks" I easily think Brahms has the upper hand in that category. And maybe call me a fool, but I've never heard any of Dvorak's operas, piano minatures, and choral music. As far as I'm concerned, they're not standard.


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## Ken B

Talented? That's Schubert. Look at how much he did in the last 5 years of his life.


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## Reichstag aus LICHT

In the absence of Schubert, I voted for Mendelssohn.

I'm a Wagnerian, by the way, but his genius was honed over decades. Schubert/Mendelssohn, by contrast, produced brilliant works from a very young age, and kept producing the goods throughout their short lives.


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## clavichorder

Just to be another one of THOSE posters:

As far as I can tell, the major oversights are: Verdi, Chopin, Schubert

Names that could easily be here in place of some of them: Bizet, Faure, Mussorgsky, Rachmaninoff, Rossini. If you can consider Nielsen or R. Strauss romantics(the latter for sure, if you include Mahler), then they both had 'talent' in heaps. Strauss particularly seems to have had amazing musical perception abilities, like Rachmaninoff.


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## Pugg

Couchie said:


> Bull**** poll.


One very good answer


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