# Your Favored: Schubert, Brahms, Stravinsky?



## bz3 (Oct 15, 2015)

As the title indicates, choose one if you please.


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

Old Johannes, since you asked. Concertos, symphonies, chamber works, piano music, overtures, the whole works.


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## Johnnie Burgess (Aug 30, 2015)

I would have to pick Schubert.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Can't choose between Brahms and Schubert, so I won't .


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## micro (Jun 18, 2016)

Brahms. He excelled at almost every category:

4 timeless symphonies out of 4.
Legendary violin concerto out of 1.
Two great piano concertos out of 2.
Countless "countless" masterpieces in chamber music.
Very good Requiem and other several orchestral works.
0 great operas out of 0.
He came up with a masterpiece roughly on a regular time basis throughout his life until he retired and wasn't just good in a particular period of his life.

I think there are only a handful composers with similar accomplishments: Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and maybe Shostakovich.


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## JamieHoldham (May 13, 2016)

I would have to say Schubert personally, the raw power of his music is something to behold, the 8th or 9th symphony just for a example, on top of the other 1000 works he created in just 31 years of life.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

micro said:


> Brahms. He excelled at almost every category:
> 
> 4 timeless symphonies out of 4.
> Legendary violin concerto out of 1.
> ...


Of course he incinerated his flops. But I suppose he gets credit for that too.

My pick: Brahms.


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## Johnnie Burgess (Aug 30, 2015)

Woodduck said:


> Of course he incinerated his flops. But I suppose he gets credit for that too.
> 
> My pick: Brahms.


That is one way to make sure they never get published without your wanting them to.


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## Genoveva (Nov 9, 2010)

Tight decision but I rate Schubert slightly ahead of Brahms. They're at Nos 4 and 5 in my list of "greats". I have nearly everything they wrote, often in multiple versions.


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## Nereffid (Feb 6, 2013)

Both Brahms and Stravinsky wrote some of my favourite music, but overall it's Schubert who wins for me, and by quite a distance.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Brahms and Schubert are my #3 and #4 composers. There is quite a gap with Stravinsky (although I do like him).


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## Moesart (May 27, 2016)

I think Stravinsky is the best of that group, though Brahms' influence on Schoenberg is notable


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## Judith (Nov 11, 2015)

I am favouring Brahms at the moment as I have recently purchased his cycle of symphonies and I have pre-ordered his double and triple concerto as it is released next month. Looking forward to it.


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

Personally, Brahms' music gets to me on a deeper level than the other two. It's strange that the music of an agnostic has helped to deepen my faith.


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## Jeff W (Jan 20, 2014)

For me, it is Brahms a hair ahead of Schubert with Stravinksy pretty close behind Schubert.


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## Blancrocher (Jul 6, 2013)

Schubert, followed by Stravinsky. Brahms suffers in this ranking from his having written music at such a consistently high degree of excellence, which I can't help but find a little bit irritating.


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## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

Stravinsky, for his mastery in every form he tried his hand at (the same could be said of Brahms, but Brahms' innovations weren't as far reaching).


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## millionrainbows (Jun 23, 2012)

This poll is just a way of asking: Are you a conservative, a moderate, or a radical?


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## Hildadam Bingor (May 7, 2016)

Schubert is, like, the anti-Meyerbeer - he just looks bigger and bigger with the passage of time. I won't be surprised if the Bach-Moz-Beet trinity is eventually expanded to include him. Stravinsky himself is the result of 75 years of Russian composers working out the implications of Schubert's usage of the whole tone scale and additive procedures (sometimes by way of Liszt).

Brahms vs. Stravinsky for second place... I dunno, part of me suspects all of 20th century art was a shallower sequel to the 19th century. Like, Stravinsky is clearly the greatest 20th century composer, but I'm not even entirely 100% confident that Stravinsky isn't < Tchaikovsky. And Tchaikovsky is maybe = Brahms, so that would make... well, you get it. But maybe proximity just makes me less forgiving of the 20th century and/or more forgiving of the 19th. In conclusion, I dunno.


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## mmsbls (Mar 6, 2011)

Many said they liked Schubert and Brahms essentially the same, and I do as well. I give Brahms the very slight nod possibly because I respond somewhat less strongly to art songs than other music. I love Stravinsky, and the more I listen the higher he rises in my esteem. 

An earlier TC thread asked which composers' music one would bring to a deserted island. I can't remember how many composers were allowed (maybe 5). I ended up choosing Stravinsky over Schubert (and maybe Brahms) as one of my composers because the others did not include any modern works and I wanted more variation.


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## bz3 (Oct 15, 2015)

millionrainbows said:


> This poll is just a way of asking: Are you a conservative, a moderate, or a radical?


It wasn't intended as such and I don't see it that way.

If someone asked me: Bach, Mozart, or Beethoven I would say Bach, but in fact I prefer classical and early romantic era music to baroque. I prefer early romantic/late classical of Schubert's era to Brahms's high romantic era and Stravinsky's modernist era - and yet I chose Brahms.


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## isorhythm (Jan 2, 2015)

They're all among my favorites, and I wouldn't venture to say which is the "greatest" or anything like that, but Schubert has the greatest personal significance to me, particularly his songs.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Stravinsky
Brahms
Schubert

Just my personal listening preference. But Schubert's output in just 31 years boggles the mind!


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

starthrower said:


> Stravinsky
> Brahms
> Schubert
> 
> Just my personal listening preference. But Schubert's output in just 31 years boggles the mind!


Another way of looking at it: Schubert wrote his entire huge output in just 15 years.


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## SiegendesLicht (Mar 4, 2012)

For the symphonies, for the lieder, for the Masses, for the piano sonatas, for the quartets and the trios - I vote for Schubert.


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## Hildadam Bingor (May 7, 2016)

KenOC said:


> Another way of looking at it: Schubert wrote his entire huge output in just 15 years.


On the other hand, if all we had from Brahms and Stravinsky were their first spurts from 1854 through 1868 and 1910 through 1924, they'd still be gods.

Though if we're allowed to regard Brahms as his own successor, then those LAST fifteen full years - 1882 through 1896 - oh God, I may have just resolved the doubts from my last post. The old man just kept getting better, so much, it's ridiculous.


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## Chronochromie (May 17, 2014)

Schubert for sure, but Stravinsky isn't far behind. 

Brahms used to be one of my favorites but the more I listen to him and other composers the less I like him.


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## Guest (Aug 23, 2016)

Brahms from Schubert by a beard.


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## Animal the Drummer (Nov 14, 2015)

SiegendesLicht said:


> For the symphonies, for the lieder, for the Masses, for the piano sonatas, for the quartets and the trios - I vote for Schubert.


The other categories I can understand and mostly agree with, but do you actually prefer Schubert's symphonies to those of Brahms?


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## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

Schubert and Brahms are both on my personal Top 5 list. They jockey with Mozart for positions 2-4. (Bach is 1 and Beethoven is 5 - I'm hardly original.)

I'm not the biggest Stravinsky fan; he's not even my favorite 20th century composer. Much of my recent listening has been courtesy of Balanchine. I do not find myself listening to them at home all that often.


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## Hildadam Bingor (May 7, 2016)

Animal the Drummer said:


> The other categories I can understand and mostly agree with, but do you actually prefer Schubert's symphonies to those of Brahms?


I probably prefer Brahms' symphonies - especially the first three movements of 3... yummy! - but it seems to me there's nothing unusual about preferring Schubert's unfinished and big C major symphonies to just about anything.


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## Genoveva (Nov 9, 2010)

In two big polls of all composers that have taken place at T-C since 2010 when I joined, I recall that Schubert and Brahms were in positions 4 and 5 respectively, and Stravinsky quite a bit further down at around 16.


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## Nereffid (Feb 6, 2013)

Genoveva said:


> In two big polls of all composers that have taken place at T-C since 2010 when I joined, I recall that Schubert and Brahms were in positions 4 and 5 respectively, and Stravinsky quite a bit further down at around 16.


That's interesting, if your recollection is correct, because an informal examination of my A la carte polls (which is to say, a somewhat arbitrary way of analyzing the number of "likes" that each composer's works received) puts Schubert, Brahms and Stravinsky at 4, 5 and 18, respectively.


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## millionrainbows (Jun 23, 2012)

"Schubert could do anything Brahms or Stravinsky could do, backwards, in high-heels, and with syphillis."


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## SiegendesLicht (Mar 4, 2012)

Animal the Drummer said:


> The other categories I can understand and mostly agree with, but do you actually prefer Schubert's symphonies to those of Brahms?


Yes, I do, namely the 8th, the 4th and the 9th.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

millionrainbows said:


> "Schubert could do anything Brahms or Stravinsky could do, backwards, in high-heels, and with syphillis."


Kind of a rash assessment, no?


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

millionrainbows said:


> This poll is just a way of asking: Are you a conservative, a moderate, or a radical?


Liking Stravinsky is radical?

I'd say liking Brahms and Schubert is conservative and liking Stravinsky's music, moderate.


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## Haydn man (Jan 25, 2014)

millionrainbows said:


> "Schubert could do anything Brahms or Stravinsky could do, backwards, in high-heels, and with syphillis."


And whilst clearly having a better time


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## Janspe (Nov 10, 2012)

If I had to, I'd pick Schubert. I feel that out of those three composers, his music speaks to me the most - and his oeuvre is so huge that he wins quantity-wise as well. That being said, I _revere_ Brahms and Stravinsky too, and I rank all three among the highest tier of composers in music history.


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## millionrainbows (Jun 23, 2012)

I guess I'm just a Romantic, but SchuMANN speaks to me more than SchuBERT.


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## ejwin (Aug 11, 2016)

Why those three in this poll? Just wondering.


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## trazom (Apr 13, 2009)

millionrainbows said:


> "Schubert could do anything Brahms or Stravinsky could do, backwards, in high-heels, and with syphillis."





hpowders said:


> Kind of a *rash* assessment, no?


Pun intended?

I voted for Schubert, though I'd just finished listening to Brahms's B-major piano trio op.8, so that hurt.


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## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

I voted Schubert.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Schobert: A mediocre composer but an absolutely terrible mycologist. Ask his cook, or his wife, or his friends. Too late? Well never mind.

Oh, it's Schubert? Well, never mind again!


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## millionrainbows (Jun 23, 2012)

I want two dips of Schubert, dipped in Stravinsky, with Brahms sprinkles on top.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

millionrainbows said:


> I want two dips of Schubert, dipped in Stravinsky, with Brahms sprinkles on top.


I would order the same, minus the Schubert.


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## Simon Moon (Oct 10, 2013)

Between those choices, not even close for me.

Stravinsky.


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## Xaltotun (Sep 3, 2010)

Brahms for me. Still lukewarm to his symphonies but all the rest is just pure gold.


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