# Your favourite 10 composers



## Oskaar (Mar 17, 2011)

I bet there have been many familiar threads, but I can not find one right now. There is a lot of music that I have not explored, so my list is based on what I have discovered.

Here is my 10 in order:

Schumann
Dvorak
Sibelius
Schubert
Barber
Beethoven
Aho
Enescu
Bartok
Prokofiev


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## regressivetransphobe (May 16, 2011)

Nothing too unusual.

Satie, Schubert, Shostakovich, Mahler, Bach, Rachmaninoff, Schoenberg, Schumann, Scriabin, Saint-Saens.

Subject to change depending on my mood. I don't know why almost all of them begin with S.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

No particular order:

Bartok
Alban Berg
Schoenberg
Schnittke
Varese
Lutoslawski
Ligeti
Ives
William Schuman
Stravinsky

I also enjoy some:

Barber
Penderecki
Webern
Beethoven
Xenakis
Dutilleux
Sciabin
Debussy
Messiaen
Bach
Copland

yada, yada, yada...


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## Oskaar (Mar 17, 2011)

Thanks for responding! I can read peoples interrests by reading some other threads, but I like to have it a bit in consentrated form. Gives me a lot of inspiration to explore further.


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## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

At the moment...

Bach
Ravel
Mozart
Beethoven
Bartok
Mahler
Debussy
Schubert
Mendelssohn
Rachmaninoff


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## Webernite (Sep 4, 2010)

Bach
Brahms
Schumann 
Mozart
+ Some things by Beethoven, Haydn, Webern, Chopin, Schoenberg

Don't have time to listen Wagner or Mahler regularly, but I like much of their music.


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## Trout (Apr 11, 2011)

No particular order:

Bach
Beethoven
Schubert
Strauss, Richard
Stravinsky
Brahms
Dvorak
Mahler
Mozart
Shostakovich


A fairly conservative list


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

Wagner
Bach
Beethoven
Mozart
Strauss
Prokofiev
Scriabin
Shostakovich
Debussy
Chopin
Rachmaninoff

Some of these are quite historical favourites that I haven't actually listened to in years (Chopin, Rachmaninoff)


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## pjang23 (Oct 8, 2009)

Brahms
Schubert
Haydn
Beethoven
Dvorak
Bach

and then any of Mahler, Mozart, Ravel, Mendelssohn, R. Strauss, Debussy, Faure, Saint-Saens, Tchaikovsky, Schumann, Verdi, Wagner.


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## Oskaar (Mar 17, 2011)

I love Brahms, and he should probably be up there. But he is "undiscovered" yet in my new diary and registration system. But I listened a lot to him last summer. But I have a short musical memory


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## Oskaar (Mar 17, 2011)

I will revice my top 10 once in a while, as far as I discover...and of course mood is a matter too


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

Brahms
Beethoven
Chopin
Mozart
Schubert

Bach
Debussy
Dvorak 
Faure
D. Scarlatti


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

I don't know how anyone could pick just 10 as their top, out of so many great composers  Kudos to you if you can, I certainly can't.


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## jalex (Aug 21, 2011)

As of this moment, in no particular order:

Bach
Mozart
Haydn
Beethoven
Bartok
Webern
Messiaen
Shostakovich
Purcell
Schumann
Berlioz


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## DavidMahler (Dec 28, 2009)

these days....

I've been giving the most rotation time to Schumann

but I think my list would go like this.

*Mahler* (practically a part of my soul. Every time I listen to one of his symphonies complete from beginning to end I feel a chemical change in my body. He's the only composer that consistently can do this with any of his works. I'm hesitant to say the 1st moves me in the same way, but I still think its a massive work)

*Brahms* (of all composers, Brahms has the most works which I love. Be it symphonic, concerto, chamber, piano or choral; I can always depend on Brahms. His music doesn't break the heart like Mahler's does, but what a brilliant oeuvre.

*Schubert* (I feel especially close to Schubert. I think he excelled in the intimate settings of piano, lieder and chamber music as no one else ever has or ever will. His final year of work is the most intense year of composition I've ever heard from a composer)

*Schumann* (Such beauty, such flaws. I love Schumann's music on a personal level that makes me feel very close to him as a person. The first half of his composing career was infinitely better than the second half. Some of those piano works are as special to me as any symphony.)

*Sibelius* (I can already tell Sibelius has yet to grow on me and yet he still sits at #5 for me. His writing is some of the most emotional and unique...and while I've heard his music for more than half my life, I feel like I'm just now beginning to get it)

*Debussy* (The colors, the sheer beauty. Debussy could easily have sat in the top 3 for me if only he'd written more. I'm not sold yet on his chamber music. But his piano compositions and orchestral...my god. The opera is OK but I'm not a huge opera fan)

*Ravel* (Between the concertos and Daphnis alone he constitutes my top 10, but add in the solo piano works and I have to constantly ask myself if he was human lol)

*Bruckner* (Sometimes I think to myself that my main affinity for Bruckner stems from the fact that I don't love opera, but I love Wagner. Seriously)

*Beethoven* (This guy's pretty good, don't ya think?)

*Bartok* (Like finding greatness in war)

Just outside the top 10
Tchaikovsky
Wagner
Bach
Mozart....I really want to put Mozart in my top 10, but I can't because I know I more often venture for the others.


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

These names come out on top at the moment in order
Medtner
Brahms
Prokofiev
Haydn
Bach
Rachmaninoff
Tchaikovsky
Scriabin
Mozart
Britten

Honorable mention to some other composers who I've loved immensely for a long enough time to assert their staying power
CPE Bach
Lyapunov
Rigel
Chabrier
WF Bach
Alkan
William Schuman
Alexander Tcherepnin
Balakirev
Clementi

Great composers I know I'll come back to more and more

Richard Strauss
Liszt
Beethoven
Telemann
Bruckner
Mahler
Dvorak

Composers I'm very curious to learn more about
Britten
Prokofiev
Shostakovich
Mendelssohn
Chopin
Janacek
Faure
Taneyev

Childhood favorites I'll never forget
Johann Strauss II
Holst
Offenbach
Tchaikovsky
Mozart
Bernstein


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

The top 4 is pretty solid:

1. JS Bach
2. Mahler
3. Brahms
4. Schubert

Then any six of the following, depending on my mood: Barber, Bax, Chopin, Debussy, Dvorak, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Respighi, Shostakovich, Sibelius, Takemitsu.


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## Air (Jul 19, 2008)

My top 8 is pretty solid:

1. Bach
2. Schumann
3. Mozart
4. Wagner
5. Handel
6. Beethoven
7. Prokofiev
8. Schubert

And out of a hat, I'll finish my top 10 with these two:

9. Ravel
10. R. Strauss

Also, any of the following composers might land in my top 10 on a different day of the week:

Varese
Haydn
Chopin
Debussy
Villa-Lobos
Medtner
Brahms
Ligeti
Bartok
D. Scarlatti
Messiaen
Rameau
Bruckner
Liszt
Alkan


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## jalex (Aug 21, 2011)

DavidMahler said:


> *Bartok* (Like finding greatness in war)


What a curious comment.


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## jhar26 (Jul 6, 2008)

-1 Mozart


-2 Strauss

In no particular order (depending on the mood I'm in) Bach, Handel, Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert, Prokofiev, Puccini, Ravel


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## Polednice (Sep 13, 2009)

I can only give a favourite seven. After that, of course I like a lot more music, but no one is (yet) on my favourites pedestal.

Brahms
Dvorak
Schubert
Tchaikovsky
Mendelssohn
Schumann
Grieg

I stress that I listen to _much_ more than classically-informed Romanticism, but this kind of music is just perfect for my kind of aesthetic tastes!


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## Klavierspieler (Jul 16, 2011)

First four set in stone, the rest subjective:

1. Beethoven
2. Bach
3. Schumann
4. Chopin

5-10: 
Elgar
Janacek
Medtner
Sibelius
Tschaikowsky
Vaughan Williams


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## Fsharpmajor (Dec 14, 2008)

I suppose mine are, in alphabetical order:

Beethoven
Bruckner
Dvorak
Mahler
Rachmaninov
Rimsky-Korsakov
Shostakovich
Sibelius
Strauss
Tchaikovsky

This is reasonably accurate--I don't expect the list will change any time in the next year or two.


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## Jeremy Marchant (Mar 11, 2010)

in alphabetical order

Berlioz
Brian
Henze
Lachenmann
Messiaen
Monteverdi
Sibelius
Stockhausen
Tippett
Xenakis


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

Jeremy Marchant said:


> in alphabetical order
> 
> Berlioz
> Brian
> ...


This list contains no mention of Bach, Beethoven or Mozart and is therefore deemed unworthy...

heh heh


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## DavidMahler (Dec 28, 2009)

I wonder how many people actually have Havergal Brian in their top 15. I own about 10 Brian CDs. Except for 1 or 2, I've listened to the once. Pretty interesting to see him mentioned in a top 10.


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

In all seriousness, I like Jeremy's list quite a bit. Of course I like Messiaen, Stockhausen, Sibelius and Xenakis too. I have a recording of 6 of Henze's symphonies (plan to get the other 4 at some point) and he is definitely a composer worth getting into, it is nice to see someone mention his name.

Monteverdi too, it's always nice to see someone acknowledge that music actually existed before Vivaldi, Bach and Handel started writing it. 

The rest of them I am not familiar with enough to comment on...but from what I've heard they sound interesting.


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## Oskaar (Mar 17, 2011)

I see Henze is mentioned a lot, in other threads too. I think I will que some works, and lie down in my best chair.


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

I'm a bit like violadude, quite eclectic. I can probably listen to virtually anything if it's solo instrumental or chamber, esp. from mainstream or big name composers. Other than that, I get more picky, but I'm generally wide ranging.

Nevertheless, I've racked my brain, these are ones that I've constantly returned to over the years -

Beethoven
Berg
Janacek
Walton
Brahms
Messiaen
Haydn
Light music - eg. comic opera, operetta, stage musicals - eg. J. Strauss Jnr., Rossini, Bernstein, Kander/Ebb's _Cabaret_, etc.
Australian composers - these last few years especially
New music, premieres - ditto, a developing passion...


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## jalex (Aug 21, 2011)

Nice to see Bartok and Messiaen getting quite a few mentions


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## Oskaar (Mar 17, 2011)

I am also eclectic and a lot is about mood. But as I sayed, I have a lot to discover. I have only scratched the surface. Listening to Henze right now, and it is absolutely wonderfull, deep and moody music! (So far, from the record MUSICA DA CAMERA, "eine kleines poutpouri", and "Sonatina Aus Dem Marchen Fur Musik "pollicino".." Other great more modern composers I have discovered a bit: Bartok of course and John Adoms. Earlier than romanticsm is so far a black chapter to me. But I will discover!

About DavidMahlers post.. I was thinking about making it a criteria to explain why we pick those composers as our currently favourites, bur skipped it, mostly because of my own limited explenation skills. Very nice that you did it, DavidMahler!


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## TrazomGangflow (Sep 9, 2011)

1. *Chopin* (NON NEGOTIABLE)
2. *Mozart* I love Mozart's style. I think it personifies the classical period perfectly. I love his operas along with his orchestral works.
3. *Brahms* I still haven't heard a Brahms piece that I dislike. Every time you listen to a Brahms piece you hear something different.
4. *Bach* Bach has written so many pieces you can't find al least something to like. Bach also has a variety of different kinds of works, most of which I enjoy.
5. *Beethoven* Beethoven's pieces are so emotional and revolutionary. Classical music wouldn't be the same without them.
6. *Tchaikovsky* (hopefully it is spelled correctly) Tchaikovsky's works are of extreme uniqueness. Enough said 
7. *Liszt* I love listening to piano pieces and currently Liszt's piano pieces are 2nd in my mind. (Only to Chopin)
8. *Schubert* Another brilliant piano composer.
9. *Rimsky-Korsakov* I especially enjoy Sheherezade
10. *Handel* Second only to Bach in the Baroque period (in my mind at least)


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## TzarIvan (Nov 19, 2011)

J. S. Bach
F. Schubert
Mozart
Tschaikovsky
J. B. Lully
Debussy
Chopin
Henry Purcell
G. P. Palestrina
Tomas Luis de Victoria


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## Shostakovichiana (Nov 7, 2011)

Ok then, here we go (and just ignore the over-emphasizing on Russian composers, and the fact that many of them are quite similiar in expression and era etc (and the letter 'S' -(and not the letter 'B', for once))
Shostakovich
Rachmaninov
Beethoven
Stravinsky
Nikolai Myaskovsky
Satie
Schubert
Vasily Kalinnikov
Arnold Schoenberg
(I wish I could put down the names of _all_ composers that ever existed, but then copying a Wikipedia article is something we are strictly told *not* to do at school, so I'll leave it besides, Wikipedia has probably forgotten about a dozen poor unrecognized composers anyway..  )


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## HarpsichordConcerto (Jan 1, 2010)

Not in another particular order: JS Bach, Handel, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, Wagner, Verdi, R. Strauss.


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## Jeremy Marchant (Mar 11, 2010)

violadude said:


> This list contains no mention of Bach, Beethoven or Mozart and is therefore deemed unworthy...
> 
> heh heh


Well, I did think about this. I'd certainly put JS Bach, Mozart, Haydn, Schubert (mostly for his piano music), Schumann (for his Lieder), Bruckner and Mahler in the next 25, as well as Berg, Webern, Shostakovich, Prokofiev (in other words, all the usual suspects) but also more C20 composers such as Roberto Gerhard and more pre-Baroque composers such as Dufay, Josquin and Victoria.

We are, after all, only talking about favourites, and I don't feel any qualms about including composers who aren't "great" if I feel they speak to me (as I feel about the ten in my original list). Brian (to pick up DavidMahler's post), cussed as he was (Brian, that is), has a grandeur and nobility which takes some getting used to, but I found is worth the effort of repeated listening (try the new CD of the tenth).


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

Jeremy Marchant said:


> ...
> 
> We are, after all, only talking about favourites, and I don't feel any qualms about including composers who aren't "great" if I feel they speak to me (as I feel about the ten in my original list).


I think it's okay to put who you want in there. Some would frown at the likes of Stockhausen, but that's their judgement. The same people judge me for listening to guys like him as well as say operetta or (gasp!) Andre Rieu. People are confused if they can't put others in neat boxes. But life is like that, not everything fits into a box. Anyway, Rieu or Stockhausen is mainly more relevant to my life and my needs than some boring wig opera, that's for sure...


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## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

> Bartok (Like finding greatness in war)





jalex said:


> What a curious comment.


I agree that is a little curious... I think Bartok was a lover not a fighter.


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## skalpel (Nov 20, 2011)

This will have to be a 'just recently and in no particular order' list since it'd be impossible otherwise.

Schnittke
Prokofiev
Chopin
Beethoven
Górecki
Vaughan Williams
Scriabin
Fauré
Takemitsu
Ravel


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## Lisztian (Oct 10, 2011)

Currently...

1. Liszt.
2. Beethoven.
3. Chopin.
4. Rachmaninoff.
5. Schumann (Have you noticed i'm a pianist yet?)
6. Schubert.
7. Tchaikovsky.
8. Debussy.
9. Brahms.
10. Prokofiev.


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## Olias (Nov 18, 2010)

In no particular order:

Dvorak
Dvorak
Dvorak
Dvorak
Dvorak
Dvorak
Dvorak
Dvorak
Dvorak
Beethoven


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## neoshredder (Nov 7, 2011)

Bach
Vivaldi
Handel
Haydn
Mozart
Beethoven
Dvorak
Tchaikovsky
Debussy 
Satie


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## kv466 (May 18, 2011)

Bach
Beethoven
Mozart
Haydn
Grieg
Chopin
Debussy
Vivaldi
Rachmaninov
I kinda like to keep this slot open as it tends to change


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## opus55 (Nov 9, 2010)

Beethoven
Sibelius
Brahms
Mozart
Bach
Schumann
Mahler
Shostakovich
Tchaikovsky
Prokofiev


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## pollux (Nov 11, 2011)

Must be 11. Except the first two, they're not in any particular order:

Bach
Purcell
Haendel
Monteverdi
Rameau
Schubert
Brahms
Mussorgsky
Berg
R. Strauss
Stravinsky

Brahms and Stravinsky are on the verge. I could easily change them for Haydn and John Dowland, for example. Nevertheless, I love music created by so many composers... There are exactly 487 in my collection.


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## eorrific (May 14, 2011)

In no particular order : 
Beethoven
Bach
Ravel
Wagner
Brahms
Debussy
Prokofiev
Monteverdi
Schubert
Dvorak
Chopin
Mussorgsky

Oops, I listed 12 instead. Will you guys and gals help me eliminate two.


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## bassClef (Oct 29, 2006)

Roughly:

Stravinsky
Sibelius
Prokofiev
Rimsky-Korsakov
Bartok
Borodin
Dvorak
Roussel
Mussorgsky
Respighi


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Ligeti
Michael Nyman
Webern
Takemitsu
Stockhausen
Brett Dean
Graham Cohen (brilliant young 12 year old composer)
Wagner
Vivaldi (for the operas mainly)
Mozart


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

eorrific said:


> In no particular order :
> Beethoven
> Bach
> Ravel
> ...


Get rid of Brahms and Beethoven.


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> Get rid of Brahms and Beethoven.


why?........


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Ok then. Get rid of Dvorak and Mussorgsky.


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## Conor71 (Feb 19, 2009)

Bach
Beethoven
Shostakovich
Sibelius
Tchaikovsky
Schubert
Schumann
Mozart
Brahms
Dvorak


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

In my humble opinion, Schumann has not mastered the art of orchestration.


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> Ok then. Get rid of Dvorak and Mussorgsky.


Why?..........


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Ok then. Get rid of Ravel and Debussy.


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> Ok then. Get rid of Ravel and Debussy.


Dude! WHY????


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

I'm just making some suggestions.


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> I'm just making some suggestions.


........suggestions for other peoples taste in music??


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## flylooper (Dec 6, 2011)

DavidMahler said:


> these days....
> 
> I've been giving the most rotation time to Schumann
> 
> but I think my list would go like this.





> *Mahler* (practically a part of my soul. Every time I listen to one of his symphonies complete from beginning to end I feel a chemical change in my body. He's the only composer that consistently can do this with any of his works. I'm hesitant to say the 1st moves me in the same way, but I still think its a massive work)


Oh God....me too! This guy just fascinates me in a hundred different ways. I just got back from a trip to Vienna and I laid flowers on Mahler's grave. I've been studying him for the last 18 months.



> *Brahms* (of all composers, Brahms has the most works which I love. Be it symphonic, concerto, chamber, piano or choral; I can always depend on Brahms. His music doesn't break the heart like Mahler's does, but what a brilliant oeuvre.


I particularly love his choral works, much of which I had an opportunity to sing when I was in college. Liebeslieder Waltzes, the German Requiem among them. I also love his lieder.



> *Schubert* (I feel especially close to Schubert. I think he excelled in the intimate settings of piano, lieder and chamber music as no one else ever has or ever will. His final year of work is the most intense year of composition I've ever heard from a composer)


 Again, his lieder for me. I've accompanied a baritone on "Die Schöne Müllerin" on the piano. Love it. The accompaniment is as great as the solo part.



> *Schumann* (Such beauty, such flaws. I love Schumann's music on a personal level that makes me feel very close to him as a person. The first half of his composing career was infinitely better than the second half. Some of those piano works are as special to me as any symphony.)


I once played his concerto. I never could really warm up to him like I have other of the Romantics.



> *Sibelius* (I can already tell Sibelius has yet to grow on me and yet he still sits at #5 for me. His writing is some of the most emotional and unique...and while I've heard his music for more than half my life, I feel like I'm just now beginning to get it)


 Yeah! The "Waltz Triste!" Not all that familiar with his works.



> *Debussy* (The colors, the sheer beauty. Debussy could easily have sat in the top 3 for me if only he'd written more. I'm not sold yet on his chamber music. But his piano compositions and orchestral...my god. The opera is OK but I'm not a huge opera fan)


 I liken Debussy to seeing the world through a gauze scrim. (pointillist painting?) "Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune"...The best!



> *Ravel* (Between the concertos and Daphnis alone he constitutes my top 10, but add in the solo piano works and I have to constantly ask myself if he was human lol)


Great stuff. Wonderfully constructed with (typical?) French flair. " Pavane pour une infante défunte" still my favorite with Ravel.



> *Bruckner* (Sometimes I think to myself that my main affinity for Bruckner stems from the fact that I don't love opera, but I love Wagner. Seriously)


The other great symphonist along with Wagner, Mahler and Strauss.



> *Beethoven* (This guy's pretty good, don't ya think?)


 Yep. He had talent. Should go far....



> *Bartok* (Like finding greatness in war)


 The Concerto for Orch., the orchestrated "Romanian Dances" and "Music for Strings, Percussion, Celeste"



> Just outside the top 10
> Tchaikovsky
> Wagner
> Bach
> Mozart....I really want to put Mozart in my top 10, but I can't because I know I more often venture for the others.


I'd move Wagner into it, for sure.

And Bach, too....just because!


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

violadude said:


> ........suggestions for other peoples taste in music??


Oh, never mind……


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## chalkpie (Oct 5, 2011)

Ives
Shostakovich
Mahler
Stravinsky
Zappa
Ravel
Ligeti
Bartok
Messiaen
Copland


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## Oskaar (Mar 17, 2011)

Glad you all participate. If 10 is difficult, 5 or 15 is also ok. Somone (myself included) may want to upgrade every week! I discover new music all the time, and moods swings, and taste also.


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## DavidMahler (Dec 28, 2009)

chalkpie said:


> Ives
> Shostakovich
> Mahler
> Stravinsky
> ...


nice inclusion


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## Comistra (Feb 27, 2010)

Alphabetically:

Alfvén
Atterberg
Beethoven
Bruch
Dvořák
Grieg
Hanson
Haydn
Schumann
Sibelius


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## Klavierspieler (Jul 16, 2011)

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> In my humble opinion, Schumann has not mastered the art of orchestration.


To rant or not to rant, that is the question.


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## DavidMahler (Dec 28, 2009)

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> In my humble opinion, Schumann has not mastered the art of orchestration.


That's always been a criticism of his work. Actually that's been a criticism of Brahms too, though I totally disagree with that criticism of Brahms. Schumann's orchestrations were probably lacking, as I do feel his symphonic works are not near the quality of his piano and chamber as a whole.

BUT....

Schumann is along with Schubert the greatest exponent of solo piano music of all time.

Yes more than Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt, Debussy, Brahms and Rachmaninov.

^my opinion

With Schumann's piano music, I become the most removed from the limitations of that single instrument. It's all Schumann seems to need to let loose and express his deepest thoughts.

With Chopin and Liszt, as beautifully as they composed, I never have that moment where I forget that I am listening to piano. I'm very conscious of the Nocturnes, the Ballades as works for piano. But with Schumann.... I forget that Kinderszenen is a piano work, I forget that Davidsbundlertanze is just piano. I don't know what's in it that makes me feel that way. The music is just so vast, so spontaneous. No one was able to remain so coherent and spontaneous at the same time, not like Schumann.

At times, at its greatest times perhaps, Schumann's music has no form to it, other than the emotional and imaginative DNA of his thoughts. This can be hard to accept for those who respond to textbook form, or like to understand a score in a methodical or mathematical way. But what about the part of you that cannot conform but can still do great things? That's the part of you which Schumann should appeal to.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

I do prefer Schumann's piano music to Chopin's.


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## brianwalker (Dec 9, 2011)

1. Bach
2. Wagner
3. Mozart
4. Beethoven
5. Schubert
6. Ravel
7. Stravinsky
8. Brahms
9. Mahler
10. Haydn

I humbly submit my poor evaluation of Schumann, in part to counterbalance all the Schumann activism I see on these forums. While he does have his lyrical moments (Kreisleriana, first movement, Symphonic Etudes, Etude IV, Fantasiestucke first movement, etc) his main body of work is largely mechanical and neither climbs the peak of Beauty nor sails across the infinite sea of Sublimity. 

To use an odd metaphor, to my ears Chopin's Etude no. 12 is the best Schumann piece he never wrote. The romantic flair, the blazing drive, the forceful, grand, standalone melody. Schumann never really rises above that. His symphonies are on par with Mendelssohn's, and unlike Shostakovich he doesn't have the benefit of a politically oppressive regime to spruce up his image as the tragic, suffering artist. He is competent, enjoyable, even great, but in the classical pantheon he is unexceptional. In addition to the aforementioned ten I would place Ravel, Debussy, Chopin, Bruckner, Berg, Verdi, Puccini above him easily, and would rank him along side Prokofiev, Bartok, Rimsky-Korsakov, Sibelius, and possibly Handel, whose works I have yet to thoroughly explore. I would rank him above Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Dvorak, and Shostakovich though. 

The next best piece he never wrote. Valses nobles et sentimentales: VII.Moins vif. Here's a bit on Schumann from the trustworthy NYTs. 

"Overrated: Robert Schumann. What annoys me in Schumann is the compulsive repetition in rhythmic patterns, particularly dotted rhythms and short rhythmic formulas. He constantly confines instruments to their midranges and uses heavy doubling - together this results in a claustrophobic and sludgy texture. He really was crazy, but his craziness doesn't communicate to me. I don't feel the terror of his craziness or what it was like to be him when I hear his music. I also find his ''poetic'' side rather cloying when it is not merely ordinary." 

Even a low ranking on a top ten list seems to me extraordinarily high for Schumann. Has he written any chamber music as magnificent and glorious as the six opus 76. quartets, any symphonic work as grand as the Creation? Any piano piece that can match the unworldly colorfulness of Debussy? Any chamber music as perfect as Scheherazade? Any symphony that comes even close to Bruckner's 7th and 8th? Any arias as poignant and universal as Puccini's? The synthesis of symphony and opera in Falstaff or Otello? I have not yet acquainted myself with Strauss' operas, but on the basis of his tone poems and his last four songs alone I feel he towers above Schumann. If I were to abandon all semi-objective criteria, I would throw Albeniz over Schumann, simply because the imagery and mood evoked by his tone is so utterly distinct and original, far away from the Austrian-German "sound", so to speak.


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## mmsbls (Mar 6, 2011)

The top 5 are set.

1. Mozart - To me his music is perfect. No one else wrote so vast an amount of beautiful music. There are too many works to mention.
2. Beethoven - His symphonies reign supreme. His Piano Concertos are second only to Mozart. His quartets (especially the late ones) are second to none.
3. Bach - I love the Brandenburg Concertos, the Violin and Keyboard Concertos, the sole violin and cello works, orchestral suites, B minor Mass, Art of the Fugue, etc.
4. Brahms - Such wonderful orchestral works.
5. Schubert - A spectacular output for so few years.

Then probably:

6. Dvorak 
7. Mendelssohn 
8. Wagner
9. Tchaikovsky
10. Schumann


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## Webernite (Sep 4, 2010)

brianwalker said:


> The next best piece he never wrote. Valses nobles et sentimentales: VII.Moins vif. Here's a bit on Schumann from the trustworthy NYTs.
> 
> "Overrated: Robert Schumann. What annoys me in Schumann is the compulsive repetition in rhythmic patterns, particularly dotted rhythms and short rhythmic formulas. He constantly confines instruments to their midranges and uses heavy doubling - together this results in a claustrophobic and sludgy texture. He really was crazy, but his craziness doesn't communicate to me. I don't feel the terror of his craziness or what it was like to be him when I hear his music. I also find his ''poetic'' side rather cloying when it is not merely ordinary."


Complaining about the rhythmic repetitiveness is one thing, but the way that Schumann treats the piano (use of the mid-range, doubling) is clearly intentional. Clara Schumann used to tell her students proudly, "There is no passagework in my husband's music." And it's mostly true. In Schumann's piano music (ignoring his Op. 1) you don't really find the sparkly flourishes that you get in Chopin, Liszt and just about every other piano composer of the day. He made a deliberate attempt to avoid that style, which he and his wife saw as vulgar.

But any way, this is the first time I've ever seen Schumann's piano writing described as "sludgy." Chopin and Brahms are much sludgier and less transparent...

Edit: And comparing Schumann with Debussy and Ravel is unfair. Schumann was writing for a fortepiano, or something little more than a fortepiano. You just can't write in an impressionist, coloristic style for an instrument like that.


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## tahnak (Jan 19, 2009)

1. Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
2. Sergei Rachmaninov
3. Nikolai Rimsky Korsakov
4. Frederic Chopin
5. Hector Berlioz
6. Ludwig Van Beethoven
7. Johannes Brahms
8. Richard Wagner
9. Anton Bruckner
10. Gustav Mahler


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## Eviticus (Dec 8, 2011)

1. Tchaikovsky
2. Mozart
3. Beethoven
4. Dvorak
5. Elgar
6. Chopin
7. Smetena
8. Sibelius
9. Mahler
10. Mussorsky


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## brianwalker (Dec 9, 2011)

Webernite said:


> Complaining about the rhythmic repetitiveness is one thing, but the way that Schumann treats the piano (use of the mid-range, doubling) is clearly intentional. Clara Schumann used to tell her students proudly, "There is no passagework in my husband's music." And it's mostly true. In Schumann's piano music (ignoring his Op. 1) you don't really find the sparkly flourishes that you get in Chopin, Liszt and just about every other piano composer of the day. He made a deliberate attempt to avoid that style, which he and his wife saw as vulgar.
> 
> But any way, this is the first time I've ever seen Schumann's piano writing described as "sludgy." Chopin and Brahms are much sludgier and less transparent...
> 
> Edit: And comparing Schumann with Deubssy and Ravel is unfair. Schumann was writing for a fortepiano, or something little more than a fortepiano. You just can't write in an impressionist, coloristic style for an instrument like that.


Brahm's reputation rests mainly on his chamber and symphonic works. Chopin is sludgy in some of the preludes and the etudes, but not in the nocturnes or the mazurkas. Plus, much of the texture of a piece comes from how it's played. Have you ever heard Michelangeli play the mazurkas? http://www.amazon.com/Chopin-Mazurkas-Prelude-Ballade-Scherzo/dp/B00000E2VC

Sure, the comparison is unfair, but no one would rank Hadyn as a superior or even rival symphonist to Mahler just because Wagner didn't exist in Haydn's lifetime and it's "unfair" to make such comparisons. Bach didn't have access to the string quartet or the symphony form. He still managed. We shouldn't expect anything less from Schumann.


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## Webernite (Sep 4, 2010)

brianwalker said:


> Brahm's reputation rests mainly on his chamber and symphonic works. Chopin is sludgy in some of the preludes and the etudes, but not in the nocturnes or the mazurkas. Plus, much of the texture of a piece comes from how it's played. Have you ever heard Michelangeli play the mazurkas? http://www.amazon.com/Chopin-Mazurkas-Prelude-Ballade-Scherzo/dp/B00000E2VC
> 
> Sure, the comparison is unfair, but no one would rank Hadyn as a superior or even rival symphonist to Mahler just because Wagner didn't exist in Haydn's lifetime and it's "unfair" to make such comparisons. Bach didn't have access to the string quartet or the symphony form. He still managed. We shouldn't expect anything less from Schumann.


I know what you mean, but even so I don't see how Ravel and Debussy surpassed Schumann. Yes, their music exploits the impressionistic possibilities of the modern piano. But Schumann has always been more central to the piano repertoire, and he was certainly more influential than Ravel, though perhaps not Debussy.

You have to understand that a lot of Schumann's reputation rests on his originality. He basically invented the character piece, and either invented or popularized a whole host of genres like the humoreske, the arabeske and the intermezzo. His harmonic style was imitated by Grieg and Tchaikovsky, and his very original treatment of rhythm was taken up by Brahms. And let's not forget that he was one of Debussy's favorite composers.


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## Oskaar (Mar 17, 2011)

You are all talking so clever about music, showing much more knowledge than I have. But Schumann just appeal to me! I dont have listened much to his piano music yet. But I love his chamber music! And dough his orchestral music may lack the depth of let us say Beethoven, Brahms, Mahler, and Sibelius... I love his orchestral work too!


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## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

10 seems like a good number. I may be able to fit a non-Russian or 2. :tiphat:

"Roughly" in order, but not permanent.

1. Glazunov
2. Prokofiev
3. Shostakovich
4. Rimsky-Korsakov
5. Tchaikovsky
6. Dvorak
7. Brahms
8. Ravel
9. Schubert
10. Wagner

These are composers that I would listen to _anytime_. That is, they don't really go in "phases," they're a permanent set of composers who I will forever love, and although interest may wax or wane, love won't.


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## myaskovsky2002 (Oct 3, 2010)

Huilunsoittaja said:


> 10 seems like a good number. I may be able to fit a non-Russian or 2. :tiphat:
> 
> "Roughly" in order, but not permanent.
> 
> ...


I'm sorry...I'm sure it is a light mistake...You have forgotten Glinka, Medtner, Dargomizhsky. Pachimu?


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## Oskaar (Mar 17, 2011)

Huilunsoittaja said:


> 10 seems like a good number. I may be able to fit a non-Russian or 2. :tiphat:
> 
> "Roughly" in order, but not permanent.
> 
> ...


I like that you put prokofiev high on your list. If we should talk about an underrated composer in here, he must be one. He is to rarely mentioned in different threads, when you see his fantastic music. That is my opinion.


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## myaskovsky2002 (Oct 3, 2010)

oskaar said:


> I like that you put prokofiev high on your list. If we should talk about an underrated composer in here, he must be one. He is to rarely mentioned in different threads, when you see his fantastic music. That is my opinion.


Prokofiev, underrated? You must be dreaming...I have seen so many articles, threads about him! Rimsky-Korsakov is underrated! A few people know his operas even if he WAS an OPERA composer mainly...and Dargomizhsky ? and Myaskovsky ? No way...Prokofiev is not underrated at all...Please take a look again. I just bought again Prokofiev's symphonies conducted by the very best Prokofiev conductor: Gennadi Rozhdestvensky...I had a bad version before conducted by this Japanese guy....Ozawa....

Are you curious? Take a look at my little list:

www3.bell.net/svp1

Martin


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## Oskaar (Mar 17, 2011)

I have not seen those threads.. But you may be right.


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## Oskaar (Mar 17, 2011)

Nice collection by the way!


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## tannhaeuser (Nov 7, 2011)

J.S. Bach
R. Strauss
Mozart
Verdi
Mahler
Schubert
Penderecki
Tallis
Beethoven


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## Xaltotun (Sep 3, 2010)

I'm always up for top lists. An internet forum without top lists would feel weird!
This is mine, right now.

1. Wagner
2. Bruckner
3. Mahler
4. Sibelius
5. Beethoven
6. Brahms
7. Schubert
8. Rachmaninov
9. Tchaikovsky
10. Mozart


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## Oskaar (Mar 17, 2011)

My top ten is changing all the time! Bet it is like that for a lot of people. I think I will post my top 10 every month...


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## CameraEye (Nov 18, 2011)

Bach
Beethoven
Brahms
Chopin
Mahler
Mozart
Puccini
Schubert
Verdi
Wagner


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## edelet (Dec 13, 2011)

1. Mozart - I can listen to his music everyday, every time, in every mood 
2. J.S.Bach
3. Vivaldi
4. Tchaikovsky
5. Beethoven
6. Chopin
7. Haydn
8. Paganini
9. John Field
10. Mauro Giuliani


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

I've played _heaps_ of Giuliani's guitar works! He was also in the world premiere of Beethoven's seventh symphony, playing the cello.


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## myaskovsky2002 (Oct 3, 2010)

oskaar said:


> My top ten is changing all the time! Bet it is like that for a lot of people. I think I will post my top 10 every month...


Listen to F. Schreker and A. Zemlinsky ....then be ready to change again...LOL

Sincerely,

Martin


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## Oskaar (Mar 17, 2011)

myaskovsky2002 said:


> Listen to F. Schreker and A. Zemlinsky ....then be ready to change again...LOL
> 
> Sincerely,
> 
> Martin


I will, in time.... I am discovering, and if I gap over to much, I end up in a big chaos...F. Schreker and A. Zemlinsky....thanks for advice! Maybe you should remind me again, lets say 1.1.2012?


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## myaskovsky2002 (Oct 3, 2010)

Just to whet your appetite...






Franz Schreker: prelude of his opera Die Gezeichneten

Martin


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## poconoron (Oct 26, 2011)

OK, my top 10 in order:

Mozart
Beethoven
Schubert
Brahms
Bach
Haydn
Handel
Dvorak
Rossini
Tchaikovsky


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## pollux (Nov 11, 2011)

poconoron said:


> OK, my top 10 in order:
> 
> Mozart
> Beethoven
> ...


I love your list. I think that you have the best taste of us all, as your first seven should arguably be in the top 10 all-time most important composers.


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## Manok (Aug 29, 2011)

I will do a top 10 of the moment, since it changes every time I hear something I forgot about. In no particular order (Other than the top one, that one never changes.)

Beethoven
Brahms
Bach
Rachmaninoff
Mendelssohn
Debussy
Ravel
Sibelius
Shostakovich
Scriabin


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

My _current_ top 10 (in order)

1. Ligeti
2. Michael Nyman
3. Webern
4. Mozart
5. Stockhausen
6. Wagner
7. Rameau
8. Salieri
9. C.P.E. Bach
10. J.S. Bach


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## Guest (Dec 19, 2011)

I'll try... (in chronological order)
1 Beethoven
2 Berlioz
3 Chopin
4 Brahms
5 Saint-Saens
6 Rimsky-Korsakov
7 Sibelius
8 Enescu
9 Villa-Lobos
10 Gershwin

These composers have caught my attention more than others so far in my music journey. But I wouldn't expect my "top 10" to be the same in one or two years.


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## myaskovsky2002 (Oct 3, 2010)

Beethoven? is my 345th one...the 346th being myself LOL


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

I have recently been into quite a bit of Verdi actually. Maybe my top ten has changed.


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## Glissando (Nov 25, 2011)

I have a really hard time leaving some composers out of this list, but what would a Top Ten list be without that feeling?

Brahms
Bach
Rick Strauss
Berg
Debussy
Stravinsky
Ravel
Xenakis
Haydn
Bruckner


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## poconoron (Oct 26, 2011)

Glissando said:


> I have a really hard time leaving some composers out of this list, but what would a Top Ten list be without that feeling?
> 
> Brahms
> Bach
> ...


Interesting list with inclusion of Haydn, but no Mozart, Beethoven or Schubert. What is it about Haydn's music that propels him above those others, if I may ask?


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## myaskovsky2002 (Oct 3, 2010)

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> I have recently been into quite a bit of Verdi actually. Maybe my top ten has changed.


Let's make a deal...Listen to Traviata 3 times in a row and you will see...no need for changing your top 10. Verdi is just repeating himself ad infinitum.

Martin


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

myaskovsky2002 said:


> Let's make a deal...Listen to Traviata 3 times in a row and you will see...no need for changing your top 10. Verdi is just repeating himself ad infinitum.
> 
> Martin


I could listen to it fifteen times in a row.

1. Ligeti
2. Michael Nyman
3. Webern
4. Verdi
5. Stockhausen
6. Mendellsohn
7. Mozart
8. Henze
9. CPE Bach
10. JS Bach

There you go. How's that?


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## Glissando (Nov 25, 2011)

poconoron said:


> Interesting list with inclusion of Haydn, but no Mozart, Beethoven or Schubert. What is it about Haydn's music that propels him above those others, if I may ask?


I really like Haydn's constant rhythmic and textural subtleties, especially in his symphonies. I probably listen to him more than Beethoven because (a) his symphonies are shorter, and (b) they are not on the grand, imposing scale of Beethoven's, which I have to be in the mood for. I would rank Mozart as the better composer, but I find myself drawn to Haydn more, I guess. Mozart seems more about definable melodies driving the music forward, while Haydn is interesting to me from an orchestral perspective. It's fun to hear how he weaves the instruments together.


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## CameraEye (Nov 18, 2011)

Martin[/QUOTE]



ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> I have recently been into quite a bit of Verdi actually. Maybe my top ten has changed.





myaskovsky2002 said:


> Let's make a deal...Listen to Traviata 3 times in a row and you will see...no need for changing your top 10. Verdi is just repeating himself ad infinitum.
> 
> Martin


Glad to read you have your own criteria, Composer. Opinions are of relative value but to balance the previous quote here you have a quotation from Stravinky´s _Poetics of Music_ on Verdi. And Stravinsky knew something about music as far as I know.

"... regret having to say so; but I maintain that there is more substance in the aria, "La donna è mobile," for example, in which this elite saw nothing but deplorable facility, than in the rhetoric and vociferations of the Ring..."

Here you can find more quotations:

http://misterioabierto.blogspot.com/2010/01/stravinsky-on-verdi-wagner.html

PD:I also like Wagner, so it´s nothing against him or his music (but that´s another topic of discussion)


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Glissando said:


> I really like Haydn's constant rhythmic and textural subtleties, especially in his symphonies. I probably listen to him more than Beethoven because (a) his symphonies are shorter, and (b) they are not on the grand, imposing scale of Beethoven's, which I have to be in the mood for. I would rank Mozart as the better composer, but I find myself drawn to Haydn more, I guess. Mozart seems more about definable melodies driving the music forward, while Haydn is interesting to me from an orchestral perspective. It's fun to hear how he weaves the instruments together.


Have you heard his symphony no. 52 in c minor? It's my favourite.


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## BradPiano (Dec 22, 2011)

These are in no particular order:

Mozart
Beethoven
Bach
Brahms
Liszt
Tchaikovsky
Dvorak
Berlioz
Chopin
Vivaldi

Not rare favorites, but great composers, nonetheless.


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## Yoshi (Jul 15, 2009)

1- Beethoven
2- Bach
3- Tchaikovsky
4- Rachmaninov
5- Mozart
6- Chopin
7- Handel
8- Stravinsky
9- Purcell
10- Puccini


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## myaskovsky2002 (Oct 3, 2010)

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> I could listen to it fifteen times in a row.
> 
> 1. Ligeti
> 2. Michael Nyman
> ...


I'm sorry...avant-garde....means what for you? Is Verdi Avant-Garde for you? Isn't he old fashion?

Respectful

Martin


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

myaskovsky2002 said:


> I'm sorry...avant-garde....means what for you? Is Verdi Avant-Garde for you? Isn't he old fashion?
> 
> Respectful
> 
> Martin


Just because my username is "ComposerOfAvantGarde" doesn't necessarily mean that I only ever listen to modern music (that some might call "avant-garde"). Verdi is not an "avant-garde" composer of aleatoric music for electronic media and prepared banjo. I listen to all classical music.

By the way, here is _my_ definition of "avant-garde:" a composer knows that their music is avant-garde when their audience of twelve has left the room half way through the performance.


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## Amy (Aug 3, 2006)

I have been asked on two separate occasions today who are my top 5 favourite composers and I must say I found it incredibly difficult to answer. Given that I enjoy a lot of early music I am never sure whether or not to include them in this sort of thing, but here goes, in no particular order, forming a lovely musical mismash spanning the centuries :

Tallis
Beethoven
Berlioz
Byrd
Vaughan Williams
Tchaikovsky
Dvorak
Handel
Bach
Gibbons

I feel as though I've barely scratched the surface, particularly in light of the fact that I've just discovered the lovely orchestral music of a relatively lesser known composer by the name of Peter Warlock...


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## EarthBoundRules (Sep 25, 2011)

I certainly haven't explored some composers to the extent I would like to (especially those who specialize in solo keyboard music and operas), but from what I've heard so far...

1. *Beethoven* (his symphonies and piano sonatas can't be beat, wrote some beautiful chamber music)
2. *Schubert* (moves my emotions more than any other composer, great chamber works and lieder)
3. *Berlioz* (I feel a special connection to his music, and I like how all of his pieces feel somewhat symphonic)
4. *Mahler* (every symphony I've heard from him makes me cry... enough said)
5. *Bach* (pure perfection, manages to embody every period of music despite being a baroque composer)
6. *Mozart* (wrote the happiest music ever, love his operas, concertos and late symphonies)
7. *Tchaikovsky* (one of the greatest melodists ever, very expressive and melancholy)
8. *Bruckner* (very powerful symphonies, got me to appreciate slow movements)
9. *Brahms* (love his symphonies and piano concertos, but find it hard to get into his other music)
10. *Shostakovich* (5th symphony and 2nd piano concerto are to die for, love his use of dissonance)


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

EarthBoundRules said:


> I certainly haven't explored some composers to the extent I would like to (especially those who specialize in solo keyboard music and operas), but from what I've heard so far...
> 
> 1. *Beethoven* (his symphonies and piano sonatas can't be beat, wrote some beautiful chamber music)
> 2. *Schubert* (moves my emotions more than any other composer, great chamber works and lieder)
> ...


Well, that's the understatement of the year


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## jalex (Aug 21, 2011)

^Actually I think the majority of his output was songs for voice and piano.


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

jalex said:


> ^Actually I think the majority of his output was songs for voice and piano.


.......We're talking about Berlioz right? The one with the first name of Hector?


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## jalex (Aug 21, 2011)

violadude said:


> .......We're talking about Berlioz right? The one with the first name of Hector?


Yep. Seriously, he wrote about 50 songs for voice and piano, versus four symphonies, three operas, a pair of sacred works, four miscallenous works for chorus and orchestra, four cantatas, some overtures and an orchestral song cycle (20-25 orchestral works in total).

Which isn't as surprising as it might be, considering he was essentially a melodic composer.


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## Oskaar (Mar 17, 2011)

jalex said:


> Which isn't as surprising as it might be, considering he was essentially a melodic composer.


I have fallen in love with Berlioz.....


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

jalex said:


> Yep. Seriously, he wrote about 50 songs for voice and piano, versus four symphonies, three operas, a pair of sacred works, four miscallenous works for chorus and orchestra, four cantatas, some overtures and an orchestral song cycle (20-25 orchestral works in total).
> 
> Which isn't as surprising as it might be, considering he was essentially a melodic composer.


Wow, well I'll be a monkey's uncle.

Well I just thought the words "somewhat symphonic" applied to Berlioz was kind of funny.


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## lukecubed (Nov 27, 2011)

Bartók
Brahms
Debussy
Josquin
Palestrina
Pärt
Prokofiev
Rachmaninov
Shostakovich
Sibelius

Still learning tons about this stuff tho, so it might be a very different list a year from now. Only recently have I realized how much I love that Renaissance stuff...


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## crmoorhead (Apr 6, 2011)

So far:

1. J. S. Bach
2. Beethoven
3. Tchaikovsky
4. Verdi
5. Bartok
6. Haydn
7. Wagner
8. Sibelius
9. Debussy
10. Berlioz


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## poconoron (Oct 26, 2011)

Glissando said:


> I really like Haydn's constant rhythmic and textural subtleties, especially in his symphonies. I probably listen to him more than Beethoven because (a) his symphonies are shorter, and (b) they are not on the grand, imposing scale of Beethoven's, which I have to be in the mood for. I would rank Mozart as the better composer, but I find myself drawn to Haydn more, I guess. Mozart seems more about definable melodies driving the music forward, while Haydn is interesting to me from an orchestral perspective. It's fun to hear how he weaves the instruments together.


Great answer - I too enjoy Haydn immensely and he, along with Mozart, are the 2 composers I am _always_ in the mood for.


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## Crudblud (Dec 29, 2011)

I can give you a definite top three* (or four if I'm allowed to count Zappa**)

1 - Ravel
2 - Messiaen
3 - Mahler

Beyond that I can only give a general list of people I like a lot: Webern, Scriabin, Schnittke, Wagner, Tchaikovsky, Xenakis, Stockhausen, Ligeti, Bartok, Bruckner, Tippett, Haydn, Wolf, Varese, Schumann, Schubert, Liszt, Chopin, Schoenberg. I'm missing out quite a few but you get the general idea, I'm sure.

* = Definite in the sense that they're always there, but the exact order will change from day to day. In reality they're essentially equal for me.

** = In which case the other three are moved down and he permanently occupies the #1.


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## Oskaar (Mar 17, 2011)

Crudblud said:


> ** = In which case the other three are moved down and he permanently occupies the #1.


Zappa should be no. 1 when you talk about all genres...along with early genesis and Dvoraks chamber music


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Crudblud said:


> I can give you a definite top three* (or four if I'm allowed to count Zappa**)
> 
> 1 - Ravel
> 2 - Messiaen
> ...


Ah Xenakis, Stockhausen, Ligeti etc. and why not Zappa? It looks like (according to our musical tastes) we will get along quite well (if you manage to fit in Zwillich, Saariaho and Gubaidulina.)


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

My current top ten:

1. Ligeti
2. Nyman
3. Zwillich
4. Gubaidulina
5. Stockhausen
6. C. Schumann
7. Xenakis
8. Liza Lim
9. Webern
10. Fanny Mendelssohn

HAH! Take _THAT!_ That is the ultimate top ten list of composers I have _ever_ come up with!


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## pluhagr (Jan 2, 2012)

My list:
Glass
Pärt
Górecki 
Reich
Ades
Corigliano
Bartok
Vaughan Williams
Stravinsky


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## Crudblud (Dec 29, 2011)

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> Ah Xenakis, Stockhausen, Ligeti etc. and why not Zappa? It looks like (according to our musical tastes) we will get along quite well (if you manage to fit in Zwillich, Saariaho and Gubaidulina.)


I like some of Gubaidulina's work. _I'm not a fan of Stimmen... Verstummen..._ but I really like _In tempus praesens_ and _Johannes-Ostern_. I know Saariaho's _Japanese Gardens_, but I've never even heard of Zwillich.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Crudblud said:


> I like some of Gubaidulina's work. _I'm not a fan of Stimmen... Verstummen..._ but I really like _In tempus praesens_ and _Johannes-Ostern_. I know Saariaho's _Japanese Gardens_, but I've never even heard of Zwillich.


Ellen Taaffe Zwillich: Symphony no. 1

She won a Pulitzer Prize for this back in the 80s


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