# Two part question on favourite pieces



## juliante (Jun 7, 2013)

Bit of fun but of some interest, to me at least. 2 part question:

1. Who are your overall top 2 favourite composers by form?

Here's mine: 

Symphony: Mahler, Beethoven
Concerto: Beethoven, Brahms 
Chamber: Brahms, Beethoven 
Solo Piano: Beethoven, Schumann 
Opera: Mozart, Wagner
Choral: Bach, Monteverdi 
Song: Schubert, Mahler 

2. Who are your top 2 favourite composers by form if you are only allowed your top 2 pieces of a composer in each category? 

Here's mine:

Symphony: Mahler, Neilsen 
Concerto: Brahms, Ravel 
Chamber: Ravel, Schubert 
Solo Piano: Beethoven, Ravel 
Opera: Britten, Mozart
Choral: Monteverdi, Joasqin 
Song: Schubert, Mahler 

Ravel is the main beneficiary and Beethoven loses out.


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## larold (Jul 20, 2017)

1. 2 favourite composers by form?

Symphony: Haydn, Shostakovich
Concerto: Mozart, Vivaldi
Chamber: Brahms, Mendelssohn
Solo Piano: Beethoven, J.S. Bach
Opera: Mozart, Verdi
Choral: Haydn, Beethoven
Song: Haydn, Beethoven

2. 2 favourite composers by form if you are only allowed your top 2 pieces of a composer in each category? 

Symphony: Mendelssohn, Bruckner, Sibelius (tie)
Concerto: Mozart, J.S. Bach
Chamber: Beethoven, Krommer
Solo Piano: Beethoven, J.S. Bach
Opera: Mozart, Wagner
Choral: Mozart, Haydn
Song: Mahler, Haydn

3. Who is favored if only one piece of music counts?

Symphony: Bruckner
Concerto: Offenbach
Chamber: Hummel
Solo Piano: Beethoven
Opera: Mozart
Choral: Bruckner
Song: Beethoven


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## Xisten267 (Sep 2, 2018)

*1. Who are your overall top 2 favourite composers by form?*

Symphony: Beethoven, Brahms
Concerto: Tchaikovsky, Beethoven
Chamber: Beethoven, Schubert
Solo Piano: Beethoven, Chopin
Opera: Wagner, Mozart 
Choral: Bach, Beethoven
Ballet: Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky

*2. Who are your top 2 favourite composers by form if you are only allowed your top 2 pieces of a composer in each category? *

Symphony: Beethoven, Tchaikovsky
Concerto: Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky 
Chamber: Beethoven, Schubert
Solo Piano: Beethoven, Schubert
Opera: Wagner, Berlioz
Choral: Beethoven, Bach
Ballet: Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev

I considered that Beethoven's _Choral_ symphony, a work I venerate, belongs to both the symphonic and the choral genres.

It's very rare for me to listen to lieder (when I want a song, usually I go for 20th century non-classical music), so I didn't consider this genre.


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## MusicSybarite (Aug 17, 2017)

Interesting, and hard!!! Ok, let's see:

1st question:

Symphony: Shostakovich and Nielsen
Concerto: Saint-Saëns and Hindemith
Chamber: Brahms and Martinu
Solo piano: Beethoven and Alkan
Opera: Wagner and Janacek
Choral: Vaughan Williams and Mozart
Song: _Empty_

2nd question:

Symphony: Nielsen and Dvorak
Concerto: Ravel and Alwyn
Chamber: Brahms and Dvorak
Solo piano: Beethoven and Schubert
Opera: Janacek and Puccini
Choral: Vaughan Williams and Szymanowski
Song: _Empty_


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

1st question:

Symphony: Mahler and Shostakovich
Concerto: Mozart and Myaskovsky
Chamber: Brahms and Haydn
Solo Keyboard: Bach and Scriabin
Opera: Mozart and Wagner
Choral: Bach and Mozart
Song: Schubert and Schumann


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## Brahmsian Colors (Sep 16, 2016)

1. 2 favourite composers by form?

Symphony: Brahms, Dvorak
Concerto: Brahms, Mozart
Chamber: Brahms, Mozart/Haydn (tie)
Solo Piano: Haydn, Ravel
Opera: Wagner, Mozart
Choral: blank
Song: blank

2. Who are your top 2 favourite composers by form if you are only allowed your top 2 pieces of a composer in each category? 

Symphony: Brahms, Dvorak/Mendelssohn (tie)
Concerto: Brahms, Beethoven
Chamber: Brahms, Mozart 
Solo Piano: Haydn, Schubert 
Opera: Wagner, Mozart
Choral: blank
Song: blank


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## Olias (Nov 18, 2010)

1. Who are your overall top 2 favourite composers by form?

Symphony: Beethoven, Dvorak
Concerto: Mozart, Beethoven 
Chamber: Mozart, Beethoven 
Solo Piano: Beethoven, Debussy
Opera: Mozart, Rossini
Choral: Mozart, Bach
Song: Schubert, Dvorak

2. Who are your top 2 favourite composers by form if you are only allowed your top 2 pieces of a composer in each category? 

Symphony: same
Concerto: Mozart, Mendelssohn 
Chamber: same
Solo Piano: Beethoven, Mozart
Opera: same
Choral: Mozart, Beethoven
Song: same


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## Mifek (Jul 28, 2018)

1. Who are your overall top 2 favourite composers by form?

Symphony: Beethoven, Shostakovich
Concerto: Bach, Mozart
Chamber: Brahms, Shostakovich
Solo Piano: Chopin, Beethoven
Opera: Puccini, Mozart
Choral: Bach, Josquin
Song: Ravel, Schubert
Ballet: Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky

2. Who are your top 2 favourite composers by form if you are only allowed your top 2 pieces of a composer in each category?

Symphony: same
Concerto: Tchaikovsky, Vivaldi
Chamber: Brahms, Schubert
Solo Piano: same
Opera: same
Choral: same
Song: same
Ballet: same


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

1. Who are your overall top 2 favourite composers by form?

Here's mine: 

Symphony: Mahler, Shostakovich
Concerto: Mozart, Brahms 
Chamber: Brahms, Schubert
Solo Piano: Beethoven, Chopin
Opera: Puccini, Wagner
Choral: Bach, Mozart
Song: Schubert, Mahler 

2. Who are your top 2 favourite composers by form if you are only allowed your top 2 pieces of a composer in each category? 

Here's mine:

Symphony: Mahler, Bruckner
Concerto: Mozart, Moeran 
Chamber: Brahms, Schubert 
Solo Piano: Beethoven, Chopin
Opera: Puccini, Wagner
Choral: Bach, Mozart
Song: Schubert, Mahler 

Bruckner gets the nod in the second half because of 8 and 9, Moeran composed only two concertos but they are both amazing.


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## Rubens (Nov 5, 2017)

Q1:
Symphony: Mahler, Beethoven
Concerto: Brahms, Rachmaninoff
Chamber: Brahms, Fauré
Solo Piano: Chopin, Rachmaninoff
Opera: Haendel, Puccini
Choral: no
Song: Schubert, Schumann

Q2: (the * are the changes compared to Q1)
Symphony: Mahler, Beethoven
Concerto: Brahms, Rachmaninoff
Chamber: Brahms, *Shostakovich
Solo Piano: Chopin, *Liszt
Opera: Haendel, Puccini
Choral: still no
Song: Schubert, Schumann


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## BachIsBest (Feb 17, 2018)

Q1:
Symphony: Mahler, Beethoven
Concerto: Bach, Mozart
Chamber: Bach, Beethoven 
Solo Piano: Bach, Schubert
Opera: Mozart, Berlioz
Choral: Bach, Berlioz
Song: Mahler, Schubert

Q2:
Symphony: Mahler, Berlioz
Concerto: Brahms, Mozart
Chamber: Bach, Beethoven
Solo Piano: Bach, Schubert
Opera: Mozart, Berlioz
Choral: Bach, Berlioz
Song: Mahler, Schubert


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## juliante (Jun 7, 2013)

I would be interested in the specific pieces re Krommer, Alwyn and Moeran.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Moeran: cello concerto and violin concerto. IMO the best cello concerto of all time and a violin concerto that I rank among the best 12.


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## D Smith (Sep 13, 2014)

This is very hard and very arbitrary with only two to select.

Symphony: Beethoven, Brahms
Concerto: Mozart, Bach
Chamber: Brahms, Shostakovich
Piano: Debussy, Chopin
Opera: Verdi, Puccini
Choral: Bach, Vaughan-Williams
Song: I don’t listen enough to pick 

The second question would be the same.


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## TwoFlutesOneTrumpet (Aug 31, 2011)

Answers for both questions in one:

Symphony: Beethoven, Sibelius 
Concerto: Brahms, Bartok
Chamber: Beethoven, Schubert
Solo Piano: Beethoven, Bach
Opera: N/A (don't listen to opera much)
Choral: Bach, Beethoven
Song: N/A


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## MusicSybarite (Aug 17, 2017)

juliante said:


> I would be interested in the specific pieces re Krommer, Alwyn and Moeran.


Alwyn: His harp concerto _Lyra Angelica_ is gorgeous beyond words. The Violin Concerto and the two Piano Concertos deserve much more exposition too. Very recommended if you like to explore different stuff other than the mainstream.


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