# The composer you listen to the most



## chrisco97 (May 22, 2013)

Not who your favourite is, but who you listen to the most.

For me, it is *Vivaldi*. I find myself listening to his music almost all of the time. There is so much of it. Somehow he managed to write what seems to be an endless amount of concertos, each one having it's own creativity and beauty, yet staying consistent. Great stuff...


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## niv (Apr 9, 2013)

I'm more of a "phases" kind of guy. Right now the composer I listen to the most is Brahms, but that's just a phase and who knows who'll be the following?


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## Celloman (Sep 30, 2006)

Great question!

Earlier in the year, I was listening to Mahler just about every day. Now, I think I've been going back to my old stand-by, Ralph Vaughan Williams. The reason being, I'm writing a book that takes place in a pastoral setting. Vaughan Williams puts me right in the mood.

Who knows what I'll be listening to next month? Could be Albrechtsberger, for all I know! :lol:


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## CypressWillow (Apr 2, 2013)

That's easy:  Chopin. Recently found RadioChopin online - all Chopin, all the time. 

When I want to refresh my palette with something else, lately it's been Bossa Nova.


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## chrisco97 (May 22, 2013)

Celloman said:


> Great question!
> 
> Earlier in the year, I was listening to Mahler just about every day. Now, I think I've been going back to my old stand-by, Ralph Vaughan Williams. The reason being, I'm writing a book that takes place in a pastoral setting. Vaughan Williams puts me right in the mood.
> 
> Who knows what I'll be listening to next month? Could be Albrechtsberger, for all I know! :lol:


What is Vaughan Williams like? Been meaning to check his work out!


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

These days it Wagner..................


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## niv (Apr 9, 2013)

You can download a legal, free version of Fantasia on a theme by Thomas Tallis from here: http://www.gardnermuseum.org/music/listen/music_library


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## ptr (Jan 22, 2013)

I don't have any statistical evidence, but based on my sincerest hunch I'd think that Olivier Messiaen, Gustav Mahler, Sergei Rachmaninoff and Dmitri Shostakovich are the composers that get the most air time at Casa ptr, being even more sincere, I hunch that these four amount to less then 1/4 of all music played.

/ptr


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## EricABQ (Jul 10, 2012)

I would say that I'm pretty balanced among my top 4 or 5. 

Mozart may actually be in the lead because I listen to his music a lot while working out because the pace of many of his pieces is pretty good for that purpose.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Bach, Mahler, and whatever composer I am going through for my blog posts (most recently Wagner and Sibelius).


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## Kieran (Aug 24, 2010)

Hmmm, tough one, let me get back to ya!


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## Crudblud (Dec 29, 2011)

Kieran said:


> Hmmm, tough one, let me get back to ya!


Salieri, right ?


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## Wood (Feb 21, 2013)

n


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## Guest (Aug 17, 2013)

I gravitate toward late romantic chamber music as a group, but I don't really stick to one composer. I'd guess my top composer gets at most 10% of my airtime. And I doubt the top composer in one month would be the same the next month.

I'm all over the place in my listening.


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## Kevin Pearson (Aug 14, 2009)

There are two composers that I come back to with regular frequency and they are Beethoven and Sibelius. Followed close by Carl Nielsen. 

Kevin


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## StlukesguildOhio (Dec 25, 2006)

Well... let's see. My favorite composers are J.S. Bach followed by W.A. Mozart. The two combined a towering wealth of great music and account for somewhere around 500 discs in my current music library. So... I'm just going to go out on a limb here and guess that the composers I listen to most are...









(drum-roll..............)




































...Xenakis, Stockhausen, and Philip Glass!

:lol:


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## TrevBus (Jun 6, 2013)

Right now, I kind of mix it up. A few years back, Beethoven and Sibelius.


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## Borodin (Apr 8, 2013)

I listen to John Williams the most. It's been like that for almost the past 10 years.


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## Cheyenne (Aug 6, 2012)

Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Debussy and Vaughan Williams. Right now, add Prokofiev and Schönberg.


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## Feathers (Feb 18, 2013)

Like Niv, I go through phases. but overall (over a long length of time) I think I listen to Mendelssohn and Mozart the most. Interesting how I just just mentioned those two in the First Love thread. I guess certain listening preferences from childhood really stay with you.


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## BartokBela (Mar 12, 2013)

These days, I exclusively listen to Bach, Reger and Messiaen


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## Trout (Apr 11, 2011)

Here is my listening history of the past few days, starting with the most recent:

Glass (_Glassworks_ right now)
Hovhaness
Vaughan Williams
Araujo
Haydn
Vine
Novak
Part
Part
Murail
Parry
Stanford
Saint-Saens
Hovhaness
Zelenka
Schumann
Bach
Rochberg
Sibelius
Sibelius
Holst
Wellesz
Holmboe
Vladigerov
Bruch
Vaughan Williams
Weiss
Ciurlionis
Strauss, R.
Caldara
Ligeti
Monn
Alkan
Griffes
Elgar
Marais

So, I would say no composer in particular, even though I think I end up listening to Vaughan Williams's works more often than most other composers', which may, however, just be happenstance. I suppose I am more of the exploratory type of listener (especially thanks to the classical music project).


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## JCarmel (Feb 3, 2013)

I listen to all-sorts! But there are various composers that when I listen to them....create a more profound effect in whatever it is inside my brain that accumulatively defines the Me of me! They are Bach & Mozart, Schumann & Schubert, Haydn & Handel, Rachmaninoff & Poulenc...for Starters?!!


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## Rapide (Oct 11, 2011)

StlukesguildOhio said:


> Well... let's see. My favorite composers are J.S. Bach followed by W.A. Mozart. The two combined a towering wealth of great music and account for somewhere around 500 discs in my current music library. So... I'm just going to go out on a limb here and guess that the composers I listen to most are...
> 
> (drum-roll..............)
> 
> ...


You forgot to include Pierre Henry (there is a new thread in this main forum about his noise, ooops I meant music).


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese (Jan 8, 2013)

Rapide said:


> You forgot to include Pierre Henry (there is a new thread in this main forum about his noise, ooops I meant music).


Thanks for that - I'll add Pierre Henry to my list. Will give Divinités Paisibles a spin, hope there is plenty of sirens.....


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## StevenOBrien (Jun 27, 2011)

Since the start of 2012:

1. Mozart - 25,170 minutes
2. Beethoven - 5,362 minutes
3. Bach - 1,114 minutes


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## Celloman (Sep 30, 2006)

StlukesguildOhio said:


> ...Xenakis, Stockhausen, and Philip Glass!


Jeepers...are you serious?! I mean, Glass is fine for a Saturday afternoon, but Xenakis and Stockhausen? I have to down three cups of coffee just to listen to those guys.

:lol:


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## Jobis (Jun 13, 2013)

Messiaen, Grisey, Bartok and Wagner.


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## Cosmos (Jun 28, 2013)

I think I listen to my favorite composers equally (there is no one composer I listen to more than the others). Right now I've been having a Prokofiev craving all day!


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## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

Today I've listened to a good deal of Mahler and Mozart. Other days I spend time with Bach and Schoenberg, or Messiaen and Debussy, or perhaps Takemitsu and Beethoven. I don't necessarily lean consistently towards one or another.


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## edge (Nov 19, 2011)

I'm sort-of informally studying the works of Beethoven right now so that's about 70% of what I'm listening to. The other 30% are sidetracks after seeing something mentioned here or following up on something I caught on the XM radio in my car.


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## realdealblues (Mar 3, 2010)

Bach, Mozart, Beethoven & Mahler probably dominate my listening more than anyone else. Chopin, Brahms, Bruckner, Dvorak, Haydn, Sibelius & Tchaikovsky probably round out my most frequently listened too.


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

I often listen at random so there is no one composer I favor on purpose. Judging by the embarrassing and insane number of files I have for each composer, here is a list of the top several:

1. Bach - 637 files
2. Beethoven - 599
3. Mozart - 314 (kind of a surprise since I'm not that fond of his music)
4. Haydn - 225
5. Telemann - 217
6. Tied : Handel - 199 / Vivaldi - 199 (another surprise since I find Handel far superior to Vivaldi)
7. Brahms - 192
8. Schubert - 157
9. Mendelssohn - 148
10. Rameau - 116 (Where's he come from?)
11. Three-way tie: Prokofiev - 112 / Chopin - 112 / Shostakovich - 112
12. D. Scarlatti - 104
13. Dvorak - 98
14. Tchaikovsky - 94 (Really? I'm not a big fan of him either)
15. Sibelius - 88
16. Rachmaninov - 79
17. Tied: Debussy - 76 / Schumann - 76
18. Poulenc - 69
19. Saint-Saens - 67
20. Stravinsky - 58
21. Nielsen - 55
22. Liszt - 54
23. Vaughan-Williams - 53 

Now, this has nothing whatsoever to do with how much I like a composer and more to do with how they composed, how prolific or how short or long their works are. So Vaughan-Williams doesn't even make the top 20 and poor Holst, Ligeti and Mahler aren't even in the running. But if I play on random this is how it pans out. Seems about right with fairly predicable results at the top.


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

I listen to Wagner the most.


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## TrevBus (Jun 6, 2013)

Celloman said:


> Jeepers...are you serious?! I mean, Glass is fine for a Saturday afternoon, but Xenakis and Stockhausen? I have to down three cups of coffee just to listen to those guys.
> 
> :lol:


Really? Coffee? I would have to down a 5th of Scotch, just to think about listning and I don't drink.


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## belladiva (Aug 18, 2013)

I love Vivaldi but find myself going back to Rachmaninov,Faure,Bellini. It does change frequently and some days it`s just Beethoven all day long.


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## Conor71 (Feb 19, 2009)

I dont really have a composer I focus on or return to often - there are so many I like. The best I can do is give a little of my listening time to every composer I want to hear.


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## HaydnBearstheClock (Jul 6, 2013)

the Haydn machine

after that Telemann, Beethoven, Bach/Mozart, Händel/Liszt/Schubert, at about this order. 

This could change though, though I doubt Haydn is ever coming down .


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

I'm in a discovery phase, so I'm listening to a smorgasbord of composers. But it seems like when the CD player is off, Beethoven plays the most in my head.


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## Andolink (Oct 29, 2012)

This has as much to do with which of my favorite composers produced the most music and what's available in recordings/performances I want in my collection. Right now it's J. S. Bach as I explore the Bis Suzuki cycle of the cantatas.


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## Garlic (May 3, 2013)

According to my ipod, my most listened to composers are Carter, Debussy, Mozart, Schoenberg and Ravel, in that order.


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## jennie (Aug 9, 2013)

Lately I've been listening to a lot of Mendelssohn and Vivaldi but Chopin is the one I always return to


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## Selby (Nov 17, 2012)

I'm going to try to figure out the answer to this using my iTunes... Not sure how to do it yet. I can see each track play count but for all the pieces by an artist. All the music is organized by composer, but I'll have to tinker. I'm curious to find out.


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## Crudblud (Dec 29, 2011)

Zappa (once again surprising everybody!) followed by Webern, Ravel, Mahler, Carter, Tchaikovsky and Stravinsky.


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## Op.123 (Mar 25, 2013)

Schumann .


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## jimsumner (Jul 7, 2013)

Beethoven. Followed by Mahler, Mozart, Bach, Brahms/


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## Sonata (Aug 7, 2010)

In the last couple of months it's been Beethoven. When I'm into opera, then Mozart. I can definitely get immersed in Chopin for a good long while. So it varies


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## BlackDahlia (Aug 12, 2013)

Hmm... I never gave it much thought, but I would have to say Handel.


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## techniquest (Aug 3, 2012)

Overall I guess it would be Mahler and Shostakovich; but like some others here I go through phases so recently I've been listening to a lot of Beethoven and Wagner.


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## presto (Jun 17, 2011)

I try and spread my listening around as much as possible, so I don't get into the trap of comfortably listening to what I know I'm going to like.


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## HaydnBearstheClock (Jul 6, 2013)

Come to think of it, Bach has been rising for me as of late, the more I listen, the more I appreciate him.


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## julianoq (Jan 29, 2013)

Overall Sibelius, but followed closely by my almost-amazing-as-Sibelius group (Mahler, Bruckner, Shostakovich, Beethoven, Ravel, Messiaen). Actually if I had tracked all the minutes the winner would probably be Beethoven, but these days I am listening him a little less.


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## IBMchicago (May 16, 2012)

Mostly Mozart and Bach over a longer perior of time, but on a Beethoven and Rachmaninoff kick right now.


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## astronautnic (Mar 25, 2013)

Brahms by a large margin then Shostokovich, Sibelius, Nielsen at the moment. There used to be a bit more Beethoven too but grown a bit tired and even bored with it.......


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## Vesteralen (Jul 14, 2011)

Hugo Alfven.

His name comes first alphabetically, and since I'm always reorganizing my collection.....


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

I'm an LP fan, and particularly of those lovely box sets, so that means when I pull out a box I have a selection of a composer's music ready to play. So here are a few box sets that keep me engrossed, and pass the time while I'm programming. Apart from Wagner and Mahler...

Beethoven - Complete Piano Sonatas (Kempff) gets a lot of play
Sibelius - Symphonies and other stuff (Ashkenazy)
Ravel - Orchestral Music (Boulez)
Richard Strauss - Orchestral Works (Ormandy)


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## Ondine (Aug 24, 2012)

To the most?

Mozart.

Sometimes I explore other composers enjoying them pretty much, but always returning to the nucleus of the atom formed by Mozartean and Keith Jarrettean force fields.


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## HeartofGold (Aug 23, 2013)

I like listening to Vivaldi most of all, although I've listened to Mozart a bit aswell, but that's probably because I've played more Mozart than anything else.


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

CypressWillow said:


> That's easy: Chopin. Recently found RadioChopin online - all Chopin, all the time.
> 
> When I want to refresh my palette with something else, lately it's been Bossa Nova.


More like unglue your palette I should think.


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

I don't know how some of you fit so much music into a day,no jobs or other activities ?
I couldn't imagine managing it and I'm fairly immobile and retired. Also,in my opinion,if you listen properly which means INTO the music, then you become exhausted after too much.
But still, there is no doubt and never has been that Beethoven is the winner,followed closely by Schubert lieder, Mozart opera and Liszt.


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## AliceKettle (Jun 15, 2014)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Yes, I know I'm a dime a dozen, but perhaps I love his music the most because it can get stuck in my head easily. Besides, I sing his arias the most. Occasionally, I listen to Pachbel's Canon and Beethoven, but none of them give me the same feeling of awe as Mozart.


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## Sonata (Aug 7, 2010)

Well, I posted on this a year ago, but this is definitely something that changes for me, I have certain fixed favorite composers, but my listening rotation fluctuates frequently. Right now I am in a big opera phase and the two composers who have the most of my attention right now are Bellini and Verdi. I'm also getting a lot of mileage out of Boccherini's string quintets and cello concertos, and I suspect my Rachmaninoff listening will be frequent as I just had my first listen through of his complete solo piano music and I like it very much.


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## musicrom (Dec 29, 2013)

Definitely Beethoven, with Rimsky-Korsakov probably in second.


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

Since I pretty much play all of my albums equally often, according to a non-repeating random series generated by a special algorithm  the composer I listen to the most is the one of whom I own the most discs. Without counting them, this would likely be Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Mozart, Shostakovich, in no particular order.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

I listen as directed by the Overlords from their spaceship in orbit around the earth. I don't know who their favorite composers are, but sometimes they seem to have weird taste.


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

Johann Sebastian Bach.


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## opus55 (Nov 9, 2010)

No single composer dominates my listening habits, though, I tend to pick Richard Strauss, Mozart and Wagner more often than others.


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## Morimur (Jan 23, 2014)

Listening to a lot of random classical at the moment, but for the most part (with a few exceptions) I stick with the 20th/21st centuries.


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## Rupikaber (Jun 16, 2014)

Beethoven's piano sonatas.


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## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

Right now I'm too eclectic to pick one composer, but I still listen to Russian composers more than those from other countries. I don't really have much of a choice when I turn on public radio and hear all my favorite Russians _everyday_.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

FJ Haydn. No contest. The older I get, I realize I had seriously underrated him in the throwaway, giddy days of my youth.


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## Blake (Nov 6, 2013)

Haydn, Bach, and Chopin.


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## bejart (Nov 16, 2012)

"A day without Mozart is like a day without sunshine."


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## Blake (Nov 6, 2013)

... and of course Mozart. And Beethoven. And Schnittke. And nearly everything Savall does... Oh dear, now I've gone and messed this premise all up.


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## HaydnBearstheClock (Jul 6, 2013)

F. J. Haydn, then Telemann, afterwards Schubert, Beethoven, Chopin, Bach and Händel. Schumann and Liszt are also in there .


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

I had a rough Saturday. I did the only thing I could do. I turned to some Haydn masses. My sanity was restored and I went from depressed to cheerful.

FJ Haydn, no doubt about it. His music restoreth my soul.


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## Marschallin Blair (Jan 23, 2014)

AliceKettle said:


> Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Yes, I know I'm a dime a dozen, but perhaps I love his music the most because it can get stuck in my head easily. Besides, I sing his arias the most. Occasionally, I listen to Pachbel's Canon and Beethoven, but none of them give me the same feeling of awe as Mozart.


---
When it comes to pure sunshine and light, for my time and emotional envolvment, it's Mozart _über alles_.


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## poconoron (Oct 26, 2011)

To quote Rossini:

"_Beethoven I take twice a week, Haydn four times, and Mozart every day."_

That's pretty much my preference, though I listen to Beethoven slightly more than Haydn. Mozart the clear winner for me due to the astoundingly wide array of his talent across *all genres* of classical music.

To quote Wagner:

_"I believe in God, Mozart, and Beethoven."_


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## Blancrocher (Jul 6, 2013)

hpowders said:


> I had a rough Saturday. I did the only thing I could do. I turned to some Haydn masses. My sanity was restored and I went from depressed to cheerful.
> 
> FJ Haydn, no doubt about it. His music restoreth my soul.


I hope things have picked up since, hpowders. By the way, I just picked up Hamelin's set of Haydn piano sonatas, and have been enjoying walking around with them on my ipod. Terrific performances--though Haydn has been lucky in his interpreters, so it's hard to go very wrong.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Blancrocher said:


> I hope things have picked up since, hpowders. By the way, I just picked up Hamelin's set of Haydn piano sonatas, and have been enjoying walking around with them on my ipod. Terrific performances--though Haydn has been lucky in his interpreters, so it's hard to go very wrong.


Thanks, Blancrocher. It took a while but thanks to about 80% Haydn and 20% my own instincts for self-preservation, I'm fine now.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

"I believe in God, Mozart and Beethoven." Richard Wagner

Now there's someone I can take seriously when he issues a proclamation.


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## Declined (Apr 8, 2014)

I listen to quite a lot of Beethoven.


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## Marschallin Blair (Jan 23, 2014)

> "I believe in God, Mozart and Beethoven." Richard WagnerNow there's someone I can take seriously when he issues a proclamation.


But He repeats Himself. You know: the pleonasm.


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## Muse Wanderer (Feb 16, 2014)

The one and only Johann Sebastian Bach, ladies and gentleman.

I just can't get enough of him. Cantatas, period, modern, piano, harpsichord, organ you name it!

He just keeps giving, and there is no end in sight. 

I got all his 1080 works with so many different versions, and my aim is to listen to all of them in the next few years.

Or else I can retire in some monastery and have 16 hour listening sessions over few months. 

That would be perfect... but then what would I listen after? 

The joy of knowing there is so much to listen to by your favourite composer. 

Thank you Sebastian!


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Segerstam! I could listen to his symphonies all day. All week. All month. All year. And never repeat!


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## AH music (Mar 25, 2014)

Most time listening - Haydn, simply because there are so many wonderful symphonies and quartets and trios and sonatas..... A new development for me is starting to really explore some of the work of Ferdinand Ries, and finding it really worthwhile. The piano concertos and sonatas are good as well as some of the symphonies.


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## mtmailey (Oct 21, 2011)

As for me they are DVORAK,BEETHOVEN,TCHAIKOVSKY,SCHUBERT,ELGAR & FELIX.


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## Xaltotun (Sep 3, 2010)

I think for me it might be Beethoven. Some composers give great answers, some ask great questions; I think that Beethoven is one of the only ones who actually do both. So I can listen to his music both when I feel that I need answers and when I feel that I need questions.


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## lincrusta (Jun 25, 2014)

For the past year, Fazıl Say, Anis Fuleihan, and Mahler come up a lot! Particularly fond of Say's Mesopotamia Symphony No. 2.

Been getting into a lot of Harry Revel and think his work with Samuel Hoffman is blazing to the top.


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