# Great late-18th-century works not by Mozart, Haydn or Beethoven?



## Nereffid (Feb 6, 2013)

Inspired by the current thread about the relative merits of the music of Joseph Martin Kraus, I looked at the results of my A la carte polls to see how composers of the later 18th century who weren't the "big three" fared among voters. (For those who don't know, the A la carte polls presented voters with lists of works and asked them to vote for whichever works they liked; see my signature below for more details)

Choosing the period 1760-99, there were results for 196 different works. Impressively, the 119 most-liked works were all by Mozart, Beethoven, and Haydn. The 3 most-liked works were Mozart's 40th and 41st symphonies and Beethoven's _Pathétique_ sonata - four-fifths of voters liked each of these.
CPE Bach's Sinfonias, Wq.182 and Wq.183, were the most-liked works by another composer; the former proved roughly as popular as (for example) Mozart's 'Coronation' mass, Haydn's 'Miracle' symphony, and Beethoven's wind octet; also, these were the _only_ works by a non-big-3 composer to be liked by more than _one-third_ of voters.

Clearly, Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven stand head and shoulders (and abdomen and thighs) above their contemporaries. Is the failure of other composers to get a proper look-in a reasonable reflection of the relative quality of their music? Or is it partly due to the fact that people simply haven't paid enough attention to their work?

Are there works by other composers that - if not at the level of the _Jupiter_ or _Pathétique_ - surely at least deserve to be ranked alongside, say, Mozart's _Haffner_ serenade, or Beethoven's op.49 sonatas, or Haydn's cello concertos (liked by half of voters)?


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## Bruckner Anton (Mar 10, 2016)

The basic repertoire of classical music covers only a very tiny part of composers and compositions. So, unfortunately only the greatest works can stand the test of time and still receive enough attention now. Even for the big three composers, we focus heavily on their most prominent pieces rather than lesser known ones (i.e. opera houses have Mozart's big four or five operas performed repeatedly, but pay little attention to his earlier ones).

Here are some composers and works from late baroque to classical/romantic era that immediately come to mind (of course they can not be compared with the big three, but I think they are good enough to be mentioned):
CPE bach: symphonies, concertos and solo keyboard works
Rossini: needless to recommend.
Michael Haydn: symphony #25 (used to be Mozart symphony #37), concertos, requiem
Boccherini: many good works, including cello concertos, sontats, chamber music etc.
Clementi: many good piano sonatas.
Cimarosa: Il matrimonio segreto, oboe concerto.
Viotti: several violin concerto, like #22 and #23.
Dussek: known for his piano works.
Reicha: known for his wind chamber music.
Cherubini: known for his opera and sacred music including two requiems.
Hummel: Many excellent works from various genres.
Spohr: Many good works including violin concertos and clarinet concertos.


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## Chordalrock (Jan 21, 2014)

Mozart's and especially Beethoven's best works were revolutionary. Other composers seem to have been too conventional minded to achieve greatness, since the conventions back then favored inoffensive, boring music.


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## Meyerbeer Smith (Mar 25, 2016)

Gluck's operas come to mind.

Grétry's _Richard Coeur-de-lion_

Cherubini's _Médée_


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

I can't find the dates, but they were composed just before or after 1800: the beautiful clarinet concertos by Kozeluch.


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## EdwardBast (Nov 25, 2013)

Nereffid said:


> Clearly, Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven stand head and shoulders (and abdomen and thighs) above their contemporaries. Is the failure of other composers to get a proper look-in a reasonable reflection of the relative quality of their music? Or is it partly due to the fact that people simply haven't paid enough attention to their work?
> 
> Are there works by other composers that - if not at the level of the _Jupiter_ or _Pathétique_ - surely at least deserve to be ranked alongside, say, Mozart's _Haffner_ serenade, or Beethoven's op.49 sonatas, or Haydn's cello concertos (liked by half of voters)?


In the case of CPE Bach, I think (or hope?) it is because people haven't paid enough attention. I would say a large number of his works are better than the works of the big three listed above. I'm sure Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven would have agreed about that. A couple of examples:

Symphony in D major W 183/1:

Fully independent wind parts, cyclically unified, the longest off-tonic beginning … maybe ever. It, and its siblings, compare favorably with early Haydn:






This Fantasy in F# minor is like little else composed in its era, but you should be in a contemplative and relaxed mood to really hear it:






His Prussian Sonatas, from the early 1740s, are among the most important and most influential works composed in the classical style. His keyboard concertos are the most important body of work in that genre in the 18thc, other than those of Mozart.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Keeping in mind that Beethoven died in 1827:

Hummel: Piano Concerto No. 2 in A minor (1816). A terrific Piano Concerto.

Hummel Trumpet Concerto in E Major (1803). One of the greatest trumpet concertos.


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