# Top Ten Composers



## Davila

It was very difficult for me to come to a list of top ten composers, and I know that I've probably omitted some of the all-time greats in this list, which is why I'm curious as to what others would list as their top ten. Anyways, here is mine...

1. Schubert
2. Mozart
3. Wagner
4. Bach
5. Beethoven
6. Shostakovich
7. Stravinsky
8. Tchaikovsky
9. Mahler
10. Chopin
Honorable mentions:
Handel
Dvorak
Brahms
Schumann
Berlioz


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## Guest

Even with my limited experience, restricting to just ten is hard but here goes:

Bruckner
Coates
Dutilleux
Kurtag
Murail
Ravel
Scelsi
Scriabin
Sibelius
Xenakis


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## bz3

Bach
Haydn
Schumann
Brahms
Bruckner
Mahler
Beethoven
Prokofiev
Wagner
Stravinsky

Those are mine, tough to leave out a number of heavyweights but life is about making decisions. Good thing I'm not bound in any way by this one.


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## musicrom

Off the top of my head...:

Rimsky-Korsakov
Beethoven
Sibelius
Tchaikovsky
Shostakovich
Bach
Schumann
Chopin
Prokofiev
Dvorak


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## SimonDekkerLinnros

Mozart 
Beethoven
Chopin
Rachmaninoff
Rossini
Bach
Verdi
Handel
Mendelssohn
Tchaikovsky

Very biased!


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## TwoFlutesOneTrumpet

Absolutely not an objective list (not that one could really exist) but I know Wagner is better than Sibelius but I like the latter better.

Beethoven
Bach
Brahms
Schubert
Sibelius
Mahler
Mozart
Stravinsky
Shostakovich
Bruckner


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## Nereffid

Here we go again...

10 in alphabetical order:
Bach
Beethoven
Janacek
Liszt
Mahler
Reich
Schubert
Shostakovich
Vaughan Williams
Wolfe


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## TwoFlutesOneTrumpet

dogen said:


> Even with my limited experience, restricting to just ten is hard but here goes:
> 
> Bruckner
> Coates
> Dutilleux
> Kurtag
> Murail
> Ravel
> Scelsi
> Scriabin
> Sibelius
> Xenakis


That is a ... unusual top 10. I should do some looking into but I never heard of 4 of your top 10 composers  (unless they are cleverly disguised anagrams of more famous composers)


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## Johnnie Burgess

My list:
1. Haydn
2. Beethoven
3. Mahler
4. Shostakovich
5. Bach
6. Mozart
7. Dvořák
8. Tchaikovsky
9. Sibelius
10. Handel


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## Strange Magic

Top Ten as in Personal Favorites:
Brahms
Prokofiev
Ravel 
Rachmaninoff
Mozart 
Beethoven
Bach
Bartok
Sibelius
Tchaikovsky

Not listed in any coherent or even incoherent order.


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## Bulldog

1. JS Bach

The remaining nine are not in any particular order:

Weinberg
Shostakovich
Scriabin
Mozart
Haydn
Handel
Dvorak
Chopin
Schumann


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## Chordalrock

1. Bach
2. Beethoven
3. Wagner
4. Mozart
5. Dufay
6. Gombert
7. Messiaen
8. ?
9. ?
10 ?


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## Davila

dogen said:


> Even with my limited experience, restricting to just ten is hard but here goes:
> 
> Bruckner
> Coates
> Dutilleux
> Kurtag
> Murail
> Ravel
> Scelsi
> Scriabin
> Sibelius
> Xenakis


Interesting list, haven't heard of a few of these so I'll be sure to check them out


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## joen_cph

Coates is very likely Gloria Coates.

Can´t do only 10 myself. Also, they do tend to fluctuate


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## Heliogabo

Bach
Vivaldi
Telemann
Beethoven
Mozart
Haydn
Bartók
Scriabin
Schoenberg
Mahler


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## Haydn man

Well here goes......
Haydn
Schubert
Beethoven
Mozart
Elgar
Vaughan Williams
Brahms
Dvorak
Sibelius
Mahler

Just realised no Bach!


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## Chronochromie

In alphabetical order:

Beethoven
Berlioz
Debussy
Ligeti
Messiaen
Monteverdi
Rameau
Schoenberg
Schubert
Stravinsky


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## roblingelbach

I'd have a different list for the 10 greatest composers, vs. my 10 favorite composers, but here is my list for the latter, in rough order of preference:

Bach
Debussy
Chopin
Stravinsky
Handel
Liszt
Ravel
Rachmaninoff
Tchaikovsky
Grieg


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## TurnaboutVox

Top in the sense of 10 _current_ favourites that I keep coming back to...

Bach
Schumann
Debussy
Berg
Bridge
Webern
Bartok
Hindemith
Britten
Kurtag

But of course limiting the list to 10 excludes many other composers I enjoy immensely.


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## poconoron

Mozart
Beethoven
Haydn
Handel
JS Bach
Schubert
Brahms
Wagner
Tchaikovsky
Verdi


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## TwoFlutesOneTrumpet

TwoFlutesOneTrumpet said:


> Absolutely not an objective list (not that one could really exist) but I know Wagner is better than Sibelius but I like the latter better.
> 
> Beethoven
> Bach
> Brahms
> Schubert
> Sibelius
> Mahler
> Mozart
> Stravinsky
> Shostakovich
> Bruckner


How the heck could you leave out Dvorak, Tchaikovsky, Bartok, Schumann, Debussy, Chopin, Haydn, Handel, Prokofiev ... ? Lists are hard.


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## ArtMusic

My list of top ten include (not in any order),

Bach
Handel
Haydn
Mozart
Beethoven
Bach, J. C.
Scarlatti, D.
Vivaldi
Haydn, M
Puccini,
Verdi
etc.

They are truly great names.


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## Guest

joen_cph said:


> Coates is very likely Gloria Coates.
> 
> Can´t do only 10 myself. Also, they do tend to fluctuate


Yeah sorry Gloria, not, er, the other one!


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## Guest

TwoFlutesOneTrumpet said:


> That is a ... unusual top 10. I should do some looking into but I never heard of 4 of your top 10 composers  (unless they are cleverly disguised anagrams of more famous composers)


I've not heard extensive amounts by most composers so my choices are based on a rather limited range of works.


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## Xenakiboy

Something like this: (considering I've heard way more from some composers than others and I listen to more of some composers than others)

Xenakis 
Kagel 
Messiaen 
Bartok 
Webern 
Schnittke 
Bach 
Mahler 
Schoenberg 
Stockhausen 

Honourable mentions:
Korndorf 
Rautavaara 
Scriabin 
Nancarrow 
Stravinsky 
Vivaldi 
Varese 
Zorn


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## Meyerbeer Smith

Meyerbeer
Berlioz
Beethoven
Rossini
Massenet
Offenbach
Verdi
Wagner (???)
Tchaikovsky

Tenth place - not sure: Mussorgsky? Mozart? Rimsky-Korsakov? Donizetti?


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## Vronsky

1. Igor Stravinsky
2. Hector Berlioz
3. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
4. Robert Schumann
5. Claude Debussy
6. Maurice Ravel
7. Gustav Mahler
8. Jean-Philippe Rameau
9. Ludwig van Beethoven
10. Johann Sebastian Bach


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## Davila

TwoFlutesOneTrumpet said:


> How the heck could you leave out Dvorak, Tchaikovsky, Bartok, Schumann, Debussy, Chopin, Haydn, Handel, Prokofiev ... ? Lists are hard.


I know it's hard but it's important we don't become hostile over this hahaha


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## Woodduck

In chronological order:

Josquin
Tallis
Bach
Beethoven
Wagner
Brahms
Elgar
Sibelius
Vaughan Williams
Rachmaninoff

A list not set in stone. It was hard to leave out Byrd, Gesualdo, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Berlioz, Schumann, Dvorak, Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, Copland, and Schuman, among others. Some of those may make the next list.


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## Klavierspieler

1. Andrea Semplini
2. Gleb Tryofiovich Fenoviev
3. Hermann Grosskopf
4. William Smith
5. Roberto Complinez
6. Bela Zolensza
7. Franz Christian Bach
8. Davit Bashktvili
9. Peter Josef Frohmann
10. Gabriel D'Alte

Some of these are rather obscure, but really some of the best, if you ask me.


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## Dedalus

Ok, I'll play. I'm not the most experienced classical listener but here is my tentative top 10.

1. Mahler
2. Beethoven
3. Mozart
4. Brahms
5. Wagner
6. Bruckner
7. Schoenberg
8. Stravinsky
9. Prokofiev
10. Haydn


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## Hmmbug

Klavierspieler said:


> 1. Andrea Semplini
> 2. Gleb Tryofiovich Fenoviev
> 3. Hermann Grosskopf
> 4. William Smith
> 5. Roberto Complinez
> 6. Bela Zolensza
> 7. Franz Christian Bach
> 8. Davit Bashktvili
> 9. Peter Josef Frohmann
> 10. Gabriel D'Alte
> 
> Some of these are rather obscure, but really some of the best, if you ask me.


I tried looking some of these guys up. Never mind composers, there have never been any people with some of these names, as the internet would have it. Are you sure you didn't make them up? Either way I am impressed.


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## KenOC

Top ten composers? That's an easy one.

Beethoven.

Schroeder would agree.


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## SimonDekkerLinnros

Klavierspieler said:


> 1. Andrea Semplini
> 2. Gleb Tryofiovich Fenoviev
> 3. Hermann Grosskopf
> 4. William Smith
> 5. Roberto Complinez
> 6. Bela Zolensza
> 7. Franz Christian Bach
> 8. Davit Bashktvili
> 9. Peter Josef Frohmann
> 10. Gabriel D'Alte
> 
> Some of these are rather obscure, but really some of the best, if you ask me.


The biggest hipster on talkclassical


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## DeepR

Today I'll go with

Handzarthoven von Schubbruckliszt - Tchaichopscriarach


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## Woodduck

I am always shocked by the general indifference to Ignaz Ditterwitter von Lippenschmacher. Can it still be his well-known antisemitism standing in the way of widespread public esteem?


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## Woodduck

DeepR said:


> Today I'll go with
> 
> Handzarthoven von Schubbruckliszt - Tchaichopscriarach


I would enjoy his music more if I could be sure it was his and not his.


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## Guest

Woodduck said:


> I am always shocked by the general indifference to Ignaz Ditterwitter von Lippenschmacher. Can it still be his well-known antisemitism standing in the way of widespread public esteem?


In my country ( in the well to do circles) it was custom to be an anti-semite,not that people had deep thoughts about it ,it was ....yeah...normal.
Beware of the conformists cause they have no conscience of their own.


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese

1. Lord Berners 2. Percy Grainger 3. Smetana 4. Hugo Wolf 5. Wagner 6. Gesualdo 7. Scriabin 8. Nikolai Yakovlevitch Miaskovsky 9. Harry Partch 10. Schummanhow's that for a list , oh you said best, thought you said craziest


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## Nevum

Interesting that you have Gloria Coates as #2. She is a very interesting contemporary composer.


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## Xenakiboy

EddieRUKiddingVarese said:


> 1. Lord Berners 2. Percy Grainger 3. Smetana 4. Hugo Wolf 5. Wagner 6. Gesualdo 7. Scriabin 8. Nikolai Yakovlevitch Miaskovsky 9. Harry Partch 10. Schummanhow's that for a list , oh you said best, thought you said craziest


I damn forgot Grainger and Partch, I adore Partch!

I'm surprised you didn't put Mr Eddie Varese or St Zappa on there?


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## Pugg

Nereffid said:


> Here we go again...


I will leave it at this :angel:


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese

Xenakiboy said:


> I damn forgot Grainger and Partch, I adore Partch! I'm surprised you didn't put Mr Eddie Varese or St Zappa on there?


Next time St Zappa good thinking. Wonder what the Pope would think of that - St Alphonzo would approve


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## Xenakiboy

EddieRUKiddingVarese said:


> Next time St Zappa good thinking. Wonder what the Pope would think of that - St Alphonzo would approve


God I love Zappa, I don't listen to him enough these days though. _"But one night, at the
Social Club meeting Mary didn't show up..."_
Of course, Eddie Varese is an excellent and innovative composer! Let's Dance for Burgess? :lol:

Get on your feet and do the funky Alphonzo!


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## StDior

1. Beethoven 2. Bach 3. Mahler 4. Mozart 5. Chopin 6. Monteverdi 7. Puccini 8. Schubert 9. Brahms 10. Wagner


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## Haydn man

Any list that does not contain Haydn is just wrong, plain and simple
What is the problem with you people


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## helenora

Top 10 in my chart is never the same...It's all up to a listener's poll...so it varies


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## Robfro

It's surprising to me that Rimsky-Korsakov's name only appeared once on all these lists.


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## Nevum

1. Beeethoven
2. Bruckner
3. Wagner
4. Mozart
5. Schubert
6. Schumann
7. Brahms
8. Mahler
9. Handel
10. Bach

This is personal preferences, of course.


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## Simon Moon

I'll play...

No particular order:

Stravinsky
Bartok
Penderecki
Webern
Carter
Barber
Debussy
Ligeti
Schoenberg
Britten

Honorable mention:

Tower
Berg
Lindberg
Ravel


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## jdec

1. Mozart
2. Beethoven 
3. Bach
4. Brahms
5. Schubert, Mahler (a tie here)
6. Wagner
7. Richard Strauss
8. Schumann, Tchaikovsky (a tie here)
9. Shostakovich
10. Debussy, Sibelius (another tie here)

Honorable mentions:

Dvorak, Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Mendelssohn, Chopin, Liszt, Handel, Rachmaninov, Ravel, Rimski-Korsakov, Bruckner


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## Klavierspieler

Haydn man said:


> Any list that does not contain Haydn is just wrong, plain and simple
> What is the problem with you people


Sorry, I couldn't find him.


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## PlaySalieri

Nereffid said:


> Here we go again...
> 
> 10 in alphabetical order:
> Bach
> Beethoven
> Janacek
> Liszt
> Mahler
> Reich
> Schubert
> Shostakovich
> Vaughan Williams
> Wolfe


So - no Mozart - your polls also return results which surprise me and now I can see why - where is Mozart? does he make your top 100?


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## Johnnie Burgess

stomanek said:


> So - no Mozart - your polls also return results which surprise me and now I can see why - where is Mozart? does he make your top 100?


And Vaughan Williams ahead of Mozart. Vaughan Williams was good but not better than Mozart.


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## Art Rock

Johnnie Burgess said:


> And Vaughan Williams ahead of Mozart. Vaughan Williams was good but not better than Mozart.


It all boils down to personal taste after all, so why the questions?


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## PlaySalieri

Johnnie Burgess said:


> And Vaughan Williams ahead of Mozart. Vaughan Williams was good but not better than Mozart.


Steve Reich ahead of Mozart too.
VW I can forgive as he did compose some good stuff.
Still - no Haydn either - must be a classical period deaf spot.


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## Art Rock

1. Johann Sebastian Bach
2. Mahler
3. Brahms
4. Schubert
5. Shostakovich
6. Wagner
7. Mendelssohn
8. Sibelius
9. Mozart
10. Dvorak


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## Ingélou

The current list in alphabetical order:

Biber
Boccherini
Byrd
Carolan
Handel
Lawes (William)
Lully (Jean-Baptiste pere)
Diego Ortiz
Purcell
Vivaldi


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## Genoveva

My list of favourites:

1	Mozart
2	Beethoven
3	Bach
4	Schubert
5	Brahms
6	Haydn
7	Schumann
8	Debussy
9	Dvorak
10	Mendelssohn

There isn't much of a gap between each of the top 3, nor between those in positions 4, 5, 6. 

At an earlier time this list would have included Tchaikovsky, Handel and Mahler at the lower end, but I've gone off them in favour of Debussy, Dvorak and Mendelssohn.


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## Xaltotun

Another day, another top ten composers.

Bruckner
Wagner
Brahms
Beethoven
Haydn
Liszt
Schubert
Sibelius
Dvorak
Mahler


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## Vesteralen

Current chronological list of favorites:

Monteverdi
Vivaldi
Pergolesi
Haydn
Schumann
Brahms
Debussy
Nielsen
Novak
Vaughan Williams


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## Lisztian

stomanek said:


> Steve Reich ahead of Mozart too.
> VW I can forgive as he did compose some good stuff.
> Still - no Haydn either - must be a classical period deaf spot.


...Or maybe he has different tastes to you.

Is this really that hard to understand?


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## Mahlerian

Eh, maybe something like the following, also in chronological order? I'm not putting too much stock in it, and this is just a list of my preferences.

Monteverdi
Bach
Mozart
Beethoven
Wagner
Mahler
Debussy
Schoenberg
Stravinsky
Takemitsu


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## realdealblues

In no particular order...

1. J.S. Bach
2. Beethoven
3. Mozart
4. Mahler
5. Brahms

The Top 5 are always the same...but 6-10 change and could be any of the below...

6. Tchaikovsky
7. Dvorak
8. Schubert
9. Chopin
10. Liszt
11. Haydn
12. Ravel
13. Debussy
14. Sibelius
15. Shostakovich
16. Vivaldi
17. Bruckner
18. Schumann
19. R. Strauss
20. Wagner
21. Mendelssohn
22. Vaughan Williams
23. Prokofiev
24. Saint-Saens
25. Berlioz
26. Bernstein
27. Copland
28. Rachmaninov
29. Handel
30. Stravinsky


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## PlaySalieri

Lisztian said:


> ...Or maybe he has different tastes to you.
> 
> Is this really that hard to understand?


no it's not - so here's my taste in order

Mozart
Schubert
JS Bach
Beethoven
Brahms
Haydn
Dvorak
Shostakovitch
Elgar
V.Williams


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## TwoFlutesOneTrumpet

Art Rock said:


> 1. Johann Sebastian Bach
> 2. Mahler
> 3. Brahms
> 4. Schubert
> 5. Shostakovich
> 6. Wagner
> 7. Mendelssohn
> 8. Sibelius
> 9. Mozart
> 10. Dvorak


I'll forgive you for forgetting Beethoven only because I love all (minus Wagner) composers you listed.


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## TwoFlutesOneTrumpet

Mahlerian said:


> Eh, maybe something like the following, also in chronological order? I'm not putting too much stock in it, and this is just a list of my preferences.
> 
> Monteverdi
> Bach
> Mozart
> Beethoven
> Wagner
> Mahler
> Debussy
> Schoenberg
> Stravinsky
> Takemitsu


I need to dedicate some time to listen to Monteverdi. I'm guilty of ignoring his music.


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## Spawnofsatan

Phillip Glass and Steve Reich two of the best, then a lot of Renaissance composers


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## ejwin

Could change tomorrow, but for today:

Dvorak
Mahler
Howard Hanson
Faure
Aaron Copland
Prokofiev
Schubert
Saint-Saens
Mendelssohn
Berlioz


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## Klavierspieler

Lisztian said:


> ...Or maybe he has different tastes to you.
> 
> Is this really that hard to understand?


Yes. :devil: Si. Ja. Oui.


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## nbergeron

Take this more as a 'top 10 composers I've been listening to recently and have fresh on my mind'

Bach
Schubert
Rachmaninoff
Stravinsky
Vivaldi
Perotin
Copland
Scriabin
Mahler
Shostakovich


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## Art Rock

TwoFlutesOneTrumpet said:


> I'll forgive you for forgetting Beethoven only because I love all (minus Wagner) composers you listed.


I assure you I did not forget Beethoven. :tiphat:


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## Nereffid

stomanek said:


> So - no Mozart - your polls also return results which surprise me and now I can see why - where is Mozart? does he make your top 100?





Johnnie Burgess said:


> And Vaughan Williams ahead of Mozart. Vaughan Williams was good but not better than Mozart.





stomanek said:


> Steve Reich ahead of Mozart too.
> VW I can forgive as he did compose some good stuff.
> Still - no Haydn either - must be a classical period deaf spot.


Gosh, I wonder what I've done to warrant my personal taste in music being attacked?
And you "forgive" me? I have done you wrong?
And what does my personal taste have to do with the responses of other people to neutral polls I've run? Are you saying I alter the results of the polls so they correspond more closely to my own preferences? (Given that the poll results are all visible to everyone, this would have to mean that I'm hacking TC to rig the outcomes!)



Lisztian said:


> ...Or maybe he has different tastes to you.
> 
> Is this really that hard to understand?





stomanek said:


> no it's not


So, would you like to withdraw your personal criticism of me?

TBH, this is just water off a duck's back for me, I don't care if my personal taste in music offends people because it's not the sort of thing people should get offended by. But it annoys me when I see other people's taste being sneered at, and so right now I'm just using myself as an object lesson to myself!


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## manyene

Monteverdi
Bach
Mozart
Beethoven

I can't make up my mind on 5 to 10, but whoever they are they have been influenced by one or more of these four greats,


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## PlaySalieri

Nereffid said:


> Gosh, I wonder what I've done to warrant my personal taste in music being attacked?
> And you "forgive" me? I have done you wrong?
> And what does my personal taste have to do with the responses of other people to neutral polls I've run? Are you saying I alter the results of the polls so they correspond more closely to my own preferences? (Given that the poll results are all visible to everyone, this would have to mean that I'm hacking TC to rig the outcomes!)
> 
> *So, would you like to withdraw your personal criticism of me?*
> 
> TBH, this is just water off a duck's back for me, I don't care if my personal taste in music offends people because it's not the sort of thing people should get offended by. But it annoys me when I see other people's taste being sneered at, and so right now I'm just using myself as an object lesson to myself!


Yes withdrawn. I did not mean to imply that you tamper with the results - only that in designing your polls your own preferences may come into play - no problem with this of course if it is true - which it may not be.

Not sneering at your taste - but it does baffle me that someone who puts Bach and Beethoven at 1 and 2 can at the same time put Steve Reich ahead of Mozart what is your rationale on that one? I'm curious. Not to mention RVW and some of the others but leave those aside.


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## Nereffid

stomanek said:


> Yes withdrawn.


Thanks. No harm done.



stomanek said:


> I did not mean to imply that you tamper with the results - only that in designing your polls your own preferences may come into play - no problem with this of course if it is true - which it may not be.


It really isn't true. The polls are simply a list of works that people can say they like or not. There is no way my preferences can affect the results. I don't even vote in the polls myself.



stomanek said:


> Not sneering at your taste - but it does baffle me that someone who puts Bach high up can at the same time put Steve Reich ahead of Mozart.


One possibility is that I find in both Reich and Bach something valuable that I don't find so much in Mozart. I've previously posted this quote from Reich:
"If you look at Balinese music, African music, Pérotin, Bach and jazz you will find a series of rhythmic structures which are analogous [to mine], and a certain performance ethos; while if you look in the other direction at Schubert, Brahms and Bruckner, you find another one."
This doesn't tell the whole story, of course (for instance, I really like Schubert and am not especially interested in jazz), but the wider point is that not everyone gets the same things out of music. "Bach therefore Mozart" to me doesn't _necessarily_ make any more sense than "Bach therefore Reich" (except in a chronological way).

Anyway, just because Mozart isn't in my top 10 composers doesn't mean I don't love his music.


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## Hildadam Bingor

stomanek said:


> but it does baffle me that someone who puts Bach and Beethoven at 1 and 2 can at the same time put Steve Reich ahead of Mozart


I've seen people who seem to like Bach & Reich the bestest before, and doesn't surprise me at all, they both sound like typewriters (or the way we play Bach now does, anyway). Sometimes Stravinsky gets in there too, presumably for the same reason.


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## Aldarion

Beethoven
Mozart
Brahms
Schumann
Berlioz



realdealblues said:


> In no particular order...
> The Top 5 are always the same...but 6-10 change and could be any of the below...


Exactly how I feel, I'm going to follow your example here.

6-10 among the following:

Bach
Vivaldi
Zelenka
Charpentier
Lully
Schubert
Alkan
Liszt
Haydn
Tchaikovsky
Händel
Dvořák
Mahler
Chopin
Zemlinsky
Schreker
Sibelius
Janáček
Medtner
Scriabin
Ravel
Debussy
Shostakovich
Bruckner
Wagner
Puccini
Korngold
R.Strauss
Prokofiev
Stravinsky
Skalkottas
Saint-Saëns
Rachmaninov
Mendelssohn
Elgar
Bartók
Vaughan Williams
Britten
Schönberg
Berg
Grieg
Messiaen


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## Pugg

Aldarion said:


> Beethoven
> Mozart
> Brahms
> Schumann
> Berlioz
> 
> Exactly how I feel, I'm going to follow your example here.
> 
> 6-10 among the following:
> 
> Bach
> Vivaldi
> Zelenka
> Charpentier
> Lully
> Schubert
> Alkan
> Liszt
> Haydn
> Tchaikovsky
> Händel
> Dvořák
> Mahler
> Chopin
> Zemlinsky
> Schreker
> Sibelius
> Janáček
> Medtner
> Scriabin
> Ravel
> Debussy
> Shostakovich
> Bruckner
> Wagner
> Puccini
> Korngold
> R.Strauss
> Prokofiev
> Stravinsky
> Skalkottas
> Saint-Saëns
> Rachmaninov
> Mendelssohn
> Elgar
> Bartók
> Vaughan Williams
> Britten
> Schönberg
> Berg
> Grieg
> Messiaen


Very broad taste, good on you.


----------



## Tristan

Mahler
Tchaikovsky
Rachmaninov
Beethoven
Dvorak
Ravel
Mozart
Shostakovich
Schubert
Brahms

These 10 have been my favorites for a while. My favorite period of music is the bridge between the Romantic and Modern.

Honorable mention to: Prokofiev, Chopin, Debussy


----------



## Christo

Ten personal favourites are at least (in random order):

Ralph Vaughan Williams
Eduard Tubin
Vagn Holmboe
Joly Braga Santos
Dmitri Shostakovitch
Manuel de Falla
Samuel Barber
Gustav Holst
Carl Nielsen
Ottorino Respighi


----------



## Johnnie Burgess

Christo said:


> Ten personal favourites are at least (in random order):
> 
> Ralph Vaughan Williams
> Eduard Tubin
> Vagn Holmboe
> Joly Braga Santos
> Dmitri Shostakovitch
> Manuel de Falla
> Samuel Barber
> Gustav Holst
> Carl Nielsen
> Ottorino Respighi


Interesting most of the names I Know but some I do not.


----------



## Bulldog

stomanek said:


> Not sneering at your taste - but it does baffle me that someone who puts Bach and Beethoven at 1 and 2 can at the same time put Steve Reich ahead of Mozart what is your rationale on that one?


You seem to have trouble recognizing that other folks have different musical tastes; each of us is unique.


----------



## Nevum

Skalkottas? Seriously?



Aldarion said:


> Beethoven
> Mozart
> Brahms
> Schumann
> Berlioz
> 
> Exactly how I feel, I'm going to follow your example here.
> 
> 6-10 among the following:
> 
> Bach
> Vivaldi
> Zelenka
> Charpentier
> Lully
> Schubert
> Alkan
> Liszt
> Haydn
> Tchaikovsky
> Händel
> Dvořák
> Mahler
> Chopin
> Zemlinsky
> Schreker
> Sibelius
> Janáček
> Medtner
> Scriabin
> Ravel
> Debussy
> Shostakovich
> Bruckner
> Wagner
> Puccini
> Korngold
> R.Strauss
> Prokofiev
> Stravinsky
> Skalkottas
> Saint-Saëns
> Rachmaninov
> Mendelssohn
> Elgar
> Bartók
> Vaughan Williams
> Britten
> Schönberg
> Berg
> Grieg
> Messiaen


----------



## PlaySalieri

Bulldog said:


> You seem to have trouble recognizing that other folks have different musical tastes; each of us is unique.


This whole thread is about expressing your taste and there are responses to your taste - go back and count how many posters have expressed surprise and questioned taste.

Look at the post above from Nevum who asks if a previous poster is serious in putting Skalkottas in his choices.

This is one of the most common features of this board and not only is there nothing wrong with it - it's actually quite a good thing and makes for a lively forum.


----------



## Aldarion

Nevum said:


> Skalkottas? Seriously?


Murder-you-in-your-sleep seriously. Res severa verum gaudium.


----------



## Pugg

stomanek said:


> This whole thread is about expressing your taste and there are responses to your taste - go back and count how many posters have expressed surprise and questioned taste.
> 
> Look at the post above from Nevum who asks if a previous poster is serious in putting Skalkottas in his choices.
> 
> This is one of the most common features of this board and not only is there nothing wrong with it - it's actually quite a good thing and makes for a lively forum.


Amen to this. :tiphat:


----------



## Nereffid

stomanek said:


> This whole thread is about expressing your taste and there are responses to your taste - go back and count how many posters have expressed surprise and questioned taste.
> 
> Look at the post above from Nevum who asks if a previous poster is serious in putting Skalkottas in his choices.
> 
> This is one of the most common features of this board and not only is there nothing wrong with it - it's actually quite a good thing and makes for a lively forum.


But there is a difference between being _surprised_ by someone's taste and _questioning it_.

Asking someone if they're "serious" about having Skalkottas as one of their favourites suggests that Skolkattas may be some sort of "wrong answer". I don't know enough of Skalkottas's music to have an opinion on it; I do know enough to believe that because he's not one of the "big names" he is a somewhat unlikely choice, statistically speaking, but nevertheless that, aesthetically speaking, someone may very well include him as one of their favourite composers. Why doubt their sincerity?


----------



## jim prideaux

saw this thread....think I have done it before, but here is todays!

Sibelius
Dvorak
Schumann
Nielsen
Brahms
Schubert
Myaskovsky
Walton
Beethoven
Mendelssohn


----------



## EdwardBast

Xenakiboy said:


> God I love Zappa, I don't listen to him enough these days though. _"But one night, at the
> Social Club meeting Mary didn't show up..."_
> Of course, Eddie Varese is an excellent and innovative composer! Let's Dance for Burgess? :lol:
> 
> Get on your feet and do the funky Alphonzo!


"He was whipping up the batter for the pancakes of his flock …"


----------



## EdwardBast

stomanek said:


> So - no Mozart - your polls also return results which surprise me and now I can see why - where is Mozart? does he make your top 100?


Given that top ten was not defined by the OP to mean best, I would assume people are listing their favorites or ten most played. Mozart isn't among everyone's favorites.


----------



## PlaySalieri

Nereffid said:


> But there is a difference between being _surprised_ by someone's taste and _questioning it_.
> 
> Asking someone if they're "serious" about having Skalkottas as one of their favourites suggests that Skolkattas may be some sort of "wrong answer". I don't know enough of Skalkottas's music to have an opinion on it; I do know enough to believe that because he's not one of the "big names" he is a somewhat unlikely choice, statistically speaking, but nevertheless that, aesthetically speaking, someone may very well include him as one of their favourite composers. Why doubt their sincerity?


On a personal note I am happy to have my taste questioned or whatever - I have had someone ask how I can stand the predictability of Mozart in his operas - that's not a problem for me - I would ask what it is exactly that is predictable - I would point out it's not a considered view in the academic and professional musical world and if his view is out of line with the conventional accepted view I would tell him while assuring him he is entitled to his distaste of mozart's operas - however unjustly he expresses it - in short I would defend my taste without offence. By the same token I would tell someone who likes avant garde that much of it to my ears sounds like unpleasant noise - and no doubt I would receive some education about avant garde and what I am missing.

What comes around goes around as they say.


----------



## Pugg

stomanek said:


> On a personal note I am happy to have my taste questioned or whatever - I have had someone ask how I can stand the predictability of Mozart in his operas - that's not a problem for me - I would ask what it is exactly that is predictable - I would point out it's not a considered view in the academic and professional musical world and if his view is out of line with the conventional accepted view I would tell him while assuring him he is entitled to his distaste of mozart's operas - however unjustly he expresses it - in short I would defend my taste without offence. By the same token I would tell someone who likes avant garde that much of it to my ears sounds like unpleasant noise - and no doubt I would receive some education about avant garde and what I am missing.
> 
> What comes around goes around as they say.


This made me smile.


----------



## Guest

Pierre Boulez
Dai Fujikura
Helen Grime
Brett Dean
Liza Lim
Pauline Oliveros
Philippe Manoury 
Gloria Coates 
Isabel Mundry 
Anna Thorvaldsdottir


----------



## Genoveva

EdwardBast said:


> Given that top ten was not defined by the OP to mean best, I would assume people are listing their favorites or ten most played. Mozart isn't among everyone's favorites.


Furthermore, some people whose preferences among classical music composers are basically conventional may possibly decide to mix things up a bit on occasions like this by sticking into their top 10 composers one or two from out of the left field in order to demonstrate the width of their listening experience. A sort of one-upmanship, if you like.


----------



## PlaySalieri

Genoveva said:


> Furthermore, some people whose preferences among classical music composers are basically conventional may possibly decide to mix things up a bit on occasions like this by sticking into their top 10 composers one or two from out of the left field in order to demonstrate the width of their listening experience. A sort of one-upmanship, if you like.


I never thought of that - ok mine is

Ligeti
Shostakovic
Gorecki
Lutoslawski
Prokofiev
Britten
Tippet
Debussy
Glass
Reich

aren't I broad minded


----------



## Genoveva

stomanek said:


> I never thought of that - ok mine is
> 
> Ligeti
> Shostakovic
> Gorecki
> Lutoslawski
> Prokofiev
> Britten
> Tippet
> Debussy
> Glass
> Reich
> 
> aren't I broad minded


Wow. A truly impressive list!

Actually, contemplating this matter further, I can think of several reasons why responses to requests for information on one's top 10 composers may not be fully in accordance in one's underlying preferences if the latter were given due and unfettered consideration:

1. It doesn't apply in the present poll because there is no totting up being undertaken, but in polls where individual results are pooled to obtain an overall picture there could be tactical voting taking place, e.g. where a normally top rated composer is given a lower rank by a respondent than would normally be the case in order to bump up a lesser composer's position, and vice versa.

2. Even when there is no totting up of results, some people may choose to list a relatively obscure set of composers because these happen to be ones they have chanced upon lately with whom they have been impressed. On a longer-term basis these particular composers, or some of them, would probably not appear again, but some other set based on another shake of the dice.

3. Some members may be so lacking in experience that they haven't had chance to listen to more than a few composers' works in any detail, so they make up the rest of their top 10 based on factors other than actual personal preference.

4. Some may be at the other extreme of the experience spectrum, and their minds blow fuses when asked such a question out of genuine inability to select only 10 composers from a much longer list of composers they cherish. The results can therefore be somewhat unpredictable, and may not be repeated if these people were asked to vote again a few days later.

5. As a variant of (4), there might be the occasional person who is tempted to include a "trendy" or "fashionable" composer - whomever the latter may be as perceived by that individual - merely to tart up his list. [This is the case I referred to earlier.]

6. Some lists may comprise a bunch of highly obscure composers (in my experience they tend to be contemporary ones) because the member knows very little about the long history of classical music but is prepared to ignore that for the sake of making a response, and this happens to be the best they can offer.


----------



## jtbell

My current top 10 based on the number of hours in my collection, according to my database:

1. Haydn
2. Sibelius
3. Beethoven
4. Mozart
5. Bach
6. Nielsen
7. Brahms
8. Grieg
9. Dvorak
10. Wagner

(and in close to a tie with Wagner for 10th, Tchaikovsky and Mahler)


----------



## Nereffid

Genoveva said:


> Wow. A truly impressive list!
> 
> Actually, contemplating this matter further, I can think of several reasons why responses to requests for information on one's top 10 composers may not be fully in accordance in one's underlying preferences if the latter were given due and unfettered consideration:
> 
> 1. It doesn't apply in the present poll because there is no totting up being undertaken, but in polls where individual results are pooled to obtain an overall picture there could be tactical voting taking place, e.g. where a normally top rated composer is given a lower rank by a respondent than would normally be the case in order to bump up a lesser composer's position, and vice versa.
> 
> 2. Even when there is no totting up of results, some people may choose to list a relatively obscure set of composers because these happen to be ones they have chanced upon lately with whom they have been impressed. On a longer-term basis these particular composers, or some of them, would probably not appear again, but some other set based on another shake of the dice.
> 
> 3. Some members may be so lacking in experience that they haven't had chance to listen to more than a few composers' works in any detail, so they make up the rest of their top 10 based on factors other than actual personal preference.
> 
> 4. Some may be at the other extreme of the experience spectrum, and their minds blow fuses when asked such a question out of genuine inability to select only 10 composers from a much longer list of composers they cherish. The results can therefore be somewhat unpredictable, and may not be repeated if these people were asked to vote again a few days later.
> 
> 5. As a variant of (4), there might be the occasional person who is tempted to include a "trendy" or "fashionable" composer - whomever the latter may be as perceived by that individual - merely to tart up his list. [This is the case I referred to earlier.]
> 
> 6. Some lists may comprise a bunch of highly obscure composers (in my experience they tend to be contemporary ones) because the member knows very little about the long history of classical music but is prepared to ignore that for the sake of making a response, and this happens to be the best they can offer.


These are all reasonable points, and I admire the way you've overthought this  but Occam's razor and general politeness suggest that if someone posts their top 10 composers we should probably just accept it in good faith rather than asking whether they're joking, lying, or stupid!


----------



## Genoveva

Nereffid said:


> These are all reasonable points, and I admire the way you've overthought this  but Occam's razor and general politeness suggest that if someone posts their top 10 composers we should probably just accept it in good faith rather than asking whether they're joking, lying, or stupid!


I did not use the words "joking","lying" or "stupid". These are descriptions you have conjured up.

I thought it was implied in what I wrote that not all "top 10" composer lists fit into one of the six categories that I mentioned. I fully accept the existence of the bona fide category you mention, in which some unusual combinations of top 10 composers are put forward for genuine reasons of preference.

Nor did I make any suggestion about the relative magnitude of each of the six categories that I listed. They could constitute a tiny fraction of the population for all I know. However, I am sure that all types exist from my observations of polls of this nature over several years across various classical forums.

It is a normal feature of such polls for some respondents to make statements about their selections that slot them into one or other of the categories: e.g. they don't know 10 composers sufficiently well, so some in their list are made up based on little more than a whim; or they like so many composers they find it difficult to confine their list to just 10 so they will virtually take a random selection of any of these after perhaps listing their long term favourite 3 composers or whatever.

In some polls, tactical voting for different composers was sometimes very obvious, and occurred in a composer poll here on T-C several years ago, where the whole idea was to vote for candidates in a progessive manner working down a list until the top 100 were identified by majority voting. There was a lot of tactical voting taking place during that poll, which ran for several weeks.

As for Occam's razor, I trust you are aware that this is by no means a universally accepted problem solving principle in scientific method. It has been subject to quite of criticism down the ages, and several alternative principles have been put forward, but that is another story, and I do not intend to pursue that.


----------



## Nereffid

Genoveva said:


> I did not use the words "joking","lying" or "stupid". These are descriptions you have conjured up.


Sorry if I gave the impression I was attributing those to you - it wasn't intended, just a follow-on from previous comments about whether someone was "serious".
As I said, I think your points are all reasonable.


----------



## lele23

1. Haydn
2. Mozart
3. Bach
4. Beethoven
5. Vivaldi
6. Telemann
7. Messiaen
8. Bartok
9. Debussy
10. Liszt


----------



## Bettina

1. Beethoven
2. Haydn
3. Mozart
4. Liszt
5. Chopin
6. Bach
7. Debussy
8. Ravel
9. Schubert
10.Brahms

Honorable mentions go to Schumann and Mendelssohn.


----------



## Brahmsian Colors

Brahms
Dvorak
Sibelius
Haydn
Schubert
Debussy
Ravel
Tchaikovsky
Borodin
Vaughan Williams


----------



## hpowders

Bettina said:


> 1. Beethoven
> 2. Haydn
> 3. Mozart
> 4. Liszt
> 5. Chopin
> 6. Bach
> 7. Debussy
> 8. Ravel
> 9. Schubert
> 10.Brahms
> 
> Honorable mentions go to Schumann and Mendelssohn.


Ten teeth. No serious cavities.


----------



## Bettina

hpowders said:


> Ten teeth. No serious cavities.


Haha, I suspect that Beethoven's dental health wasn't so great! But I love him anyway.


----------



## hpowders

Bettina said:


> Haha, I suspect that Beethoven's dental health wasn't so great! But I love him anyway.


He wasn't comfortable with closeness anyway.


----------



## R3PL4Y

Beethoven
Mahler
Bruckner
Shostakovich
Sibelius
Vaughan Williams
William Schuman
Messiaen
Rachmaninoff
R. Strauss


----------



## hpowders

Bettina said:


> Haha, I suspect that Beethoven's dental health wasn't so great! But I love him anyway.


Yes, but the Scope of his music more than made up for it.


----------



## Bettina

hpowders said:


> Yes, but the Scope of his music more than made up for it.


All of his pieces Aim for greatness.


----------



## KenOC

hpowders said:


> Yes, but the Scope of his music more than made up for it.


Wasn't it Beethoven's dental health that inspired the George Eliot's novel _The Mill on the Floss_?

Time out for a ******* joke.
Q: How do we know the toothbrush was invented in Alabama?
A: Anywhere else, it'd have been called a teethbrush.


----------



## Casebearer

Bartók 
Schnittke
Mahler 
Wagner
Messiaen
Berio
Ligeti
Bach
Brahms
Lutoslawski

Honourable mentions:
Kurtág
Kagel
Varese
Beethoven (string quartets)
Mozart (sometimes)
Henze
Zappa


----------



## Andolink

Bach
Brahms
Beethoven
Haydn
Handel
Monteverdi
Wagner
Mozart
Josquin
Schoenberg


----------



## hpowders

Bettina said:


> All of his pieces Aim for greatness.


OOOOHHH!!! Nice!!! I may be leaving you the hpowders' franchise in my will.

Where will I be? Waiting to enter through the ultimate Col'-Gate. :tiphat:


----------



## rojaba

alphabetical:

Bach
Grieg
Handel
Hasse
Mendelssohn
Monteverdi
Mozart
Puccini
Shostakovich
Wagner


----------



## Genoveva

I'm just giving this interesting thread a bump to see if it can attract some more contributors, including of course any recent new members who may not have spotted this thread.

It was started a few months ago and has attracted quite a good response. It's really simple. All that's requested is a list of your top 10 composers. There's no need to rank them if you don't wish to. Looking at various previous entries, some people have provided their long term favourites, whilst others have given the ones they like most at present. 

If you can't list as many as 10, just put down as many as you can. Once we've had a few more replies, I'll see if I can do a summary of the results.

P.S I note that some of the "mods" haven't yet contributed.


----------



## Faustian

Bach
Bartok
Beethoven
Handel
Mozart
Rameau
Schubert
Sibelius
Stravinsky
Wagner


----------



## Resurrexit

Wagner
Beethoven
Bach
Tchaikovsky 
Prokofiev
Mozart
Chopin
Schumann
Debussy
Schubert


----------



## OperaChic

1. Beethoven
2. Wagner
3. Mozart
4. Verdi
5. Strauss
6. Handel
7. Monteverdi
8. Schumann
9. Bach
10. Puccini


----------



## Genoveva

OperaChic said:


> 1. Beethoven
> 2. Wagner
> 3. Mozart
> 4. Verdi
> 5. Strauss
> 6. Handel
> 7. Monteverdi
> 8. Schumann
> 9. Bach
> 10. Puccini


Is that Richard Strauss in No 5?


----------



## OperaChic

Genoveva said:


> Is that Richard Strauss in No 5?


Yes Richard not Johann.


----------



## Rach Man

Here's mine, alphabetically, by height:

1. Dvorak
2. Mahler
3. Sibelius
4. Brahms
5. Rachmaninov
6. Prokofiev
7. Bartok
8. Tchaikovsky
9. Schubert
10. Vaughan-Williams


----------



## Skilmarilion

Genoveva said:


> Is that Richard Strauss in No 5?


There's only one Strauss.


----------



## Stavrogin

a tragically temporary list, save the first 2 positions I guess

1. LvB
2. Prokofiev
3. Mozart
4. Liszt
5. Schubert
6. Bach
7. Kancheli
8. Šostakovič
9. Dvořák
10. Sibelius


----------



## EddieRUKiddingVarese

1. Edgard Varèse
2. Frank Zappa
3. John Milton Barrett
4. David Hirschfelder
5. Betty Beath
6. Harry Partch
7. Alberto Zelman
8. Larry (Lazarus or Lazar) Sitsky
9. Stockhausen
10. Nipohc (Chopin Backwards is quite good)


----------



## hpowders

EddieRUKiddingVarese said:


> 1. Edgard Varèse
> 2. Frank Zappa
> 3. John Milton Barrett
> 4. David Hirschfelder
> 5. Betty Beath
> 6. Harry Partch
> 7. Alberto Zelman
> 8. Larry (Lazarus or Lazar) Sitsky
> 9. Stockhausen
> 10. Nipohc (Chopin Backwards is quite good)


Oh no! Not another Zelman! How many times already?


----------



## EddieRUKiddingVarese

hpowders said:


> Oh no! Not another Zelman! How many times already?


Ha ha the Zelman's are taking over............


----------



## Genoveva

EddieRUKiddingVarese said:


> 1. Edgard Varèse
> 2. Frank Zappa
> 3. John Milton Barrett
> 4. David Hirschfelder
> 5. Betty Beath
> 6. Harry Partch
> 7. Alberto Zelman
> 8. Larry (Lazarus or Lazar) Sitsky
> 9. Stockhausen
> 10. Nipohc (Chopin Backwards is quite good)


It seems that you have already submitted your selections at post # 39. Do you wish to substitute the ones above?


----------



## Genoveva

The OP of this thread, Davila, joined T-C on 4 August 2016 and hasn't posted anything since 7 August. I have sent a PM asking whether he/she intends to carry out a summary of the results but I have not received a reply. 

There have been a number of similar composer polls in the past where no summary of the results was ever carried out, just pages of contributions. Rather than allow the same to happen to this thread, I thought it would be useful to set out a simple summary of the responses, which have reached a respectable size to date. 

In looking at the various contributions so far, I have noted a few frivolous ones (surprise, surprise) and a couple of others where people apparently could not resist providing a list in excess of the required number for this poll, namely 10 composers. These are posts # 26 and 78. If these members wish to adjust their previous submissions feel free to do so. If not, I will simply truncate their lists as soon as the limit of 10 is reached reading down their lists.

All that I will do is provide a list of the top 10 composers based on responses as they stand at that time. I doubt that it would be acceptable to push the list beyond 10 since that is the number requested. My suspicion is that there won't be any surprises in the general make-up of the "top 10" composers compared with similar exercises in the past, but at least the situation will be up to date. Remember that the composers nominated for this exercise are those that members consider their "top 10", however they wish to define this. It could their latest list of favourites or their long-term favourites. 

I will leave things until cop Friday 18th November, in the hope of possibly attracting a few more contributions by then.


----------



## tdc

1. J.S. Bach
2. Brahms
3. Ravel
4. Debussy
5. Mozart
6. Bartok
7. Ives
8. Prokofiev
9. Takemitsu
10. Partch


----------



## EddieRUKiddingVarese

Genoveva said:


> It seems that you have already submitted your selections at post # 39. Do you wish to substitute the ones above?


Good Detective work, I see you have taken ownership of the thread- someone had to I guess. Yeah take this one as per above for my 10.

Has anyone else done a double take, there has been so many of these polls it is hard to keep track.


----------



## Guest

TwoFlutesOneTrumpet said:


> That is a ... unusual top 10. I should do some looking into but I never heard of 4 of your top 10 composers  (unless they are cleverly disguised anagrams of more famous composers)


All 10 are well known composers.


----------



## Razumovskymas

Beethoven
Händel 
Liszt
Mozart
Debussy
Schumann
Prokofiev
Pergolesi
Schubert
Shostakovich


ask me again in 5 years


----------



## Razumovskymas

I would like to start a club of people that leave J.S. Bach out of their top 10 :tiphat:


----------



## EddieRUKiddingVarese

Count me in 
Harry Partch is best


----------



## James Mann

Brahms 
Beethoven 
Haydn 
Mendelssohn 
Schumann 
Wagner 
Bach 
Ferneyhough 
Ravel 
Shostakovich


----------



## mmsbls

Mozart
Beethoven
Bach
Brahms 
Wagner 
Schubert
Haydn
Mendelssohn
Mahler
Dvorak

The top 6 are pretty well fixed (or have been so for years). I think my next 10 would be rather different from what I would have chosen 5 years ago. There would probably be many more modern composers in that group (Lutoslawski, Dutilleux, Stravinsky, and maybe Schnittke).


----------



## pjang23

Bach
Brahms
Faure
Mozart
Debussy
Schubert
Ravel
R. Strauss
Bloch
Mendelssohn

With much to love from Hummel, Nielsen, Dohnanyi, Weber, Martinu, Bartok, Mahler, Beethoven, Haydn, Machaut, Prokofiev, Reger, Schumann, Beach, Berg, Barber, Bridge, Duparc, Dvorak, Froberger, Glazunov, Gubaidulina, Josquin, Hahn, Messiaen, Palestrina, Part, Poulenc, D. Scarlatti, Schoenberg, Stravinsky, Zemlinsky


----------



## TwoFlutesOneTrumpet

James Mann said:


> Brahms
> Beethoven
> Haydn
> Mendelssohn
> Schumann
> Wagner
> Bach
> Ferneyhough
> Ravel
> Shostakovich


Nice. I actually had to look up one of the names on this list.


----------



## tdc

mmsbls said:


> The top 6 are pretty well fixed


This is more or less the same with me at this point (except for about my top 8 now) the last 2 spots on my top ten are from a revolving list I will choose from depending on my mood. This time I filled it out with Takemitsu and Partch, another day I might've said Schnittke and Monteverdi, or Rodrigo and Machaut etc. I simply have too many favorite composers to fit into ten spots.

The only thing that has stayed exactly the same on my list since I joined this site is J.S. Bach being no. 1.


----------



## Genoveva

This post sets out the results of the voting up to the present time. Please note that I have decided to keep this post as simple as possible, presenting the main results with only a limited discussion. 

There have been 62 valid responses, which is good in comparison with a number of previous threads of a similar nature. I do not intend to update the results based on any further contributions.

The results are based on a simple count of the votes cast, paying no regard to the fact that some members set out their choices in order of preference. The following gives the points score for each of the top 10 composers, indexed to J S Bach =100: 

1	-	J S Bach	100
2	-	L Beethoven	95
3	-	W A Mozart	86
4	-	J Brahms	67
5	-	F Schubert	63
6	-	G Mahler	56
7	-	R Wagner	51
8	-	J Haydn	47
9	-	A Dvořák	40
10	-	J Sibelius	37

As will be seen, there is little difference between the points for Bach and Beethoven. There is a bigger gap between Beethoven and Mozart. The top 3 are well ahead of Brahms who is in fourth position. Schubert is close behind in 5th position, followed by a steady decline thereafter from 6th through to 10th positions.

These results are broadly consistent with various previous composer rankings, although the exact order and make-up on each occasion has differed somewhat. This matter is discussed further below.

The next post provides further detail about the calculations, and the results. It also considers the results based on an alternative counting methods taking into account the order of some members' preferences. 

The post after the next one is slightly more complex and may be of interest to those who are interested in learning more about the statistical significance of these results. It is somewhat more technical so don't bother with it if you are not interested in such matters. Suffice to say that the detailed results of votes like this one are increasingly uncertain the further one goes down the lists, and they need to be taken with a pinch of salt.


----------



## Genoveva

This post follows on from the previous post for those interested in reading more about the detailed results. It also discusses the fact that some voters submitted their composer preferences in rank order.

The data

The 62 responses included one response where only 6 composers were listed. I decided to accept this response. In two other cases the limit of 10 composers was exceeded. In these cases, I took the first 10 since they appeared to be in order of preference.

Preference Order

Of the 62 responses, 44 provided the composers in order of preference, and the remaining 18 were in alphabetical, chronological or random order. It was therefore necessary to decide how to treat the two types of response.

I decided to amalgamate all 62 responses but I did so in two different ways:

(i) The first was to ignore preference order completely and simply count the number of votes for each composer, allowing a notional 10 votes for each, giving 100 votes in total. This was the basis of the results reported in the post above.

(ii) The second way was to apply a geometrically declining set of weights for composers that were listed in order of preference. I took two variants: a 5% decline rate, a 10% decline rate. To ensure equal treatment with the votes that were not based on a preference order, the total number of votes across all 10 composers was constrained to the same total of 100 points for each group.

Results

The following table shows respectively the results based on (i) simple vote count, (ii) a 5% decline rate, (iii) a 10% decline for each composer, in each cases indexed to J S Bach = 100:

1	-	J S Bach	100	;	100	;	100
2	-	L Beethoven	95	;	98	;	100
3	-	W A Mozart	86	;	87	;	87
4	-	J Brahms	67	;	65	;	62
5	-	F Schubert	63	;	58	;	54
6	-	G Mahler	56	;	51	;	47
7	-	R Wagner	51	;	48	;	45
8	-	J Haydn	47	;	46	;	45
9	-	A Dvořák	40	;	34	;	29
10	-	J Sibelius	37	;	34	;	31

As may be seen, the top 8 rankings remain unaltered regardless of the method of weighting. A minor change occurs in the 9th/10th position for the 10% decline rate. The steeper slope as the decline rate increases is a reflection of the fact that the very highest rated composers are nearer the top of their parent lists rather than placed in an average position as implied on a simple count basis.

Other statistics

•	52 voters out of the total of 62 included at least one of Bach, Beethoven, or Mozart
•	33 included both Bach and Beethoven 
•	27 included Bach, Beethoven, and Mozart
•	14 included the above plus Brahms (top 4) 
•	10 also included Schubert (top 5) 
•	6 also included Mahler (top 6) 
•	4 also included Wagner (top 7) 
•	1 also included Haydn (top 8) 
•	No one included in their lists all the composers in the overall top 9 or 10

Yet more statistics

•	19 voters did not include Bach
•	21 voters did not include Beethoven
•	25 voters did not include Mozart
•	33 voters did not include Brahms
•	35 voters did not include Schubert
•	38 voters did not include Mahler
•	40 voters did not include Wagner
•	43 voters did not include Haydn
•	45 voters did not include Dvořák 
•	46 voters did not include Sibelius

The next post assesses the significance of these results in terms of how far they can be trusted to provide a reliable set of rankings by preference order amongst voters typical of this Forum.


----------



## Genoveva

This post is rather more complex and follows on from the previous two posts. It considers the statistical significance of the results as reported. That is, how do we know that the results obtained from the sample of 62 responses are not just some freak occurrence against a true situation where all the composers are equally rated? 

Further, even if it can be shown that all 10 composers as a group are not all equally rated, but that they do differ, we need to find out which of them are the causes of the difference. For example, can we be confident that Mozart's score of 86% compared with Brahms' 67% is big enough to feel justified in believing that that Mozart is generally preferred to Brahms, and that a similar result would be expected if the same voting exercise were repeated on another occasion attracting possibly different participants? 

To answer these questions it is necessary to carry out further analysis of the data based on so-called "Analysis of Variance" using the F-test, and Fisher's "least significant difference" tests. 

I have carried out this analysis only based on the first set of results using a simple vote count, and therefore ignores preference orders as given by the 42 members who used that method. 

First of all, the results of the F-test shows a highly significant result - with an F value of 7.0 against a critical value of 3.2 for F (.95) - for the relevant degrees of freedom), indicating that the sample results for the top 10 composers are very unlikely to have occurred by chance alone at the 95% level if the hypothesis of equal mean values is correct.

Secondly, this result clearly does not mean that the differences between the composer rankings as you go down the list from high rank to lower rank are all statistically significant. In order to determine which differences are significant (i.e. unlikely to have occurred by chance at a given level of confidence) it is necessary to carry out a number of so-called Fisher "least significant difference" tests, as noted above. 

Based on these tests, the following results occur at the 95% level of confidence:

• There is not a significant difference between Bach and Beethoven.
• There is a significant difference between Beethoven and Mozart.
• There is a significant difference between Mozart and Brahms.
• There is not a significant difference between Brahms and Schubert
• There is not a significant difference between Brahms and Mahler
• There is not a significant difference between Schubert and Mahler
• There is not a significant difference between Schubert and Wagner
• There is not a significant difference between Mahler and Wagner
• There is a significant difference between Wagner and Haydn
• There is not a significant difference between Haydn and Dvořák 
• There is not a significant difference between Dvorak and Sibelius

Thus, except for the top 3 composers and one or two other steps, whilst it may appear that the results are telling us something useful about the ratings of the top composers in terms of members' preferences in fact the numbers that emerge are in many cases not significant. In other words, they contain so much uncertainty that different rankings could easily emerge in another set of trials. This result accords with practical experience over a number of similar polls in the past.

The only result that still seems clear is that the top 3 - Bach, Beethoven, Mozart - form a clear distinct group ahead of the rest, albeit on this occasion with Mozart somewhat lagging more than normally is the case in such polls, but not critically so. The further down lists of this nature, i.e. beyond 10 and into the 20's and 30's etc the uncertainty is likely to grow considerably making such lists very uncertain indeed. 

Lastly, I would add that if this amount of lack of significance has resulted from a fairly clear question posed at the beginning of this thread about members' composer preferences (i.e. their top 10 favourites) just think how more uncertain the results might be expected to be based on questions that are perhaps far less well formulated about one's composer preferences. It is most likely to be the case that beyond the very top tier of composers things are far too uncertain to take any of it seriously. Another time and another and set of results ... It keeps people busy, I guess.


----------



## mmsbls

Genoveva said:


> It is most likely to be the case that beyond the very top tier of composers things are far too uncertain to take any of it seriously. Another time and another ... set of results ... It keeps people busy, I guess.


Thanks for doing all that statistical analysis on the votes in this thread. Given my time here at TC I've become used to the fact that so many people do not view Bach, Beethoven, and Mozart as top 10 composers, but when I first arrived, I was shocked to see how many did not actually place all of them in their top 3.

Personally, I think these polls contain more information than you seem to credit. I would change the first sentence above to "It is most likely to be the case that beyond the very top tier of composers things are too uncertain to take _all_ of it seriously." I haven't seen all the results, but I would imagine there are quite a few interesting questions one could answer with reasonable statistical probability such as:

Does any modern composer have a reasonable likelihood of making the top 10? 
If so, does Debussy, Ravel, Prokofiev, or Shostakovich have a reasonable probability of being placed higher than Dvorak?
What is the highest rank a Renaissance composer might have?
Statistically, is Handel unlikely to make the top 10?

For most people the polls are simply fun. For some they give interesting information. Admittedly, some probably infer more than they should.


----------



## Medtnaculus

Scriabin
Ravel
Schmitt
Emmanuel
Debussy
Medtner
Stanchinsky
Roslavets
Bridge
Rachmaninoff


----------



## Genoveva

mmsbls said:


> Thanks for doing all that statistical analysis on the votes in this thread. Given my time here at TC I've become used to the fact that so many people do not view Bach, Beethoven, and Mozart as top 10 composers, but when I first arrived, I was shocked to see how many did not actually place all of them in their top 3.
> 
> Personally, I think these polls contain more information than you seem to credit. I would change the first sentence above to "It is most likely to be the case that beyond the very top tier of composers things are too uncertain to take _all_ of it seriously." I haven't seen all the results, but I would imagine there are quite a few interesting questions one could answer with reasonable statistical probability such as:
> 
> Does any modern composer have a reasonable likelihood of making the top 10?
> If so, does Debussy, Ravel, Prokofiev, or Shostakovich have a reasonable probability of being placed higher than Dvorak?
> What is the highest rank a Renaissance composer might have?
> Statistically, is Handel unlikely to make the top 10?
> 
> For most people the polls are simply fun. For some they give interesting information. Admittedly, some probably infer more than they should.


I hope the following additional data might be of assistance. It sets out the composers who received the highest number of entries categorised under each of the main eras. For this purpose, I have used a minimum cut-off of 4 nominations, which provides 34 composers. The figures given are all based on a simple count of the nominations with no weighting applied for preference order, where these were given.

In interpreting this data, it must be remembered that it derives from a question asking for the "top 10" composers only. Different results would be expected if the number of composers requested had been higher, say 20, especially if no rankings were provided.

The number of nominations is given after each composer's name.

Renaissance/Baroque

Monteverdi	8

Baroque

J S Bach	43
Handel	13
Vivaldi	7

Classical

W A Mozart	37
J Haydn	19

Classical/Romantic

Beethoven	41
Schubert	27

Romantic

Brahms	29
Mahler	24
Dvorak	17
Sibelius	16
Schumann	15
Tchaikovsky	14
Chopin	9
Mendelssohn	9
Rachmaninoff	8
Liszt	8
Bruckner	7
Berlioz	5
Nielsen	4
Verdi	4
R Strauss	4
Puccini	4
Scriabin	4

Impressionist

Debussy	15
Ravel	7

20th C (various styles)

Shostakovich	15
Stravinsky	11
Bartok	10
Prokofiev	10
Vaughan Williams	9
Schoenberg	7
Messiaen	6

Based on these figures, it would seem rather unlikely that a Renaissance composer such as Monteverdi (who was transitional Renaissance/Baroque composer) would make it to the top 10, given that he received only 8 nominations. He might make it to the 11-20 group.

Sixteen nominations was the cut-off point for 10th position, achieved by Sibelius. As can be seen, several composers just missed being included in the top 10: Schumann, Debussy and Shostakovich each received 15 nominations. Tchaikovsky received 14 nominations and Handel 13. Below these, there is Stravinsky with 11, Bartok and Prokofiev with 10, and Chopin and Mendelssohn on 9 nominations.

Several of these composers who missed could quite easily be included inside the top based on a further shake of the dice. Likewise, the two composers who just made it inside the top 10, Sibelius at No 10 and Dvorak at No 9 could drop out on a repeat run. We therefore have a fairly large potential "pool" of composers who could feasibly be included just inside the top 10, or just outside it, depending on chance factors on how the sample goes.

It should be noted that if we were interested in finding out more reliably the position of composers up to rank 20 it would be advisable to carry out a further set of votes asking for nominations of the "top 20" composers, and to request that each nomination is ranked. Nevertheless, my guess is that the results would still indicate a high margin of uncertainty for most of the composers less popular than about rank No 8.

Despite all this, I agree that this kind of exercise is "fun". It shouldn't be forgotten though that the results of these exercises do not offer the reliability that some people may appear to attach to them. Trying to base ranks on very small differences in percentages is not statistically sound. The problem of unreliability gets progressively worse the further down the ranks one goes towards the less popular composers.

Overlaid is a fundamental potential problem with all these polls and votes that the samples are all self-selecting, which can be a major source of bias. Not only that but care needs to be taken to ensure as far as possible that the samples remain as random as possible, and this is one reason why I do not intend to update the results based on any further nominations that may be made.


----------



## Genoveva

Please note that I do not intend to update the results in the event that any further nominations are made by other members.


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## Morton

Ok, so I may be a bit late for this thread, but for what it’s worth here is my list;
1.	Wagner
2.	Bach
3.	Mozart
4.	Beethoven
5.	Schubert
6.	Brahms
7.	Haydn
8.	Bartok
9.	Sibelius
10.	Mahler
The only thing I am sure about here is that Wagner is at number one & has been since I saw Twilight of the Gods (sung in English by Sadlers Wells Opera) in 1974.
He is obviously not as versatile a composer as any of the others on this list, but what he did do he did supremely well. I go to as many productions as I can & I still find the impact of a good performance to be totally overwhelming.
I can’t decide an order for the next three on the list, so they are shown chronologically.


----------



## josef

penderecki
gubaidulina
scelsi
prokofiev
liszt
lutoslawski
stockhausen
xennakis
feldman
ligeti


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## Pugg

josef said:


> penderecki
> gubaidulina
> scelsi
> prokofiev
> liszt
> lutoslawski
> stockhausen
> xennakis
> feldman
> ligeti


This sounds very familiar .


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## trupiosz

Hi

This is my first post, so hello to all members of this great forum!

Here is my top ten:

JS Bach
Beethoven
Schubert
Mahler
Schoenberg
Bartok
Stravinsky
Shostakovich
Lutoslawski
Penderecki


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## chalkpie

Ives
Mahler
Ravel
Sibelius
RVW
Ligeti
Dowland
Messiaen
Shostakovich
Lutoslawski


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## Sonata

1) Brahms
2) Verdi
3) Mozart
4) Mahler
5) Mendelssohn
6) Dvorak
7) Ravel
8) R. Strauss
9) Rachmaninoff
10) Rossini

It's hard! If I'm in opera mode I could probably also put Puccini in there somewhere. If I'm on a non-vocal classical, then I could easily move Rossini out for awhile and put Beethoven or Chopin.


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## Sonata

I forgot Haydn!! Haydn could easily be in my top ten. And I do love the French Baroque now...Lully....a top 20 would be much easier


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## Haydn man

Sonata said:


> I forgot Haydn!! Haydn could easily be in my top ten. And I do love the French Baroque now...Lully....a top 20 would be much easier


Any top 10 without Haydn is just plain wrong


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese

1. Varèse
2. Varèse
3. Varèse
4. Varèse
5. Varèse
6. Varèse
7. Varèse
8. Varèse
9. Varèse
10. Varèse
Honorable mentions:
Zappa
Xenakis 
Schoenberg 
Stockhausen 
Boulez


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## CMonteverdi

Palestrina 
Da Victoria
Monteverdi
Bach
Vivaldi
Boccherini
Mozart
Beethoven
Schubert
Brahms


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## Gordontrek

This is who I think are the greatest objectively, not my personal favorites:
1. Bach
2. Beethoven
3. Mozart
4. Handel
5. Verdi
6. Tchaikovsky
7. Richard Strauss
8. Brahms
9. Haydn
10. Stravinsky


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## lextune

A top five, or top twenty, would be easier...but here we go.

Top Ten Composers

1. J.S. Bach
2. Beethoven
3. Wagner
4. Mozart
5. Schubert
6. Debussy
7. Brahms
8. Bartok
9. Chopin
10. Stravinsky

My personal Top Ten is inevitably heavily influenced by my instrument. On any given day 2-10 might change around, or another composer might sneak in there, but number one for me is Beethoven.

1. Beethoven
2. Chopin
3. Debussy
4. Liszt
5. Scriabin
6. Schumann
7. Alkan
8. Prokofiev
9. Schubert
10. Bartok

Ever since I read this article I think of it when talk of top ten lists come up.:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/11/arts/music/11vienna4.html


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## Genoveva

It's good to see further contributions being made to this thread since the time I provided a summary of the votes about 3 weeks ago. It's perhaps a convenient way for new members to introduce themselves.

It's not my thread by creation but the OP has left the Forum, and it seemed to be worthwhile working out a summary. If there are any more contributions, please provide them. This applies to all members including any who may wish to revise any previous list they provided. 

Ideally it should be a ranked list of the composers they consider to be their long term favourites, but if that's too difficult then simply provide a list of current favourites, but no more than 10.

If it seems worth it, I might update the previous results at some point.


----------



## schigolch

Bach 
Bellini 
Berg 
Britten 
Debussy 
Korngold 
Messiaen 
Reich
Sciarrino 
Verdi


----------



## hpowders

At this very moment, in real time:

1. Brahms, thanks to his glorious chamber music, such as the two Clarinet Sonatas, Clarinet Quintet, Clarinet Trio, the three Piano Trios, The Three Piano Quartets, the two glorious String Sextets, String Quintets and Piano Quintet.

2. Beethoven, for his incredibly inventive piano sonatas, Bagatelles and Diabelli Variations

3. Bach, for his glorious solo keyboard works such as both books of the WTC, the 6 keyboard partitas and organ preludes and fugues.

4. Schoenberg for his Violin and Piano Concertos

5. Sibelius for his great Violin Concerto

6. Mendelssohn for his magnificent chamber music such as the two Piano Trios and six String Quartets.

A short list, but these are the composers and works I have been reaching for exclusively over the last few months.


----------



## Pugg

Mahler
Verdi
Bellini
Donizetti
Mozart
Wagner
JS Bach
Beethoven
Schubert
Brahms


----------



## Brahmsian Colors

Genoveva said:


> Ideally it should be a ranked list of the composers they consider to be their long term favourites, but if that's too difficult then simply provide a list of current favourites, but no more than 10.
> 
> If it seems worth it, I might update the previous results at some point.


Initially(post #104), I did not list my favorites in ranked order. I'll attempt it at this time though with only what I would consider to be my *long term favorites* as requested, however that will bring my list to eight only.

1-Brahms
2-Sibelius
3-Haydn
4-Dvorak
5-Debussy
6-Tchaikovsky
7-Schubert
8-Ravel


----------



## Stavrogin

I'll give it a try


1) Beethoven
2) Prokofiev
3) Mozart
4) Liszt
5) Shostakovic
6) Schubert
7) Bach
8) Bartok
9) Schumann
10) Debussy / Dvorak / Kancheli / Shnitke

yeah I've cheated a bit at the end


----------



## MagneticGhost

In no particular order

Brahms
Messiaen
Rachmaninov
Elgar
Vaughan Williams
Victoria
Taverner (Tudor)
BachAmadeusHoven
Schubert
Shostakovich


----------



## TurnaboutVox

MagneticGhost said:


> In no particular order
> 
> BachAmadeusHoven


That multi-headed musical God again...


----------



## Schumanniac

1) Bach. Though far from a favourite, his craftsmanship and genius is abundantly enough to demand the no 1 homage. The rest of my list wouldnt exist without him.
2) Beethoven
3) Tchaikovsky. This one fluctuates quite a bit but its somber winter and all.
4) Schumann
5) Chopin
6) Mahler. Often dont have the energy to survive his massive works, containing so much emotions many of which is painful to experience, but when i do its profound.
7) Rachmaninov
8) Faure. This one is a seasonal favourite, he'll likely decline, though he deserves the spot.
9) Debussy
10) Dvorak/Bruckner, cant choose sorry.

So, yeah, a Romantic by heart  A heart that mourns for those i couldnt include.


----------



## Bettina

Schumanniac said:


> 1) Bach. Though far from a favourite, his craftsmanship and genius is abundantly enough to demand the no 1 homage. The rest of my list wouldnt exist without him.
> 2) Beethoven
> 3) Tchaikovsky. This one fluctuates quite a bit but its somber winter and all.
> 4) Schumann
> 5) Chopin
> 6) Mahler. Often dont have the energy to survive his massive works, containing so much emotions many of which is painful to experience, but when i do its profound.
> 7) Rachmaninov
> 8) Faure. This one is a seasonal favourite, he'll likely decline, though he deserves the spot.
> 9) Debussy
> 10) Dvorak/Bruckner, cant choose sorry.
> 
> So, yeah, a Romantic by heart  A heart that mourns for those i couldnt include.


That's really interesting how your list of favorites varies with the seasons. It had never occurred to me that the seasons or the weather might have any effect on musical preferences. I wonder if my own preferences are being affected by these external factors in ways that I don't consciously recognize.

Thanks to your post, I'll be paying more attention to the possible relationship between the weather and my musical tastes.


----------



## Schumanniac

I often grow more brooding, dark and reflective in winter, and after all isnt musical taste essentially mirrors of our mind? Whenever i have to know someone new, i always use music as one of the first conversational topics. Truly believe i can learn more about an individual preferring chill jazz, than i could hope to, during a day talking of less important matters. Definitely think season has a great influence on those of my tendencies.


----------



## hpowders

I guess as long as you don't kill anybody in winter, it's okay.


----------



## Pugg

Schumanniac said:


> I often grow more brooding, dark and reflective in winter, and after all isnt musical taste essentially mirrors of our mind? Whenever i have to know someone new, i always use music as one of the first conversational topics. Truly believe i can learn more about an individual preferring chill jazz, than i could hope to, during a day talking of less important matters. Definitely think season has a great influence on those of my tendencies.


Just do as you like, do not lose sleep over it.
Not worth it.


----------



## gellio

Beethoven
Mozart
Bach
Schubert
Wagner
Tchaikovsky 
Shostakovich
Prokofiev
Rachmaninov 
Mussorgsky


----------



## ArtMusic

In no particular order

Johann Sebastian Bach
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
Johann Christian Bach
Handel
Vivaldi
Telemann
Joseph Haydn
Michael Haydn 
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Beethoven
Puccini
Verdi
Wagner
Tchaikovsky
Schubert
Mendelssohn

Greatness is universally agreed over time and location. While it may be a challenge to define greatness to some people (I don't have that difficulty), empirical evidence over time and location make it undeniable.


----------



## Chronochromie

ArtMusic said:


> In no particular order
> 
> Johann Sebastian Bach
> Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
> Johann Christian Bach
> Handel
> Vivaldi
> Telemann
> Joseph Haydn
> Michael Haydn
> Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
> Beethoven
> Puccini
> Verdi
> Wagner
> Tchaikovsky
> Schubert
> Mendelssohn
> 
> Greatness is universally agreed over time and location. While it may be a challenge to define greatness to some people (I don't have that difficulty), empirical evidence over time and location make it undeniable.


I'd like to hear you make that case for Michael Haydn, JC Bach or Telemann.


----------



## AClockworkOrange

Time for a refresh of my choices, at the moment I would likely say in no particular order:
Ludwig Van Beethoven
Joseph Haydn
Johannes Brahms
Malcolm Arnold
Franz Schubert
Felix Mendelssohn 
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Richard Strauss 
Hector Berlioz 
Jean Sibelius


----------



## Isiah Thanu

Vaughan Williams, Ravel, Mahler, Copland, Some Puccini, Prokofiev, Shostakovich.Korngold.
Nothing much before Beethoven, and nothing atonal.
Still feel there is a lot to discover.


----------



## Scherzy

Mine fluctuates, but presently:
1. Bach
2. Mahler
3. Bartok
4. Prokofiev
5. Hindemith
6. Schubert
7. Stravinsky
8. Rachmaninoff 
9. Schumann
10. Lutoslawski

It's a fairly 20th century list, but I listen to a lot of early romantic, classical, and baroque as well


----------



## PWOJR77

1. Beethoven.
2. Mozart.
3. Brahms.
4. J. Haydn.
5. Mahler.
6. Dvorak.
7. Schubert.
8. Shostakovich.
9. Sibelius.
10. Bruckner.


----------



## chalkpie

Bettina said:


> That's really interesting how your list of favorites varies with the seasons. It had never occurred to me that the seasons or the weather might have any effect on musical preferences. I wonder if my own preferences are being affected by these external factors in ways that I don't consciously recognize.
> 
> Thanks to your post, I'll be paying more attention to the possible relationship between the weather and my musical tastes.


Weather plays a fairly significant role in my listening habits, insofar that I sometimes choose different music if its overcast or sunny out - no joke! Yeah, I'm a weirdo.


----------



## Vaneyes

10 tonal, 10 atonal, okay?


----------



## chromatic owl

Bach
Shostakovich
Schubert
Scriabin
Prokofiev
Mozart
Tchaikovsky
Franck


----------



## chromatic owl

Decided to add Bartók and Ravel after some thought.


----------



## msr13

I love these kids of lists and I enjoy seeing what all of you put. In no order...

Shostakovich
Rachmaninoff
Brahms
Mahler
Bruckner
Arvo Pärt
Beethoven
Bach
Robert Schumann
Sibelius


----------



## Sonata

I did this a couple months ago, but I thought I needed retooling on a couple

1) Brahms
2) Mozart
3) Verdi
4)Haydn
5) Ravel
6)Dvorak
7) Chopin
8) Charpentier
9) Mahler
10) R. Strauss


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## AClockworkOrange

I'll refresh my list again thanks to discovering Bohuslav Martinu, in no order:
- Ludwig Van Beethoven
- Joseph Haydn
- Franz Schubert
- Johannes Brahms
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
- Felix Mendelssohn 
- Bohuslav Martinu
- Malcolm Arnold
- Richard Strauss 
- Jean Sibelius

Just the one change from my previous list, but I cannot think of who to swap out for one of the other Composers I'd like to squeeze in.


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## Aleksandar

Beethoven
Bach
Haydn
Mozart
Wagner
Schubert
Mahler
Brahms
Dvorak
Tchaikovsky 

Last three could easily be replaced by: Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Bartok, Chopin, Schumann, Adams...it's impossible to stop


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## Ethereality

For today:

Beethoven
Borodin
Brahms
Glazunov
Rimsky-Korsakov
Mahler
Debussy
Martinů
Hindemith
Elgar


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## Artran

In alphabetical order:

Arvo Pärt
Arnold Shönberg
Béla Bartók
Bernd Alois Zimmermann
Claudio Monteverdi
György Ligeti
Johann Sebastian Bach
Joseph Haydn
Leoš Janáček
Tomás Luis de Victoria

It's very hard. I had to omit many composers which I also really like. Schnittke, Xenakis, Takemitsu, Telemann, Ockeghem, Josquin, Britten, Lassus, Dufay, Schütz, Mozart, Mahler. And many others.


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## Highwayman

My Top 10 three years ago:


Brahms
Bach
Beethoven
Schumann
Dvořák
Sibelius
Schubert
Fauré
Mahler
Mendelssohn 

My Top 10 today:


Brahms
Bach
Beethoven
Schumann
Dvořák
Schubert
Fauré
Reger
Schönberg 
Bartók


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## Ethereality

Highwayman said:


> 1. Brahms


You have a beautiful list and I must ask your favorite works by Schubert and Reger 😍.


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## StDior

StDior said:


> 1. Beethoven 2. Bach 3. Mahler 4. Mozart 5. Chopin 6. Monteverdi 7. Puccini 8. Schubert 9. Brahms 10. Wagner


That was 6 years ago. And now:

1. Bach 2. Haydn 3. Beethoven 4. Mozart 5. Mahler 6. Monteverdi 7. Vivaldi 8. Chopin 9. Schubert 10. Puccini

Brahms, Dvorak, Schumann, Wagner, Verdi follow.


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## Prodromides

Administrator 'mmsbls' could probably indicate who my Top 10 composers are.

My Top 10 are so unique that I could use such as fingerprint identification because none other share my favored names.

Even though I haven't responded in this thread, I've deposited my unusual suspects in larger form in other TC threads (like a Top 50 or a Top 110) throughout the past 10 years.


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## Andante Largo

1. Sibelius
2. Respighi
3. Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Karłowicz
4. Brahms, Reinecke
5. Chopin, Rheinberger, Wieniawski
6. Glazunov, Noskowski, Perosi
7. Bruch, Delius, Melartin
8. Fuchs, Peterson-Berger, Saint-Saëns
9. Novák, Rachmaninoff, Żeleński
10. Dobrzyński, Różycki, Sgambati


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## Xisten267

Favorites today:

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


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## haziz

Vaneyes said:


> 10 tonal, 10 atonal, okay?



Not in my case. Ten tonal composers. Zero atonal composers:

1. Tchaikovsky
2. Beethoven
3. Dvořák
4. Grieg
5. Sibelius
6. Borodin
7. Shostakovich
8. Kalinnikov
9. Chopin
10. Mendelssohn


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## Highwayman

Ethereality said:


> You have a beautiful list and I must ask your favorite works by Schubert and Reger 😍.


For Schubert: Winterreise, Schwanengesang, all the late Piano Sonatas from D. 784 onward, Wanderer Fantasy, Impromptus, D. 940, D. 946. I like his Piano Trios, late SQs, D. 956 and the Trout Quintet as well but I appreciate them less than some other Schubert fans. In general, I favour his piano works and lieder over his chamber and other works. 

For Reger: Clarinet Quintet, Clarinet Sonatas, String Sextet, String Trios, SQs 3-4-5, Cello Sonatas&Suites, Piano Quartets, Piano Quintet No. 2, Piano Trio No. 2. I`m less enthusiastic about his Violin solo/duo works but if you like the rest of his chamber oeuvre you`ll probably like them as well. As you can guess by now I`m a *big *fan of his chamber works unlike the Schubert case. Of course he was quintessentially a composer for the Organ and I also like works such as Opp. 46, 57, 127, 145 very much. His Orchestral/Choral/Vocal/Piano works also have plenty of highlights and they are usually more accessible than the chamber works but IMO he produced his best for the chamber.


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## Terrapin

1. Beethoven
2. Brahms
3. Tchaikovsky
4. Haydn
5. Mozart
6. Dvorak
7. Schubert
8. Mahler
9. Sibelius
10. Shostakovich


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## ORigel

1. Beethoven
2. Bach
3. Brahms
4. Haydn
5. Mozart
6. Schubert
7. Mahler
8. Bruckner
9. Dvorak
10. Monteverdi


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## Brahmsian Colors

Updated from 6 years ago:

1) Brahms
2) Mozart
3) Sibelius
4) Vaughan Williams
5) Debussy
6) Ravel
7) Mendelssohn
8) Schubert
9) Moeran
10) Respighi


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## Andrew Kenneth

in alphabetical order:

Anton Bruckner
Chaya Czernowin
Agostino Di Scipio
Georg Friedrich Haas
Clara Iannotta
Gustav Mahler
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Jacques Offenbach
Richard Strauss
Richard Wagner


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## Chat Noir

From the prior contributions it looks like a armed-up thread. Nothing wrong with that I suppose. In any case I like lists.

Does 'top ten' mean who you think is best or who you listen to most often these days? I'll mix it up. These lists will always be fluid.

10. Liszt
9. Bruckner
8. Mozart
7.Schmitt
6. Francaix
5. Weinberg
4. Hindemith
3. Shostakovich
2. Malipiero
3. Milhaud
1. Debussy

Reasons Bach and Beethoven are missing, but Mozart is in the list... I listen to Mozart actively more than the other two, but I listen to Bach/Beethoven as well, and a lot of Bach in the past. They are always there. Haydn would have been in the list because his string quartets are a mainstay for me, but I don't like much of his other music aside from a few symphonies. Mahler could have been on it, but I don't care for some of his symphonies and he didn't write much else. A longer list would have a lot of scattered composers mentioned for different works.


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## Prodromides

Are any of us surprised that 'Black Cat' laps up the music of Darius Meow like milk in a saucer?


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## Bone

Guest said:


> Even with my limited experience, restricting to just ten is hard but here goes:
> 
> Bruckner
> Coates
> Dutilleux
> Kurtag
> Murail
> Ravel
> Scelsi
> Scriabin
> Sibelius
> Xenakis


What a fascinating list! I know it’s alphabetical order, but I love imagining that this order could actually be anyone’s order of preference! 
(and no Brahms, Mozart, Haydn, or Beethoven - good grief, you are WAY too courageous for me)


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## Bone

Absolutely no particular order - just gonna go stream of consciousness and let ‘er rip:
Beethoven
Brahms
Mozart
Haydn
Scriabin
Bartok
Prokofiev
Adams
Zappa (c’mon, you must know it’s true!!!)
Ligeti


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