# Your Top 10 Composers - In Order



## Guest (Feb 5, 2013)

I have a list the rolls around in my head periodically. What 10 composers could I not live without? This is difficult for most of us to narrow down. But once you do it says a lot about you.


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## Guest (Feb 5, 2013)

1. Mozart
2. JS Bach
3. Tchaikovsky
4. Beethoven
5. Schubert
6. Rodrigo
7. Mendelssohn
8. Stravinsky
9. Handel
10. Vivaldi


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

1. JS Bach
2. Mahler
3. Brahms
4. Schubert
5. Shostakovich
6. Dvorak
7. Ravel
8. Sibelius
9. Mendelssohn
10. Debussy


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

.......................


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## ptr (Jan 22, 2013)

Mahler, Gustav
Shostakovich, Dmitry
Messiaen, Olivier
Vaughan Williams, Ralph
Vierne, Louis
Bartok, Bela
Rachmaninov, Sergei
Tippett, Sir Michael
Gubaidulina, Sofia
Bach, Johann Sebastian

/ptr


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## Aries (Nov 29, 2012)

1. Bruckner

...

2. Tschaikovski
3. Wagner
4. Beethoven
5. Bach
6. Shostakovic


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

To be realistic I'm certain I could _live_ without any of them. I wouldn't throw myself under a train if I went deaf tomorrow. However I would be heart broken if I never got to hear these again.

J. S. Bach
Beethoven

Umm . . . I'm thinking.

Stravinsky
Vaughan Williams
Brahms
Debussy
Bernard Hermann
Holst
Schumann
Monteverdi

We've all done these lists it seems like hundreds of times before. A few years back I know my list would have had Shostakovich in place of Brahms and several other differences. Our tastes slowly evolve.

It was with great reluctance that I marked off my favorite non-household names from the list. But knowing how much I love Rautavaara or Tournemire or Gliere, I figured if I could not replay part of a work in my mind then the composer is not really a favorite. It also felt brutal to have to scratch off Anton Rubinstein because one can never have enough Beethoven, but I decided to let Beethoven fill that niche alone without his clone.

Now I am curious what this says about us.


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## peeyaj (Nov 17, 2010)

*1. Franz Peter Schubert

2. F. P. Schubert

3. Schubert, Franz Peter

4. Schubert, FP

5. Schubert

..................

6. Mozart

7. Bach

8. Tchaikovsky

9. Beethoven

10. Stravinsky/Grieg*


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## Guest (Feb 5, 2013)

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


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## Kieran (Aug 24, 2010)

Mozart
Schubert
Beethoven
Chopin
Rachmaninov
Tchaikovski
Wolf
Field
Bach
Mahler


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## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

I did a list of my top 25, and all of the names here will be there, though the order might end up a little different.

1. J.S. Bach
2. Beethoven
3. Mahler
4. Debussy
5. Stravinsky
6. Schoenberg
7. Messiaen
8. Takemitsu
9. Bruckner
10. Mozart


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## GreenMamba (Oct 14, 2012)

Very hard to say, but maybe:

1. Beethoven
2. Bach
3. Stravinsky
4. Mozart
5. Haydn
6. Brahms
7. Vaughan Williams
8. Schubert
9. Shostakovitch
10. Ives


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## Ramako (Apr 28, 2012)

Some of these are probably not quite right, but this is thereabouts.

1. Beethoven/
2. Haydn

3. Tchaikovsky
4. Mozart
5. Mahler
6. Bach (JS)
7. Josquin
8. Schubert
9. Handel
10. Victoria/Mendelssohn not really sure for this one, could be a number of people.


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## Xaltotun (Sep 3, 2010)

1. Bruckner
2. Wagner
3. Mahler
4. Beethoven
5. Sibelius
6. Brahms
7. Schubert

So far this was easy and almost set in stone, from now on a bit more difficult:

8. Berlioz, I think
9. R. Strauss, so much great stuff by him
10. Rachmaninov or maybe Shostakovich or Tchaikovsky... let's just say that "the Russians" occupy this spot


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## Sonata (Aug 7, 2010)

Tier 1
Brahms, Mahler, Mendelssohn

Tier 2
Chopin, Tchaikovsky, Dvorak

Tier 3
Ravel, Grieg, Mozart, Beethoven, Bach, Strauss


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## DrKilroy (Sep 29, 2012)

1. Maurice Ravel
2. Ralph Vaughan Williams
3. George Gershwin
4. Olivier Messiaen
5. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
6. Johann Sebastian Bach
7. Claude Debussy
8. John Adams
9. Camille Saint-Saens
10. Robert Schumann

It's approximate and tomorrow may be different.  

Best regards, Dr


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## Guest (Feb 5, 2013)

Weston said:


> Now I am curious what this says about us.


I'm curious too. Hopefully someone much smarter will analyze this and let us know.


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese (Jan 8, 2013)

1. Edgard Varese (Quality not Quantity I say)
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. Dudley Moore (just for the humour element and I sure he would have made a good composer...)


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## neoshredder (Nov 7, 2011)

My lists are constantly change. 
1. Beethoven
2. Mozart
3. JS Bach
4. Telemann
5. CPE Bach
6. Corelli
7. Schubert
8. Sibelius
9. Handel
10. Tchaikovsky
11. Dvorak (Had to mention him as well)


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## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

The only two composers that never change position for me are:

1) J.S. Bach
2) Ravel

Then there are a bunch of composers I admire greatly but its too hard to rank them accurately, they always change positions. It is largely dependent on my moods and listening phases, some included in this group are:

Bartok
Debussy
Mozart
Schubert
Monteverdi
Rodrigo
Mendelssohn
Sibelius
Prokofiev
Ives

and many more...


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## Vaneyes (May 11, 2010)

Through twenty posts *Papa Haydn* is mentioned twice, and now three times through twenty-one posts. I must take leave from this thread, to shed an ocean of tears.


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## neoshredder (Nov 7, 2011)

Vaneyes said:


> Through twenty posts *Papa Haydn* is mentioned twice, and now twenty-three times through twenty-one posts. I must take leave from this thread, to shed an ocean of tears.


He along with Vivaldi, Albinoni, Bruckner, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Debussy, Ravel, and Grieg would make the list if it was top 20.  Just not quite there imo. Quality over quantity imo.


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## Guest (Feb 6, 2013)

Vaneyes said:


> Through twenty posts *Papa Haydn* is mentioned twice, and now three times through twenty-one posts. I must take leave from this thread, to shed an ocean of tears.


So sorry. But Mozart made the cut eleven times so far! Two composers that sound so similar, yet there is that subtle way of weaving the instruments together instead of building them. Haydn was a mason. Mozart was a sculpter. The difference between them deserves a thread of its own.


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## Tristan (Jan 5, 2013)

I'll give this a try:

1. Tchaikovsky
2. Mahler
3. Shostakovich
4. Rimsky-Korsakov
5. Beethoven
6. Prokofiev
7. Rachmaninov
8. Dvorak
9. Ravel
10. Saint-Saens

Might not be a perfect order, but I'd say these are my definitely my top 10.


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## StlukesguildOhio (Dec 25, 2006)

1. J.S. Bach
2. W.A. Mozart
3. Ludwig van Beethoven
4. Richard Wagner
5. Franz Schubert
6. Joseph Haydn
7. Richard Strauss
8. G.F. Handel
9. Gustav Mahler
10. Johannes Brahms


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## Bone (Jan 19, 2013)

Brahms
Sibelius
Zappa
Bartok
Beethoven
Bruckner
Mahler
R. Strauss
J.S. Bach
Messiaen
Honorable Mention: Poulenc, Wagner, Schoenberg, Berg, Carter, Stravinsky, Ravel, Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Takemitsu, Haydn, Puccini, Mozart


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## Guest (Feb 6, 2013)

Vaneyes said:


> Through twenty posts *Papa Haydn* is mentioned twice, and now three times through twenty-one posts. I must take leave from this thread, to shed an ocean of tears.


Three times. DrMike, GreenMamba, Ramako.


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## HarpsichordConcerto (Jan 1, 2010)

Here's mine, which is also the general canon for all times, never to be questioned.

Tier One: JS Bach, Handel, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven
Tier Two: Verdi, Mendelssohn, Schubert, JC Bach, CPE Bach, Vivaldi, Telemann, Michael Haydn, Puccini, Rossini, Wagner, Schumann, Richard Strauss, Rameau, Lully, Donizetti, Tchaikovsky, ...


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## Guest (Feb 6, 2013)

HarpsichordConcerto said:


> , ...


Never to be questioned, eh? Then why did you just question it, right here? Why, I oughta....


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## Novelette (Dec 12, 2012)

Schumann appears twice, and only at the bottom. 

I guess he's an acquired taste, so to speak.


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## HarpsichordConcerto (Jan 1, 2010)

StlukesguildOhio said:


> 1. J.S. Bach
> 2. W.A. Mozart
> 3. Ludwig van Beethoven
> 4. Richard Wagner
> ...


Welcome back, son!


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## davinci (Oct 11, 2012)

1. Beethoven
2. Bruckner
3. Haydn
4. Mahler
5. Schumann
6. Shostakovich
7. Tchaikovsky
8. Schubert
9. Bach, CPE
10. Strauss, Richard


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## opus55 (Nov 9, 2010)

It's fun to participate once in a while.

1. Bach, J.S.
2. Beethoven
3. Shostakovich
4. Sibelius
5. Brahms
6. Mahler
7. Haydn
8. Schubert
9. Mozart
10. Handel

Never thought Handel would ever make my list.


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## HarpsichordConcerto (Jan 1, 2010)

opus55 said:


> ... Never thought Handel would ever make my list.


You have HarpsichordConcerto's personal congratulations on this achievement. Well done.


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese (Jan 8, 2013)

The data is in (so far ) and we have a big field of runners today- place your bets (any currency will do).


16	Bach
15	Beethoven
13	Mozart
13	Schubert
11	Mahler
11	Tchaikovsky
8	Brahms
7	Haydn
7	Mendelssohn
7	Shostakovich
6	Debussy
5	Bruckner
5	Dvorak
5	Handel
5	Ravel
5	Sibelius
5	Stravinsky
4	Schumann
4	Vaughan Williams
4	Vivaldi 
3	Grieg
3	Messiaen
3	Rachmaninov
3	Strauss, Richard
3	Wagner
2	Bartok, Bela
2	Chopin
2	CPE Bach
2	Monteverdi
2	Prokofiev
2	Telemann
1 Alberto Zelman
1 Betty Beath
1 David Hirschfelder
1 Dudley Moore
1 Field
1 Frank Zappa
1 Harry Partch
1 Holst
1 Ives
1 John Milton Barrett
1 Rodrigo
1 Sitsky
1 Stockhausen
1 Wolf
1	Albinoni
1	Berlioz
1	Bernard Hermann
1	Camille Saint-Saens
1	Corelli
1	Donizetti
1	Edgard Varese
1	George Gershwin
1	Gubaidulina, Sofia
1	Ives
1	John Adams
1	Josquin
1	Lully
1	Michael Haydn
1	R. Strauss
1	Rameau
1	Rimsky-Korsakov
1	Rodrigo
1	Saint-Saens
1	Schoenberg
1	Takemitsu
1	Tippett, Sir Michael
1	Verdi
1	Victoria
1	Vierne, Louis


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## Toddlertoddy (Sep 17, 2011)

1. Stravinsky
2. Ravel
3. Bartok
4. Shostakovich
5. Schoenberg
6. Messiaen
7. Debussy
8. Tchaikovsky
9. Prokofiev
10. Penderecki


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## Turangalîla (Jan 29, 2012)

ptr said:


> messiaen, olivier





mahlerian said:


> 7. Messiaen





drkilroy said:


> 4. Olivier messiaen





bone said:


> messiaen





toddlertoddy said:


> 6. Messiaen


♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ :clap:


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## Guest (Feb 6, 2013)

The ones with 1 next to their names--that's a fairly interesting list.

Not as interesting as

Ludger Bruemmer
Michele Bokanowski
Doug Theriault
Martin Tetreault
Beatriz Ferreyra
Hector Berlioz
Bela Bartok
Helmut Lachenmann
Simon Steen-Anderson
Andrea Neumann

are, but still, pretty interesting.

And not really that the composers themselves on the 2 and up lists are boring. Just after the forty trillionth list with either Bach or Beethoven at the top, ya gotta wonder, does anyone actually listen to music or just to a tiny handful of the most famous composers?

I could make a top 100 list consisting only of composers I know (or have known) personally* (Cage and Ferrari and Childs and Carter being dead already).

I would never dream of ranking them. (Which of my three sons is my favorite? Yeah, right....)

*OK. Full disclosure. Know/knew personally or just met briefly once. Ferrari and Carter I met briefly once.



EddieRUKiddingVarese said:


> The data is in (so far ) and we have a big field of runners today- place your bets (any currency will do).
> 
> 16	Bach
> 15	Beethoven
> ...


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## davinci (Oct 11, 2012)

neoshredder said:


> My lists are constantly change.
> 1. Beethoven
> 2. Mozart
> 3. JS Bach
> ...


Good list, neo. The question is how different will it be after you climb the ladder thru the Romantics? Will Mahler ever make your list, only time will tell.


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## davinci (Oct 11, 2012)

some guy said:


> The ones with 1 next to their names--that's a fairly interesting list.
> 
> _Not as interesting as
> 
> ...


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## HarpsichordConcerto (Jan 1, 2010)




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## EddieRUKiddingVarese (Jan 8, 2013)

davinci said:


> some guy said:
> 
> 
> > The ones with 1 next to their names--that's a fairly interesting list.
> ...


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## peeyaj (Nov 17, 2010)

I really really like that guy, Franz Schubert.. Anyone who doesn't like him will be doomed!


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## DrKilroy (Sep 29, 2012)

Novelette said:


> Schumann appears twice, and only at the bottom.
> 
> I guess he's an acquired taste, so to speak.


He is my favourite piano solo Romantic composer.  However, I like some styles more than Romantic.

Best regards, Dr


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## Arsakes (Feb 20, 2012)

Few changes, but my list still looks like the last one I made:

1. Dvorak
2. Sibelius
3. Haydn
4. Schumann
5. Brahms
6. Beethoven
7. Mozart
8. Wagner
9. Vivaldi
10. Schubert


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## Guest (Feb 6, 2013)

I don't feel qualified to answer this question, but I'll give a response...
1) Beethoven
2) Rimsky-Korsakov
3) Faure
4) Saint-Saens
5) Gershwin
6) Villa-Lobos
7) Enescu
8) Arensky
9) Cras
10) Lekeu

Ask me again in six months!


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

Usually I do this as a good sport. 

Of course it's supposed to be Bach, Beethoven, Mozart are 1-2-3, in one order or another.

Then Brahms, Schubert, Wagner, 4-5-6, in some order or another. 

After that it gets a little wild, with Handel, Haydn, and Stravinsky near the top of a group that include any of several dozen composers: Bartok, Berlioz, Britten, Bruckner, Chopin, Debussy, Dvorak, Elgar, Josquin, Liszt, Mahler, Mendelssohn, Monteverdi, Palestrina, Prokofiev, Puccini, Purcell, Rachmaninoff, Ravel, Schoenberg, Schumann, Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich, Verdi, Vivaldi.... 

For fun, throw in a surprise or two: Adams, Albeniz, Alkan, Berio, Biber, Boccherini, Carter, Chausson, Delius, Dohnanyi, Donizetti, Faure, Gesualdo, Glazunov, Gombert, Hindemith, Ives, Ligeti, Lutoslawski, Medtner, Messiaen, Mompou, Nono, Reger, Reich, Respighi, Stockhausen, Taneyev, Varese, Xenakis, Zelenka. 

Like that. 

It's a fun game. 

But I can't do it this time because my rankings are all screwed up, because of Enescu, Honegger, Janacek, Kodaly, and Martinu. These five guys, lately, have just been rocking my music world. If I could get away with it, just for the past couple of weeks, my ranking would be something like: 

1. Janacek
2. Martinu
3. Kodaly 
4. Enescu
5. Honegger
6. Bach and all those guys. 

Now I can't really bring myself to publish that top ten. But I can't bring myself to knock those guys down very far either.


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## Nereffid (Feb 6, 2013)

1. Mahler
2. Beethoven
3. Schubert
4. Vaughan Williams
5. JS Bach
6. Liszt
7. Shostakovich
8. Sibelius
9. A whole bunch of others
10. And lots more

I guess what I'm saying is, I have some favourite composers but on balance I'd rather have one work by 100 composers than 100 works from one composer.


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## Guest (Feb 6, 2013)

science said:


> Now I can't really bring myself to publish that top ten. But I can't bring myself to knock those guys down very far either.


So close! So close to bringing yourself to the point where you never have to post any ranked list ever again.

:tiphat:


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## ProudSquire (Nov 30, 2011)

Well now, let us see!

1) W.A Mozart
2) Schubert
3) Tchaikovsky
4) Chopin
5) Beethoven
6) Brahms
7) J.N Hummel
8) Sibelius
9) Schumann
10) Mendelssohn 

For now!


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## EricABQ (Jul 10, 2012)

1. Beethoven
2. Liszt
3. Alkan
4. Mozart
5. Rachmaninoff
6. Schubert (based only on his piano work. The rest of his stuff isn't really my kind of thing.)
7. Chopin
8. Medtner
9. Vivaldi
10. Grieg


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

some guy said:


> So close! So close to bringing yourself to the point where you never have to post any ranked list ever again.


I never _had_ to. But I'll thank you for allowing me to do so when I please.


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## Guest (Feb 6, 2013)

science said:


> I never _had_ to. But I'll thank you for allowing me to do so when I please.


The mere idea of me ever being in a position to allow you to do anything is truly risible.

Give me that power, literally, and you'll hear some serious guffawing.

(You may not have heard this anecdote about my previous life in a large corporation. I was approached by my divisional boss to become a manager. I didn't say anything. I just laughed. That was the beginning of the end of my time in that company.)


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## pjang23 (Oct 8, 2009)

Each group roughly equally:
Brahms, Schubert, Bach
Haydn, Mozart, Debussy
Ravel, Mendelssohn, Dvorak, Mahler


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

Who I could not live without as of 2/6/13:

1. Bruckner
2. Bach

Well, that was short. Then comes those who I'm always up for:
3. Schoenberg
4. Webern
5. Jacob Obrecht
6. Satie
7. Ockegehem


Then those who are really cool, especially in a few key works:
8. Brahms
9. David Diamond
10. Mompou

As many have said, it will be different next week.


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## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

Manxfeeder said:


> Who I could not live without as of 2/6/13:
> 
> 1. Bruckner
> 2. Bach
> ...


I'm kind of shocked you didn't list Beethoven. 
I always thought you were more of a Beethoven guy than a Bach guy...it must have been all of the Karajan '63 talk.


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## Bone (Jan 19, 2013)

Manxfeeder said:


> As many have said, it will be different next week.


I agree with those honest souls: I've already begun to regret not having Haydn and Penderecki in my initial list. So I guess poor old Mozart and J.S. Bach will have to find new digs....


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## bigshot (Nov 22, 2011)

It really wasn't as hard as I thought it would be...

Wagner
Tchaikovsky
Mendelssohn
Schubert
Mozart
Haydn
Verdi
Beethoven
Dvorak
Bach


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## tankership (Aug 30, 2012)

I suppose I tend to like the lighter side, and enjoy a particular piece of music as opposed to the composer. Outside of #'s 1,2 &3 it varies over time.

1. Offenbach
2. Kalman
3. Glazunov
4. Tchaikovsky
5. Beethoven
6. Dvorak
7. Rimsky-Korsakov
8. Berlioz
9. Saint-Saens
10. Wagner


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## Olias (Nov 18, 2010)

Beethoven
Beethoven
Beethoven
Beethoven
Beethoven
------------
Dvorak
Mozart
Copland
Mendelssohn
Shostakovich


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## jtbell (Oct 4, 2012)

My top ten composers, according to the total length of recordings of their music in my collection:

Sibelius
Beethoven
Haydn
Bach, JS
Mozart
Nielsen
Brahms
Grieg
Mahler
Wagner

Wagner's position is arguably inflated because of the sheer length of his operas. The next position is occupied by

Dvorak

(I have a database that can spit out statistics like this.)


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## Turangalîla (Jan 29, 2012)

This was *so difficult*... 

1. J.S. Bach

2. W.A. Mozart

3. Beethoven

4. Ravel

5. Messiaen

6. Schumann

7. Haydn

8. Schoenberg

9. Ligeti

10. Handel


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

some guy said:


> The mere idea of me ever being in a position to allow you to do anything is truly risible.
> 
> Give me that power, literally, and you'll hear some serious guffawing.
> 
> (You may not have heard this anecdote about my previous life in a large corporation. I was approached by my divisional boss to become a manager. I didn't say anything. I just laughed. That was the beginning of the end of my time in that company.)


We need to make a thread about antagonism to lists, and we can psychoanalyze that.

Don't worry. I'm sure your superiority will remain obvious. But what's good for the goose is good for the gander.


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## Guest (Feb 7, 2013)

My putative superiority is about as chimerical as my putative antagonism to lists.

And neither are really pertinent. Why, come to think of it, that is true for all ad hominems! That's why they are considered off topic. Because they _are_ off the topic.

Myself as a person is off topic. Talking about what I say, that's on topic.


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## tovaris (Aug 28, 2012)

The GOD - aka J.S. Bach
Beethoven
J. Haydn
Mahler
Mozart
Schubert
Shostakovich
Bartok
Ravel
Wagner


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese (Jan 8, 2013)

tovaris said:


> The GOD - aka J.S. Bach
> Beethoven
> J. Haydn
> Mahler
> ...


But you've got to consider things like the Son of God (Edgard Varese), or then who is the dalai lama of Classical Music?


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## Webernite (Sep 4, 2010)

Not in order: Bach, Brahms, Schumann (mainly his piano music), Beethoven, Mozart

The rest... Schubert, Chopin, Wagner, Liszt vs. Second Viennese School, Ives, Carter, Stravinsky. Not sure who wins there.

Edit: Throw in Prokofiev as well, although this has gone far beyond 10.


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## MJongo (Aug 6, 2011)

1. Beethoven
2. Bach
3. Mahler
4. Schubert
5. Shostakovich
6. Messiaen
7. Wagner
8. Brahms
9. Ives
10. Mozart


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## Klavierspieler (Jul 16, 2011)

Tier 1: Faure, Beethoven, Chopin, Bach, Schumann, Janacek

Harder from here, hmmmm...

Tier 2: Bartok, Britten, Barber, Berg


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## lovesbeethoven (Feb 10, 2013)

1. Beethoven
2. Beethoven
3. Beethoven
4. Beethoven
5. Beethoven
6. Beethoven
7. Clementi
8. Mozart
9. Haydn

and.....

10. Beethoven


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese (Jan 8, 2013)

1. Edgard Varese
2. Scriabin
3. Gesualdo da Venosa
4. Richard Wagner
5. Alessandro Stradella
6. Hugo Wolf
7. Peter Warlock
8. Arensky
9. Sorabji
10. Stockhausen


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

EddieRUKiddingVarese said:


> 7. Peter Warlock


Nice - he gets too little mention. A pity that not more of his work has been recorded (love the Curlew).


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## BartokBela (Mar 12, 2013)

1) J.S. Bach
2) W.A. Mozart
3) B. Bartok
4) L. van Beethoven
5) F. Schubert
6) D. Shostakovich
7) R. Schumann
8) C. Debussy
9) A. Dvorak
10) J. Sibelius


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## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

EddieRUKiddingVarese said:


> But you've got to consider things like the Son of God (Edgard Varese), or then who is the dalai lama of Classical Music?


literally speaking, the dalai lama should be Cage.


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## unpocoscherzando (Sep 24, 2011)

1. Brahms
2. Grieg
3. Beethoven
4. Puccini

Unlike the above, the following are in no particular order:

5. Sibelius
6. Rodrigo
7. Bizet
8. Granados
9. Tchaikovsky
10. Albeniz

As per the OP, these are personal favourites, not 'the best'.


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## Ravndal (Jun 8, 2012)

I tried, but I'm not capable of writing them in order.. So here is 10 composers i listen to regularly. 

Ravel
Grieg
Chopin
Brahms
Dvorak
Saint-Saens
Tchaikovsky 
Rachmaninov
Bach
Debussy


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## poconoron (Oct 26, 2011)

1. Mozart
2. Beethoven
3. JS Bach
4. Haydn
5. Schubert
6. Handel
7. Brahms
8. Rossini
9. Dvorak
10. Wagner


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Weber
Schubert
Weber
Shostakovich
Weber
Prokofiev
Weber
Mozart
Weber
Adams (not the Alaska one)


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## TheVioletKing (Jan 9, 2013)

Let's have a go shall we - 

1st - Johann Sebastian Bach (I am a total Bach fan-boy)
2nd - Dmitri Shostakovich
3rd - Claude Debussy
4th - Maurice Ravel
5th - Igor Stravinsky
6th - Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
7th - Bedrich Smetana
8th - Gustav Mahler
9th - Ludwig van Beethoven
10th - Leonard Bernstein

Like everyone else in this thread, I am unable to keep this list constant and am pretty sure that it will change really soon.


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## LindnerianSea (Jun 5, 2013)

1. Brahms
2. Bach (JS)
3. Sibelius
4. Shostakovich
5. Mahler
-Bruckner
-Beethoven
-Myaskovsky
-Schubert
-Stravinsky


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## julianoq (Jan 29, 2013)

1 - *Sibelius*
2 - Shostakovich
3 - Bruckner
4 - Mahler
5 - Ravel
6 - Beethoven
7 - Messiaen
8 - Schubert
9 - Tchaikovsky
10 - Brahms


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## Op.123 (Mar 25, 2013)

Have I posted before?
Oh well. Time for an update.

Schumann
Chopin
Beethoven
Brahms
Mozart
Schubert
Mendelssohn
Tchaikovsky
Rachmaninoff
Bach


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## TudorMihai (Feb 20, 2013)

1. Mahler
2. Tchaikovsky
3. Vaughan Williams
4. Debussy
5. Prokofiev
6. Mozart
7. Chopin
8. Shostakovich
9. Korngold
10. Vivaldi


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## Dustin (Mar 30, 2012)

1. Mozart
2. Beethoven
3. Bach
4. Schubert
5. Brahms
6. Chopin
7. Haydn
8. Handel
9. Dvorak
10. Mendelssohn


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## Vesteralen (Jul 14, 2011)

Current list:

1. Nielsen
2. Brahms
3. Schumann
4. Vaughan Williams

after that, it's kind of hard to say

but, to complete the list since I have to:

5. Barber
6. Haydn
7. Mendelssohn
8. Alfven
9. Elgar
10. R. Strauss

could have included any two of Bruckner, Malcolm Arnold, Debussy, Prokofiev in place of the last two


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## astronautnic (Mar 25, 2013)

List in the RIGHT order:
1. Brahms
.
.
.
.
.
2. Sibelius
3. Beethoven
4. Shostakovich
5. Dvorak
6. Grieg
7. Borodin
8. Hindemith
9. Elgar
10. Haydn


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## Joris (Jan 13, 2013)

This is only based on my experience as a relatively new listener and the pull I feel from them to discover more music:

1. Mozart
2. Mahler
3. Schumann
4. Bach
5. Tchaikovsky
6. Mendelssohn
7. Shostakovich
8. Brahms
9. Vivaldi
10. Handel


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## CypressWillow (Apr 2, 2013)

Top Ten:

Chopin
...and nine others.


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## AClockworkOrange (May 24, 2012)

I'll have a go but I'm afraid I cannot rank them and they are not listed in a particular order:
- Beethoven
- Bruckner
- Schubert
- Mahler
- Sibelius
- Vaughan Williams
- Richard Strauss
- Mendelssohn
- Tchaikovsky 
- Brahms

To be honest, this was much harder than I thought it would be with Shostakovich, Verdi, Puccini, Mozart and Wagner just missing out by a whisker.


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## Selby (Nov 17, 2012)

Interesting thread.

It's funny because I had to read through it to figure out if I'd already posted a list - dreading what havok and embarrasment I unleashed from my little finger tips. One thing I love about these 'best of, 'favorites' lists - my lists are always evolving, so when I look back at them it's a little snapshot of where I was when I wrote it.

Top 10? Eeek.

I'd have trouble writing a top 10 of French composers alone.

Today my list would look something like this:

Koechlin
Bax
Takemitsu
Palomo
Messiaen
Debussy
Vaughan Williams
Sibelius
Varese
Lang
Falla
Janacek

M83
Blut Aus Nord
Animal Collective

Tomorrow? Next week? Next year? Who knows.

God I love music.


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## Borodin (Apr 8, 2013)

1. John Williams
2. Borodin
3. Tchaikovsky
4. Koji Kondo
5. Dvorak
6. Holst
7. Stravinsky


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## Redfisher (Jun 8, 2013)

Beethoven
Mahler
Tchaikovsky 
Wagner
Richard Strauss
Schubert
Dvorak
Brahms
Handel


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## Schumann (Aug 12, 2013)

1. Bach
2. Mozart
3. Beethoven
4. Schubert
5. Schumann
6. Liszt
7. Chopin
8. Vivaldi
9. Mendelssohn
10. Handel & Haydn


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## Dimitri (Jun 27, 2013)

1. John Williams
2. Leonard Bernstein
3. Peter Tchaikovsky
4. Dimitri Shostakovich
5. Aaron Copland
6. Camille Saint-Saens
7. Danny Elfman
8. Hans Zimmer
9. Sergei Rachmaninoff
10. Alan Menken


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## jimsumner (Jul 7, 2013)

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


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## Garlic (May 3, 2013)

I could easily come up with 10 composers. But in order? That's much too difficult! Not to mention they'll be different in a couple of months. At least I know what my first one would be:

1. Bach


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## BurningDesire (Jul 15, 2012)

1. Frank Zappa
1. Ludwig van Beethoven
1. Charles Ives
1. Nobuo Uematsu
1. Yuki Kajiura
1. Pyotr Tchaikovsky
1. Claude Debussy
1. Frederic Chopin
1. John Cage
1. Igor Stravinsky


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## GiulioCesare (Apr 9, 2013)

1- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
2- Johann Sebastian Bach
3- Ludwig Van Beethoven
4- Georg Friedrich Händel
5- Gustav Mahler
6- Felix Mendelssohn
7- Franz Schubert
8- Giuseppe Verdi
9- Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
10- Johannes Brahms


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## Cosmos (Jun 28, 2013)

Beethoven
Bach 
Mahler
Chopin
Medtner
Ravel
Bruckner
Prokofiev
Stravinsky
Brahms

I did my best to put them in order, though I love them all equally. Except Stravinsky and Brahms, you two can stay at the bottom


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## hashes (Nov 23, 2012)

In rough chronological order:

Bach
Haydn
Mozart
Beethoven
Schubert
Mahler
Schoenberg
Shostakovich
(Morton) Feldman
Pärt


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## Crudblud (Dec 29, 2011)

This was a tough list to compile. The top four, so far as I can tell, is pretty much lodged there for eternity, the rest is subject to change, but I did try to be "objective," which is to say that I tried to think hard about _overall_ listening preferences, not just composers I really like _now_.

1. Frank Zappa
2. Gustav Mahler
3. Maurice Ravel
4. Olivier Messiaen
5. Elliott Carter
6. Anton Webern
7. Alexander Scriabin
8. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
9. Edgard Varèse
10. Domenico Scarlatti


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## Ondine (Aug 24, 2012)

1. Mozart
2. Keith Jarrett

After them just comes to mind right now:

Boccherini
Corelli
Locatelli
Dvorak
Sibelius
Nielsen
Mahler
Shostakovich/Rachmaninoff 

quite hard to have 10 because any enjoyed composer gravitates around numbers one and two and can be any other composer. Maybe one day could Shumann be included. Who knows?


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## neoshredder (Nov 7, 2011)

I'm in a Romantic Era Phase right now. So...
Corelli
Bach
Mozart
Schubert
Schumann
Dvorak 
Tchaikovsky
Brahms
Mahler
Sibelius


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## Guest (Aug 23, 2013)

I need to listen to Tchaikovsky more...


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## neoshredder (Nov 7, 2011)

arcaneholocaust said:


> I need to listen to Tchaikovsky more...


Try Symphony 1. Beautiful piece.


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## Secretariat (Aug 10, 2013)

1. Tchaikovsky 2. Shostakovich and the rest I'd have to spend more time to rank.


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## Guest (Aug 23, 2013)

neoshredder said:


> Try Symphony 1. Beautiful piece.


He is probably my single most-neglected major composer. I've listened to Symphony 6 once and the first piano concerto like 3 times and that's IT. And the worst part...I have no good reason...better put some on right now


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## neilberkey (Aug 23, 2013)

I can see I'm in the minority here:
1. Georg Philipp Telemann
2. Vivaldi
3. Handel
4. J.S.Bach
5. Mozart
6. Chopin
7. Paganini
8. Mauro Giuliani
9. Beethoven
10. Dvorak


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## HeartofGold (Aug 23, 2013)

At the moment I'd have to say:
*-Vivaldi
-Mozart
-Tchaikovsky
-Bach
-Beethoven
-Boccherini
-Strauss
-Sibelius
-Saint Saens
-Pachelbel*

Although it might change in time.


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## Selby (Nov 17, 2012)

neilberkey said:


> I can see I'm in the minority here:
> 1. Georg Philipp Telemann
> 2. Vivaldi
> 3. Handel
> ...


Just means you're interesting! Welcome!


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

1. *Sibelius*
2. Bach
3. Ligeti
4. Giuliani
5. Ginastera
6. Villa-Lobos
7. Nørgård
8. Brouwer
9. Tárrega
10. Telemann

Where am I going to put Stockhausen and Xenakis? Not enough room!


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## neoshredder (Nov 7, 2011)

HeartofGold said:


> At the moment I'd have to say:
> *-Vivaldi
> -Mozart
> -Tchaikovsky
> ...


Nice list there. Pretty close to mine.


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## opus55 (Nov 9, 2010)

Haven't done this for a while -

Beethoven
Haydn
Mozart
Brahms
Mahler
Schubert
Bach
Shostakovich
Bruckner
Szymanowski


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## Selby (Nov 17, 2012)

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> 1. *Sibelius*
> 2. Bach
> 3. Ligeti
> 4. Giuliani
> ...


Ginastera at 5! Good call, he doesn't get enough attention.


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## niall fox (May 13, 2014)

J.S.Bach;Gombert(Counterpoint and these two foremost !); Beethoven; Guerrero; Morales; Mozart; Handel; Schubert; Shostakovich; Sibelius. I change my mind every day - I'd need to list a top 50.


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## Guest (May 13, 2014)

These days I'm feeling:

Beethoven
Bach
Mozart
Brahms
Schubert
Schumann
Ravel
Schoenberg
Debussy
Wagner

...but with constant shifts due to pity for Stravinsky, Haydn, and Chopin...

As generic as it gets, huh.


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## shangoyal (Sep 22, 2013)

I love making these lists!

Bach
Beethoven
Mozart
Chopin
Schubert
Haydn
Schumann
Debussy
Shostakovich
F. Couperin


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## cjvinthechair (Aug 6, 2012)

Oh, can't we make it 100 ?! OK, a vague try:
Yuri Falik, Joep Franssens, Osvaldo Golijov, Akira Ifukube, Rued Langaard, Lorenzo Perosi,Christopher Rouse, Sergei Slonimsky, Rodion Shchedrin, Peteris Vasks.

Oh, dear - 10 more attempts needed at least !


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## AClockworkOrange (May 24, 2012)

In order? A hierarchy? Grrrr.... Oh alright I'll give this a revised attempt.

At present, I will go with:

Ludwig Van Beethoven
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Gustav Mahler
Franz Schubert
Felix Mendelssohn
Jean Sibelius
Dmitri Shostakovich
Anton Bruckner
Camille Saint-Säens
Hector Berlioz

My order will change regularly with the exception of Ludwig Van, who will always be my first choice - as far as I can foresee anyhow.

Too many names missing too, Wagner, Verdi et al. 10 is not enough for me.


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## bassClef (Oct 29, 2006)

Stravinsky
Sibelius
Prokofiev
Dvořák
Rimsky-Korsakov
Respighi
Ifukube
Bartok
Mussorgsky
Borodin


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## jmaloney (Sep 4, 2015)

10 favourite 10 greatest
1.Beethoven 1.Beethoven
2.Haydn 2= Bach
3.Mozart Mozart
4.Bach 4.Schubert
5.Schubert 5.Wagner
6.Hindemith 6.Haydn
7.Mahler 7.Stravinsky
8.Brahms 8.Brahms
9.Ravel 9.Handel
10.Stravinsky 10.Debussy


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## Sonata (Aug 7, 2010)

1. Brahms
2. Verdi
3. Mahler
4. Chopin
5. Mendelssohn
6. Mozart
7. Schubert 
8. Puccini
9. Haydn 
10. Rachmaninov or Wagner


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## musicrom (Dec 29, 2013)

I don't like to rank stuff subjectively, so instead, I'll just give you a list of my most-liked composers based on Pandora listens.

1.	Ludwig van Beethoven (50)
2.	Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (46)
3.	Jean Sibelius (43)
4.	Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (39.1)
5.	Antonín Dvořák (38)
6.	Frederic Chopin (35)
7.	Felix Mendelssohn (34)
8.	Sergei Prokofiev (32)
9.	Dmitri Shostakovich (22.1)
10.	Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (21.1)


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## Sonata (Aug 7, 2010)

Sonata said:


> 1. Brahms
> 2. Verdi
> 3. Mahler
> 4. Chopin
> ...


I already question my own list.... No French composers at all!! *sigh* back to the drawing board


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

musicrom said:


> I don't like to rank stuff subjectively, so instead, I'll just give you a list of my most-liked composers based on Pandora listens.
> 
> 1.	Ludwig van Beethoven (50)
> 2.	Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (46)
> ...


Interesting - an objective list of your subjective preferences.


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## Vronsky (Jan 5, 2015)

This is certainly tough decision, but I'll try.

1. Igor Stravinsky
2. Hector Berlioz
3. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
4. Ludwig van Beethoven
5. Robert Schumann
6. Claude Debussy
7. Johann Sebastian Bach
8. Maurice Ravel
9. Gustav Mahler
10. Bela Bartok/Gyorgy Ligeti/Anton Webern


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## OldFashionedGirl (Jul 21, 2013)

J.S Bach
Mahler
Mozart
Beethoven
Stravinsky
Bártok
Shostakovich
Webern
Debussy
Schoenberg


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## MoonlightSonata (Mar 29, 2014)

I'll _try..._

1. Beethoven and Schnittke. For the purposes of this list, they count as one composer.
2. Bach
3. Schubert
4. Mozart
(though 3 and 4 often swap around)

Here's where it gets difficult, and a bit arbitrary depending how I'm feeling on a given day.
5. Ligeti
6. Bartók
7. Vaughan Williams
8. Adès
9. Saint-Saens
10. Stravinsky


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## atsizat (Sep 14, 2015)

1.) Johann Sebastian Bach
2.) Antonio Vivaldi

I'd have to think a lot to make the rest of the list. My top composers are Johann Sebastian Bach and Antonio Vivaldi.


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## haydnfan (Apr 13, 2011)

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


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## PeterFromLA (Jul 22, 2011)

In chronological order:

Bach
Beethoven
Bruckner
Mahler
Debussy
Stravinsky
Messiaen
Lutoslawski
Ligeti
Boulez

(If I were to continue chronologically I'd add Kurtag, Reich, and Schnittke.)


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## johnnysc (Aug 3, 2015)

In my limited listening experience.....

01. Mozart
02. Dvorak
03. Mendelssohn
04. Tchaikovsky
05. Beethoven
06. Wagner
07. Haydn
08. Mahler
09. Shostakovich
10. Bach


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## Guest (Sep 17, 2015)

It's interesting to see this thread pop up again. My list has only changed a little in the last two years:

1. Mozart
2. JS Bach
3. Beethoven
4. Tchaikovsky
5. Dvorak
6. Shostakovich
7. Prokofiev
8. Debussy
9. Rodrigo
10. Schubert


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## Polyphemus (Nov 2, 2011)

That would be :- 
Bruckner
Mahler
Haydn
Penderecki
Simpson
Beethoven
Schubert
Bartok
Rachmaninov
Prokofiev, 
That's 10 I could go on and on and on.


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## isorhythm (Jan 2, 2015)

Order is approximate.

Bach
Mozart
Schubert
Ligeti
Tallis
Messiaen
Reich
Mahler
Beethoven
Webern


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## taylor16 (Sep 17, 2015)

Very new to orchestral music at this point. However, my limited but certainly growing list is the following:

-Shostakovich
-Mahler
-Sibelius
-Ravel
-DeBussey
-Schoenberg
-Webern
-Berg
-Rimsky-Korsakov

In fact- I'm open to any suggestions as to whom I should listen next based on what I included above


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## Tasto solo (Sep 7, 2015)

1. Zelenka
2. CPE Bach
3. Haydn
4. Handel
5. JS Bach
6. Finzi
7. Vanhal
8. Purcell
9. Byrd
10. Tallis


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## TurnaboutVox (Sep 22, 2013)

A snapshot - Top 10 composers at present, based on my current listening 

1. Britten
2. Brahms
3. Bartok
4. Poulenc
5. Kurtag
6. Robert Simpson
7. Vaughan Williams
8. Scriabin
9. Domenico Scarlatti
10. Schoenberg


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## Selby (Nov 17, 2012)

In roughly chronological order:

1. Saint Victoria Pierluigi des Prez
2. Jean-François Sebastian Scarlatti
3. Papa Wolfgang van Schubert
4. François-Ferenc Brahms-Bartholdy
5. Nikolai Sergei Alexandr Stravinsky
6. Gabriel-Achille Saint-Satie
7. Gustav Anton Schönumann
8. Charles-Federico Albeniz de Falla
9. Per Gérard Sibeliaariaho 
10. Olivier Unsuk Takemitsudalina
11. György Feldman Xenakivhaness


Sheesh. Really hard to limit to 10; I had to sneak in that number 11.

Oh, and Arnold Bax.


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## The Member Who Forgot (Sep 2, 2015)

*I will try to do this .... but....*

Schubert
Beethoven
Tchaikovsky
Mahler
Haydn
Rimsky-Korsakov
McCartney
Glass
Dvorak
Elgar


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## TurnaboutVox (Sep 22, 2013)

Selby said:


> I roughly chronological order:
> 
> 1. Saint Victoria Pierluigi des Prez
> 2. Jean-François Sebastian Scarlatti
> ...


Funny that, I've been listening a lot to Cosima-Lera Wagnerssohn-Schnittberg-Schoenbabbitt, the rather troubled self-hating anti-semite. Her music is somehow divine and crepuscular at the same time.


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## AClockworkOrange (May 24, 2012)

My current top 10 composers has seen some movement since my previous attempt. The ranking beyond the first two selections of Beethoven and Haydn are relatively meaningless to me as the fluctuate wildly based on my mood. This is the case because I am encompassing Classical Music as a whole rather than branching between Symphonic, Opera, Chamber, etc. It is also a reflection of my preferences at the time of writing.

This has resulted in some surprising (to myself) cuts and absences. I wish Opera were better represented here but it is what it is - and I do love Richard Strauss' works.

Drops in ranking compared to my previous attempts are not a reflection of liking a Composer less but as noted, merely a reflection of my current preferences.

My current list.


Ludwig Van Beethoven
Franz Joseph Haydn
Jean Sibelius
Felix Mendelssohn
Franz Schubert
Richard Strauss
Arnold Bax
Johannes Brahms
Dmitri Shostakovich
Robert Simpson


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## Simon Moon (Oct 10, 2013)

It is tough enough picking a top 10, let alone putting them in order!

Here's my current top 10:

Stravinsky
Bartok
Ravel
Webern
Carter
Penderecki
Ligeti
Schoenberg
Britten
Barber

Of course, with all lists of this kind, ask me again next week, and half of it would be different.



taylor16 said:


> Very new to orchestral music at this point. However, my limited but certainly growing list is the following:
> 
> -Shostakovich
> -Mahler
> ...


That's a great list!

Not exactly 'easy listening'. Just how I like it.

You may want to try:

Krzystof Penderecki - Violin Concerto No.2 'metamorphosen', Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima
Bela Bartok - Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta, Concerto for Orchestra 
Elliott Carter - Variations for orchestra, any of his 4 String Quartets, The Minotaur
Joan Tower - Concerto for Orchestra, Silver Ladders
Stravinsky - The Rite of Spring, The Firebird, Petrouchka
Samuel Barber - 1st Piano Concerto, Madea'sMeditation and Dance of Vengence


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## Dim7 (Apr 24, 2009)

These I listen to quite a lot (just 7, no order):

Mozart
Bruckner
Mahler
R. Strauss
Scriabin
Schoenberg
Sibelius

And then there's lots of composers I listen to just very few pieces over and over again (Schubert, Bartók, Rachmaninoff, Mendelssohn, Bach, Beethoven....).


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## Morimur (Jan 23, 2014)

In order? That's . . . evil.











Bach
Beethoven
Bartók
Ligeti
Schoenberg
Stravinsky
Webern
Xenakis
Kurtág
Schubert


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

Bach is no. 1. The other nine, in no particular order:
Schumann
Scheidemann
Shostakovich
Scriabin
Myaskovsky
Weinberg
Mozart
Dvorak
Mahler


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## DiesIraeCX (Jul 21, 2014)

1. Beethoven 
2. Mahler
3. Debussy
4 - 5. Schubert and Brahms are interchangeable for my 4th and 5th spot

After that, the ordering would be relatively arbitrary.


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## Guest (Sep 19, 2015)

The order I can manage to do is alphabetical:

Bach

Chopin

Coates

Haas

Kurtag

Ligeti

Lutoslawski

Murail

Penderecki 

Xenakis


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## calvinpv (Apr 20, 2015)

1. Bartók
2. Roslavets
3. Szymanowski
4. Ravel
5. Penderecki
6. (late) Enescu
7. Lutosławski
8. Schnittke
9. Webern
10. Nono

Considered for Top 10: Boulez, Ginastera, Berg, Saariaho, Saygun, Bach, Scriabin


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## Selby (Nov 17, 2012)

I'm really enjoying how many lists have Xenakis on them.


----------



## Morimur (Jan 23, 2014)

Selby said:


> I'm really enjoying how many lists have Xenakis on them.


From the 20th century Stravinsky gets all credit, which I find baffling since I think there are others who are just as good.


----------



## PeterFromLA (Jul 22, 2011)

There's definitely more to the 20th century than Stravinsky. On the other hand, when you hear performances such as this one, you might be quite happy indeed to know Stravinsky's music:


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## mmsbls (Mar 6, 2011)

This list is based on what I have enjoyed the most over my life rather than what I listen to most now. 

1. Mozart
2. Beethoven
3. Bach
4. Brahms/Schubert
4.00001 Wagner

Those seem pretty well fixed as my favorite 6. After it probably varies. 

7. Haydn
8. Mendelssohn

Then it gets really hard.

9. Dufay, Tallis, Handel, Schumann, Tchaikovsky, Dvorak, Mahler, Stravinsky, Schnittke, Boulez, ???

It is interesting to see how my list changes over time. The top 6 or so has not really varied although Wagner keeps pushing the top 5 more and more. After those there are just too many wonderful composers, and I haven't explored them well enough.


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## SeptimalTritone (Jul 7, 2014)

This is so hard to do, but for a different reason than one might initially expect. Rather than having too many favorites to trim down into a top ten list, I have too few favorites. There are really not that many composers that inspire me... and it's sort of a great fault of mine.

Feldman- because he's the greatest by miles and miles
Xenakis- electronic works like La Legende d'eer, Bohor, and Persepolis are simply the best
Mahler- I like the 4th, 7th, and 8th the most
Webern- because he emotes and expresses unlike anyone
Mozart- yes, above Beethoven. Somehow (don't know why) has much more emotive detail than even Beethoven
Beethoven- mostly the late works
Francisco Lopez- yes, natural sounds can be great music too
Francis Dhomont- I just like his sensibility
Ferneyhough- The only living composer who writes good "conservative-minded" music
Varese- its his sensibility that makes him special, not just his innovations

Ugh... hate this list. I put all the living guys mostly at the bottom. This list really should entirely be ultra avant garde living composers: but I'm still too much of a plebian for that to happen.


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## mmsbls (Mar 6, 2011)

SeptimalTritone said:


> Mozart- yes, above Beethoven. Somehow (don't know why) has much more emotive detail than even Beethoven
> Beethoven- mostly the late works


No need to explain. I would think it's obvious.


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## Chordalrock (Jan 21, 2014)

I didn't grow up with lots of music around, so I didn't learn to love a great variety of music - what I like now is mostly a result of working to appreciate it in adulthood. I'd say the basic tendency of my taste has always been inclined toward Nordic gloominess, probably due to some sort of genetic reasons; these days though I'm more into even darker stuff, as I find existence horrifying and such music has begun to resonate with me. I have an interest in textures that are on the intricate side - perhaps as a result of a more aesthetic than emotional approach to enjoying music. I also need to explore 20th century composers and minor composers from other eras more thoroughly.

With those caveats, maybe someone will find this list of some interest as a curiosity or an example of what kind of taste one can find in a person of my background.

Clear top two, with many works that I value highly or very highly:

1. Beethoven
2. Bach

The next few, with fewer such works, or overall of lower interest:

3. Mozart
4. Wagner
5-7. Dufay, Brahms, William Schuman.

Honorable mentions:

8-10. Arthur Honegger, Schubert, Arnold Schoenberg.


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## Aleksandar (Feb 21, 2015)

1. Bach
2. Beethoven
3. Wagner
4. Haydn
5. Mozart
6. Schubert
7. Mahler
8. Dvorak
9-12 Prokofiev, Brahms, Barber, Tchaikovsky


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## Scififan (Jun 28, 2015)

With my first four composers I have no reservations. 

1. Bach
2. Mozart
3. Beethoven
4. Haydn

The next two places are taken by the two great specialists in Operatic composition. I think it is arguable that they have never been equalled since.

5. Verdi
6. Wagner

That leaves four places to fill and I think that personal taste and opinion plays an enormous part in any choices one can make--indeed even in my first six choices I am sure that my basic musical conservatism has been revealed. So my final four are certainly matters of opinion. But we all have opinions and enjoy sharing them.

Many would regard Brahms or Schubert as the logical torch bearers of Beethoven's legacy. But the latter died so tragically early and (IMHO) the former simply lacks emotional passion. I think that Bruckner has the epic scope, emotional power, and transcendent spirituality to take the next place.

7. Bruckner

And here are my final three:

8.Sibelius 
9.Tchaikovsky--His mature symphonies have tremendous emotional power and his ballet music is probably the most beautiful ever composed.
10. Shostokovich


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

Weston said:


> To be realistic I'm certain I could _live_ without any of them. I wouldn't throw myself under a train if I went deaf tomorrow. However I would be heart broken if I never got to hear these again.
> 
> J. S. Bach
> Beethoven
> ...


I like these time capsule threads. My tastes have changed dramatically since this post two and half years ago. Bach would be much lower on the list. No doubt he's one of the greatest, but I rarely listen to him any more. Several others are out entirely and a more modern composer included.

My list now might be:

Beethoven
Brahms
Haydn
Stravinsky
Schoenberg
Schubert
Boulez
Vaughan Williams
Bach
Martinu


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