# Favourite tetrad of composers



## Richannes Wrahms

Prequels: Favourite triad of composers, Favourite triad of composers 2

Now keyboard/piano centered.


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## clavichorder

Oh no, what will we do without options in a poll?(I guess you could be making it still)

To make a grand sweep across the history of keyboard composers is really difficult. I guess we also have to find connections that make the tetrad a plausible grouping. 

William Byrd
J.S. Bach
Ludwig van Beethoven
Claude Debussy

For the 'grand sweep' of the greatest composers in the field who didn't limit themselves to the keyboard and had a significantly diverse output within the keyboard works as well.(feels a little funky to mention these names in a tetrad without Haydn, Mozart, CPE Bach, Prokofiev, Rachmaninov, Liszt, but we are limited here)

Edit: I see you've made the poll now.


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## Richannes Wrahms

Forgot to include Schubert somewhere, maybe I should have changed 'Schumann, Chopin, Brahms, Schoenberg' for 'Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann'

Well too late.


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## violadude

My ideal tetrad with regard to piano composers would be Schumann, Chopin, Brahms and Debussy.


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## chesapeake bay

For me this would only have been difficult if more than one group contained Beethoven


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## tdc

My ideal tetrad for keyboard composers is probably J.S. Bach, Mozart, Debussy, Ravel. 

Albeniz is another big omission here. There is some serial music I like, but I can't think of a serial or 12 tone work for solo instrument that I really like.

The following I personally would not consider in a list of exceptional keyboard composers:

Pachelbel
Schoenberg
Stockhausen
Boulez

Probably not Xenakis either, though I enjoy his work in this area more than the above four.


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## Mahlerian

tdc said:


> My ideal tetrad for keyboard composers is probably J.S. Bach, Mozart, Debussy, Ravel.
> 
> Albeniz is another big omission here. There is some serial music I like, but I can't think of a serial or 12 tone work for solo instrument that I really like.
> 
> The following I personally would not consider in a list of exceptional keyboard composers:
> 
> Pachelbel
> Schoenberg
> Stockhausen
> Boulez
> 
> Probably not Xenakis either, though I enjoy his work in this area more than the above four.


Pachelbel's organ works are quite well-respected, though I can't say anything about their quality.

Schoenberg and Stockhausen I would consider composers who didn't focus on the keyboard but wrote some excellent works for it. Schoenberg's Opp. 11, 19, and 25 are absolute masterpieces, but they make up a small portion of his oeuvre.

Boulez on the other hand I would think of as being a major keyboard composer. The sonatas, Notations, and Incises may be small in quantity, but his music is more pianistic than either Schoenberg's or Stockhausen's and the works are very important in his output.


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## Guest

No Cage, no Finnissy, no Rzewski... it's like you don't even care 

Also, I don't know if I'm supposed to vote for my favorite tetrad of composers or my favorite tetrad of piano oeuvres.

Debussy/Bartok/Ligeti/Boulez looks enticing for the latter... probably Scriabin/Messiaen/Xenakis/Stockhausen for the former.


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## Pugg

Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann :tiphat:


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## Richannes Wrahms

nathanb said:


> No Cage, no Finnissy, no Rzewski... it's like you don't even care
> 
> Also, I don't know if I'm supposed to vote for my favorite tetrad of composers or my favorite tetrad of piano oeuvres.
> 
> Debussy/Bartok/Ligeti/Boulez looks enticing for the latter... probably Scriabin/Messiaen/Xenakis/Stockhausen for the former.


Favorite tetrad of composers based on their keyboard writing.

I could have put Ives, Cage and Carter in. I'm not sure if Finnissy or Rzewski (or Babbit?) will pass the test of time.


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## Zhdanov

Richannes Wrahms said:


> Favourite tetrad of composers
> Prequels: Favourite triad of composers, Favourite triad of composers 2


a huge fan of Boulez aren't you?


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## Guest

My piano tetrad heaven! - Chopin, Liszt, Debussy, Scriabin.


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## clavichorder

nathanb said:


> No Cage, no Finnissy, no Rzewski... it's like you don't even care


Dawg, it was also a statement to include Frescobaldi, and not Sweelinck, Byrd, Bull, Cabezon.


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## Richannes Wrahms

Gee, I didn't know my poll's design holded such authority!


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## DeepR

Strange choices but I chose Chopin, Liszt, Debussy, Scriabin, while to me Debussy is barely allowed between the others.


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## bestellen

Voted. Mussorgsky, Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev, Shostakovich


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## TurnaboutVox

I voted Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Schumann as that is the foundation of my keyboard LP / CD collection. I'd have been almost equally happy to vote for Debussy, Bartók, Ligeti, Boulez or Chopin, Liszt, Debussy, Scriabin. Though I'd like to be able to sneak JS Bach into any of those three tetrads as my 'bonus' composer.

You meant to allow us a bonus composer, didn't you, Richannes?


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## Guest

Something is clearly wrong with this poll results. You have shown why pop music is no better than false heroes in your countries. By country I mean not recognised by the proper experts. Expert polls do not confuse trivial composers who superficially can make the masses fed up of what is objectively proven as good which is great.

Thank you.


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## Manxfeeder

Bach, Mozart, Brahms, Schoenberg. Of all the tetrads, I like these four's sacred music the most.


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## Guest

Richannes Wrahms said:


> Favorite tetrad of composers based on their keyboard writing.
> 
> I could have put Ives, Cage and Carter in. I'm not sure if Finnissy or Rzewski (or Babbit?) will pass the test of time.


Babbitt's great too. So is Ferneyhough. And Sciarrino. And Lachenmann. And Andre. And Ohana. Etc. I essentially named Finnissy/Rzewski not only for having well known contemporary piano works, but for the relative size of their keyboard catalog; both composers clearly demonstrate that they fit in well with the old "pianist-composer" idea.


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## tdc

Mahlerian said:


> Pachelbel's organ works are quite well-respected, though I can't say anything about their quality.


They were important certainly, and maybe better than I give them credit for. I guess I think there is a difference between 'important' and 'exceptional'. It may not mean anything but in my five or so years of frequenting this forum I've never noticed any posters claiming they have been blown away by any of his works, or even a mention of any of them other than of course the Canon in D (a piece I think is ok).


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## Richannes Wrahms

I've never really heard a 'mind blowing' Frescobaldi either.

Pachelbel seems to have composed a lot of blandish stuff, some 'scary organ music', some rather well crafted pieces, and vocal stuff.


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## tdc

Richannes Wrahms said:


> I've never really heard a 'mind blowing' Frescobaldi either.


Hmm...well I do seem to like the Frescobaldi I've listened to quite a bit, in time maybe I will be blown away. Another one on your list that may be in the important but not exceptional category is CPE Bach, but I haven't listened to enough of his keyboard works yet to feel comfortable making that claim.


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## clavichorder

Frescobaldi probably has potential to blow minds with the right performance and the right mental state to appreciate earlier styles. But I have more faith in the mind blowing qualities of William Byrd and John Bull's keyboard music.

Here is a good example for Bull(you don't even need to play it in such a flashy manner like Hantai, for it to blow minds)





Or this mellower but rich work by Byrd(good little piece, but just the tip of the iceberg for Byrd)


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## StlukesguildOhio

*Bach, C.P.E. Bach, Mozart, Haydn*

Three of my four favorite 4 composers of all time... only Beethoven is missing... and C.P.E. Bach isn't half bad.


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## Woodduck

My tetrad isn't on the list: Beethoven, Chopin, Brahms, Rachmaninoff


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## clavichorder

StlukesguildOhio said:


> *Bach, C.P.E. Bach, Mozart, Haydn*
> 
> Three of my four favorite 4 composers of all time... only Beethoven is missing... and C.P.E. Bach isn't half bad.


His(CPE) sonatas could be much better represented in modern piano recordings. This would open his music to a wider appreciation, and I believe it would elevate his perceived status. WF Bach Sonatas could actually stand the same treatment(denser and on average more concentrated than CPE's numerous), as could Ernst Wilhelm Wolf(think the tradition of CPE, but refined and still potent) and Sebastian Albero(Scarlatti contemporary of Spanish origin; no less pith than his Italian friend). Maybe even Antonio Soler too, more developed and elegant than Albero, like D. Scarlatti, but maybe less pith than either.


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## Zhdanov

Richannes Wrahms said:


> Gee, I didn't know my poll's design holded such authority!


for example, you scream in the street so everyone noticed, then you say why they think your such authority. Boulez being sneaked in three polls already looks provocative.


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## SeptimalTritone

Mahlerian said:


> Boulez on the other hand I would think of as being a major keyboard composer. The sonatas, Notations, and Incises may be small in quantity, but his music is more pianistic than either Schoenberg's or Stockhausen's and the works are very important in his output.


Hmm... this is a bit surprising to me.

I'm not quite sure what pianistic means: I know very little about piano technique. It does seem to me that a good amount of passages in Schoenberg's or Webern's piano writing could be reduced to string quartet (four voice) writing or even string trio (three voice) writing and still function well. But when I hear Stockhausen's Klavierstucke or other chamber/electronic works with piano(s), it seems clear that the piano writing could only be for piano, and not for any other instrument(s). That seems like it would make Stockhausen's piano writing, therefore, pianistic in the sense that Boulez or Schumann are, i.e. the music makes unique use of what the piano is capable of and could only function on piano.


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## Johnnie Burgess

Bach, C.P.E. Bach, Mozart, Haydn are my choices with all but C.P.E. Bach in my top 10 composers.


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## worov

What is this poll ?  

No Villa-Lobos ??? No Antonio Padre Soler ??? No Granados ??? No Albeniz ??? My favorite composers aren't up there. I can't vote.


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## helenora

me too, can´t vote....but I think I´d be happy just with a "trio" of composers


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## Pugg

worov said:


> What is this poll ?
> 
> No Villa-Lobos ??? No Antonio Padre Soler ??? No Granados ??? No Albeniz ??? My favorite composers aren't up there. I can't vote.


That's how cruel life can be.


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## Johnnie Burgess

worov said:


> What is this poll ?
> 
> No Villa-Lobos ??? No Antonio Padre Soler ??? No Granados ??? No Albeniz ??? My favorite composers aren't up there. I can't vote.


You could make your own poll.


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## Balthazar

If any grouping had at least two of Bach, Beethoven, and Chopin, it would have gotten my vote.

As it stands, I went with Chopin, Liszt, Debussy, and Scriabin.


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