# Things that are BETTER...a fun thread...



## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

...or apples and oranges comparisons or totally false dichotomies with a twist!

Please note this is for fun ONLY. The more ridiculous comparisons the better.

You have to compare something that does exist with something that doesn't. Can be in terms of genre, etc.

My own examples will show you how.

FACT:

Weber wrote BETTER clarinet concertos than Beethoven.

Johann Strauss II wrote BETTER waltzes than Monteverdi.

Messiaen wrote BETTER music for odnes martenot than Chopin.

Beethoven wrote a BETTER choral symphony than Wagner.

Rossini wrote BETTER comic operas than Berg.

Miklos Rozsa wrote BETTER original film scores than Palestrina.

*...to be graciously followed by you...*


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## Klavierspieler (Jul 16, 2011)

Schumann wrote BETTER viola concertos than Hindemith.

Chopin wrote BETTER symphonies than Mahler.

Janacek wrote BETTER piano trios than Beethoven.

Bach wrote a BETTER cello concerto than Schumann


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## Dodecaplex (Oct 14, 2011)

Schumann made BETTER works of art than Delacroix.

Newton made MORE PRACTICAL art than Shakespeare.

Moritz Schlick had MORE INFLUENCE ON PHILOSOPHY than Ligeti.


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## HarpsichordConcerto (Jan 1, 2010)

Vivaldi wrote way better symphonic poems than Liszt.

Xenakis wrote way superior operas than Wagner.

Paganini kicked Cage's *** over pieces for prepared piano.

Zeena Parkins thrashed Handel over oratorios.

Mozart farted louder than Cage in a silent piece.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

^You guys know nothing.

*Ligeti* knows MORE about physics than Albert Eisntein

*Ligeti* wrote BETTER poetry than Emily Dickinson

*Ligeti* was a BETTER philosopher than Socrates

*Ligeti* wrote BETTER film scores than John Williams (that is actually a fact)

*Ligeti* was MORE prolific than Telemann

*Ligeti* stars in a BETTER sitcom-about-nothing than Jerry Seinfeld

There. Done. How's that?


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## Crudblud (Dec 29, 2011)

Zeena Parkins, there's a name I don't see too often.

Also Bach was definitely the superior symphonist and Mahler knew it.


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## Guest (Feb 1, 2012)

Bizet's electronic music is better than Chopin's operas.

I mean it. Don't argue with me. (Why does everyone argue with me?)


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

HarpsichordConcerto said:


> Mozart farted louder than Cage in a silent piece.


That one was probably true.


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## Lukecash12 (Sep 21, 2009)

Lulu's harpsichord concerto in re minor is better than Bach's.

Cage's silent minute waltz is better than Chopin's.


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## peeyaj (Nov 17, 2010)

Schubert wrote better Lieder than any Beethoven, Brahms, Schumann and Wolf combined..


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

peeyaj said:


> Schubert wrote better Lieder than any Beethoven, Brahms, Schumann and Wolf combined..


His lieder are on par with Schoenberg's.


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## DavidMahler (Dec 28, 2009)

Sid James composed better threads than David Mahler


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## Polednice (Sep 13, 2009)

Brahms came up with better false dichotomies than all of you.


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## kv466 (May 18, 2011)

Earl Wild plays piano concertos better than anyone else and Glenn Gould is even better.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Carter's melodies are more accessible than Tchaikovsky's.


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## pjang23 (Oct 8, 2009)

Schubert wrote a better 1st piano concerto than Tchaikovsky.


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## Polednice (Sep 13, 2009)

pjang23 said:


> Schubert wrote a better 1st piano concerto than Tchaikovsky.


You lose because that one's true! It's called Liszt's transcription of the _Wanderer Fantasy_ for piano and orchestra.


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

Polednice said:


> You lose because that one's true! It's called Liszt's transcription of the _Wanderer Fantasy_ for piano and orchestra.


Creative thinking there! Liszt must have chanelled Schubert's spirit, like in a seance?!?...


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

Some good answers on this thread. People have done it their own way, which I like.

Okay, well here's some more I can think of -

Wagner wrote a BETTER piece for Cosima than anybody else (his _Siegfried Idyll_).

Liszt wrote a BETTER _Faust Symphony _than Gounod.

Gounod did a BETTER_ Faust _than Vivaldi.

Piazzolla wrote BETTER tangos than Corelli.

Bernard Herrmann wrote a BETTER film score for _Psycho_ than Mahler.

...keep them coming...the more outright ridiculous the better...:tiphat:


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

This is a fact-free zone guys, so the posts below are breaking the rules, or possibly so, in the case of lukecash. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! :lol: ...



ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> ...
> *Ligeti* wrote BETTER film scores than John Williams (that is actually a fact)
> 
> ...





Lukecash12 said:


> ...
> 
> Cage's silent minute waltz is better than Chopin's.





peeyaj said:


> Schubert wrote better Lieder than any Beethoven, Brahms, Schumann and Wolf combined..


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## Polednice (Sep 13, 2009)

Brahms ate MORE meat and potato pies than Anthony "The Anaconda" Danson in the 2005 World Pie Eating Championship.


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

Polednice said:


> Brahms ate MORE meat and potato pies than Anthony "The Anaconda" Danson in the 2005 World Pie Eating Championship.


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

I think we're done here....


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

Wagner's Tristan und Isolde is BETTER than Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.


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## Klavierspieler (Jul 16, 2011)

Schumann's Genoveva is BETTER than the whole Ring cycle.


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

Klavierspieler said:


> Schumann's Genoveva is BETTER than the whole Ring cycle.


No argument here. Damn fine bit of Schumann there, damn fine.


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## Trout (Apr 11, 2011)

Stravinsky had a MORE consistent career than Haydn.

Webern composed MORE symphonies than Segerstam.

Gershwin composed MORE harpsichord sonatas than D. Scarlatti.

Gesualdo had BETTER morals than Verdi.

Handel was a BETTER troll than Cage.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Couchie said:


> Wagner's Tristan und Isolde is BETTER than Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.


I thought you weren't allowed to post actual facts.....


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## Lisztian (Oct 10, 2011)

ComposerOfAvantGarde is BETTER than Stockhausen.


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## An Die Freude (Apr 23, 2011)

Lisztian said:


> ComposerOfAvantGarde is BETTER than Stockhausen.


Quite clearly a fact...


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Lisztian said:


> ComposerOfAvantGarde is BETTER than Stockhausen.


True. But not as good as *Ligeti!*


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## GoneBaroque (Jun 16, 2011)

Verdi's King Lear is BETTER than Reimann's Lear


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

Couchie said:


> Wagner's Tristan und Isolde is BETTER than Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.





ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> I thought you weren't allowed to post actual facts.....


:scold: Couchie will always break the rules, it's expected! :lol:


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

Ok a twist with the word "MORE" used nonsensically -

There is MORE jangled noise in _The Beautiful Blue Danube Waltz _than in_ The Rite of Spring._

There are MORE tone clusters in Mozart's _Piano Concerto #21 K.467_ than in Bartok's _Piano Concerto #2_.

There are MORE big tunes in Xenakis' _Metastasis_ than in Beethoven's _Symphony #9 "CHoral."_

There are MORE deaths in _The Merry Widow _than in _Tosca_...


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## Philip (Mar 22, 2011)

Bach is BETTER


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Sid James said:


> Ok a twist with the word "MORE" used nonsensically -
> 
> There is MORE jangled noise in _The Beautiful Blue Danube Waltz _than in_ The Rite of Spring._


Eh? Caught a fact there!


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## AlexD (Nov 6, 2011)

There are more harmonies in Women's tennis than in Mahler's 8th.


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## superhorn (Mar 23, 2010)

Anybody wrote better music than Gounod. Joseph Stalin wrote better operas than Shostakovich.
Wagner designed better buildings than Frank Lloyd Wright. Dennis Brain was a better pianist than Horowitz.


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

Well, this thread - http://www.talkclassical.com/18320-better-worse-equal.html - reminded me to put some really ridiculous comparisons on this nonsense thread I set up. Since Wagner seems to be what the Brits call "the dog's ********" (well, to Wagnerites anyway, not the rest of us), here's a set of totally false dichotomies speaking to that:

Ravi Shankar can play BETTER ragas than Wagner

Tan Dun can compose BETTER music for Chinese instruments than Wagner

Habib Koite can sing BETTER Malian songs than Wagner

Sister Marie Keyrouz can sing BETTER Melchite chants than Wagner


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

Stravinsky composed better neoclassical music than Mozart.


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