Your favourite classical composer(s)?
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Topic: Your favourite classical composer(s)?
Posted By: Gandalff
Subject: Your favourite classical composer(s)?
Date Posted: August 08 2010 at 09:37
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My favourite composers (no order):
Tchaikovsky
Dvořák
Stravinsky
Grieg
Holst
Sibelius
Janáček
Rimsky-Korsakov
Orff
Mussorgsky
Ravel
Saint-Saëns
Britten
Bizet
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Replies:
Posted By: Proletariat
Date Posted: August 08 2010 at 09:45
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Messiaen
Stravinsky
Schoenburg
Bartok ------------- who hiccuped endlessly trying to giggle but wound up with a sob |
Posted By: Vompatti
Date Posted: August 08 2010 at 09:50
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In chronological order: Bach Mussorgsky Mahler Rachmaninov Satie Bartok Stravinsky Shostakovich Scelsi Messiaen Pärt |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: August 08 2010 at 09:51
Wow, you're the first person to start a thread like this.  I'll bite: Debussy Holst Mussorgsky Grie Bach Ravel Tchiakovsky Mozart ------------- Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened... 
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Posted By: thellama73
Date Posted: August 08 2010 at 10:27
Sarcasm does not become you Slarti. Actually, it kind of does.  Liszt Berlioz Satie Wagner Scarlatti Rossini Shostakovich Haydn Beethoven Mozart ------------- 
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Slartibartfast wrote:Posted By: Zebedee
Date Posted: August 08 2010 at 10:27
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In no particular order: Bach Chopin Grieg Mahler Fauré Mussorgsky Tchaikovsky Sibelius Dvořák Ravel Brahms Mendelssohn Debussy Stravinsky Britten Pärt Bartók Nielsen ------------- 
Friendship is like wetting your pants: everyone can see it, but only you can feel its warmth. |
Posted By: presdoug
Date Posted: August 08 2010 at 11:16
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Bruckner Berlioz Richard Strauss Mahler Elgar Beethoven Wagner Delius Debussy Tchaikovsky |
Posted By: TheGazzardian
Date Posted: August 08 2010 at 11:32
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I'll probably demonstrate my relative unfamiliarity with classical musc with this post, but so far: Mozart Beethoven Bach Handel Holst Vivaldi
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Posted By: BaldJean
Date Posted: August 08 2010 at 13:24
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if I made a full list of them I would not know when to stop - there are so many of them. first of all Johann Sebastian Bach. he is the Alpha and the Omega. "The Art of Fugue",, "The Brandenburg Concertos", "The Well-Tempered Clavier", the "Mass in B Minor", "The Goldberg Variations", "The St, Matthew Passion", "The Musical Offering", to name just a few of his works. Gustav Mahler. I especially love his 9th symphony, his "Songs of a Wayfarer", his "Song of the Earth" and his "Children's Death Songs", Ludwig van Beethoven, especially his 5th, 7th and 9th symphony, but also his "Egmont Overture", his violin concerto and his numerous piano works. Carlo Gesualdo. He is not that famous, and many may not have heard his name before, but his madrigals move me like nothing else. just listen to this: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, especially for his piano concertos, but also his operas "The Magic Flute" and, most of all, "Don Giovanni", which is unsurpassed. and a long long list of others - too many to mention them all. Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Maurice Ravel, Claude Debussy, Antonin Dvorak, Bedrich Smetana, Joseph Haydn and and and..... -------------  A shot of me as High Priestess of Gaia during our fall festival. Ceterum censeo principiis obsta |
Posted By: JLocke
Date Posted: August 08 2010 at 13:46
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As of right now, my all-time favorite is hands-down Stravinsky. If we're going by separate eras, Stravinski is my favorite 20th Century composer, followed closely by Shostakovich and Holst. Overall, though, Beethoven may be my second-favorite composer of all time. But he seems to switch placed with Tchaikovsky a lot in my mind, so I guess all I can really say is Stravinsky is on top, then all the others fall just behind him, in no particular order. 20th Century: Stravinsky Shostakovich Holst Glass (actually, I'm still new to his stuff, so I may not like the majority of it) Romantic: Tchaikovsky Mussorgsky Ravel Brahms Grieg Puccini Classical: Beethoven (yes, I know he crossed over into the romantic era!) Mozart Haydn Baroque: Bach Handel Pachelbel Vivaldi No, that's not everyone I listen to. But those are some of my favorites, yes.
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Posted By: crimhead
Date Posted: August 08 2010 at 13:56
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Beethoven Bach Mozart Copland Tchaikovsky Mussorsky Ravel Greig |
Posted By: BaldJean
Date Posted: August 08 2010 at 14:12
you probably mean "Grieg", not "Greig" ------------- A shot of me as High Priestess of Gaia during our fall festival. Ceterum censeo principiis obsta |
Posted By: Gandalff
Date Posted: August 08 2010 at 14:29
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Complementation of my question:
How have you got to listening of the classical music?
My path:
1. In my age about 7: my first touch of classic in Musical school (Spanish guitar)
2. Adolescent years: Hard Rock, Heavy Metal
3. University: Pink Floyd, King Crimson, Emerson Lake & Palmer, Collegium Musicum, Yes, etc. →
4. Return to classical music through Symphonic Prog:
King Crimson→ Gustav Holst,
Yes→ J.S.Bach,
Emerson Lake & Palmer→Leo Janáček, M.P. Mussorgsky,
Blood Sweat & Tears→ Eric Satie,
Collegium Musicum→ Rimsky-Korsakov, Béla Bartók,
The Nice→ Leonard Bernstein,
Frank Zappa→ Edgard Varése, etc.
Many composers I´ve "found" myself, e.g. Edward Grieg,many of them I´ve known from my musical school - Smetana, Dvořák, Tchaikovsky, Debussy, Beethoven...
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Posted By: JLocke
Date Posted: August 08 2010 at 14:34
| ^ My father used to play Mussorgsky's ''Pictures at an Exhibition'' a lot around the house when I was little. He also played Handel's ''Water Music'' quite a bit. Plus, my mother used to take me to see the Nutcracker Ballet every christmas. From there, I sort of just started making my own discoveries. It wasn't until about a year ago that I really started getting back into it heavily. |
Posted By: Triceratopsoil
Date Posted: August 08 2010 at 14:48
| Stravinski and Shostakovich |
Posted By: JLocke
Date Posted: August 08 2010 at 14:53
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Posted By: Zebedee
Date Posted: August 08 2010 at 16:55
Grieg's great-grandfather was Scottish and the original family name was Greig. The name was only later changed to Grieg, so crimhead isn't that far from the truth.  Now as an answer to your complementary question, I got into classical music from a very early age. It all started when I heard Bach being played on church organ as a little kid. I instantly fell in love with both Bach's music and the church organ. I started playing piano when I was seven years old and soon made the leap to classical music. Initially I played mostly Bach, Haydn and Mozart to improve my technique and went on to play a wide array of Romantic works by various composers. I've been in love with classical music ever since, especially the baroque and Romantic periods. -------------
Friendship is like wetting your pants: everyone can see it, but only you can feel its warmth. |
Posted By: Icarium
Date Posted: August 08 2010 at 17:41
| can someone pleace recomend me some Rachmaninov, I have heard that he is very complex and "prog" in he's composing |
Posted By: presdoug
Date Posted: August 08 2010 at 17:44
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what motivated me was seeing Amadeus-the very next day i went to the local library and borrowed some Time Life box sets -that started the wheels in motion-i have listened to classical music practically every day since, and that was in the summer of 1985 for me, Bruckner and Berlioz are at the top of the heap.. though like some other people, there are so many composers that i listen to that it is hard to cover all bases there are about 45 different classical composers that i collect and listen to but hardly any of them approach what Bruckner and Berlioz do for me |
Posted By: Atavachron
Date Posted: August 08 2010 at 17:46
| Schoenberg |
Posted By: presdoug
Date Posted: August 08 2010 at 17:50
Rachmaninov was also a conductor and recorded the 3rd-highly recommended many people think highly of his piano music-for me it is ok, but the symphonies are a must |
Posted By: The T
Date Posted: August 08 2010 at 19:55
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My signature provides an answer as for the first 5. Bach - The Master of All That is Music Beethoven Mozart Bruckner -The greatest symphonist of them all after Beethoven Shostakovich - the master of my preferred form in the 20th century Tchaikovsky Brahms Mahler Sibelius Haendel Dvorak Mussorgsky And too many more... In the recent months I have pretty much turned my decent classical collection into a fantastic one. I've finally started getting multiple versions of the same works... I'm also digging into territories that used to be my least favorite ones like serialism... I started with music with classical music. When I was 6 I discovered it thanks to my father. He used to paint in his study while listening to classical music and I always went there and drew my comic-like stories while listening to the sounds. I fell in love first with a cassette that had 2 serenades: Eine Kleine Nachtmusik (Mozart), and the Serenade for Strings by Tchaikovsky. Then I discovered thanks to my mo buying me a vinyl the 40th symphony by Mozart and The Four Seasons violin concertos by Vivaldi. My father listend to the music he enjoyed but my interest went far beyond, wanting to discover al there was to know about all composers and styles. I felt in love with Bruckner, Shostakovich, Mahler... My love for Beethoven really took form a few years later. Eventually I focused on the art of the greatest of them all and I couldn't fail to put him in my zenith, JS Bach. I got some 6 (non continuous) years of rock and metal domination of my musical life but classical music has finally come back to its place. I rarely hear anything else anymore. Metal (specially non-prog metal) and some rock still manage to survive (especially my three loved bands DT, Genesis and Amorphis) but many acts, specially bands like Gentle Giant, I just cant stand anymore.
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Posted By: lucas
Date Posted: August 08 2010 at 20:04
I never could stand this band. ------------- "Magma was the very first gothic rock band" (Didier Lockwood) |
Posted By: The Quiet One
Date Posted: August 08 2010 at 20:13
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Posted By: presdoug
Date Posted: August 08 2010 at 22:23
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this is worth reporting- today i heard what i feel is the greatest recording of Bruckner's 6th Symphony -a studio stereo one recorded in 1963 conducted by Joseph Keilberth with the Berlin Philharmonic it is an example of an absolutely perfect recording in every way |
Posted By: Noak
Date Posted: August 09 2010 at 10:56
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Igor Stravinsky Krzysztof Penderecki Arnold Shoenberg Anton Webern Alban Berg Giacinto Scelsi Luciano Cilio Poul Ruders Olivier Messiaen Henry Brant Charles Ives Harry Partch Alfred Schnittke Edgard Varčse Benjamin Yusupov |
Posted By: TGM: Orb
Date Posted: August 09 2010 at 12:22
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Um, a few in no particularly fussy order Poulenc (whom noone's mentioned yet : (... his concerto for two pianos is extraordinary) Saint-Saens Rachmaninov Grieg Bach Stravinsky, but that's more or less obligatory here |
Posted By: The Truth
Date Posted: August 09 2010 at 12:26
 ------------- http://blindpoetrecords.bandcamp.com/" rel="nofollow">  
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Posted By: Rocktopus
Date Posted: August 09 2010 at 12:46
I discovered him about two years ago myself. Seems like his one of the 00's great rediscoveries. If not the best on your list, he is probably the one with the most unique approach. A few of his works leaves me cold, but most of the albums I got by him are pure bliss. ------------- Over land and under ashes In the sunlight, see - it flashes Find a fly and eat his eye But don't believe in me Don't believe in me Don't believe in me |
Posted By: BaldFriede
Date Posted: August 09 2010 at 13:04
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Jean already mentioned Carlo Gesualdo. I'd like to mention a contemporary of his, Gregorio Allegri. The human voice is the most beautiful instrument of all. -------------  BaldJean and I; I am the one in blue. |
Posted By: DreamInSong
Date Posted: August 09 2010 at 18:52
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Not a huge classical fan, but Chopin definitely had a lot of wonderful works and I'd consider him my favorite classical compose. i don't know if Gershwin counts, but I'm a fan of his as well. Hmm, Bach and Debussy are good as well... I feel like I'm forgetting someone... Hans Zimmer has written some wonderful scores, but it seems I'm not much of a classical fan... Oh! Rachmaninoff! He's right behind Chopin.
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Posted By: Gandalff
Date Posted: August 10 2010 at 13:30
| No vote for Gershwin? No vote for Bernstein? Dear Americans, where is your national pride? |
Posted By: The T
Date Posted: August 10 2010 at 17:21
There are SO MANY better American composers than those two (specially better than Gershwin): Charles Ives, Aaron Copland, William Schuman, Samuel Barber, Walter Piston, Roy Harris, Elliot Carter, etc, etc. -------------
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Posted By: Gandalff
Date Posted: August 10 2010 at 23:43
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Posted By: BaldFriede
Date Posted: August 11 2010 at 03:47
You are underrating Gershwin. He was a great composer. Do you know the anecdote about Gershwin and Ravel? Gershwin wanted to study music with Ravel as teacher. Ravel on the other hand did not see the necessity and replied "Why would you want to become a second rate Ravel when you are a first rate Gershwin"? Listen to Gershwin's opera "Porgy and Bess"; the love duet between Porgy and Bess is one of the greatest duets ever written. His suites "An American in Paris" and "Rhapsody in Blue" were revolutionary at their time; they fused jazz and classical music much better than Ravel or Shostakovitch had managed with their attempts at it. Bernstein is VERY underestimated because he wrote a lot of very popular music. However, there is a lot more to him than that; it just does not get the airplay. Did you ever listen to his "Kaddish"? And that Bernstein's music is popular does not make it bad at all; " West Side Story" is excellent., even though it has a few "hits" in it, like "Maria" or "America". Sometimes what is popular also is good. ------------- BaldJean and I; I am the one in blue. |
Posted By: presdoug
Date Posted: August 11 2010 at 13:24
| Bernstein was a great conductor (especially his Bruckner) but the music that he wrote is just awfull |
Posted By: The T
Date Posted: August 11 2010 at 13:54
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I have Kaddish and a lot of Bernstein music (besides WSS)... I'm not saying he's a bad composer, I'm just saying there are other ones who are above him in my view. As a conductor, though, I love him. Gershwin has been given little attention from me. I'm getting into listening more music from him but the things I'm familiar with don't convince me. He's like somewhere in between composer and jazz musician. Maybe my little love for jazz is behind my not-loving Gershwin... -------------
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Posted By: Gandalff
Date Posted: August 11 2010 at 14:10
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And the winner is...
Antonín Dvořák: Symphony No.9: From The New World! That´s true masterpiece and, without doubts, one of the best classical opuses ever.
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Posted By: The T
Date Posted: August 11 2010 at 14:14
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^It's a masterpiece. Though from the Czech master I would prefer the Cello Concerto. His quartets are also superb. -------------
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Posted By: presdoug
Date Posted: August 11 2010 at 17:48
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i love the Dvorak 9th -have many versions, those dearest to my heart are the wartime one conducted by Oswald Kabasta and the Munich Phil. (long thought to have been done by Furtwanger,but not so) Ferenc Fricsay and the Berlin Phil. early stereo on DG Bruno Walter and the Columbia Symphony Orchestra -early stereo CBS |
Posted By: Bitterblogger
Date Posted: August 11 2010 at 19:57
The Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini is also brilliant.
And don't forget the Preludes.
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Posted By: RoyFairbank
Date Posted: August 11 2010 at 20:37
| Duane Eddy and his masterpiece "Peter Gunn" |
Posted By: presdoug
Date Posted: August 11 2010 at 21:26
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Posted By: Bitterblogger
Date Posted: August 11 2010 at 21:32
| Probably like most, I prefer Symphony #2. #3 is also fine, and on hearing #1, I thought it no disaster, though not great. |
Posted By: BaldFriede
Date Posted: August 12 2010 at 05:20
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No female composers mentioned yet. It is about time. Clara Wieck-Schumann: Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel: Hildegard von Bingen: Barbara Strozzi: ------------- BaldJean and I; I am the one in blue. |
Posted By: The T
Date Posted: August 12 2010 at 13:23
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Hildegard von Bingen... without her, maybe western music would have taken longer to start taking shape.. -------------
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Posted By: presdoug
Date Posted: August 12 2010 at 14:10
| Ethyl Smyth-from the UK and had conductor Bruno Walter as one of her early champions! (i think it was her opera The Wreckers) |
Posted By: Noak
Date Posted: August 12 2010 at 16:47
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Addition to my list: Julius Eastman |
Posted By: jeniffer
Date Posted: August 13 2010 at 03:54
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I personally like Fredryk Chopin and
Claude Debussy. edit: and, come to think of it, I love Sergej Rakhmaninov. ______________ http://www.audiomicro.com/production-music - production music |
Posted By: Gandalff
Date Posted: August 15 2010 at 08:24
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Paradox: as the United Kingdom is one of the strongest countries (if not the strongest at all) on the field of general rock or prog rock, in classical music plays the Cinderella role.
At all cost, certainly well-known composers are only:
Henry Purcell
John Stafford Smith
Edward Elgar
Ralph Vaughan Williams
Gustav Holst
Benjamin Britten
Isn´t it a few?
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Posted By: BaldJean
Date Posted: August 15 2010 at 09:08
you forgot John Dowland, probably pronounced "Doeland" because of his dictum "Semper Dowland, semper dolens" ("always Dowland, always doleful") ------------- A shot of me as High Priestess of Gaia during our fall festival. Ceterum censeo principiis obsta |
Posted By: thellama73
Date Posted: August 15 2010 at 09:16
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Arnold Bax is also English, and he wrote some okay music.
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Posted By: Snow Dog
Date Posted: August 15 2010 at 09:36
I'll add Butterrworth to that list.......and Delius, Sir William Walton and Eric Coates
------------- http://www.last.fm/user/Snow_Dog" rel="nofollow"> 
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Posted By: The T
Date Posted: August 15 2010 at 18:06
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"Das Land ohne Musik" England certainly looked like at one point in time... -------------
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Posted By: Bitterblogger
Date Posted: August 15 2010 at 19:22
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Posted By: Gandalff
Date Posted: August 16 2010 at 03:17
Thanks all for your suggestions. I didn´t forget above mentioned composers, simply I don´t know them.
 As regards Händel, I know about his British citizenship. Britishs themselves, they say, had adopted him almost as their national composer. A plaster to a fact of desperate absence of home-born composers...
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Posted By: BaldFriede
Date Posted: August 16 2010 at 04:52
John Gay should be mentioned too for his "Beggar's Opera". This was the inspiration for the famous "Dreigroschenoper" ("Threepenny Opera") by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill . ------------- BaldJean and I; I am the one in blue. |
Posted By: presdoug
Date Posted: August 16 2010 at 10:47
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Posted By: Rocktopus
Date Posted: August 16 2010 at 11:44
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Guess I'm the first to actually have a female (two, actually) composer
among my favorites, and not just mention a few because because no one
else have.. Top ten of the last couple of years: Dmitri Shostacovich Krzysztof Penderecki Franz Schubert Giacinto Scelsi Morton Feldman Kaija Saariaho Johann Sebastian Bach Peteris Vasks Ludvig Van Beethoven Bela Bartok Bubbling under: Gustav Mahler Johannes Brahms Arvo Part Leon Janacek Iannis Xenakis Maurice Ravel Claude Debussy Terry Riley Sofia Gubaidulina Valentin Silvesterov ------------- Over land and under ashes In the sunlight, see - it flashes Find a fly and eat his eye But don't believe in me Don't believe in me Don't believe in me |
Posted By: BaldFriede
Date Posted: August 16 2010 at 13:36
You are not; I mentioned Hildegard von Bingen, Barbara Strozzi, Clara Schumann and Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel. ------------- BaldJean and I; I am the one in blue. |
Posted By: Gandalff
Date Posted: August 16 2010 at 14:40
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Posted By: Rocktopus
Date Posted: August 16 2010 at 16:15
I did. The other posts were just like; Its about time with some women. I sincerely doubt anyone here actually has Clara Schumann, Fanny Mendelssohn or even Hildegaard among their real favorites. The ones I mentioned are actually on my exclusive "best" list, that's the difference. ------------- Over land and under ashes In the sunlight, see - it flashes Find a fly and eat his eye But don't believe in me Don't believe in me Don't believe in me |
Posted By: BaldFriede
Date Posted: August 16 2010 at 17:08
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Definitely Hildegard. About the others: The problem with Clara and Fanny is that at their time it simply was not expected of women to compose. Clara gave up composing when she married Robert to make him better known (during their time she was much more famous than her husband; not for composing but for being a virtuoso piano player. Felix did not support his sister in her compositional efforts; there is a famous letter in which he scolds her for it. And Barbara Strozzi really does belong to my favourties, and she was well-renowned during her time. Her melody lines are exquisite .Unfortunately she was forgotten in latter times. ------------- BaldJean and I; I am the one in blue. |
Posted By: Rocktopus
Date Posted: August 16 2010 at 17:30
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^Ok. Just never noticed any of them in any of the previous favorite/best
classical composer threads here, over the last couple of years. Of course, I
know it wasn't expected of women to compose, or do anything else artistically
ambitious. Its tragic.
------------- Over land and under ashes In the sunlight, see - it flashes Find a fly and eat his eye But don't believe in me Don't believe in me Don't believe in me |
Posted By: BaldFriede
Date Posted: August 17 2010 at 03:08
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I bet hardly anyone ever heard the name Barbara Strozzi, and I must admit I had not heard it myself either until a few years ago when something of her was played on WDR 3, a local radio station which broadcasts a lot of classical music. WDR 3 often dig up forgotten composers; not all of them are top of the crop, but there are some which really deserve to be rediscovered, and Barbara Strozzi is one of them. Remember that Johann Sebastian Bach had been completely forgotten in the 19th century, and he probably would have remained that way had it not been for the efforts of Schumann and most of all Mendelssohn to make his works known again. He is now widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of all time; just think what treasures would have been lost for us had he really been forgotten. ------------- BaldJean and I; I am the one in blue. |
Posted By: Chris S
Date Posted: August 17 2010 at 03:15
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Edvard Grieg ------------- ...As I venture through the slipstream, between the viaducts in your dreams...[/COLOR] |
Posted By: Apsalar
Date Posted: August 17 2010 at 03:39
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At the fore of my life over the last couple of years: Luigi Nono Morton Feldman These two have been my biggest musical obsessions over the last five years or so. There are many other composers that are dear to me, but that I've only heard a handful of albums by, so I'm not so well versed in many of their works. |
Posted By: Gandalff
Date Posted: August 17 2010 at 09:23
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Oh! How could I forget phenomenal Zbigniew Preisner!
------------- A Elbereth Gilthoniel silivren penna míriel o menel aglar elenath! Na-chaered palan-díriel o galadhremmin ennorath, Fanuilos, le linnathon nef aear, sí nef aearon! |