Classical composers who most influenced prog?

Hey guys. We all know that a good portion of prog is influenced by Classical music. So I've begun this topic to ask you guys which composers YOU think are the ones that most influenced prog in general and why.

For me at least it seems that each band was influenced by different things. The first thing that comes to mind, however, are Barroque and Romantic composers. Specifically, Bach and Mussorgsky, because of ELP. Those are the first ones that come to mind when I think of prog, although I can think of a lot of other composers from those periods (and Modern ones too).

Interestingly, I can't easily think of any bands that were influenced by the Classical period, of Mozart, Haydn and early Beethoven. Maybe if I think harder I'll remember something, but when I think of Mozart nothing initially springs to my mind. Maybe because it's "too mainstream" for prog bands?

So, what composers do YOU guys think were the most important for prog bands?

The obvious ones would be the ones ELP, The Nice, or Triumvirat covered.  I'm going to toss in Debussy for doing sonic pictures, and I think one which ELP never covered.

Edited by Slartibartfast - December 05 2011 at 09:53

Igor Stravinsky

Most classical composers who belong to the canon of music have influenced all rock and pop music, because they belong to the same continuum.

Henry Cow sounds a lot like Messiaen's music.

And we wouldn't have symph prog without the excesses of Baroque and Romantic period.

Elton John's playing in this song is close to classical era music, Mozart, Hayden,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wA-9Joq549E

Hi,

Edited by moshkito - March 20 2013 at 13:08