Who is "greater," Bach or Beethoven?

[Marc]

No doubt, sir.

[Madonna's This used to be my playground]

Lovely.
Had not seen that clip for ages.

(Sigh.)

Oh, Madonna!

Once in my life, when I was young and innocent, I had such sweet dreams under my Who's That Girl? quilt cover .... 0:)



I only had the one on the left.
My friends gave it on my 24th birthday party and I was so happy!
They chose this one because it looked a bit more peaceful and dreamy, I guess.

After more than 10 years of serving, it sadly passed away.

Are there any Bach quilt covers?
Or do you think a portrait of good ol' Ludwig would be more appropiate?
(Just desperately trying to build a bridge to the original topic ....)

[Antoine Marchand]

Oh, Madonna!

Once in my life, when I was young and innocent, I had such sweet dreams under my Who's That Girl? quilt cover .... 0:)



I only had the one on the left.
My friends gave it on my 24th birthday party and I was so happy!
They chose this one because it looked a bit more peaceful and dreamy, I guess.

Nice memories! I recall a friend of mine who -when we were in secondary school- watched Desperately Seeking Susan eleven o twelve times at the cinema in our small city (named Osorno) in the South of Chile... BTW, what a lovely girl was also Rosanna Arquette!   

[Marc]

Nice memories! I recall a friend of mine who -when we were in secondary school- watched Desperately Seeking Susan eleven o twelve times at the cinema in our small city (named Osorno) in the South of Chile... BTW, what a lovely girl was also Rosanna Arquette!

She certainly was!

All I wanna do when I wake up in the morning is see your eyes
Rosanna, Rosanna
I never thought that a girl like you could ever care for me, Rosanna

All I wanna do in the middle of the evening is hold you tight
Rosanna, Rosanna
I didn't know you were looking for more than I could ever be

Madonna and Rosanna!

Two hotties in Desperately Seeking Susan!
It's an eighties classic!

(I think I saw it about five times, that's normal, isn't it?)

In those years I somehow turned to Madonna and her music, because:
1. I was still a teenager despite my age (and will be a teenager all my life).
2. I eventually got rather sick after all those years of digging myself into Joy Division, The Sisters of Mercy, The Cure et al. Madonna proved to be The Cure to me!

Oh, btw, at almost the same time The Cure released The Walk after all those years of Pornography. Robert Smith got cured, too!

Oh, btw 2: I never lost my love for Bach.

Oh, and about the poll: you may wake me every hour of the night for some great Ludwig van Beethoven!
You may NOT wake me every hour of the night for some great Sebastian Bach, because I already listen to him each day!!

[71 dB]

Beethoven is number 10 in my list of top composers while J. S. Bach is number 2. What did Beethoven write to compete with B minor Mass??

At the moment I am concentrating on Beethoven more closely and I will re-evaluate him if needed. The 3rd movement of Symphony 9 is actually very good and exploring his piano sonatas might offer many surprises. Please give me time! Beethoven wrote plenty of music.

[Todd]

Sorry, Bach. You helped lead the way but you were not the summit.

You, sir, are correct.

[Florestan]

What did Beethoven write to compete with B minor Mass??

Missa solemnis. 

[71 dB]

Missa solemnis. 

Well, yeah but personally I find B minor Mass clearly greater work, at least when it comes to counterpoint. Awesome work anyway. 

[greg]

Beethoven: 11
Bach: 6


If one is decided to be "greater" than the other, why is that?

[Opus106]

If one is decided to be "greater" than the other, why is that?

Due to an OCD to rate and poll on stuff?

[RJR]

I'll help you out with that analogy.

Who is greater: Mickey Mantle or Michael Jordan?

Mickey Mantle was my first hero/idol and he shall always remain so. It's a generational thing, you know.

[Guido]

Beethoven is number 10 in my list of top composers while J. S. Bach is number 2. What did Beethoven write to compete with B minor Mass??

You actually have a numerical order for your favourites?!

[Bulldog]

You actually have a numerical order for your favourites?!

I also have a numerical order; just about everyone does.  When are you going to join the majority?

[(poco) Sforzando]

You actually have a numerical order for your favourites?!

I prefer to order my favourites alphabetically.

[(poco) Sforzando]

Beethoven is number 10 in my list of top composers while J. S. Bach is number 2. What did Beethoven write to compete with B minor Mass??

The Agnus Dei from the Missa Solemnis is in B minor.

At the moment I am concentrating on Beethoven more closely and I will re-evaluate him if needed.

But if you make him higher than 10 someone else will have to sink to double digits.

[RJR]

J. S. Bach lived in a different historical period. He composed music as a tribute to Almighty God. Beethoven lived during the Napoleonic Wars. Revolution was in the air, as well the noise and smoke of artillery shells.  It was the beginning of the Enlightenment and it was also a period of political repression and secret police. New ideas were being brought forward from such luminaries as Kant, Hegel and Schiller. Beethoven's music aptly expressed this new world and still does to this day. Each was great for his time. Even so, my love for classical music began and took off with the music of Beethoven and it shall always remain that way. Although we live more in a Beethovenian world than we do in a Bachian one I think a combination of the two makes for a very solid foundation to shape ones secular and spiritual life. We could say that Bach was a Spiritual-Secularist and that Beethoven was a Secular-Spiritualist.

[jochanaan]

J.S. Bach was the summation of all that went before; Beethoven--despite those who want to box him into the Classical period--the avatar of all that came after.  You really cannot compare them, though they're both among the truly greatest.

[Sid]

I think they were both great for different reasons, as some people here have suggested (just like Madonna & Rosanna Arquette, LOL!). There should be an option to that effect in the poll.

As to which one I like best, that's another story. Beethoven wins hands down, although I'm only beginning to get into J. S. Bach's music in a bit more depth now. Just listened to Ruggiero Ricci's recording of two of the solo violin sonatas & partitas & it is amazing music. I prefer Bach played on a solo instrument, like violin, cello, organ or piano/harpsichord. Otherwise, I find his music a bit too complex & the counterpoint a bit too heavy. I really like, however, how composers in the c20th like Hindemith & Villa-Lobos (to take two) used the techniques laid down by old J. S. & shed new light on them. So I kind of like the people who Bach influenced more than his music per se, but with Beethoven I can listen to virtually anything he wrote (especially the chamber music) & have no problems with enjoying it...

[zamyrabyrd]

In his voluminous output, much larger than Beethoven's, Bach did not write any duds even in his smallest works  This is in contrast to the sometimes uneven quality of Beethoven piano sonatas, not to mention the monstrous Choral Fantasie and Wellington's Victory.  Bach's absolute mastery of counterpoint is undisputed, that places him in a higher class than those who wrote mainly homophonic tonal harmony, which he already excelled in.  His peers can only be the likes of a Shakespeare or Michelangelo.

ZB

[mc ukrneal]

...not to mention the monstrous Choral Fantasie and Wellington's Victory. 

Sorry, what's the problem with these? I love listening to them. 

[Florestan]

Sorry, what's the problem with these? I love listening to them.

+1.

Actually, I prefer the Choral Fantasie to the last movement of the Ninth by a wide margin. 

We could say that Bach was a Spiritual-Secularist and that Beethoven was a Secular-Spiritualist.

We could say anything we want, no doubt. The truth, though, is that Bach was a devout Lutheran, while Beethoven was an unconventionally-devout-bordering-on-deism-and-pantheism* Catholic.


* yet these "heresies" did not hinder him receiving the Last Rites, nor the Church burying him in consecrated ground with a Requiem Mass.