Favorite Composer for Each Letter of the Alphabet

[westknife]

Just for fun, folks. Surnames only, of course. Here's my list:

Adams (John Coolidge, not John Luther). His violin concerto and Nixon in China are among my favorite works ever.

Beethoven. 'Nuff said.

Chopin. Not one of my favorite composers, but I like him, and this letter doesn't have much competition (Cage? Carter? Copland? Corelli?)

Dvořák. Not a particularly bold choice, but I'm just not that big on Debussy.

Elgar. I confess I don't know him that well, but who else is there? I haven't explored Enescu yet.

Feldman. Not too familiar with him either, but this is another letter with weak competition.

Glass. Love his string quartets and cello music.

Haydn. Easy choice here.

Ives. The wonderfully singular American original.

Janáček. Don't know him too well, but I love the Sinfonietta.

Kodály. Another letter where I just don't know any composers very well. What I've heard of this guy I've liked, though.

Ligeti. One of my very favorites.

Mahler. Some hard choices in this letter, but I couldn't resist the Viennese gigantist.

Nielsen. Not too familiar here, but I do like the violin concerto.

O. Unfortunately I don't know any composers here! Ockeghem, maybe?

Prokofiev. The ever-lovable Russian.

Q. I'm at a total loss here... I hope to see some good recommendations for Q composers!

Rachmaninoff. I recently opened up to this guy. Almost went with Ravel, though.

Shostakovich. The HARDEST letter. Had to omit several of my favorite composers.

Tchaikovsky. He can get schlocky at times, but his Symphony No. 6 is beyond words. Also, who can resist the Nutcracker?

U. Recommendations are welcome...

Vivaldi. You might say all his concertos are exactly the same, but in that case they're all awesome.

Wagner. Easy choice here. Sorry, Carl Maria von Weber and Anton Webern, you are outclassed.

Xenakis. I'll be honest, he's the only one I know of. But I do like what I've heard.

Y. Sheesh...

Zappa. Does this count? Otherwise I've got nothin'. His "classical" works are quite interesting, even though his best material is obviously in rock/jazz.

[springrite]

Only naming a few that are different from yours:

Alkan

Bach

Qu Xiaosong

Rubbra

Takemitsu

Ustvolskaya

Veinberg

Isang Yun

B.A. Zimmermann

[DavidRoss]

Based on the number of recordings of their music that I own:

Adams, Beethoven, Copland (in a squeaker by one over Chopin), Dvořák (squeaker over Debussy), Elgar, Fauré & Falla (tied), Grieg, Haydn, Ives, Janáček, Korngold, Lutosławski, Mahler (squeaks by Mozart), Nielsen, Orff, Prokofiev, Ravel, Sibelius, Tchaikovsky, U-none, Vaughan Williams, Wagner, Xenakis, York, and Zelenka

edit--whoops, left out "Q"...must be Quantz

[Brahmsian]

Impossible to do!  Can we have at least, at least, 5 or 6 choices for certain letters?  Like 'B'! 

[springrite]

Impossible to do!  Can we have at least, at least, 5 or 6 choices for certain letters?  Like 'B'! 

No. You only get multiple choices for Q(5) and Z(4)!

[DavidW]

Arnold, Bach, Chopin, Dvorak, Elgar, Faure, Gorecki, Haydn, Ives, Janacek, Kurtag, Lutoslawski, Mozart, Nielsen, Onslow, Prokofiev, Ravel, Shostakovich, Tchaikovsky, Vivaldi, Webern, Xenakis.

[Lethevich]

Atterberg
Bax. No, Brahms. No, Bach! ...

I give up

[Grazioso]

This question is just mean: too many choices!  B , M, and S especially

Atterberg The best Romantic symphonist you haven't heard.
Bax Mesmerizing harmonies and wind writing.
Copland America the beautiful...
Debussy Because La Mer is quite possibly the coolest thing ever.
Elgar What the hell, we need some jingoistic marches once in a while.
Finzi Because British pastoralism isn't lame, honest.
Granados Very poetic, tuneful piano works.
Haydn Duh.
I got nothing.
Janacek A unique voice. And he was Czech, so automatic +1.
Korngold His symphony is ridiculously good. Not to mention all his other memorable work for concert and film.
Lilburn Because New Zealand pastoralism isn't lame, honest.
Mozart Double duh.
Novak Gorgeous late-Romantic Czech music.
Onslow A delightfully civilized late Classical/Early Romantic composer.
Part Making the old new again.
Quit asking such hard questions!
Rimsky-Korsakov He wrote the book on orchestration
Sibelius A string of perfect 20th-century symphonies.
Tchaikovsky In a sentimental mood.
U must be kidding
Vivaldi "You might say all his concertos are exactly the same, but in that case they're all awesome." Word.
Wagner Enormously fascinating and enormously annoying. Enormous enough to make the list, either way.
X marks the spot.
Y oh why have I no Y's in my collection?
Zemlinsky Lush late Romanticism from Schoenberg's brother-in-law.

[springrite]

Arnold, Bach, Chopin, Dvorak, Elgar, Faure, Gorecki, Haydn, Ives, Janacek, Kurtag, Lutoslawski, Mozart, Nielsen, Onslow, Prokofiev, Ravel, Shostakovich, Tchaikovsky, Vivaldi, Webern, Xenakis.

I especially like your choice of Kurtag!

[Brian]

Atterberg. Love the symphonies 3 and 8, like 5 and 6, enjoy the violin concerto, and that's about all that's needed to oust Albeniz and John Adams in this category.
Beethoven.
Chopin.
Dvořák. My favorite composer of all.
Einar Englund. I haven't listened to a single composer surnamed E in two months! I like more Englund (the concertos) than Elgar (Enigma, Cockaigne, bits of Symphony No 2) so there we are.
Farrenc. Her Nonet and Symphony No 1 are terrific.
Gershwin. Grieg, Gottschalk, Gorecki.
Haydn. Haydn + Harnoncourt = Heaven
Ibert. Such perky fun!
Janáček. A very easy choice.
Anders Koppel. For me a REALLY deep category, with Koppel edging out Kodály, Kalinnikov, Kapustin, Khachaturian, and Kalliwoda. As much as I admire Kalliwoda, I just listened to Koppel's Saxophone Concerto No 2 today and that piece is splendiferous!
Lutoslawski. Lauridsen, Liadov, Liszt and George Lloyd come to mind. Lutoslawski is here for the Concerto for Orchestra.
Mozart.
Nielsen. By default: I don't listen to anyone with the letter 'N'.
Offenbach.
Piazzolla. And it is NOT close. Poulenc in second place.
Q. Quoi?
Ravel.
Shostakovich. Sorry, Sibelius. So close!
Tchaikovsky. Waiting for ChamberNut to say Taneyev.
Ustvolskaya.
Villa Lobos. Not really enthusiastic about my options here, but Villa Lobos and Vaughan Williams are the ones I'm most likely to grow into.
Weinberg. That cello concerto is to die for. An opening that cuts my heart into tiny bits.
Xenakis. By default. I've heard one of his pieces.
Ysaye. No love for the solo violin sonatas!?
Zemlinsky. Saw the London Philharmonic do the Lyric Symphony live. Was amazed.

[DavidW]

I especially like your choice of Kurtag!

Between that and choosing Webern over Wagner I practically look like a modernist!

[mszczuj]

Alain
Beethoven - alphabets which have omly one B  are completely useless
Chopin
Dvořák
Elgar
Faure
Gesualdo
Haydn
Ives
Josquin
Kalinnikov
Liszt
Mozart
Nielsen
Ockeghem
Prokofiev
Quantz
Ravel
Szymanowski Schubert
Tchaikovsky
Ufki -I was just written Ustvolskaya who only is to be listened by me in the future when my memory offers me this funny guy
Vaughan Williams
Wagner
Xenakis
Yoshimatsu
Zelenka


I did it in fact only to boast I know composers on U.

[The new erato]

Quilter wrote very good songs. Check the Naxos issue.

[TheGSMoeller]

A - Adams
B - Bach, Beethoven, Berg, Berlioz, Britten, Bruckner...

oh I give up.

[some guy]

Andre
Bruemmer
Cage
Dumitrescu
eRikm
Ferrari
Groult
Harrison
Ichiyanagi
Justel
Kagel
Lachenmann
Maderna
Null
Oliveros
Partch
Quellet
Radigue
Steen-Andersen
Tudor
Uitti
Varese
Wolff
Xenakis
Yoshihide
Z'ev

[springrite]

Andre
Bruemmer
Cage
Dumitrescu
eRikm
Ferrari
Groult
Harrison
Ichiyanagi
Justel
Kagel
Lachenmann
Maderna
Null
Oliveros
Partch
Quellet
Radigue
Steen-Andersen
Tudor
Uitti
Varese
Wolff
Xenakis
Yoshihide
Z'ev

Ummm...

I will take Harrison and Xenakis...

[Brian]

Ufki -I was just written Ustvolskaya who only is to be listened by me in the future when my memory offers me this funny guy

Oh! I have heard Ustvolskaya's piano concerto and liked it very much. Forgot about her, but she would be my choice.

[Bulldog]

This is easy, but it does take a little time:

Atterberg
J.S. Bach
Chopin
Dvorak
Enescu
Froberger
Granados
Handel
Ireland
Janacek
Krenek
Leighton
Myaskovsky
Nielsen
Onslow
Prokofiev
Quantz (by default)
Ravel
Shostakovich
B. Tchaikovsky
V. Ullmann
Vaughan Williams
Weinberg
Xenakis
Yun
Zemlinsky

[westknife]

What I've learned so far: I must check out Kurt Atterberg.

[PaulR]

Atterberg
Beethoven
Copland
Dvorak
Elgar (By default)
Faure
Grieg
Haydn
Ives
Janacek
Katchaturian
Larsson
Mussorgsky
Nielson
Orff (By default)
Prokofiev
Q (N/A)
Rautavaara
Shostakovich
Tchaikovsky
U (N/A)
Verdi
Weinberg
X (N/A)
Y (N/A)
Zemlimsky