Your favorite composer born in 1685

[Bulldog]

Very simple question, and my quick answer is Bach.  It is really something that these three composers were born in the same year, clearly one of the best years in history.

[Lisztianwagner]

Although I like all those three composers, I think I'll vote for Bach, his music is very beautiful and harmonic. I especially love his Well-Tempered Clavier, what a masterpiece!

[Gurn Blanston]

Scarlatti.

[Bulldog]

Scarlatti.

Do you most enjoy Scarlatti's keyboard sonatas?  What do you think of his vocal works?

[kishnevi]

Ahem.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lodovico_Giustini

How can you forget the man who was the first composer to actually write for the piano?



Alberti, also, and probably some others whose named did not pop out at me from the Wikipedia list.
Actually, my pick is Bach.

[SonicMan46]

Papa Bach is the MAN of that year for me! 

Handel - I enjoy his instrumental works a lot, but just not the variety (or quality in part?) of JS Bach, IMHO - 

Scarlatti - he seems to be in the cornered into his keyboard works (555 sonatas!) - where's the variety?  Dave 

[Bulldog]

Ahem.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lodovico_Giustini

How can you forget the man who was the first composer to actually write for the piano?



Alberti, also, and probably some others whose named did not pop out at me from the Wikipedia list.

I was a little tempted to include Pachebel, but his exact year of birth is not certain.  Also, I felt that Handel and Scarlatti were the only two who might have a shot of putting up some healthy numbers with Bach in the mix.  However, there's nothing healthy about (1).

[jlaurson]

OK... which prat voted for Handel? 


(Love Scarlatti, but there can only be one answer to this question.)

[Bulldog]

Papa Bach is the MAN of that year for me! 

Handel - I enjoy his instrumental works a lot, but just not the variety (or quality in part?) of JS Bach, IMHO - 

Scarlatti - he seems to be in the cornered into his keyboard works (555 sonatas!) - where's the variety?  Dave 

Being a little generous, Handel can hold his own with Bach on the vocal front; with the rest he's way below.

Didn't Scarlatti write a bunch of vocal/choral works?  Anyways, his Stabat Mater has around 20 recordings on ArkivMusic.  But you're right; he's totally cornered into the keyboard repertoire.

A Handel/Scarlatti clone could give Bach some stiff competition.

[SonicMan46]

Didn't Scarlatti write a bunch of vocal/choral works?  Anyways, his Stabat Mater has around 20 recordings on ArkivMusic.  But you're right; he's totally cornered into the keyboard repertoire.

Well, outside my half dozen discs of Scarlatti's keyboard sonatas (piano & harpsichord - does one need ALL of them - wondering?) - but I do have the Stabat Mater shown below; nothing else - in fact although I own just a handful of CDs by Domenico's father, there is more variety there in this small collection -

[Elgarian]

As a favourite, no contest: Handel. The Italian cantatas, the operas ... part of the fabric of my being, now.

[North Star]

All three are certainly great composers, but Scarlatti and Handel are no match to Bach's mastery in the forms of the solo violin & cello works, organ works, harpsichord works, concertos, and choral works

[val]

Bach.

[marvinbrown]

Very simple question, and my quick answer is Bach.  It is really something that these three composers were born in the same year, clearly one of the best years in history.

  Reading this put a smile on my face, especially coming from you Don  .  I voted for Bach obviously- a true musical genuis. 

  Lest you believe that 1685 is THE best year in history, I politely point out to you that 1813 is also ONE of the best years in history- Verdi and Wagner were born that year! and what a glorious year that was for opera fans!

  marvin

[jlaurson]

Well, outside my half dozen discs of Scarlatti's keyboard sonatas (piano & harpsichord - does one need ALL of them - wondering?) - but I do have the [Cleobury / EMI] Stabat Mater; nothing else - in fact although I own just a handful of CDs by Domenico's father, there is more variety there in this small collection -

Essential Domenico

There are so many Stabat Maters (Arkiv only shows 18 because many have been deleted)... and I haven't heard them all,

but my favorites are by some margin Alessandrini (naive/op111) and Van Nevel (accent)

Does one need all the keyboard sonatas? No, surely not. Not anyone who asks the question, at any rate. 
But there are a couple essentials:

Pletnev / Virgin pf

Hantai 0 / naive harpsichord

Horowitz / Sony pf

Hantai 1 / Mirare harpsichord

Sudbin / BIS pf

Hantai 2 / Mirare harpsichord

Tharaud / Virgin pf

Hantai 3 / Mirare harpsichord

Pogorelich / DG pf

Ross / Erato harpsichord

Zhu Xiao-Mei / Mirare pf

[Karl Henning]

(Love Scarlatti, but there can only be one answer to this question.)

My own sentiment hews fairly close.

[Lethevich]

OK... which prat voted for Handel? 

(Hides), although it seems that others have followed.

Scarlatti doesn't do enough for me - a million keyboard sonatas and a few vocal works is insufficient. Bach I like a lot, but mainly because of his solo instrumental music. Handel strikes a fine balance between nice concertos, some decent solo instrumental works and perfect vocal music. I have endless fun with his oratorios, but do not with Bach's cantatas. Although none are my favourite composers overall.

[Karl Henning]

Didn't Scarlatti write a bunch of vocal/choral works?

There's certainly Alessandro Scarlatti (1660–1725), Domenico's papa, whose oeuvre centers on opera and cantata.

[Karl Henning]

My own sentiment hews fairly close.

Having said that, however: I abstain respectfully : )

[71 dB]

Bach. Then Handel and then Scarlatti.

Didn't Scarlatti write a bunch of vocal/choral works? 

He composed in a variety of musical forms like his father Alessandro but is nowadays known for the 555 sonatas.