Top 25 Favorite Composers

[TheGSMoeller]

Richard Strauss (Duett-Concertino for Clarinet and Bassoon)
William Byrd (Ye Sacred Muses)
Heinrich I. F. Biber (Violin Sonata No.3)
Jean-Philippe Rameau(Les Cyclopes)
Franz Joseph Haydn(Symphony No. 80 in D minor)
Hector Berlioz(Grande Messe des Morts)
Charles Ives(Piano Sonata No.2 "Concord")
Sergei Prokofiev(Symphony No. 7 in C sharp minor...although no. 6 in E flat Major is quickly becoming my top choice)
Benjamin Britten(Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings)
Philip Glass(Beauty and the Beast)   

This is my solid top ten, with R.Strauss being numero uno, the rest being chronological. R. Strauss' tone poems (Till Eulenspiegel in particular) initially sparked my interest in classical music. The rest of the list I'll present in chronological order...

John Dowland(Lachrimae)
Claudio Monteverdi(Orfeo)
J.S. Bach(Goldberg Variations)
Antonio Vivaldi(Mandolin Concerto)
Georg Philipp Telemann(Overture-Suite in C major, TV 55 no C 3 "Wassermusik")
W. A. Mozart(Die Zauberflöte)
Franz Schubert(String Quartet No. 14 in D minor)
Edward Elgar(The Music Makers)
Alban Berg(Wozzeck)
Francis Poulenc(Figure humaine)
Alfred Schnittke(Choir Concerto)
Michael Nyman(MGV)
Pascal Dusapin(A Quia, concerto for Piano and Orchestra)
David Lang(Little Match Girl Passion)
Paul Schoenfield(Vaudeville, for Piccolo Trumpet and Orchestra)

Just for sh**s and giggles I added my favorite piece by each, not necessarily in every case the piece I would consider their greatest accomplishment, but the one I enjoy the most.

[Mirror Image]

Today (likely to change without notice ):

1   Mahler
2   Beethoven
3   Shostakovich
4   Dvorak
5   Stravinsky
6   Martinu
7   Sibelius
8   Bruckner
9   Haydn
10   Rachmaninov
11   Brahms
12   Bartok
13   Bach
14   Korngold
15   Schubert
16   Prokofiev
17   Schoenberg
18   Copland
19   Villa-Lobos
20   Hindemith
21   Messiaen
22   Ravel
23   Roussel
24   Milhaud
25   Lutoslawski

I listen to music from all eras - Middle Ages to contemporary, by composers both familiar and obscure.  And I love almost all of it!  In the end, though, I seem to gravitate (mostly) to the best-known, best-loved composers.  Do I enjoy Holmboe?  Tubin?  Florent Schmitt?  Roger Sessions?  Absolutely!  Do I love them more than Mahler, or Brahms, or even Lutoslawski?  Probably not...

Excellent list! Good to see Roussel, Milhaud, Martinu, and, of course, Shostakovich on your list.

[Mtensk]

No Enescu in there....tut tut..

[Sergeant Rock]

No Enescu in there....tut tut..

Give us your 25...so we can do some tutting too 

Sarge

[madaboutmahler]

Just for sh**s and giggles I added my favorite piece by each, not necessarily in every case the piece I would consider their greatest accomplishment, but the one I enjoy the most.

That does sound like good fun, Greg - I think I'll do it too!

Looking back now, I'd probably make one or two changes. But I'll keep to this list for now as I still love these composers very dearly!

Gustav Mahler (Symphony no.6)
Richard Strauss (Eine Alpensinfonie)
Edward Elgar (Symphony no.2)
Maurice Ravel (Daphnis et Chloe)
Claude Debussy (La Mer)
Peter Illyich Tchaikovsky (Symphony no.6)
Frederick Chopin (anything!)
Ralph Vaughan Williams (Symphony no.6)
Johannes Brahms (Opus 118 Piano Pieces)
John Adams (Harmonielehre)
Leonard Bernstein (Symphonic Dances)
Sergei Rachmaninov (Piano Concerto no.3)
Alexander Glazunov (Symphony no.4)
Dmitri Shostakovich (Symphony no.10)
Sergei Prokofiev (Romeo and Juliet)
Carl Nielsen (Pan og Syrinx)
Ludwig van Beethoven (Symphony no.7)
Anton Bruckner (Symphony no.5)
Robert Schumann (Symphony no.4)
Robert Simpson (Symphony no.4)
Antonin Dvorak (Slavonic Dances)
Richard Wagner (Gotterdammerung)
Ottorino Respighi (Fountains of Rome)
Vitezslav Novak (De Profundis)
Sergei Bortkiewicz (Piano Concerto no.1)

Hard list to come up with... and of course not in any particular order, except perhaps from the first four who have remained my top 4 favourites for a long time now!

[PaulR]

Shostakovich
Prokofiev
Mussorgsky
Weinberg
Beethoven
B. Tchaikovsky
Berlioz
Mahler
Schumann
Schubert
P.I Tchaikovsky
Ives
Schnittke
Atterberg
Piston
Part
Britten
Brahms
Copland
Langgard, Rued
Nielsen, Carl.
Mendelssohn
Saint-Saens.
Sibelius
Dvorak.

[Lisztianwagner]

Mine could be:

Wagner
Beethoven
Liszt
Mahler
Rachmaninov
J. Strauss Sohn
Mozart
Tchaikovsky
R. Strauss
Shostakovich
Brahms
Holst
Sibelius
Chopin
Bruckner
Nielsen
Ravel
Debussy
Prokofiev
Dvořák
Respighi
J.S. Bach
Elgar
Schönberg
Schumann

After some time, I think I should change something in the second half of the list :

Holst (The Planets)
Ravel (Daphnis et Chloe)
Brahms (Symphony No.3)
Sibelius (Symphony No.5)
Chopin (Nocturnes)
Nielsen (Symphony No.4)
Debussy (La Mer)
Prokofiev (Romeo and Juliet)
Bruckner (Symphony No.7)
Dvořák (Slavonic Dances)
Respighi (Pines of Rome)
Elgar (Symphony No.2)
J.S. Bach (Well-Tempered Clavier)
Schumann (Symphony No.4)
Bartók (Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta)

[Brian]

1. Beethoven
2. Dvořák
3. Ravel
4. Chopin
5. Sibelius
6. Janáček
7. Mozart
8. Haydn
9. Shostakovich
10. J.S. Bach

and in a totally random order
Berlioz
Roussel
Debussy
Brahms
Atterberg
Rimsky-Korsakov
Martinů
Mussorgsky
Vivaldi
Tchaikovsky
Borodin
Gershwin
Khachaturian
Saint-Saëns
Lutoslawski

[North Star]

Added Pärt after noticed I missed him, and I just can't take anyone of the 26 off.

Ravel
Janacek
Chopin
Berlioz

Bach
Mozart
Shostakovich
Schubert
Sibelius
Prokofiev
Beethoven
Rakhmaninov
Dvorak
Tchaikovsky
Stravinsky
Bartók
Mahler
Schoenberg
Brahms
Martinu
Scriabin
Pärt
Haydn
Szymanowski
Debussy
Mussorgsky
Schumann

EDIT: Abort mission! where the heck is Bartók

[mc ukrneal]

Hmm. Another list. Why not?! I have not tried to put them in any particular order.
Brahms
Beethoven
Schubert
Schumann
Mozart
Haydn
Chopin
Coates (Eric)
Copland
Prokofiev
Tchaikovsky
Burgmuller
Offenbach
Donizetti
Verdi
Puccini
Dvorak
Elgar
Grieg
Holst
Saint-Saens
Grainger
Mendelssohn
Rachmaninov
Strauss, Richard

Alternates:
Monteverdi
Rossini
Liszt
Hummel
Lehar

[Mirror Image]

I asked my Dad tonight who his favorite composers are and he said the following:

Mahler
Liszt
Dvorak
Holst
Glazunov
Janacek
Mendelssohn
Rautavaara
Saint-Saens
Bruckner
Reger
Scriabin
Brahms

[Karl Henning]

If elected, I refuse to serve . . . .

Thread duty (not in any strict order):

Stravinsky
Tchaikovsky
Shostakovich
Chopin
Prokofiev
Sibelius
Nielsen
Mozart
Rakhmaninov
JS Bach
Bartók
Haydn
Hindemith
Berlioz
Victoria
Brahms
D Scarlatti
Beethoven
Debussy
Ravel
Schoenberg
Buxtehude
F Couperin
Vaughan Williams
Tallis

Pretty much holds up. Might want to wedge Holmboe in there, the better I get to know the string quartets, and the nore I hear of the chamber concerti.

[Karl Henning]

Pretty much holds up. Might want to wedge Holmboe in there . . . .

Never Delius, though.

I know some people around here go apeshit for it, but not me.

[TheGSMoeller]

Richard Strauss (Duett-Concertino for Clarinet and Bassoon))
William Byrd (Ye Sacred Muses)
Heinrich I. F. Biber (Violin Sonata No.3)
Jean-Philippe Rameau(Les Cyclopes)
Franz Joseph Haydn(Symphony No. 80 in D minor)
Hector Berlioz(Grande Messe des Morts)
Charles Ives(Piano Sonata No.2 "Concord")
Sergei Prokofiev(Symphony No.  6 in E flat Major
Benjamin Britten(Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings)
Philip Glass(Beauty and the Beast)   

This is my solid top ten, with R.Strauss being numero uno, the rest being chronological. R. Strauss' tone poems (Till Eulenspiegel in particular) initially sparked my interest in classical music. The rest of the list I'll present in chronological order...

John Dowland(Lachrimae)
Claudio Monteverdi(Orfeo)
J.S. Bach(Goldberg Variations)
Antonio Vivaldi(Mandolin Concerto)
Georg Philipp Telemann(Overture-Suite in C major, TV 55 no C 3 "Wassermusik")
W. A. Mozart(Die Zauberflöte)
Franz Schubert(String Quartet No. 15 in D minor)
Edward Elgar(Symphony No. 2)
Alban Berg(Wozzeck)
Francis Poulenc(Figure humaine)
Alfred Schnittke(Choir Concerto)
Michael Nyman(MGV)
Pascal Dusapin(A Quia, concerto for Piano and Orchestra)
David Lang(Little Match Girl Passion)
Paul Schoenfield(Vaudeville, for Piccolo Trumpet and Orchestra)

Mine is still mostly similar, the inclusion of Bruckner, Brahms, Faure and Rangstrom are possibilities.

[Karl Henning]

You're right, at that . . . need to wedge Bruckner in there, somehow, too . . . .

Come to think on't, I shall cue up some HvK Bruckner soon . . . .

[Brahmsian]

You're right, at that . . . need to wedge Bruckner in there, somehow, too . . . .

Come to think on't, I shall cue up some HvK Bruckner soon . . . .

Giddy up!  Bruckner on Karl's T25 list.  My prayers have been answered!!  The Abbey's Kool-Aid is working its magic! 

[Fafner]

This is my list in a semi-random order.

Shostakovich
Wagner
Beethoven
Bach, J.S.
Brahms
Bruckner
Tchaikovsky
Donizetti
Puccini
Verdi
Janáček
Martinů
Mahler
Mozart
Haydn
Dvořák
Bartók
Giordano
Bellini
Rossini
Vaughan Williams
Sibelius
Strauss, R.
Walton
Gershwin
--

Stravinsky, Rachmaninov and Prokofiev just barely did not make the cut.  Apparently all the Italians are hogging a lot of space

[Leo K.]

Here I go, thought about it for awhile, and it is fun to list 'em.

Mozart
Haydn
Dittersdorf
Johann Hasse
JC Bach
JS Bach
Friedrich II (King of Prussia)
Handel
Vivaldi
Salieri
Sammartini
Schubert
Beethoven
Schumann
Mendelssohn
Mahler
Brahms
Bruckner
Ives
Berg
Copland
Elgar
Mussorgsky
Borodin
Stravinsky

[Wakefield]

Just 12:

J.S. Bach
Haydn
Vivaldi
Schubert
Shostakovich
Frescobaldi
Monteverdi
Brahms
Schumann
Chopin
Rachmaninov
Mendelssohn

[Karl Henning]

Just 12:

J.S. Bach
Haydn
Vivaldi
Schubert
Shostakovich
Frescobaldi
Monteverdi
Brahms
Schumann
Chopin
Rachmaninov
Mendelssohn

A fine list of twelve, though, bien sûr.