Top 25 Favorite Composers

Started by Winky Willy, March 01, 2012, 12:52:34 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Mirror Image

Quote from: kyjo on August 02, 2021, 07:51:17 PM
Truth is, I don't really listen to Shostakovich's music nearly as often as I used to. Of course, I don't doubt that he's a great composer, but his often angst-ridden style isn't something I really gravitate towards these days. The same goes with my relationship with Mahler's music.

I can certainly understand this and I sympathize with it. I seem to be heading in the opposite direction as you. I've only really come around to Mahler or Shostakovich in the past 5-6 years. Their music scratches a particular itch and I find them hugely satisfying. What's interesting is I can barely make through a Pettersson symphony (with the bold exception of the 6th, 7th and 8th symphonies) and yet I can listen to Shostakovich or even Schnittke with no problems. :-\ I guess it is perhaps because they have a certain aesthetic that I find alluring. But I will also say that there is some heartbreakingly gorgeous music in Shostakovich and Mahler. For me, how could anything match the beauty of say Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen from Mahler's song cycle Rückert-Lieder for example. Damn, now I want to listen to this work! ;D

amw

Honestly I don't have any serious arguments with either of my old lists. Maybe one minor change but it's debatable.
Quote from: amw on December 18, 2018, 03:37:22 AM
...
by order of preference

  • Schubert
  • Mozart
  • Dvořák
  • Poulenc
  • Schumann
  • Tchaikovsky
  • Haydn
  • Sciarrino
  • Bach
  • Beethoven
  • Bartók
  • Martinů
  • Cage
  • Brahms
  • Ligeti
  • Mendelssohn
  • Janáček
  • Nono
  • Saunders (R)
  • Machaut
  • Holliger
  • Fauré
  • Chopin
  • Prokofiev
  • Berlioz Scarlatti
___________
by importance to my life/history/personal development etc

  • Beethoven
  • Schumann
  • Schubert
  • Brahms
  • Bartók
  • Bach
  • Mozart
  • Haydn
  • Chopin
  • Dvořák
  • Cage
  • Debussy
  • Stravinsky
  • Ligeti
  • Holliger
  • Sciarrino
  • Barrett (R)
  • Finnissy
  • Webern
  • Stockhausen
  • Martinů
  • Machaut
  • Fauré
  • Grisey
  • Nono

Pohjolas Daughter

#202
Well, 25 is more reasonable!  :)

In addition to my 10 here (which I had posted in the other thread):

Vaughan Williams
Sibelius
Janacek
Bartok
Kodaly
Mozart
Dvorak
Shostakovich
Chopin
Debussy

Ravel
Bach
Martinu
Rachmaninov
Tchaikovsky
Schubert
Schumann
Grieg
Handel
Beethoven
Haydn
Brahms
Fauré

Last two...Not certain who I would pick for those.  :-\

Note:  I wasn't thinking about opera and/or vocal music here for the most part--with the exception of Handel who just jumped in there on his own!  :D  Others from my list would work too.  As another aside, *I love works for piano and cello so that figured in strongly though, again, I like other works by some of the composers too; for example, I love Shostakovich's Cello Suite No. 2, his Cello Concerto No. 1 but also love his Symphony No. 5.  Love a number of works for solo piano and also piano concertos (Grieg as an example for both of these).

*Edit:  And how could I forget to mention works for violin!

PD

Pohjolas Daughter

foxandpeng

#203
Order in which they occurred to me and based largely on what I am currently playing, more than anything else. I guess if I am playing them most, I broadly am enjoying them most. I've filtered out those I am playing a lot, but who probably haven't earned enough of a place in my affections yet to displace these. I'm thinking of folk like W Schuman, Kernis, Barber, Aho, Lloyd, Kallstenius, Nørgård, Bræin, Glass, Rehnqvist ...I know I'm missing lots of big guns, and lots with whom I should be familiar, but I'm not. Where is Mahler? I need to revisit him, clearly. It also strikes me how 'symphony heavy' my listening is. Anyway, idiosyncratic as it may be, here are mine atm.

Arnold
Tubin
Holmboe
Diamond
Hovhaness
Bax
RVW
Vasks
Shostakovich
Pettersson
Rautavaara
Beethoven
Pavlova
Rubbra
Nielsen
Sibelius
Prokofiev
Glazunov
Kancheli
Hanson
Bruckner
Tippett
Hindemith
Rosenberg
Kalnins
Sallinen (26)

It also interests how few have Havergal Brian in their top 25, despite his seeming popularity and the length of listing in his thread. Why is that?

Edit: 21 August, 17.05
"A quiet secluded life in the country, with the possibility of being useful to people ... then work which one hopes may be of some use; then rest, nature, books, music, love for one's neighbour — such is my idea of happiness"

Tolstoy

vers la flamme

Quote from: foxandpeng on August 21, 2021, 07:49:35 AM


It also interests how few have Havergal Brian in their top 25, despite his seeming popularity and the length of listing in his thread. Why is that?

Edit: 21 August, 17.05

That would be because 90% of the posts in the massive Brian thread come from 2 or 3 people, and as one of them once told me when I was new to GMG, "we repeat ourselves a lot". Regardless, it's an impressive thread, of "Gothic" proportions.

Hmm, let me try this... no particular order:

Maurice Ravel
Robert Schumann
Ludwig van Beethoven
Franz Schubert
Johannes Brahms
Johann Sebastian Bach
Anton Webern
Anton Bruckner
Gustav Mahler
Erik Satie
Alexander Scriabin
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Arvo Pärt
Pierre Boulez
Morton Feldman
Frédéric Chopin
Claude Debussy
George Frideric Handel
Joseph Haydn
Sergei Rachmaninov
Max Reger
Camille Saint-Saëns
Alfred Schnittke
Arnold Schoenberg
Jean Sibelius

Subject to change as I get older and wiser, or otherwise...

kyjo

#205
Quote from: foxandpeng on August 21, 2021, 07:49:35 AM
Arnold
Tubin
Holmboe
Diamond
Hovhaness
Bax
RVW
Vasks
Shostakovich
Pettersson
Rautavaara
Beethoven
Pavlova
Rubbra
Nielsen
Sibelius
Prokofiev
Glazunov
Kancheli
Hanson
Bruckner
Tippett
Hindemith
Rosenberg
Kalnins
Sallinen (26)

Wow...your tastes are frighteningly similar to vandermolen's!! Except for the fact that Myaskovsky is absent from your list, of course. :D
"Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music" - Sergei Rachmaninoff

Symphonic Addict

Quote from: kyjo on August 21, 2021, 03:14:06 PM
Wow...your tastes are frighteningly similar to vandermolen's!! Except for the fact that Myaskovsky is absent from your list, of course. :D

And yours, too! Be honest.  ;)
Part of the tragedy of the Palestinians is that they have essentially no international support for a good reason: they've no wealth, they've no power, so they've no rights.

Noam Chomsky

kyjo

Quote from: Symphonic Addict on August 21, 2021, 03:16:27 PM
And yours, too! Be honest.  ;)

True...but the main difference is that you and I are generally more fond of composers from the Romantic era (e.g. Brahms, Dvorak, Saint-Saëns, Mendelssohn, Schubert) than vandermolen and foxandpeng. ;)
"Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music" - Sergei Rachmaninoff

Symphonic Addict

Quote from: kyjo on August 21, 2021, 03:24:03 PM
True...but the main difference is that you and I are generally more fond of composers from the Romantic era (e.g. Brahms, Dvorak, Saint-Saëns, Mendelssohn, Schubert) than vandermolen and foxandpeng. ;)

Well said, my friend!  0:)
Part of the tragedy of the Palestinians is that they have essentially no international support for a good reason: they've no wealth, they've no power, so they've no rights.

Noam Chomsky

foxandpeng

Quote from: kyjo on August 21, 2021, 03:14:06 PM
Wow...your tastes are frighteningly similar to vandermolen's!! Except for the fact that Myaskovsky is absent from your list, of course. :D

I stand in in esteemed company. But yes, you are quite correct. We have lots of crossover, and I rarely see a post by Vandermolen that I can't relate to!

As for the absence of Miaskovsky, that's only because of lack of familiarity 🙂
"A quiet secluded life in the country, with the possibility of being useful to people ... then work which one hopes may be of some use; then rest, nature, books, music, love for one's neighbour — such is my idea of happiness"

Tolstoy

Mirror Image

Quote from: Mirror Image on July 31, 2021, 07:19:54 PM
OMG...let's see if I can make a list...

The top five are in order, but the rest gets a bit hazy after those, but here's my list:

Debussy
Mahler
Strauss
Bartók
Ravel

Sibelius
Shostakovich
Martinů
Stravinsky
Dvořák

Berlioz
Vaughan Williams
Tchaikovsky
Prokofiev
Nielsen

Villa-Lobos
Schoenberg
Berg
Janáček
Schnittke

Korngold
Glazunov
Lutosławski
Poulenc
Enescu

I'm going to have to make some additions and subtractions now...

Debussy
Mahler
Strauss
Bartók
Ravel

Sibelius
Shostakovich
Martinů
Stravinsky
Dvořák

Berlioz
Bruckner
Tchaikovsky
Prokofiev
Nielsen

Villa-Lobos
Schoenberg
Berg
Janáček
Schnittke

Penderecki
Wagner
Lutosławski
Szymanowski
Weinberg

Pohjolas Daughter

Quote from: Mirror Image on August 31, 2021, 08:18:00 PM
I'm going to have to make some additions and subtractions now...

Debussy
Mahler
Strauss
Bartók
Ravel

Sibelius
Shostakovich
Martinů
Stravinsky
Dvořák

Berlioz
Bruckner
Tchaikovsky
Prokofiev
Nielsen

Villa-Lobos
Schoenberg
Berg
Janáček
Schnittke

Penderecki
Wagner
Lutosławski
Szymanowski
Weinberg

O.k., I could see adding Martinu, but taking out Vaughan Williams for him?!  ???  I think that you just gave poor Jeffrey a heart attack!  ;)

PD
Pohjolas Daughter

Mirror Image

Quote from: Pohjolas Daughter on September 01, 2021, 03:03:20 AM
O.k., I could see adding Martinu, but taking out Vaughan Williams for him?!  ???  I think that you just gave poor Jeffrey a heart attack!  ;)

PD

Martinů was on my old list. ;)

Pohjolas Daughter

Quote from: Mirror Image on September 01, 2021, 06:35:21 AM
Martinů was on my old list. ;)
Ah, o.k., yes I see him there now.  So, who did you think was worth replacing Vaughan Williams with?

PD
Pohjolas Daughter

Mirror Image

#214
Quote from: Pohjolas Daughter on September 01, 2021, 07:06:20 AM
Ah, o.k., yes I see him there now.  So, who did you think was worth replacing Vaughan Williams with?

PD

It wasn't just Vaughan Williams that I switched out, but several others. :) But now that I think about it, I should put RVW back in...

Okay, so now for another update....

Debussy
Mahler
Strauss
Bartók
Ravel

Sibelius
Shostakovich
Martinů
Stravinsky
Dvořák

Berlioz
Vaughan Williams
Tchaikovsky
Prokofiev
Nielsen

Villa-Lobos
Schoenberg
Berg
Janáček
Schnittke

Penderecki
Wagner
Lutosławski
Szymanowski
Weinberg

Pohjolas Daughter

Quote from: Mirror Image on September 01, 2021, 07:17:36 AM
It wasn't just Vaughan Williams that I switched out, but several others. :) But now that I think about it, I should put RVW back in...

Okay, so now for another update....

Debussy
Mahler
Strauss
Bartók
Ravel

Sibelius
Shostakovich
Martinů
Stravinsky
Dvořák

Berlioz
Vaughan Williams
Tchaikovsky
Prokofiev
Nielsen

Villa-Lobos
Schoenberg
Berg
Janáček
Schnittke

Penderecki
Wagner
Lutosławski
Szymanowski
Weinberg

"Excuses! Excuses!"  But I'll forgive you....this time. ;)
Pohjolas Daughter

Mirror Image


DavidW

Not the same thing but I looked over the music I've been listening to the for the past several months and it looks like my most played composers have been

Bach
Elgar
Schubert
Mozart
Shostakovich

Those are not my top just my top of 2021.

foxandpeng

Quote from: foxandpeng on August 21, 2021, 07:49:35 AM
Order in which they occurred to me and based largely on what I am currently playing, more than anything else. I guess if I am playing them most, I broadly am enjoying them most. I've filtered out those I am playing a lot, but who probably haven't earned enough of a place in my affections yet to displace these. I'm thinking of folk like W Schuman, Kernis, Barber, Aho, Lloyd, Kallstenius, Nørgård, Bræin, Glass, Rehnqvist ...I know I'm missing lots of big guns, and lots with whom I should be familiar, but I'm not. Where is Mahler? I need to revisit him, clearly. It also strikes me how 'symphony heavy' my listening is. Anyway, idiosyncratic as it may be, here are mine atm.

Arnold
Tubin
Holmboe
Diamond
Hovhaness
Bax
RVW
Vasks
Shostakovich
Pettersson
Rautavaara
Beethoven
Pavlova
Rubbra
Nielsen
Sibelius
Prokofiev
Glazunov
Kancheli
Hanson
Bruckner
Tippett
Hindemith
Rosenberg
Kalnins
Sallinen (26)

It also interests how few have Havergal Brian in their top 25, despite his seeming popularity and the length of listing in his thread. Why is that?

Edit: 21 August, 17.05

I sometimes wonder whether I am the same person from month to month, when I read these lists. I know I listen to a lot of music compared to most people (apart from the members of this august group, amongst whom I am a mere listening minnow and knowledge novice), but my likes and loves shift and change massively.

Anyway, here is the November 2nd version of the truth.

Arnold
Antheil
Bax
Piston
Tabakov
Nørgård
Matthews (David)
Sawyers
Tubin
Holmboe
Diamond
Hovhaness
RVW
Vasks
Shostakovich
Pettersson
Rautavaara
Pavlova
Rubbra
Nielsen
Prokofiev
Kancheli
Hanson
Tippett
Rosenberg
Kalnins (Imants)

Am I allowed to place Elena Ruehr and Peter Maxwell Davies in the hinterland, even though Ruehr makes it just for her SQs and PMD is a great rediscovery that I don't understand, makes little sense to me yet, and I am still only feeling the edges for his music? Does airtime and a compelling desire to revisit make a favourite?

It doesn't really matter.
"A quiet secluded life in the country, with the possibility of being useful to people ... then work which one hopes may be of some use; then rest, nature, books, music, love for one's neighbour — such is my idea of happiness"

Tolstoy

kyjo

Quote from: foxandpeng on November 02, 2021, 06:25:36 AM
Arnold
Antheil
Bax
Piston
Tabakov
Nørgård
Matthews (David)
Sawyers
Tubin
Holmboe
Diamond
Hovhaness
RVW
Vasks
Shostakovich
Pettersson
Rautavaara
Pavlova
Rubbra
Nielsen
Prokofiev
Kancheli
Hanson
Tippett
Rosenberg
Kalnins (Imants)

Always encouraging to see someone who has such a great appreciation for the wide variety of fine music written during the 20th and 21st centuries. The 20th century - well, the first 60 or so years of it, anyway - is my "desert island" period of classical music. Though, I certainly wouldn't want to be without the music of the Classical and Romantic eras!
"Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music" - Sergei Rachmaninoff