Your Three Favorite Composers

[Dancing Divertimentian]

All music is by its nature mathematical. Rhythmic subdivisions and pitch relationships have their share of mathematical elements. It's not a dirty word...

No, not a dirty word for sure. I've just seen Bach's name smeared on this board as a one-dimensional "mathematical" hack. As in, no talent except for writing like a typewriter. Marvin's comment brought back some old memories. Not that he had that remotely in mind when he posted. 

....and I say that as someone who has at times played that marvelous opening chorus of BWV8 10-12 times in a row.

Yes, my kind of typewriter music.

[Dancing Divertimentian]

  Perhaps mathematical is not the best word here. How about academically sublime?

As long as "sublime" is in there somewhere then it's a winner.

[NorthNYMark]

Brahms--I cannot get enough of his somewhat darkly shaded melodicism, whether stormy or peaceful in effect.  Being relatively new to classical music, I still have a lot of his works (mainly from his chamber output) yet to explore, in part because I keep going back to re-listen to my favorite symphonies and concertos.

Beethoven--the consistent quality of all the works of his I've heard is staggering: I have yet to hear a string quartet, piano sonata, or symphony that hasn't made me want to hear more.  His work also seems to shine in a great variety of interpretive styles.

Bartok--while not quite as consistent for me, the string quartets alone are probably enough for him to make this list, though his position may be threatened as I become more familiar with composers like Webern or Ligeti.

[Ken B]

Bach is easy.

I've had a lot of faves in different periods: Mozart, Beethoven, to my eternal shame Mahler, Stravinsky, Bruckner, Palestrina, Brahms, even Sibelius. Long term Stravinsky is #2.

This year #3 is Haydn.

Michael Nyman some days.

[Ken B]

For all those throwing Haydn in your top 3 like me,  (or five or so), I wonder if I would have made him one of my three if I did not spend time at this forum.  I mean Gurn's (and others) passion for him has made me take pause and appreciate and enjoy his music at a higher level.

I took another look at him after I heard Brautigam's fortepiano set, which stunned me, as I had never been impressed by the music before. That sent me back to the trios and quartets I had always loved, and then HIP symphonies. Few post baroque composers benefit as much from HIP as Haydn. The Hogwood symphonies are magnificent, as are the Weil. The choral pieces sound less polished, more striving, more inventive.

[Ken B]

Having read all the replies I am struck by a few impressions.
This is not a typical bunch! The heavy battleships, Mahler, Shostakovich,  are way more popular here than in the general public. I suspect 60 minute symphonies appeal more to fanatics like us than most.

No Schubert. No early, except my attempt to smuggle Palestrina past Mirror Image's rules. I should mention Josquin and Dufay, and Fayrfax while I think of it. No Debussy. Surprising.

It looks like the list is skewed towards orchestral too.

Not sure it means much, just getting an impression of the members. I wonder how many of you have kids named Ludwig Gustav Dmitri. 

[amw]

Based on a combination of influence on my life & weighted listening preferences:

Beethoven (especially the late quartets & piano sonatas)
...
Schumann (early piano works, songs from 1840)
...
...
...
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Schubert (late chamber music & piano sonatas)
...
Bartók (string quartets & orchestral music)
Brahms (chamber music & piano works)
...
...
...
...
Mozart (piano concertos, string quintets & quartets, Da Ponte operas)
Haydn (string quartets, piano trios & symphonies)
Bach (keyboard music)
...
Chopin (Ballades, Scherzi, Polonaise-Fantasie, Sonatas, Mazurkas, Preludes)
...
...
Dvořák (symphonies, concertos, chamber music)
Ligeti (orchestral works, chamber & electronic music)
Medtner (sonatas, chamber music, Forgotten Melodies)
Cage (prepared piano music, number pieces, etudes, String Quartet in Four Parts)
Webern (entire output)
Nono (orchestral, choral & electronic music)
Stockhausen (chamber & electronic music)
Stravinsky (middle & late works)
(etc)

[Jay F]

1. Mahler

2. Beethoven

3. Shostakovich (to whom I shall listen obsessively today)

[Mirror Image]

3. Shostakovich

Glad you feel as strongly about his music as I do, Jay! Whereas you rank him your third, he'll forever be my numero uno.

[Mirror Image]

Mine would be the following:

Shostakovich:



Schnittke:



Hartmann:

I'm still extremely satisfied with these choices. But I'll go ahead and break my own rules (like you guys didn't see this coming ) and give Ravel, Stravinsky, Bartok, and Prokofiev honorable mentions.

[TheGSMoeller]

If I look back at the history of my listening career (like I'm getting paid for it) it would have to be R.Strauss, Prokofiev and Britten.
But in the past few years I've certainly been listening to more Haydn, Rameau and Berg. , soooo take your pick...I don't like this thread.   

Now just add Poulenc, Brahms and Glass and you have my three favorite sets of my three favorite composers. Until they change again. 

I would like to thank the fellow nominees Berlioz, Mozart, Dowland, Webern, Shoenfield, Biber and Rouse.

[Jay F]

Glad you feel as strongly about his music as I do, Jay! Whereas you rank him your third, he'll forever be my numero uno.

And he's new at #3, too. It's all about the SQs.

It used to be Mahler (always and forever #1), Beethoven, and Bach, but eventually I realized I don't listen to Bach all that obsessively. I have put St. Matthew Passion on for a month without listening to anything else, or played the organ records a lot when I had a turntable, but beyond that, I listen to Bach only a little. I've never experienced that "Must Find Different/Better Version" pathology with Bach, as I have with Mahler and Beethoven. My favorite SMP is the first one by Herreweghe, incidentally, and my organ records were all by Walcha.

As I said, I have, and have had (I give stuff away), numerous sets of Mahler symphonies and different Beethoven recordings, and I find myself now trying different versions of DSCH recordings. I have the Emerson and Fitzwilliam and Jerusalem versions of the SQs, and I'm going to include most, if not all, of your DSCH suggestions in my next Amazon order. It's become Mahler-like for me: I can't believe this music has existed all these years, and I've never listened to it (I discovered Mahler in 1987). I mean, that's a good thing: life should always have pleasant surprises.

So yes, it's Mahler, Beethoven, and Shostakovich. I just wish I could like the DSCH symphonies as much as I do the chamber music.

[Mirror Image]

And he's new at #3, too. It's all about the SQs.

It used to be Mahler (always and forever #1), Beethoven, and Bach, but eventually I realized I don't listen to Bach all that obsessively. I have put St. Matthew Passion on for a month without listening to anything else, or played the organ records a lot when I had a turntable, but beyond that, I listen to Bach only a little. I've never experienced that "Must Find Different/Better Version" pathology with Bach, as I have with Mahler and Beethoven. My favorite SMP is the first one by Herreweghe, incidentally, and my organ records were all by Walcha.

As I said, I have, and have had (I give stuff away), numerous sets of Mahler symphonies and different Beethoven recordings, and I find myself now trying different versions of DSCH recordings. I have the Emerson and Fitzwilliam and Jerusalem versions of the SQs, and I'm going to include most, if not all, of your DSCH suggestions in my next Amazon order. It's become Mahler-like for me: I can't believe this music has existed all these years, and I've never listened to it (I discovered Mahler in 1987). I mean, that's a good thing: life should always have pleasant surprises.

So yes, it's Mahler, Beethoven, and Shostakovich. I just wish I could like the DSCH symphonies as much as I do the chamber music.

Shostakovich's symphonies taken as a whole is one of the most outstanding achievements of the 20th Century IMHO. It does take some time to get into them if you're not accustomed to his musical language within an orchestral setting. One thing to remember is that his objective was certainly not the same objective that Mahler or Beethoven had, but I do feel that the music reads almost like a personal diary every bit as much as the more intimacy of his chamber works. Give them time. I wouldn't listen to them one after the other, but rather I think the little bit at a time approach works wonders for Shostakovich's symphonies because many of them are so emotionally draining. Key entry points for me were Symphonies Nos. 5, 6, & 7. After I devoured these symphonies, everything else seemed much easier to get my mind around.

[Ken B]

Jay F "I give stuff away"

My shipping address is ...

[Madiel]

You're all just a horrible bunch of Faure haters...

[Ken B]

You're all just a horrible bunch of Faure haters...

Not so! I'm a big fan. I programmed him a lot when I was in radio. A seriously underrated composer, despite the requiem.
I prefer him to Debussy or Ravel. People stare at me when I tell them this!

[ritter]

This is a tough one (if it were 5, it would be much easier).

Well, after some thinking, my "top 3" are:

Richard Wagner
Igor Stravinsky
Claude Debussy

The list might change now and then, but I doubt Wagner would ever fall from the top position...

P.S.: I also enjoy Fauré (many mélodies--La Bonne chanson!--, the String Quartet, Pélléas et Mélisande) but I would be one of the starers Ken B mentions 

[TheGSMoeller]

Not so! I'm a big fan. I programmed him a lot when I was in radio. A seriously underrated composer, despite the requiem.
I prefer him to Debussy or Ravel. People stare at me when I tell them this!

Absolutely, I always thought his major contribution was the Requiem. Until I heard his Piano trio, then his String Quartet, then the Piano Quintets, the Cello Sonatas, etc....
His chamber output is amazing, nothing quite like it.

[Mirror Image]

You're all just a horrible bunch of Faure haters...

I certainly don't hate Faure, but he's far from a favorite of mine. I do enjoy his Requiem and some of the chamber music like the Piano Quartets & Quintets. I also liked the Piano Trio, but I really need to revisit them all at some point.

[Madiel]

For me the chamber music is the pinnacle - one should throw the violin sonatas into the mix for starters - but there's also a string of absolutely wonderful piano pieces, and some of the songs are great as well.

It's funny how the Requiem is so prominent. My collection is currently Requiem-free.