Great composers whom you like a few works of, but who usually bore you.

[Chaszz]

Tchaikovsky

(and he had the nerve to disrespect Brahms!)

[springrite]

Tchaikovsky

(and he had the nerve to disrespect Brahms!)

Yes, him. Also maybe Mendelssohn.

[Christo]

What about great composers who usually bore my neighbours, yet I like a few works of? 

Anyhow, a few names that pop up in my mind are those of Brahms, Schumann, Sibelius. 

[Rinaldo]

Basically most of the romantics. 19th century was such a snoozefest! *ducks into cover*

And Mahler. *ducks into the Mariana Trench* I've yet to give up on him, though. There must be something I'm missing.

[springrite]

And Mahler. *ducks into the Mariana Trench* I've yet to give up on him, though. There must be something I'm missing.

Keep at it. You will be rewarded in the end and, hopefully not literally, when the 9th will suddenly make sense to you. 

[TheGSMoeller]

Things change...

15 Years Ago
Brahms: Boring as Hell
Mahler: Turn it up!

Present Day:
Brahms: Wouldn't want to know a day without his music.
Mahler: 

[Brahmsian]

Things change...

15 Years Ago
Brahms: Boring as Hell
Mahler: Turn it up!

Present Day:
Brahms: Wouldn't want to know a day without his music.
Mahler: 

Yes, it is amazing how things change.  When I first listened to classical music, I wanted nothing to do with Brahms, Mozart and Tchaikovsky, and I absolutely detested 'The Nutcracker'.

All of those have changed big time! 

[springrite]

Yes, it is amazing how things change.  When I first listened to classical music, I wanted nothing to do with Brahms, Mozart and Tchaikovsky, and I absolutely detested 'The Nutcracker'.

All of those have changed big time! 

That's mainly because you turned into a Chamber Nut.

[Brahmsian]

That's mainly because you turned into a Chamber Nut.

[Lisztianwagner]

Giuseppe Verdi; I have never been able to become a great fan of his music, although I tried to listen to his operas on several occasions. The only Verdi's works I seriously appreciate are the Requiem and Falstaff as well as some overtures/arias from the operas.

[Brian]

This title is a great way of describing my views of Stravinsky, Bartok, Mendelssohn, Handel, Liszt, Wagner, and Mahler.

Wow those are some big names. 

Works I like/love (note, I may be forgetting some!):

Stravinsky - Petrushka (love), Firebird
Bartok - Piano Concerto 3, Romanian Folk Dances
Mendelssohn - Octet (love), Quartet in F minor, Sextet, Violin concerto in E minor, Lieder ohne Worte
Handel - some but not all of the Water/Fireworks music
Liszt - really depends on my mood
Wagner - bleeding chunks, depends on my mood
Mahler - pretty much all the vocal music, Symphonies 1 and 3 (love all these)

[kyjo]

Brahms-There's only individual movements in his pieces that I really enjoy, for example the third movement of Symphony no. 3 and the finale of the VC. Unfortunately, I have a strong urge to doze off in some of his music, especially his slow movements.

Mozart-As I've mentioned before, I very much enjoy his PCs 20-27, the Clarinet Concerto and Symphonies 25 and 39-41. Aside from those, Mozart doesn't get me too pumped up.

Holst-I've got more lesser-known Holst coming in the mail, so I haven't really given him a fair shake, but I'm not to enthralled with a lot of his music besides The Planets, The Perfect Fool, and Egdon Heath.

Webern-Love his three early works (Passacaglia, Im Sommerwind and Langsamer Satz), but his later work baffles me.

This applies to most of the Baroque composers as well. Those are the ones that come to mind offhand.

[kyjo]

Stravinsky - Petrushka (love), Firebird

I'm inclined to agree with you on Stravinsky, Brian. These two works, along with The Rite, are by far my favorite works by him.

[kyjo]

Things change...

15 Years Ago
Brahms: Boring as Hell
Mahler: Turn it up!

Present Day:
Brahms: Wouldn't want to know a day without his music.
Mahler: 

That's encouraging news about Brahms, Greg. I'm still in the process of warming up to his music. BTW, you shall be stricken by a Mahlerian hammer for turning your back on him!

[TheGSMoeller]

That's encouraging news about Brahms, Greg. I'm still in the process of warming up to his music. BTW, you shall be stricken by a Mahlerian hammer for turning your back on him!

Not completely turned my back (on Mahler), I've been listening to Symphony No. 4 a lot this past year.

[Florestan]

Bruckner: S1, S4 and parts of S7, S8

Stravinsky --- Petrushka

Schoenberg --- Gurrelieder

[Brahmsian]

Stravinsky --- Petrushka

[jochanaan]

My first thought was, "If he's a great composer, I like all his/her music!"  But on further reflection, there are a number of composers who wrote many works that are just "fair" but a few that resonate hard with me.

I've mentioned Richard Strauss; many of his later works leave me bored, but a few such as Zarathustra and Death and Transfiguration are just wonderful to me, and all his early music is at least interesting.  Dvořak is somewhat the same way: much of his music leaves me unmoved, but (among others) the last three symphonies, Carnival Overture and Cello Concerto are magnificent.  (He's the opposite of R. Strauss: his early music seems much less transcendent than his later stuff.)  Similarly Schubert wrote much that doesn't particularly inspire me (and lots and lots I haven't heard at all!) but a number of transcendent compositions.  Janáček is the same way, and like Dvořak his later works are much more transcendent than his earlier stuff.

On the other hand, all of Holst's music is at least interesting to me, and some is right up there with The Planets on my "personal great" list.  Same with Stravinsky and Schoenberg.

As for Webern and Bartók, I love everything they wrote!

[xochitl]

haydn - i like his piano sonatas, quartets, and concertos, but dont bother me with all those symphonies! [i have to admit ive never heard his vocal music so idk about that]

berlioz - apart from the fantastique ive heard 5 or 6 other works and not one stuck

debussy - i like La Mer and a few other things. one day i will work real hard and try to consider/understand the rest of his music.  as of now it just sounds like a big, perfumed haze.

rachmaninov - piano concertos 2-4? check

special mention - pre-20th century operas not by mozart, beethoven, puccini, verdi, or wagner could disappear tomorrow and my life would not change ONE BIT 

[71 dB]

haydn - i like his piano sonatas, quartets, and concertos, but dont bother me with all those symphonies! [i have to admit ive never heard his vocal music so idk about that]

I have always had hard time to enjoy Haydn's symphonies and string quartets as much as I "should" considering all the Haydn worship. I really like Haydn's trio sonatas and piano concertos. The piano sonatas are very enjoyable too. Haydn without piano seems to be problematic for me, kind of "sonically dry". However, I do enjoy some of Haydn's symphonies much more than others. I seem to like the earlier ones and almost detest the late ones that are very popular for reasons I just don't understand. I think it was symphony no. 21 (or 22?) I really really liked. Haydn was too many symphonies for me to manage which ones I like! 

On the other hand, Dittersdorf's symphonies never bore me. They never sound "dry".

Oh, Haydn's Die Schöpfung (The Creation) is fantastic stuff, forward-looking rich music and nothing like the symphonies of boredom.