Your Top 10 Favorite Composers

[Ken B]

I suppose a revision is in order:

Mahler
Sibelius
Nielsen
Vaughan Williams
Bartók
Dvořák
Bruckner
Shostakovich
Rachmaninov
Martinů

John
Education is a wonderful thing but I do wish you'd never learned to count.

[Mirror Image]

John
Education is a wonderful thing but I do wish you'd never learned to count.

[Madiel]

At least he learned to count in English. I'm still trying to get to grips with it in Danish. Notoriously crazy system. The word for "fifty" is an abbreviated form of "halfway to three lots of twenty".

[Ken B]

At least he learned to count in English. I'm still trying to get to grips with it in Danish. Notoriously crazy system. The word for "fifty" is an abbreviated form of "halfway to three lots of twenty".

Well, John does seem to have odd ideas about what's less than 10.

[Jay F]

1: Mahler

2-5:
Schubert
Beethoven
Mozart
Bach

6-10:
Vivaldi
Sibelius
Tchaikovsky
Bruckner
Shostakovich

[springrite]

10. hmmmm...

That's my #11!

[arpeggio]

I essentially answered this question in a post in my "Introductions" Thread": http://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,26183.msg995821.html#msg995821

[André]

Bruckner, Delius, Wagner, Sibelius, Shostakovich, Arnold, Vaughan-Willams, Bach, Mozart, Haydn.

Runner-ups: Beethoven, Verdi, Pettersson, Mahler, Elgar,  Brahms, Schubert, Chopin, Clementi, Prokofiev, Puccini , Dvorak and all the 20th century French composers taken together.

If I go by the number of discs owned and collected over the last 45 years, they would be Bruckner, Wagner,  Beethoven, Haydn, Bach, Mozart.

[Androcles]

1. Shostakovich
2. Berg
3. Messiaen
4. Bruckner
5. Nielsen
6. Simpson
7. Pettersson
8. Penderecki
9. Gubaidulina
10. Carter

[Ken B]

I thought I had already posted in this thread, but can't find it.  I would probably argue with myself anyway since my list of favorite composers slightly changes over time depending upon which period I am focusing on. 

A mostly constant list:

Machaut
Bach
Beethoven
Brahms
Mahler
Debussy
Schoenberg
Stravinsky
Cage
Feldman

I just realized, since we discussed Dylan, Machaut is the only major composer also thought of as an important poet.

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

10 composers I consider some of my most favourite today or just happen to be at the front of my mind:

Pierre Boulez
Pauline Oliveros
Brett Dean
Alban Berg
Charlotte Bray
György Ligeti
Helen Grime
Anna Thorvaldsdóttir
Dai Fujikura
Matthias Pintscher

[Mister Sharpe]

Some settling of contents may have occurred since last shipment :

Brahms
Sibelius
Debussy
Martinů
Igor
Couperin
Rameau
Miaskovsky
Poulenc
Malipiero

The ones I weep over not fitting into a stingy ten spots : Janáček; R. Strauss; Glass; Wagner; Mahler; Duparc; Franck; Saint-Saëns; Vieuxtemps; VW

[vandermolen]

Some settling of contents may have occurred since last shipment :

Brahms
Sibelius
Debussy
Martinů
Igor
Couperin
Rameau
Miaskovsky
Poulenc
Malipiero

The ones I weep over not fitting into a stingy ten spots : Janáček; R. Strauss; Glass; Wagner; Mahler; Duparc; Franck; Saint-Saëns; Vieuxtemps; VW

Great choices although I know little Rameau.
Malipiero Symphony 7 is a fine one and Poulenc's Organ Concerto.

[vandermolen]

I'm interested in the admiration for Delius here. He is never a composer whose music I have 'got into'. Having said that I love 'In a Summer Garden' the Piano Concerto, in its various versions and the very moving ending of his underrated Requiem.

[Brian]

1. Beethoven
2. Dvorak
3. Schubert
4. Chopin
5. Ravel
6. Janacek
7. Berlioz
8. Haydn
9. Martinu Brahms
10. Schumann Martinu

Well that was another easy update.

1. Beethoven
2. Dvorak
3. Schubert
4. Chopin Haydn
5. Ravel
6. Janacek
7. Berlioz
8. Haydn Chopin
9. Brahms
10. Martinu

My list turns over a whole lot less than MI's does!

Rachmaninov, Tchaikovsky, Bruckner, Mahler, and Sibelius are among some of the big names lurking in 11-20.

[North Star]

Compiling this without looking at my previous list, I see I removed Berlioz to make room for Mozart.

Bach
Beethoven
Brahms
Chopin
Janáček
Mozart
Prokofiev
Ravel
Sibelius
Stravinsky

Time for some light editing.

Bach
Beethoven
Brahms
Chopin
Dvořák
Janáček
Mozart
Ravel
Schubert
Sibelius

Just outside the top 10: Prokofiev, Stravinsky, Haydn, Berlioz, Rakhmaninov, Schumann

[André]

I'm interested in the admiration for Delius here. He is never a composer whose music I have 'got into'. Having said that I love 'In a Summer Garden' the Piano Concerto, in its various versions and the very moving ending of his underrated Requiem.

Hi, Jeffrey!  Find all about Delius (and I mean ALL) in this indispensible 88 minute BBC documentary:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=uTVhBhPzPQA

Arranged very loosely in a chronological order (starting bafflingly with his second burial in 1935), it contains many fantastic musical excerpts (live, not from discs) and made-for-the-film interviews with conductors Andrew Davis, Mark Elder, Bo Holten, baritone Thomas Hamson, violinist Philippe Graffin, Delius biographer Jerome Rossi as well as period interviews with Beecham.

Truly one of the most probing and fascinating musical documentaries ever made.

And of course, the  provocative, extraordinarily well acted 1968 Ken Russell biopic is a must: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Vyy2SagDwcY

But start with the BBC film. And then there is GMG's own Delius thread too ! 

[Karl Henning]

(starting bafflingly with his second burial in 1935)

Just so long as the first was not . . . premature.   0:)

[Mister Sharpe]

Great choices although I know little Rameau.
Malipiero Symphony 7 is a fine one and Poulenc's Organ Concerto.

Thank you, Jeffrey. You remind me that I quite forgot Delius - i'm such a fickle listener,  esp. now with Malipiero being all the rage chez moi.  (might I recommend Delius' VC?  https://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=R5ylRLJQI4c my favorite performance of it.) BTW, I love his Requiem, too.

[Mister Sharpe]

Hi, Jeffrey!  Find all about Delius (and I mean ALL) in this indispensible 88 minute BBC documentary:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=uTVhBhPzPQA

Arranged very loosely in a chronological order (starting bafflingly with his second burial in 1935), it contains many fantastic musical excerpts (live, not from discs) and made-for-the-film interviews with conductors Andrew Davis, Mark Elder, Bo Holten, baritone Thomas Hamson, violinist Philippe Graffin, Delius biographer Jerome Rossi as well as period interviews with Beecham.

Truly one of the most probing and fascinating musical documentaries ever made.

And of course, the  provocative, extraordinarily well acted 1968 Ken Russell biopic is a must: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Vyy2SagDwcY

But start with the BBC film. And then there is GMG's own Delius thread too ! 

-Thanks for posting these, will watch tonight!-