Your Top 10 Favorite Composers

[schnittkease]

I like the relatively early piano works in particular, as you say it´s a pity he hasn´t yet been that much explored by the DaCapo label, or other ones. There´s a real lot missing in the discography, as illustrated by the WiKi list
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_compositions_by_Niels_Viggo_Bentzon,
and not much literature about him (he was a painter too, and worked with several artistic genres):
at least 16 string quartets, 31 piano sonatas, 24 symphonies, many concertos etc.

The lack of recordings and performances also makes it difficult to establish key works in this huge oeuvre consisting of at least 664 opuses. A good deal of the later works seem rather sketchy, but on the other hand, thorough Brahms was one of his favourites.

Completely agree; I think that prolific composers like Bentzon and Hovhaness are further obscured by the fact that so little of their work has been recorded. In this regard, Bentzon has been more unfortunate. I like that you touched on trying to 'extract' the key works of such a large oeuvre - it gets to the point where, if it's on CD, it's considered a significant work. You'd think that record companies wouldn't waste their time with the theoretical "2-minute piano piece, op. 519b". In my experience, however, Bentzon's most important works are the symphonies, piano sonatas, and the Tempered Piano. But who knows? New gems keep 'popping up' every few years... 

[nodogen]

Amen to those in particular 

Several on your list were ones I had to scribble out and gnash teeth over, especially Xenakis and Bartok.

[nodogen]

For me currently, it's a bit of a transitional period with personal stuff, so it's rather different:

Lassus
Lutoslawski
Stockhausen
Herrmann
Bartok
Webern
Debussy
Mahler


(Overall in my whole life with music, it's still the previous list on the last page)

This list only contains 8, not 10, so it doesn't count! 🤓

[nodogen]

J.S. Bach
Mahler
Sibelius
Beethoven
Shostakovich
Feldman
Martinů
Haydn
Vaughan Williams
Bruckner

... I think. There's still so much I have yet to even listen to - including some pretty marquee works like Beethoven's late quartets (or Haydn's Paris and London symphonies!). Other composers who threaten to crack this very tentative list include Brahms, Messiaen, Debussy, Nielsen, Boulez - and I'm sure there are others I'm forgetting. (In the case of most of these, it's because I've liked what I've heard but have only scratched the surface of their works.)

And, boy, that list is sure tilted heavily toward the 20th century, isn't it? I really need to identify more faves in earlier periods ...

There's so much, it's a major endeavour to do more than scratch the surface! Our tastes seem quite similar.

[nodogen]

Hope it goes well.

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

It was a conscious decision for me, I'm on the down-low with classical at the moment, the main thing I'm listening to are string quartets in the present (as I am presenting one to a string quartet over here, which could get played)

Non-classical is my comfort food at the moment

https://media.giphy.com/media/11k4rk0VYsOUOk/giphy.gif

There's a new CD out of music by Arturo Fuentes played by Quatuor Diotima. Very excited by this. A great composer matched with a great ensemble.

[amw]

Since apparently this just means "your top 10 composers over the past few days/weeks/hours" now, [....]

Top 10 list is still consistent, but here:

JS Bach - has dominated my listening lately to an unusual degree.
Froberger - particularly the "darker" pieces
Louis Couperin - an old favourite
Mozart
Janáček
Sibelius - the music for violin and orchestra & violin and piano, mostly
Yannis Kyriakides - works with voices. as mentioned before in this forum
Chaya Czernowin - music is sometimes a bit busy for my taste, but its expressiveness is appealing right now
Enescu - the mature & late chamber music. Has a really special elusive quality that sets it apart from the late-romantic milieu, particularly in e.g. the slow movement of the D major piano sonata which is the kind of thing I hope to accomplish when I write music myself

[SymphonicAddict]

It's a narrow list actually, but I think these ones work for me at this moment:

Beethoven
Brahms
Dvorák
Tchaikovsky
Sibelius
Nielsen
Shostakovich
Prokofiev
Respighi
Vaughan Williams

[Alek Hidell]

It's a narrow list actually, but I think these ones work for me at this moment:
[...]
Respighi

Respighi is an interesting choice! I have a smattering of his music awaiting me - what works particularly tickle your fancy?

[SymphonicAddict]

Respighi is an interesting choice! I have a smattering of his music awaiting me - what works particularly tickle your fancy?

Vetrate di Chiesa!!! It's my favorite work by him: I like the bombastic here, above all in San Gregorio Magno. Other works I like so much are Feste Romane, Pini di Roma, Sinfonia Drammatica, Trittico Botticelliano, Suite from Belkis, Metamorphoseon, Concerto Gregoriano, Poema autunnale, Ballata delle gnomidi, Lauda per la Natività del Signore, Ciaccona (after Vitali) for violin, strings and organ (it was a recent discovery) and ... many others ... 

What about you?

[Alek Hidell]

Vetrate di Chiesa!!! It's my favorite work by him: I like the bombastic here, above all in San Gregorio Magno. Other works I like so much are Feste Romane, Pini di Roma, Sinfonia Drammatica, Trittico Botticelliano, Suite from Belkis, Metamorphoseon, Concerto Gregoriano, Poema autunnale, Ballata delle gnomidi, Lauda per la Natività del Signore, Ciaccona (after Vitali) for violin, strings and organ (it was a recent discovery) and ... many others ... 

What about you?

Thanks! I'll make a note of those.

I can't say what I like - I've barely listened to anything by him at all (I can't remember if I've even heard the Pines and Fountains, those two warhorses). I was looking for a place to begin. I have some recordings but I haven't gotten to them yet.   

[kishnevi]

Thanks! I'll make a note of those.

I can't say what I like - I've barely listened to anything by him at all (I can't remember if I've even heard the Pines and Fountains, those two warhorses). I was looking for a place to begin. I have some recordings but I haven't gotten to them yet.   

Try the concertos: far less famous but as good or better than the warhorses.

[Christo]

Barber
Braga Santos
Falla
Guarnieri
Holmboe
Janáček
Nielsen
Respighi
Tubin
Vaughan Williams

[SymphonicAddict]

Barber
Braga Santos
Falla
Guarnieri
Holmboe
Janáček
Nielsen
Respighi
Tubin
Vaughan Williams

Mmm interesting list that is... but I don't see any Russian here: 

[Ken B]

Be sure to kill me if you like, for coming back here again but at the moment I'm finding this: (which is quite odd for me)
More or less chronologically:

Hildegard
Dowland
Machaut
Lassus
Josquin
Gesualdo
Monteverdi
Beethoven (piano sonatas mostly)
RAVEL
Stravinsky (late "sacred" works exclusively)
John Cage


What's happening to me??? 

Experience 

Also an evident taste for counterpoint. The complete Dowland box from L'oiseau lyre pops up at a good price periodically and is excellent in all ways.

[SymphonicAddict]

I'd say almost the same, just with some changes (including Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, Brahms, Sibelius, maybe Villa-Lobos; excluding Falla, Guarnieri, Barber). Very do agree with Respighi, Nielsen, Holmboe, Braga-Santos, Tubin and Vaughan Williams

My list would be something like this:

Beethoven
Brahms
Dvorák
Tchaikovsky
Martinu
Vaughan Williams
Sibelius
Tubin
Shostakovich
Nielsen

I wouldn't be utterly satisfied, though. I'd want to include Bach, Atterberg, Respighi, Braga Santos, Holmboe, Strauss, Prokofiev, Janácek, Hindemith, Rimsky-Korsakov, Schubert, Schumann, Chopin, Rachmaninov, Taneyev, Schmidt, Bruckner, Mahler, Ravel, Schnittke, Novák, Szymanowski, Lutoslawski, Arnold, Simpson, Langgaard, Barber, Bantock, Stravinsky, Bartók... there are thousands, many, you wouldn't stop of writing

All this depends on your thinking, tastes, mood, good days, bad days. They can changed in the future.

... but at the last the list will have to be changed, there aren't perfect lists because of the number of composers there are, the huge list of works there are (symphonies, concertos, string quartets, masses, requiems, operas, piano sonatas, and so on...)

[Christo]

I'd say almost the same, just with some changes (including Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, Brahms, Sibelius, maybe Villa-Lobos; excluding Falla, Guarnieri, Barber). Very do agree with Respighi, Nielsen, Holmboe, Braga-Santos, Tubin and Vaughan Williams

My list would be something like this:

Beethoven
Brahms
Dvorák
Tchaikovsky
Martinu
Vaughan Williams
Sibelius
Tubin
Shostakovich
Nielsen

I wouldn't be utterly satisfied, though. I'd want to include Bach, Atterberg, Respighi, Braga Santos, Janácek, Holmboe, Strauss, Prokofiev, Janácek, Hindemith, Rimsky-Korsakov, Schubert, Schumann, Chopin, Rachmaninov, Taneyev, Schmidt, Bruckner, Mahler, Ravel, Schnittke, Novák, Szymanowski, Lutoslawski, Arnold, Simpson, Langgaard, Barber, Bantock, Stravinsky, Bartók... there are thousands, many, you wouldn't stop of writing

All this depends on your thinking, tastes, mood, good days, bad days. They can changed in the future.

... but at the last the list will have to be changed, there aren't perfect lists because of the number of composers there are, the huge list of works there are (symphonies, concertos, string quartets, masses, requiems, operas, piano sonatas, and so on...)

All very similar to my shorter and longer lists; with only one exception: somehow, from very early on, the German Romantics didn't do it for me and I never overcame that, how much I tried (played the Brahms symphonies for two weeks, a couple of years ago, the outcome: nope  ) - but excluding Beethoven at the one end and Bruckner, Mahler, Schmidt and Hindemith at the other. So with the exception of Schumann, Brahms and Strauss, your list is very similar to mine. Feels good. 

Mmm interesting list that is... but I don't see any Russian here: 

My Russians are Tchaikovsky, Rimsky, Stravinsky and Shosta - more so than Prokoviev. One or two should be included, but who to leave out?? 

BTW: wow!, another Tubin enthusiast (please convince our exquisite Brian to have a second listening; his superfical glance over one of our most favourite symphonic cycles hurts. 

[SymphonicAddict]

All very similar to my shorter and longer lists; with only one exception: somehow, from very early on, the German Romantics didn't do it for me and I never overcame that, how much I tried (played the Brahms symphonies for two weeks, a couple of years ago, the outcome: nope  ) - but excluding Beethoven at the one end and Bruckner, Mahler, Schmidt and Hindemith at the other. So with the exception of Schumann, Brahms and Strauss, your list is very similar to mine. Feels good. 
My Russians are Tchaikovsky, Rimsky, Stravinsky and Shosta - more so than Prokoviev. One or two should be included, but who to leave out?? 

BTW: wow!, another Tubin enthusiast (please convince our exquisite Brian to have a second listening; his superfical glance over one of our most favourite symphonic cycles hurts. 

I have been able to see in other threads you don't like much the Romantic Germans (along with vandermolen) 

Tubin is terrific in a high degree. Right now I'm playing the Sinfonietta on Estonian motifs. This work can't bore me, it's impossible!!

[musicrom]

My top 10 based on my Pandora & Spotify likes:

1.   Ludwig van Beethoven
2.   Jean Sibelius
3.   Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
4.   Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
5.   Antonín Dvořák
6.   Frederic Chopin
7.   Sergei Prokofiev
8.   Felix Mendelssohn
9.   Dmitri Shostakovich
10.   Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

[Christo]

Tubin is terrific in a high degree. Right now I'm playing the Sinfonietta on Estonian motifs. This work can't bore me, it's impossible!!

He is. Spread the news!