Your Top 10 Favorite Composers

[springrite]

Didn't know Rubbra scored so high on your list, Paul. That's wonderful! I love his music.

I used to have him even higher but Brian moved up fast, as did Schubert whom I couldn't stand for so many years.

[Sammy]

Hi Don
Nice to see Myaskovsky and Vainberg on your list....I am not familiar with Scheidemann, What does he bring to the table?

I'm a big fan of his organ works, an irresistible blend of severity and sweetness.

[Mirror Image]

I used to have him even higher but Brian moved up fast, as did Schubert whom I couldn't stand for so many years.

I really need to give Havergal Brian another chance. What would you recommend I listen to first? I have a decent sized Brian collection.

[71 dB]

So exciting to see Charpentier (and when it comes to it, Rameau) in your Top Ten.  Good work!

Thanks! My list is a result of desperation. Baroque composers seem to get on my top 10 list easier than composers of other periods.

[EigenUser]

I really need to give Havergal Brian another chance. What would you recommend I listen to first? I have a decent sized Brian collection.

I've only heard a few Brian works, but the one that I remember enjoying is the Symphony No. 31. It's certainly short enough to not be a waste of time if you end up not liking it (single movement, c.a. 15 minutes).

[Mirror Image]

I've only heard a few Brian works, but the one that I remember enjoying is the Symphony No. 31. It's certainly short enough to not be a waste of time if you end up not liking it (single movement, c.a. 15 minutes).

Cool, I'll check it out, Nate.

[Elgarian]

I don't get what's special about Elgar. To me he is second rate at best and his popularity seems a local phenomenon and I think that he would probably be about as famous as Draeseke or von Hausegger if he had been German or Austrian. A second rate Austrian like Zemlinsky is more interesting for me than stogdy Sir Edward; Brahms or Mahler an entirely different league and Beethoven or Bach a different galaxy...

I'd like to say several things in response to this:

1. These are lists of favourites, not attempts at some sort of objective assessment of greatness (the conclusions of which activity would in any case be questionable I think, as with art of any kind).
2. Elgar is up there for me (and others) quite simply because I've loved his music over most of a lifetime. I loved it when I first heard it at the age of 16. I still love it (in all sorts of ways, some the same, some different) more than 50 years later. I can't justify that in a way that would explain it to anyone else, any more than I could justify any other kind of love that wasn't shared.
3. So it's not about which league or galaxy his music might belong to in relation to other composers, but about impassioned and intuitive personal responses that I couldn't change if I tried. After all, the person you fall in love with may not be 'special' in anyone else's eyes but your own; but it hardly matters.

[Mirror Image]

I'd like to say several things in response to this:

1. These are lists of favourites, not attempts at some sort of objective assessment of greatness (the conclusions of which activity would in any case be questionable I think, as with art of any kind).
2. Elgar is up there for me (and others) quite simply because I've loved his music over most of a lifetime. I loved it when I first heard it at the age of 16. I still love it (in all sorts of ways, some the same, some different) more than 50 years later. I can't justify that in a way that would explain it to anyone else, any more than I could justify any other kind of love that wasn't shared.
3. So it's not about which league or galaxy his music might belong to in relation to other composers, but about impassioned and intuitive personal responses that I couldn't change if I tried. After all, the person you fall in love with may not be 'special' in anyone else's eyes but your own; but it hardly matters.

Great post, Elgarian! I completely concur.

[springrite]

I really need to give Havergal Brian another chance. What would you recommend I listen to first? I have a decent sized Brian collection.

10 and 31.

[Mirror Image]

10 and 31.

Thanks, Paul. I'll definitely give these a listen soon.

[springrite]

Thanks, Paul. I'll definitely give these a listen soon.

Remember me mentioning the 10th so many times as my air disaster symphony? Because as I worked on the victims of the air disasters, that symphony represented exactly how I felt -- the monumental task at hand, the weight, the loss, sadness, grit, determination and, not exactly hope but gradual ... well, it's very personal for me.

[milk]

Depends on the day...but...
Bach
Feldman
Debussy
Schumann
Shostakovich
Beethoven
Xenakis
Koechlin
L. Couperin
Mozart

[ibanezmonster]

Xenakis

I wonder if we're the only two with Xenakis on our list...?

[Jo498]

I like my hot sauce like I like my music: needs to be overwhelmingly strong.

I like music to be varied, therefore I will probably always prefer Beethoven or Mozart to Mahler or Bruckner. I do not like spiciness for its own sake. And I find Beethoven often overwhelmingly strong; I am not sure if I find any Mahler symphony except maybe his 9th or 6th as overwhelmingly strong as e.g. Beethovens 3rd, 5th, 9th.

[ZauberdrachenNr.7]

I'd like to say several things in response to this:

1. These are lists of favourites, not attempts at some sort of objective assessment of greatness (the conclusions of which activity would in any case be questionable I think, as with art of any kind).
2. Elgar is up there for me (and others) quite simply because I've loved his music over most of a lifetime. I loved it when I first heard it at the age of 16. I still love it (in all sorts of ways, some the same, some different) more than 50 years later. I can't justify that in a way that would explain it to anyone else, any more than I could justify any other kind of love that wasn't shared.
3. So it's not about which league or galaxy his music might belong to in relation to other composers, but about impassioned and intuitive personal responses that I couldn't change if I tried. After all, the person you fall in love with may not be 'special' in anyone else's eyes but your own; but it hardly matters.

Agree 110% (the extra is for enthusiasm), Elgarian, but I believe there's room here for the telling, however ob- or subjective, of one's loves.  You use the word justify in your explanation, which may be the crux of the matter; you are right - there's no need for justification.  Still, you can do justice to your love by telling us what you hear in Elgar - I'd be appreciative - and you may spur listens, as well as greater appreciation, perhaps conversions...  The difficulty of communication is no reason not to attempt it.  GMGers are empathetic, sensitive and capable of putting themselves in others' listening chairs (that's only a slight exaggeration ).  If your love is too personal, that I can well understand.  To me, Elgar is a composer of the first rank; I esp. enjoy Sea Pictures which is not a work often cited by his fans.  At the same time, much of his work seems to me to present a conundrum - one curiously mirrored by your comments above - he is one of the most extraordinarily personal of composers and yet his musical language is so reflexive that it presents impediments to those who make the attempt to "get him."  (I'm not thinking solely here of the Enigma Variations but it's a good example of his modus operandi).  One suspects he is saying things he would or could not say in any other way; I hope you're not subject to the same conditions! 

[Mirror Image]

Remember me mentioning the 10th so many times as my air disaster symphony? Because as I worked on the victims of the air disasters, that symphony represented exactly how I felt -- the monumental task at hand, the weight, the loss, sadness, grit, determination and, not exactly hope but gradual ... well, it's very personal for me.

Ah, yes. I do remember this now, Paul. Will keep this in mind as I listen. Not your experience per se, but the emotion that must have been in the air during this time.

[EigenUser]

Depends on the day...but...
Bach
Feldman
Debussy
Schumann
Shostakovich
Beethoven
Xenakis
Koechlin
L. Couperin
Mozart

and I wonder if we're the only two with Feldman on our list...

[springrite]

and I wonder if we're the only two with Feldman on our list...

Three. Feldman has always been on my list, from the first moment I heard his first note.

[EigenUser]

Three. Feldman has always been on my list...

+1!

...from the first moment I heard his first note.

...and waited and waited for the next note?

[springrite]

...and waited and waited for the next note?

Well, that's what naps are for!