Greatest all around musician (artist), of all time and of today

[springrite]

One of the greatest all around musician (artist) of all time has to be Hans Richter. We may know him mostly as a great conductor and sometimes music critic, but he played every instrument of the orchestra at a professional level of competence, is a great actor, and sung in Wagnerian operas.

Today, there are fewer all around musician (artists) like that. But many of those seem to come from Finland. Ollie Mustonen and Esa-Pekka Salonen comes to mind.

[Brian]

Mustonen and Salonen are major composers, also.

This thread can't get much further without mentioning two more performers who were skilled on one or more instruments, who led bands, and who were truly great composers & arrangers...



Paul McCartney may not belong in the classical section, but the hell with that: he could play every instrument in his bands, and has recorded multiple songs/albums where he did play multiple instruments. Plus, like Lenny, his gifts as an instrumentalist and leader are matched by his gifts as a writer of music.

[springrite]

Mustonen and Salonen are major composers, also.

I do see both as composer first of all.

[amw]

all time: Enescu, or possibly Mendelssohn
today: the skill floors in every field are so much higher that pretty much everyone has to specialise

[Brian]

Oh!
Mozart, duh.

[Florestan]

all time: Enescu

+ 1.

Great composer, legendary violinist, accomplished pianist, famous conductor and celebrated teacher among whose pupils one finds such names as Yehudi Menuhin, Christian Ferras, Ivry Gitlis, Arthur Grumiaux, Ida Haendel and Joan Field. I sincerely doubt there is/was any other musician who can display such an impressive list of achievements: they all fall short on one account or the other.

[The new erato]

+ 1.

Great composer, legendary violinist, accomplished pianist, famous conductor and celebrated teacher among whose pupils one finds such names as Yehudi Menuhin, Christian Ferras, Ivry Gitlis, Arthur Grumiaux, Ida Haendel and Joan Field. I sincerely doubt there is/was any other musician who can display such an impressive list of achievements: they all fall short on one account or the other.

When I saw the thread title my first thought was Enescu.

[Florestan]

When I saw the thread title my first thought was Enescu.

Mine too, but amw beat both of us to it. 

[Luke]

And mine also. Some kind of consensus being reached already?

[amw]

+ 1.

Great composer, legendary violinist, accomplished pianist, famous conductor and celebrated teacher among whose pupils one finds such names as Yehudi Menuhin, Christian Ferras, Ivry Gitlis, Arthur Grumiaux, Ida Haendel and Joan Field. I sincerely doubt there is/was any other musician who can display such an impressive list of achievements: they all fall short on one account or the other.

I chose Mendelssohn as a possible runner-up because in addition to a great composer, famous pianist and conductor etc he was also a quite talented artist, writer and athlete (fencing, I think?) all by the age of eighteen. He chose to focus on music but seemed to excel at pretty much everything. Enescu is probably "the" answer though.

[Florestan]

I chose Mendelssohn as a possible runner-up because in addition to a great composer, famous pianist and conductor etc he was also a quite talented artist, writer and athlete (fencing, I think?) all by the age of eighteen. He chose to focus on music but seemed to excel at pretty much everything.

Indeed. On a lesser plane, Schumann was a gifted writer as well.

Enescu is probably "the" answer though.

The irony of it all is that, in spite of several conservatories, music high schools and symphonic orchestras being named after him, in Romania his music is virtually unperformed, save the 1st rhapsody once in a blue moon. In almost 10 years of regular concert-going in Bucharest I can remember one single instance of his other music being played, the 3rd violin sonata. It´s only during the Enescu Festival that his music is performed extensively, usually by foreign ensembles and soloists. Unlike Sibelius in Finland or Bartok in Hungary, Enescu is Romania is all about panegyric claptrap and nothing about his music being promoted and performed. It saddens me no end even to think about it...

[Jo498]

I do not know about fencing, but Mendelssohn was a decent painter. He was also an important organizer and teacher (founded the first German conservatory); overall overwork from his duties at the conservatory probably ruined his health and was one factor contributing to his early death.



Schoenberg was not a virtuoso but probably a more interesting (if technically not very accomplished) painter than Mendelssohn (he also designed playing cards).

Many medieval and renaissance musicians were accomplished poets and set their own poetry (like Wagner )

[The new erato]

Good suggestion even if you have no brain.

[Florestan]

No brainer, J.S. Bach.

Nice to see you back. 

[prémont]

No brainer, J.S. Bach.

Certainly. Composer, teacher, orchestral leader, keyboard player par exellence, violinist, violist, vocalist et.c.

[Florestan]

Certainly. Composer, teacher, orchestral leader, keyboard player par exellence, violinist, violist, vocalist et.c.

You vote Bach. I and a few others vote Enescu. Enescu himself would have voted Bach --- and IIRC he actually said something to the effect that Bach was the greatest of them all. So, even in modesty and good taste Jurjac (pronounce Zhurzhak) scores a lot of points. 

[Gurn Blanston]

J.J. Fux

[Florestan]

J.J. Fux Haydn

Fixed for you.

[Ken B]

Oh!
Mozart, duh.

I confess I am bemused by this thread. Bach was a great virtuoso as well as a great composer. Beethoven ditto. Mozart was a virtuoso pianist AND a virtuoso violinist, and a great composer.

My choice is Bach (James is right again!) but I don't begrudge Brian his duh.

[Jo498]

But it seems the votes for Bach are more grounded in that those who nominate him mean that he was a greater composer than e.g. Enescu, not that he excelled in more different fields or was more versatile. Apart from the importance and amount of teaching, "Composer, virtuoso on two or more instruments, leader of orchestra/choir" applies to many great composers (especially in Bach's Era).

Even Beethoven (whom I can hardly imagine as a good teacher) had some famous pupils (Czerny was probably a more important musician than e.g. Goldberg, of course this is probably not Bach's or Beethoven's fault or merit.)