The Mighty S's - Pick Your Favorite

[Sammy]

I just voted and picked Shostakovich - as easy an "S" pick as Bach would be a "B" pick.

[Gaspard de la nuit]

How come no one is picking the artist of the group?

[kishnevi]

interesting that Sibelius is drawing so little support, and that only Richard is challenging Dmitri.

[Karl Henning]

How come no one is picking the artist of the group?

Maybe we need a birdbrain to peck the way.

[Mirror Image]

Maybe we need a birdbrain to peck the way.

[nochmal]

Felt I had to go with Stravinsky, but I'm not entirely sure why it seemed quite so clear-cut to me. May just have been a combination of i) me knowing his work as a whole best of these (and even that is painfully limited, all these are on my working-on-getting-properly-acquainted-with-their-main-stuff list) and ii) from what I've read of him, he seems like the one out of these dudes most temperamentally and I guess aesthetically aligned with myself (which of course is not an independent thing from the music). I mean, e.g. Schoenberg never really seemed particularly pleasant to be around, for all I have been awed by some of the stuff I know...

[AdamFromWashington]

This was a tough choice for me; I ended up pitting Sibelius against Shostakovich. Stravinsky didn't quite make it that far, but he was very close. I had to go with Sibelius in the end, for his principles of development. I love how his music "grows," especially the 7th Symphony.

[Mirror Image]

Felt I had to go with Stravinsky, but I'm not entirely sure why it seemed quite so clear-cut to me. May just have been a combination of i) me knowing his work as a whole best of these (and even that is painfully limited, all these are on my working-on-getting-properly-acquainted-with-their-main-stuff list) and ii) from what I've read of him, he seems like the one out of these dudes most temperamentally and I guess aesthetically aligned with myself (which of course is not an independent thing from the music). I mean, e.g. Schoenberg never really seemed particularly pleasant to be around, for all I have been awed by some of the stuff I know...

Picking from these composers is not an easy task, because all of them have achieved unprecedented acclaim amongst scholars, critics, and listeners. Perhaps not all of them had much success while they were living (i. e. Schoenberg wasn't a popular figure for sure), but it seems each of them now have a solidified legacy. There have been many books written about each composer. Not to mention they continue to get played in the concert halls and have ton a recordings to choose from.

It wouldn't surprise me if somebody picked Stravinsky because he was an incredible composer. From the Russian period to the Neoclassical to his 'Serial' period, he was always himself whether he borrowed a melody from Bach or an aria from Mozart, he put his unique compositional voice into everything he touched. He couldn't help but to sound like himself. One thing that I always loved about Stravinsky was his unwillingness for a work to stay in one frame of mind. The music was always in forward motion and changing like a chameleon. Certainly one of my favorite composers.

[Mirror Image]

This was a tough choice for me; I ended up pitting Sibelius against Shostakovich. Stravinsky didn't quite make it that far, but he was very close. I had to go with Sibelius in the end, for his principles of development. I love how his music "grows," especially the 7th Symphony.

Sibelius is an excellent choice and a personal favorite of mine. Yes, Sibelius' music is unique for it's development. There is an organic growth in his music. In terms of structure, I think he was one of the best architects. The organization of his music breathes with peerless continuity. Another aspect of his music that I find most striking is his use of silence. There are plenty of moments, especially in his tone poems and symphonies where the music just bursts off the pages, but it's not always what is played which continues to fascinates me about his music. One of the most incredible composers I know.

[dyn]

the S composer i've been most into lately wasn't on the list, & probably ought to have been. idk why the early romantics get so little love. :<

that said, i voted for Stravinsky simply because i'd rather listen to Movements or Requiem Canticles than any composition by any of the other four

[Jaakko Keskinen]

Extremely difficult to pick between Strauss and Sibelius. Today, I think I'll go with Sibelius.

[Jo498]

So I thought I had to decide between Schubert and Schumann when I saw the title... Sch is a admittedly a different sound but then Shostakovich would not belong here either...

[Brian]

Easy. Schubert.

[Johnnie Burgess]

I would have picked Shostakovich with Sibelius in a close 2nd.

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

Of the composers listed, I might put them in this order of preference for now:

Schoenberg
Stravinsky
Sibelius
Strauss
Shostakovich