Your Favorite Composer, Ever, Period!

[Karl Henning]

[snip]

Probably Holmboe if it was a gut reaction.

Maybe DSCH.

Maybe RVW.

Probably Holmboe.

I mean, what does one do with such a q. when we've discussed how impossible a list of ten is?!

being more realistic, my favorite composer is usually the one I'm currently listening to

Indeed, and in this wise, pressed for a single one: Stravinsky.

[foxandpeng]

I mean, what does one do with such a q. when we've discussed how impossible a list of ten is?!

Indeed, and in this wise, pressed for a single one: Stravinsky.

Quite right.

I don't know Stravinsky anything like as well as I should. Thank you 😊

[Harry]

I have too many favourite composers believe me, this would take a whole separate thread, and I am not inclined to let you suffer by reading it    

[Florestan]

I have too many favourite composers believe me, this would take a whole separate thread, and I am not inclined to let you suffer by reading it    

You betrayed your beloved Tchaikovsky  shame on you! 

[foxandpeng]

Perhaps Mahler, but being more realistic, my favorite composer is usually the one I'm currently listening to whether it be Bach, Handel, Brahms, Debussy et. al. I've come to the realization that there has been far too much marvelous music created that narrowing something or someone down to a list that I know could change at the drop of hat, is, ultimately, a fruitless notion.

Very much agreed. My decision to go with Holmboe relates only to the OP's premise of making a gut reaction decision about only being able to take a single composer to that desert island 🏝. 

I went with variety, interest, and complexity for those long days and nights with no other mental stimulation beyond survival.

Regarding favourites, selecting one composer is too difficult. My preferences shift and my mood and state of mind, as with most of us, dictate whose voice I want to hear.

I have too many favourite composers believe me, this would take a whole separate thread, and I am not inclined to let you suffer by reading it    

Maybe we want to hear it, though...

[Florestan]

Regarding favourites, selecting one composer is too difficult. My preferences shift and my mood and state of mind, as with most of us, dictate whose voice I want to hear.

Absolutely. This thread should be taken for what it is: a silly game. 

[Florestan]

This thread is silly, but I started it in reaction to such threads as "Your Top X Composers / Symphonies / Concertos / Trombone Sextets / Whatnot" where X is any number between 3 and 25. Actually I fully subscribe to Bartok's dictum that competitions are for horses, not for artists. If I were deported to a desert island, I'd take with me my whole musical and literary library.

[foxandpeng]

Absolutely. This thread should be taken for what it is: a silly game. 

Yet a good one.

[DavidW]

You're scheduled for immediate deportation on a desert island. As a last favor, you're allowed to take with you the complete works of one single composer. You have 5 minutes to decide --- no second thoughts, no alternate choices allowed. Five minutes for one and only one composer. Name him / her and have a nice lifetime on the island!

My pick: Mozart.

My favorite composer is Bach, but by the desert island question the answer is Mozart. He offers a wider diversity of output. Where are Bach's operas for example?

[hopefullytrusting]

My favorite composer is Bach, but by the desert island question the answer is Mozart. He offers a wider diversity of output. Where are Bach's operas for example?

If this was today, my selection would be Robert Schumann.

[ChamberNut]

I don't have a current favourite composer, and it's been like that for awhile. I have three and the same three for the past couple of years.

If you don't know them, you never have known me. 

[Harry]

Maybe we want to hear it, though...

No believe me you wouldn't .
But okay I will name No. 1 in my collection, remember you asked for it!

                  Пётр Ильи́ч Чайко́вский)

[Harry]

You betrayed your beloved Tchaikovsky  shame on you! 

No really Andrei I didn't, I would never do that, the fact that you knew already who was my number one....... 

[ChamberNut]

No believe me you wouldn't .
But okay I will name No. 1 in my collection, remember you asked for it!

                  Пётр Ильи́ч Чайко́вский)

Something, something, grizzly bear?

[foxandpeng]

No believe me you wouldn't .
But okay I will name No. 1 in my collection, remember you asked for it!

                  Пётр Ильи́ч Чайко́вский)

  😲😲

[Peter Power Pop]

My favourite composer is Jean-Philippe Rameau.

[Christo]

What a great list.
Probably Holmboe if it was a gut reaction.
Maybe DSCH.
Maybe RVW.
Probably Holmboe.

You saw that all of these are my first choices, impossible to decide (but Ruth Gipps it really is, together with RVW, Holmboe, a.s.o. The only reason I had to leave Dmitri Dmitriyevich - wringing hands & not without tears - out, is that I felt any moderator would lash if I came up with more than 30 names. I could easily add another 30 - just for the front rank, after which comes another.
           

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

I mean, what does one do with such a q. when we've discussed how impossible a list of ten is?!

Indeed, and in this wise, pressed for a single one: Stravinsky.

Absolutely, Karl. And, like you, I revere Stravinsky. Such an immensely gifted composer.

[Christo]

My favourite composer is Jean-Philippe Rameau.

Finally tired of The Planets? 

[Elgarian Redux]

Absolutely. This thread should be taken for what it is: a silly game. 

It only seems silly because it's only just begun. We need to look at the whole picture. The next step is to compile monthly lists that indicate our changes of mind. As these unfold we begin to see that the lists themselves need listing ("Which are our favourite lists of favourite composers?") And so it goes on, until the Ultimate List of Lists of Favourite Lists of Favourite Composers is attained.