Your Desert Island ‘3'

[Symphonic Addict]

Shostakovich	- for the psychological complexity as much as the musical
Beethoven	- for the piano sonatas, in the first instance
Nielsen	- for the joy of his music, never tire of it

I was deciding if including Nielsen, but his output is not as large as others. He's certainly one of my top symphonists.

[Mirror Image]

Am I so predictable? 

Yep!

[Papy Oli]

Interesting thread and interesting responses. However, I'm supposed to be getting ready for my daughter's wedding on Friday and my wife takes a dim view if, instead of doing that, I'm online to my 'cat group'. So, I may be a bit out of touch for a day or two.

Congrats Jeffrey, all the best to you and your family.

TD:

Tough call but I have to drop Mahler, I have to drop Bruckner. I would probably drop Beethoven even though I love his sonatas. Well, that's my old top 3 gone then.

If only for variety of styles for a lifetime on a desert island, I would have to go:

1 - Haydn (on the strength of the SQ, Piano trios and symphonies)
2 - Fauré or Debussy or Ravel - Any of the 3 would do. Maybe Fauré would edge it at this time.
3 - JS Bach - if only because I could use this time to discover the 200+ cantatas and (re)discover all the rest of his works as well.

[vandermolen]

Congratulations, Jeffrey! My best wishes for their marriage.

Thank you Cesar, Olivier and Danny!

[Mirror Image]

I was deciding if including Nielsen, but his output is not as large as others. He's certainly one of my top symphonists.

Nielsen could keep one busy for awhile if you start digging into his songs, chamber music, choral works, solo piano and operas. Of course, he's most known as a symphonist and orchestral composer in general, but there are some gems outside of this genre.

[Mountain Goat]

What a difficult question! With a gun to my head I would probably pick:

Beethoven - just couldn't be without the late string quartets and piano sonatas.
Nielsen - mainly for the symphonies but there's also plenty of chamber music and songs for variety.
Vaughan Williams - there has to be a British composer in there, and if I can only have one it's the obvious choice!

Of course on a different day the answer might be different...

[Mountain Goat]

Interesting thread and interesting responses. However, I'm supposed to be getting ready for my daughter's wedding on Friday and my wife takes a dim view if, instead of doing that, I'm online to my 'cat group'. So, I may be a bit out of touch for a day or two.

Congratulations to your daughter, hope it all goes well! 

[Symphonic Addict]

Nielsen could keep one busy for awhile if you start digging into his songs, chamber music, choral works, solo piano and operas. Of course, he's most known as a symphonist and orchestral composer in general, but there are some gems outside of this genre.

I've listened to his operas and I love them, likewise his chamber music, but the solo piano music and choral works have left me a bit cold. I don't know his songs yet. I'm definitely more drawn to his orchestral works.

[Mirror Image]

I've listened to his operas and I love them, likewise his chamber music, but the solo piano music and choral works have left me a bit cold. I don't know his songs yet. I'm definitely more drawn to his orchestral works.

Outside of the orchestral works, I really only know Maskarade, which is a fun romp of an opera and some of the chamber works.

[Karl Henning]

Mine are: Dvorak, Beethoven and Shostakovich.

Their oeuvres are considerable enough to keep me entertained all my life.

Nice!

[amw]

The nature of the question privileges composers with large outputs where you're unlikely to repeat works frequently. As such I would probably have to pick Haydn, Mozart and Segerstam Bach

[vandermolen]

Congratulations to your daughter, hope it all goes well! 

Many thanks - nice to see another inclusion of VW.

[Florestan]

Okay, John, I've made up my mind.

Mozart.

Liszt - because this way (1) I'd also have Schubert, Beethoven, Berlioz, Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti, Verdi and others; (2) I could imaginary travel to Switzerland, Italy, Hungary, Spain and even Romania; (3) I could meditate about Dante, Goethe, Lamartine, Hugo, Lenau, Rafael, Michelangelo and others; (3) last but not least, I'd have great music for both Easter and Christmas.

Verdi --- because what I'd miss most on a desert island would be people, and his operas would supply them in spades.

Jeffrey --- congratulations to your daughter, may she have a long, happy and fruitful marriage.

[The new erato]

Beethoven, Bach and Brahms I think. Because of the breadth, depth and quality of their music. Very traditional I know, and it pains me to neglect the 20th century with a lot of favorites (Stravinsky could well fit the previous description), as well as a variety of earlier music down to the 15th century which I listen to quite a lot. Haydn and Schubert could have deserved a place as well and could perhaps have substituted for Brahms, but there it is. A man has got to do what a man has got to do.

[Biffo]

There would be so much agonizing over who to leave behind I would just take Mozart.

[DaveF]

Two of my three picks are easy: JS Bach & Haydn

Yes, you speak for me there too, Dr H.  And the third is Byrd - Richard Turbet once commented to the effect that if music were held equal to literature in British culture, then Byrd would be set alongside Shakespeare, which sounds about right to me.

[Karl Henning]

Yes, you speak for me there too, Dr H.  And the third is Byrd - Richard Turbet once commented to the effect that if music were held equal to literature in British culture, then Byrd would be set alongside Shakespeare, which sounds about right to me.

Nice, Dave!

[North Star]

Two of my three picks are easy: JS Bach & Haydn, party because of the depth of the catalogues, and the fact that I'm practically always in a humor to listen to them.  The third? For the piano works and concerti, Prokofiev beats Stravinsky by a nose.

Funny, Karl. Before reading any replies to the thread, my immediate choices were also JS Bach & FJ Haydn, for same reasons. For the third place, I could see going with Chopin, Sibelius, Debussy, Ravel, Prokofiev, Monteverdi, Schubert, Dvořák, Schönberg, Bartók, Martinů, Janáček or Josquin, but at least my first thought for the third spot was Stravinsky. I have to say I didn't really consider Prokofiev with sufficient seriousness at that time.

[Karl Henning]

Funny, Karl. Before reading any replies to the thread, my immediate choices were also JS Bach & FJ Haydn, for same reasons. For the third place, I could see going with Chopin, Sibelius, Debussy, Ravel, Prokofiev, Monteverdi, Schubert, Dvořák, Schönberg, Bartók, Martinů, Janáček or Josquin, but at least my first thought for the third spot was Stravinsky. I have to say I didn't really consider Prokofiev with sufficient seriousness at that time.

A kindred soul!

[Sergeant Rock]

Although my musical trinity is Bruckner, Mahler and Wagner they are too limited (little chamber music, little or no important piano music) to consider all three as the only music I'd have for the rest of my life. Instead, my desert island picks would be Haydn, Beethoven and one of the trinity. Today it's Mahler.

Sarge