Your Top 100 Favorite Composers

[Mirror Image]

My list:

1. Debussy
2. Mahler
3. Strauss
4. Sibelius
5. Bartók
6. Ravel
7. Stravinsky
8. Martinů
9. Berlioz
10. Shostakovich
11. Vaughan Williams
12. Saint-Saëns
13. Schoenberg
14. Berg
15. Villa-Lobos
16. Dvořák
17. Tchaikovsky
18. Janáček
19. Prokofiev
20. Britten
21. Rachmaninov
22. Schnittke
23. Szymanowski
24. Ives
25. Weinberg
26. Bruckner
27. Respighi
28. (K. A.) Hartmann
29. Copland
30. Koechlin
31. Takemitsu
32. Gubaidulina
33. Penderecki
34. Bernstein
35. Korngold
36. Liszt
37. Walton
38. Kodály
39. Ligeti
40. Scriabin
41. Hindemith
42. Glazunov
43. Poulenc
44. Honegger
45. Tippett
46. Roussel
47. Barber
48. Lutosławski
49. Enescu
50. Yun
51. Nielsen
52. Milhaud
53. Malipiero
54. Langgaard
55. Pettersson
56. Silvestrov
57. Adams, J.
58. Elgar
59. Holst
60. Smetana
61. Wagner
62. Zemlinsky
63. Ginastera
64. Grieg
65. Schuman, W.
66. Sculthorpe
67. Tubin
68. Boulez
69. Henze
70. Rimsky-Korsakov
71. Mussorgsky
72. Gershwin
73. Schulhoff
74. Chávez
75. Suk
76. Fauré
77. Bacewicz
78. Casella
79. Khachaturian
80. Diamond
81. Tansman
82. Bloch
83. Ifukube
84. Kabalevsky
85. Berio
86. Delius
87. Schmidt
88. Pärt
89. Vasks
90. Novák
91. Harrison
92. Górecki
93. Braunfels
94. Dallapiccola
95. Varèse
96. Revueltas
97. Scelsi
98. Duruflé
99. Hahn
100. Shchedrin

[vandermolen]

Where's Miaskovsky and Bax? 

[71 dB]

Where's Miaskovsky and Bax? 

On your list! 

If I took seriously the favorite composers lists of others, I would be traumatized by the fact that Elgar doesn't beat even John Adams!  Also, how can someone care about baroque so little that not even J. S. Bach makes it on the top 100 list?

Well, luckily I just don't care and I know people have different brains.

[Mirror Image]

Let's see those lists guys!

Poju, a "Top 100" list is superfluous. Honestly, after my "Top 20", it is increasingly difficult to put the composers in any kind of order. Anyway, this is just for fun and not meant to be taken as the gospel truth.

[Brian]

Just waiting for someone to come in and post a 100, and then come back and post another, second list of 100   

[Mirror Image]

Just waiting for someone to come in and post a 100, and then come back and post another, second list of 100   

Hah!

[Karl Henning]

Where's Miaskovsky and Bax? 

(* chortle *)

[classicalgeek]

Haha! I somehow knew this was coming! I'll work on my list and post it today... I predict about a 70% overlap with John's.

[Mirror Image]

Haha! I somehow knew this was coming! I'll work on my list and post it today... I predict about a 70% overlap with John's.

[classicalgeek]

My top 50:

1. Mahler
2. Beethoven
3. Dvorak
4. Brahms
5. Shostakovich
6. Chopin
7. Rachmaninov
8. Stravinsky
9. Sibelius
10. Ravel
11. Poulenc
12. Martinu
13. Schubert
14. Haydn
15. Koechlin
16. Bartok
17. Bruckner
18. Villa-Lobos
19. Barber
20. Mendelssohn
21. Bernstein
22. Janacek
23. Dutilleux
24. Saint-Saens
25. Hindemith
26. Berg
27. Messiaen
28. Vaughan Williams
29. Arnold
30. Debussy
31. Respighi
32. Prokofiev
33. Roussel
34. Copland
35. Strauss (Richard)
36. Lloyd
37. Bach (J.S.)
38. Lutoslawski
39. Atterberg
40. Britten
41. Korngold
42. Nielsen*
43. Tchaikovsky
44. Milhaud
45. Elgar
46. Bax
47. Franck
48. Englund
49. Varese
50. Glazunov

*I realized in posting my 26-50 list that I forgot entirely about Carl Nielsen! So I plugged him in where I thought he should go and adjusted accordingly.

So here are 51-100. I had about 30 composers who "missed the cut" whom I very much enjoy, so this list is pretty flexible:

51. Faure
52. Walton
53. Ives
54. Guarnieri
55. Bliss
56. Telemann
57. Scriabin
58. Bloch
59. Alfven
60. Mozart
61. Schoenberg
62. Gershwin
63. Bacewicz
64. Alkan
65. Rimsky-Korsakov
66. Bach (C.P.E.)
67. Enescu
68. Genzmer
69. Berlioz
70. Berwald
71. Liebermann
72. Szymanowski
73. Liszt
74. Joplin
75. Novak
76. Higdon
77. Lajtha
78. Takemitsu
79. Albeniz
80. Vivaldi
81. Rubbra
82. Medtner
83. Ifukube
84. Francaix
85. Chabrier
86. Suk
87. Rautavaara
88. Delius
89. Stenhammar
90. Boccherini
91. Webern
92. Antheil
93. Casella
94. Grieg
95. Schmitt (Florent)
96. Holbrooke
97. Ginastera
98. Falla
99. Bridge
100. Honegger

EDIT: Faure was on the list twice! Oops.

[Mirror Image]

Nice list, James!

[classicalgeek]

Nice list, James!

I'm counting 57 entries in common with your list! Of course I'm not familiar with the work of all the composers on your list, and I'm sure as I broaden my listening, my own list will fluctuate.

[71 dB]

Let's see those lists guys!

Poju, a "Top 100" list is superfluous. Honestly, after my "Top 20", it is increasingly difficult to put the composers in any kind of order. Anyway, this is just for fun and not meant to be taken as the gospel truth.

First 20 pretty much in correct order. The rest isn't (too much work, sorry).

Elgar
J. S. Bach
C. P. E. Bach
Weinberg
Handel
Buxtehude
Bruhns
Rameau
A. Scarlatti
Mozart

J. Haydn
Beethoven
Fauré
Saint-Saëns
Fasch
Graupner
Dittersdorf
Hasse
Boccherini
S. I. Taneyev
-----------------------20---------------
M.-A. Charpentier
Bartók
Berlioz
Brahms
Clérambault
Corelli
Englund
Granados
Kuhnau
Heinichen

Liszt
Locatelli
Marais
Mendelssohn
Nielsen
Prokofiev
Pärt
F. Couperin
Schubert
Schumann
--------------------40------------------
Silvestrov
Stravinsky
Villa-Lobos
Vivaldi
Weckmann
Berg
Finzi
Puccini
Purcell
Ravel

Maslanka
Schwantner
Zwilich
Torke
Rorem
Glass
M. Brouwer
Aikman
Di Vittorio
Albinoni
-------------------------60----
Telemann
Stuck
Adams
Stölzel
Stradella
Wagner
Strozzi
Vasks
Scriabin
Schieferdecker

Pergolesi
M. Haydn
Rendine
Stenhammar
R. Strauss
Vanhal
Veracini
Manfredini
Grieg
Debussy
-----------------------80--------
Palestrina
Monteverdi
Rosenmüller
J. M. Bach
J. C. Bach
Mussorgsky
Rautavaara
Berwald
Reincken
Tunder

Bernhard
Schütz
Chopin
Holst
De Falla
Janáček
Milhaud
Geminiani
Hoffmann
Hindemith

[Mirror Image]

Nice, Poju.

[Mirror Image]

I'm counting 57 entries in common with your list! Of course I'm not familiar with the work of all the composers on your list, and I'm sure as I broaden my listening, my own list will fluctuate.

Yes, indeed.

[vandermolen]

On your list! 

[Lisztianwagner]

I'm quite amazed, reading your lists makes me realize how much music I don't know yet.

[Mirror Image]

I'm quite amazed, reading your lists makes me realize how much music I don't know yet.

Well, in fairness, there's only so much time in the day. What composers from the lists have interested you so far that you don't know?

[Brian]

How do you guys even do this? I've been sitting here for a half hour, went through the entire Composer Index in our composer board, and I've only thought of 83 names 

[Jo498]

I tried to post in the 26-50 thread yesterday but canceled this. It becomes largely arbitrary for me around 30 or so and it would become meaningless later on. There would be increasingly composers where I like a few works but don't care (or know) the rest and the ordering would also become arbitrary.