Your Top 100 Favorite Composers

Started by Mirror Image, June 13, 2022, 06:30:32 PM

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Wanderer

Quote from: Mirror Image on June 18, 2022, 06:41:27 AM
Nice list, Wanderer. Is there any kind order to it or is it just random?

No order of preference, but not random either. One would be right to assume e.g. that I like Bach and Beethoven much more than Dukas and Leoncavallo, but also wrong to e.g. assume that I like Chabrier more than Lully, Foulds more than Offenbach or Bruch more than Leclair. I assume most other lists here follow more or less the same pattern.

Florestan

Quote from: Madiel on June 18, 2022, 02:38:39 PM
The biggest news here is that you live in a miscellaneous nation.  :laugh:

:D
Every kind of music is good, except the boring kind. — Rossini

Mirror Image

Quote from: Wanderer on June 18, 2022, 10:53:57 PM
No order of preference, but not random either. One would be right to assume e.g. that I like Bach and Beethoven much more than Dukas and Leoncavallo, but also wrong to e.g. assume that I like Chabrier more than Lully, Foulds more than Offenbach or Bruch more than Leclair. I assume most other lists here follow more or less the same pattern.

Ah, okay. Yes, this seems to be my own thinking as well, although I'd say my first 20 are a pretty close representation of how I feel. Thanks for the feedback and, more importantly, your own list.

Florestan

Every kind of music is good, except the boring kind. — Rossini

foxandpeng

#84
Quote from: Lisztianwagner on June 14, 2022, 11:14:35 AM
I'm quite amazed, reading your lists makes me realize how much music I don't know yet. :o

It's quite a thing, isn't it? Aside from the enormous list of composers whose music I should know but have never heard a note, there is a whole raft of them that I know poorly, appreciate less than I would like, or who sit at the edges of the 100 or so that I have already posted (which will be a completely different list next month, probably). Some I know well, but I just can't yet push any higher in my likes, no matter how much or how often I listen, others I keep prodding and like very much, but get distracted and then forget I was looking at.

Minor list to remind me:

Adams, Arensky, Alkan, Alwyn, Atterberg, Moeran, Walton, Brian, Britten, Ireland, Bliss, Rouse, Gunning, Taylor, Wordsworth, Bate, Stanford, Standford, MacMillan, Bartok, Borodin, Balakirev,  Martinu, Messiaen, Tansman, Miaskovsky, Silvestrov, Stravinsky, Scriabin, Lutoslawski, Szymanowsky, Ivanovs, Khatchaturian, Malipiero, William Schuman, Mathias, Kernis, Amirov, Gade, Penderecki, Tcherepnin A and N, Vine, Schnittke, Leifs, Part, Lyatoshinsky, Kokkonen, Madetoja, Nystroem.... doubtless there are more if I were to be more structured in my thinking.

Then there are others I keep meaning to start on... Langgaard, Weinberg, Casella, Guarnieri, Chavez, Villa Lobos, Roussel, Egge

That's before the massive list that I'm not admitting to having absolutely no idea about or haven't even pondered.
"A quiet secluded life in the country, with the possibility of being useful to people ... then work which one hopes may be of some use; then rest, nature, books, music, love for one's neighbour — such is my idea of happiness"

Tolstoy

Madiel

One cannot follow absolutely every road, unless one gets a paid job doing it / establishes one's own paying concern.

I'd actually have some interest in being a music reviewer only I expect my wages would be slashed in the process...
I am now working on a discography of the works of Vagn Holmboe. Please visit and also contribute!

foxandpeng

Quote from: Madiel on June 20, 2022, 04:44:15 AM
One cannot follow absolutely every road, unless one gets a paid job doing it / establishes one's own paying concern.

I'd actually have some interest in being a music reviewer only I expect my wages would be slashed in the process...

Depressing, isn't it? More ears, more hours in the day, and more years to enjoy it, please. I could do with a job reading books, listening to music, and being paid large sums of money, really.
"A quiet secluded life in the country, with the possibility of being useful to people ... then work which one hopes may be of some use; then rest, nature, books, music, love for one's neighbour — such is my idea of happiness"

Tolstoy

Mirror Image

Quote from: Madiel on June 20, 2022, 04:44:15 AM
One cannot follow absolutely every road...

Absolutely, which is why I'm completely okay with my own list. There are some members here who have a huge appetite for exploring new music and I do, too, to some degree. I know I can't explore as much as I'd like to and one has to willing to come to terms with this and one reason why I did create this thread was to show that a "Top 100" composers list is rather over-the-top, but it gives me a pool from which to draw. I know that no matter what composer in my "Top 100" I choose to listen to, I'll come away a satisfied listener. This simply couldn't be done by only listening to a handful of composers, but I believe that I've reeled in my new musical explorations a lot over the years. I'm satisfied with the composers that I know and many of them I know incredibly well, especially in my "Top 20" for example.

kyjo

#88
Quote from: Madiel on June 17, 2022, 01:21:24 PM
There's nothing ignorant about you, foxandpeng. Please stop putting yourself down like that. If anything you're one of the more interesting and enjoyable posters on the forum.

While I agree with you about Danny (foxandpeng), I don't like how your last sentence sort of implies that the majority of GMG member's posts are uninteresting and unenjoyable....
"Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music" - Sergei Rachmaninoff

kyjo

I've throughly enjoyed reading everyone's lists in this thread. Y'all have great taste!
"Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music" - Sergei Rachmaninoff

foxandpeng

Quote from: kyjo on June 21, 2022, 07:29:34 AM
While I agree with you about Danny (foxandpeng), I don't like how your last sentence sort of implies that the majority of GMG member's posts are uninteresting and unenjoyable....

Hehe. I have to say, that made me laugh  :laugh: ...

Quote from: kyjo on June 21, 2022, 07:33:50 AM
I've throughly enjoyed reading everyone's lists in this thread. Y'all have great taste!

Agreed. Aside from that, these lists are a great repository from which to explore new music. I learn so much from following different threads and connections between the composers that people enjoy here, many of whom I would never have encountered anywhere else! I very occasionally prod other classical forums, but this is by far the most eclectic, knowledgeable and (usually) friendly that I have found. I would be much the poorer without it.
"A quiet secluded life in the country, with the possibility of being useful to people ... then work which one hopes may be of some use; then rest, nature, books, music, love for one's neighbour — such is my idea of happiness"

Tolstoy

kyjo

#91
Quote from: kyjo on June 16, 2022, 07:56:50 PM
I'm honestly surprised how much activity this thread has gotten so far. This is hard work - I'm always paranoid that I'm gonna forget a composer or two! :D

My Top 50 Composers (pretty much in order):

1. Dvořák
2. Sibelius
3. Atterberg
4. Rachmaninoff
5. Prokofiev
6. Poulenc
7. Saint-Saëns
8. Vaughan Williams
9. Nielsen
10. Lloyd
11. Brahms
12. Casella
13. Mendelssohn
14. Braga Santos
15. Barber
16. Respighi
17. Schubert
18. Finzi
19. Andreae
20. Beethoven
21. Kabalevsky
22. Arnold
23. Ravel
24. Bax
25. Janáček
26. Elgar
27. Suk
28. Britten
29. Schumann
30. Juon
31. Bruckner
32. Stenhammar
33. Martinů
34. Medtner
35. Mozart
36. Tubin
37. Korngold
38. Walton
39. Tchaikovsky (P.I.)
40. Grieg
41. Peterson-Berger
42. Bliss
43. Melartin
44. Moeran
45. Haydn
46. Bloch
47. Raff
48. Cras
49. Magnard
50. Villa-Lobos

And now, My Top 51-100 Composers (in a relatively arbitrary order):

51. Strauss (R.)
52. Mahler
53. Roussel
54. Damase
55. Bartók
56. Copland
57. Dohnányi
58. Honegger
59. Bernstein
60. Hanson
61. Rimsky-Korsakov
62. Alwyn
63. Ibert
64. Falla
65. Holmboe
66. Pizzetti
67. Castelnuovo-Tedesco
68. Schmidt
69. Taneyev
70. Glazunov
71. Holst
72. Foulds
73. Hindemith
74. Zemlinsky
75. Hummel
76. Vivaldi
77. Bach (C.P.E.)
78. Berlioz
79. Borodin
80. Ginastera
81. Guarnieri
82. Berwald
83. Alnæs
84. Wirén
85. Stravinsky
86. Tcherepnin (A.)
87. Röntgen
88. Puccini
89. Fauré
90. Boulanger (L.)
91. Kodály
92. Khachaturian
93. Shostakovich
94. Weinberg
95. Bridge
96. Liszt
97. Debussy
98. Tveitt
99. Schulhoff
100. Nielsen (L.)


.....whew!!

I thought it might be interesting to break down my list by nationality:

American (USA) - 4
Austro-German - 16
Czech - 5
Dutch - 1
English - 13
French - 11
Hungarian - 4
Iberian (Spanish/Portuguese) - 2
Italian - 6
Nordic - 14
Russian (incl. Khachaturian) - 13
South American - 3
Swiss - 5


....does that add up to 100? Probably not. ;D
"Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music" - Sergei Rachmaninoff

Florestan

Quote from: foxandpeng on June 21, 2022, 07:55:16 AM
I very occasionally prod other classical forums, but this is by far the most eclectic, knowledgeable and (usually) friendly that I have found.

Completely agreed.
Every kind of music is good, except the boring kind. — Rossini

Madiel

#93
Quote from: kyjo on June 21, 2022, 07:29:34 AM
While I agree with you about Danny (foxandpeng), I don't like how your last sentence sort of implies that the majority of GMG member's posts are uninteresting and unenjoyable....

Not at all. It just implies LESS interesting and LESS enjoyable...

...a total absence of interest and joy only exists in a few isolated cases.
I am now working on a discography of the works of Vagn Holmboe. Please visit and also contribute!

Symphonic Addict

Quote from: Symphonic Addict on June 14, 2022, 12:30:48 PMThe first 50 are in chronological order. The next 50 are in any order:

01. Joseph Haydn
02. Ludwig van Beethoven
03. Franz Schubert
04. Felix Mendelssohn
05. Anton Bruckner
06. Johannes Brahms
07. Camille Saint-Saëns
08. Piotr Ilich Tchaikovsky
09. Antonín Dvořák
10. Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
11. Leoš Janáček
12. Edward Elgar
13. Giacomo Puccini
14. Gustav Mahler
15. Richard Strauss
16. Carl Nielsen
17. Alexander Glazunov
18. Jean Sibelius
19. Albert Roussel
20. Wilhelm Stenhammar
21. Ralph Vaughan Williams
22. Sergei Rachmaninov
23. Maurice Ravel
24. Ottorino Respighi
25. Ernest Bloch
26. Béla Bartók
27. Igor Stravinsky
28. Alfredo Casella
29. Arnold Bax
30. Heitor Villa-Lobos
31. Kurt Atterberg
32. Bohuslav Martinů
33. Sergei Prokofiev
34. Arthur Honegger
35. Darius Milhaud
36. Rued Langgaard
37. Paul Hindemith
38. Francis Poulenc
39. William Walton
40. Dmitry Kabalevsky
41. Eduard Tubin
42. William Alwyn
43. Dmitry Shostakovich
44. Vagn Holmboe
45. Witold Lutosławski
46. Benjamin Britten
47. Malcolm Arnold
48. Joly Braga Santos
49. Krzysztof Penderecki
50. Alfred Schnittke


51. Johann Sebastian Bach
52. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
53. Carl Maria von Weber
54. Hector Berlioz
55. Robert Schumann
56. Franz Liszt
57. Bedrich Smetana
58. César Franck
59. Claude Debussy
60. Albéric Magnard
61. Florent Schmitt
62. Granville Bantock
63. Max Reger
64. Franz Schmidt
65. Josef Suk
66. Alexander Zemlinsky
67. Reinhold Glière
68. Grażyna Bacewicz
69. Nikolai Myaskovsky
70. Karol Szymanowski
71. Erwin Schulhoff
72. Erich Wolfgang Korngold
73. Mieczyslaw Weinberg
74. Michael Tippett
75. Robert Simpson
76. Peteris Vasks
77. Samuel Barber
78. Howard Hanson
79. Aaron Copland
80. William Schuman
81. Sergei Taneyev
82. Gian Francesco Malipiero
83. George Lloyd
84. Aram Khachaturian
85. Leevi Madetoja
86. Hugo Alfvén
87. Kalevi Aho
88. Gösta Nystroem
89. Uuno Klami
90. Paul Juon
91. Manuel de Falla
92. Richard Wagner
93. Charles Stanford
94. Gustav Holst
95. György Ligeti
96. Einar Englund
97. Edmund Rubbra
98. Boris Tchaikovsky
99. Joachim Raff
100. Dag Wirén

Some modifications:

These leave:

Johann Sebastian Bach
Carl Maria von Weber
Nikolai Myaskovsky
Robert Simpson
Peteris Vasks
George Lloyd
Leevi Madetoja
Kalevi Aho
Gösta Nystroem
Uuno Klami
György Ligeti
Charles Stanford



These enter:

Julius Röntgen
Anton Arensky
Frank Bridge
Franz Schreker
Erkki Melartin
Ernő Dohnányi
Arthur Bliss
László Lajtha
Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco
Nino Rota
Alberto Ginastera
Rodion Shchedrin
Part of the tragedy of the Palestinians is that they have essentially no international support for a good reason: they've no wealth, they've no power, so they've no rights.

Noam Chomsky

foxandpeng

#95
Quote from: foxandpeng on June 17, 2022, 07:09:20 AMI'm not entirely sure how meaningful my list is, but not a bad idea to list some of my favourite composers from the last couple of years for my sake as much as anything else. I don't think I got to 100 (or maybe just over), because I stopped once I stopped really feeling it and no longer felt moved to include any others. Some are included because I know lots of their music, some because what little I know makes me happy. No order. No attempt at name checking the 'right composers'. The absence of lots of those is probably due to my ignorance.

RVW
Peteris Vasks
Arnold Bax
Soren Eichberg
Joseph Schwantner
Paul Hindemith
Douglas Lilburn
Philip Glass
Malcolm Tippett
Rawsthorne
Arnold
Tabakov
Rubbra
Richard Arnell
Daniel Jones
Michael Hersch
Laslo Lajtha
Grenville Bantock
Holst
Dvorak
Gorecki
George Lloyd
Harris
Barber
Creston
Ives
Hovhaness
Henze
Diamond
Hanson
Taneyev
Smetana
George Antheil
Walter Piston
Shostakovich
Prokofiev
Boris Tchaikovsky
Peter Tchaikovsky
Glazunov
Carl Nielsen
Blomdahl
Holmboe
Honegger
Sibelius
Stenhammar
Tveitt
Salmenhaara
Rosenberg
Pettersson
Wiren
Kinsella
Tubin
Bruckner
Mahler
Popov
Rautavaara
Alfred Hill
Hugo Alfven
Alla Pavlova
Per Norgard
Aulis Sallinen
Sally Beamish
Poul Ruders
Elena Ruehr
Elizabeth Maconchy
Peter Maxwell Davies
Robert Simpson
Brenton Broadstock
CH Parry
Tournemire
Philip Sawyers
Colin Matthews
David Matthews
Peter Fricker
Gavin Bryars
George Onslow
Grechaninov
Hans Gal
Imants Kalnins
Johan De Meij
Joachim Raff
John Knowles Paine
Joly Braga Santos
Luis de Freitas Branco
Kalinnikov
Kallstenius
Kancheli
Malcolm Lipkin
Peter Mennin
Sunleif Rasmussen
Anton Rubinstein
Louis Spohr
Peter Sculthorpe

Hm. Time for another go, maybe, reflecting either how fickle I am, or how much I have learned, grown, or changed. Or because it is warm today, and changeable because of the weather. Probably no order, new additions at the bottom.

RVW
Peteris Vasks
Arnold Bax
Soren Eichberg
Joseph Schwantner
Paul Hindemith
Philip Glass
Malcolm Tippett
Alan Rawsthorne
Malcolm Arnold
Emil Tabakov
Edmund Rubbra
Richard Arnell
Daniel Jones
Michael Hersch
Laslo Lajtha
Grenville Bantock
Gorecki
George Lloyd
Roy Harris
Barber
Creston
Ives
Hovhaness
Henze
Diamond
Hanson
Sergei Taneyev
Smetana
George Antheil
Walter Piston
Shostakovich
Prokofiev
Glazunov
Carl Nielsen
Holmboe
Honegger
Sibelius
Stenhammar
Salmenhaara
Rosenberg
Pettersson
Wiren
Tubin
Bruckner
Mahler
Popov
Rautavaara
Hugo Alfven
Per Norgard
Aulis Sallinen
Poul Ruders
Elena Ruehr
Elizabeth Maconchy
Peter Maxwell Davies
Robert Simpson
Brenton Broadstock
Charles Tournemire
Philip Sawyers
Colin Matthews
David Matthews
Peter Fricker
Gavin Bryars
Grechaninov
Hans Gal
Imants Kalnins
John Knowles Paine
Joly Braga Santos
Luis de Freitas Branco
Kalinnikov
Kancheli
Malcolm Lipkin
Peter Mennin
Sunleif Rasmussen
Peter Sculthorpe

Pehr Nordgren
Ib Norholm
Myaskovsky
William Alwyn
William Schuman
Christopher Rouse
Christopher Gunning
Claudio Santoro
Mily Balakirev
Thomas de Hartmann
Helvi Leiviska
Kalevi Aho
Weinberg
Niklas Sivelov
Paul von Klenau
Penderecki
Alfred Schnittke
Stephen Gerber
Steve Elcock
Talivaldis Kenins
Valentin Silvestrov
William Mathias
William Wordsworth
Jacob Ter Veldhuis
Rihards Dubra
Terry Riley
"A quiet secluded life in the country, with the possibility of being useful to people ... then work which one hopes may be of some use; then rest, nature, books, music, love for one's neighbour — such is my idea of happiness"

Tolstoy