Most important/influential piece of music

[Haffner]

I have heard Mozart's larger religious works, but I am unaware of him being able to express himself with the transcendant intensity that Bach was so uniquely capable ... but then intensity was not his thing.

Surface beauty & glitter & charm were his aspiration. Not with Bach. (name me a JSB piece that is Haffner)

It is not surprising that Mozart is easily adapted to corporate use, in adverts etc: In fact much of his music is advertising something in itself : it has the feel of music that is looking at itself in the mirror ... admiring it's costume & finery. Many people like exactly this quality in it ... the lifestyle choice ... the sense of self ... the effervescent gaeity. 

Thank you for correcting me on that, James. I'm grateful for your having taken the time to do so.

[Florestan]

Surface beauty & glitter & charm were his aspiration.

I've always thought this quote was absolutely true:

Mozart is the most inaccessible of the great masters. ~ Artur Schnabel

[Florestan]

can you explain why you yourself believe Mozart is the most inaccessible?

Gladly. Because his music can be --- and is --- easily dismissed as surface beauty and glitter and charm without taking in account its profound emotional and intellectual content.

With all respect and no offence meant, if what you find in his music is only superficiality maybe the problem is on your side, not on his.

[Florestan]

i like lots of Mozart's music, wasnt dismissing it at all

Then I misunderstood you. Sorry.

....but inaccessable? Nah....

I think he was referring --- in provocative terms, granted --- exactly to this all too frequent phenomenon: many people really dismiss Mozart's music for its would-be superficial beauty.

[quintett op.57]

vivaldi's contribution to music was to the development of the solo concerto form (as displays of virtuosity), his music lay forgotten after his death until the mid-twentieth century, mainly with the 4 seasons.....

To which we could add the development of the use of the instrument, regarding the virtuosity of the soloist and the use of the timbre an instrument or a group of instrument can produce (orchestration).
He's a part of the italian baroque style of the XVIIIth century, giving importance to the development of non-contrapuntal harmonies.
I have no precise idea of the importance of Vivaldi in this evolution but I know this way of making music would be preferred to the north german severe contrapuntal style in the classical and romantic era.
An expert would probably give you more examples of Vivaldi'sinfluence.

js bach's contribution to the concerto was especially significant, he brought new complexity and subtlety to the form...nowhere more impressively than the brandenburg concerti, and Bach's harpsichord concerti lay the foundation for the piano concerto.

Maybe I'm wrong, I don't find his Brandenburg concertos that influential.
I don't really associate the genre of the postbaroque concerto with the idea of complexity.
For me it's Bach's global oeuvre which is influential, and the concertos are just a part of it. But it's not like if later composers'concertos were similar to Bach's. in fact, the opposition soloist/orchestra is not clear enough in the Brandenburg for it to be compared with later concertos, in my opinion, it's another genre, or a mix of genres. It's sometimes very similar to the concerti grossi. 

And then Mozart came along...but there is nothing in the nuts and bolts of the harmony & rhythm of Mozart to even raise Bach's eyebrow, aside from expansions of form and structure its a simplification. And its aspiration were also very different than Bach. Surface beauty, and glitter and charm....as opposed to "for the glory of God" which is the highest aspiration IMO, and backlights much of JSB's music. Anyway, then Beethoven is next in line...to continue in the Mozart vein...but even more dramatic and adventerous in harmony and complex in form...with solo and orchestra more intricately woven than Mozart, and Beethoven continued increased virtuosity of the solo writing which were to continue thru the 19th and 20th centuries, displays of virtuosity...however many modernist composers, like Stravinsky & Hindemith, came along and rejected the romantic idea of DISPLAY and turned and looked to the examples of the Baroque when writing concertos...then there was the development of the Concerto for Orchestra developed by Bartok, Tippett & Carter...

I'm under the impression you haven't got a huge consideration for the melodical, orchestral and rythmical aspects. Subtlety is not owned by Bach's style!
I bet Bach would have been very admirative of mozart's 5th VC I'm listening right now. I know how humble & curious he was.
The fact you ignored Paganini is interesting, because he was absolutely not ignored by Brahms, Chopin, Schumann, Liszt or even Strauss and Sibelius and because he's often criticized in the same way than Vivaldi (I confess he probably deserves those critics more than Vivaldi, and I'm not saying he's as great as Bach, don't worry).

[Danny]

Beethoven's Third, Sixth and Ninth symphonies.  All three had great influence on subsequent generations (eg, Berlioz, Brahms, Mahler, etc.).

[karlhenning]

lets not get pedantic eh karl...those lieder are very important, and there is much to choose from, so take your pick!

But that's the point, and it is not pedantry;  is any one Lied "the most important/influential piece of music"?

[Haffner]

I've always thought this quote was absolutely true:

Mozart is the most inaccessible of the great masters. ~ Artur Schnabel

Nietzsche: "The deepest minds are those whom histrionically toy with the shallow in things. Their very depths betray them by dint of their camouflage...by way of the nature of their superficiality!"

[Robert]

no as a whole they are, i was being broad and general...of course from here we can perhaps get PEDANTIC and narrow it down to a SPECIFIC batch of songs, or even one, but i defer that to others like perhaps yourself?...i apologize with a disobeying the strict rules and guidelines of this particular thread officer karl henning, thanks for the slap on the wrist though. 

Are you insinuating that some members on this forum are PEDANTIC??? 

[Bogey]

A bit of different angle here, as I am going to go with the most influential to me, the listener, while staying within the framework of classical music:



My reasoning?

As a youth, this was my first real introduction to music as played by a symphony.  Before this, I gave symphonic type music little to no attention.  After the above, I suddenly became receptive to classical music and no longer disregarded it.  And though I did not pursue classical recordings until I was an adult, movie soundtracks, like the above, are what eventually lead me to purchasing and enjoying classical music.  

[Kullervo]

A bit of different angle here, as I am going to go with the most influential to me, the listener, while staying within the framework of classical music:



My reasoning?

As a youth, this was my first real introduction to music as played by a symphony.  Before this, I gave symphonic type music little to no attention.  After the above, I suddenly became receptive to classical music and no longer disregarded it.  And though I did not pursue classical recordings until I was an adult, movie soundtracks, like the above, are what eventually lead me to purchasing and enjoying classical music. 

Seconded. I grew up on those soundtracks. I can still hum every note to this day.

[Bogey]

Seconded. I grew up on those soundtracks. I can still hum every note to this day.

And thanks to my 8 year-old, I go down memory lane quite often as well.

[Kullervo]

Which one is your favorite, Bogey?

[Chaszz]

In a generalised description I think Mozart's music was far more surface orientated ... in harmonic terms it was conceived in the vertical ... to be experienced vertically, but with a strong emphasis on top line melody to replace interest potentially lost through it's much simplified horizontal aspects.
It aspired to a lighter and more vivacious effect than Bach's - at which of course it succeeds ... and it is much enjoyed by people who like that sort of thing.

I have heard Mozart's larger religious works, but I am unaware of him being able to express himself with the transcendant intensity that Bach was so uniquely capable ... but then intensity was not his thing.

Surface beauty & glitter & charm were his aspiration. Not with Bach. (name me a JSB piece that is Haffner)

It is not surprising that Mozart is easily adapted to corporate use, in adverts etc: In fact much of his music is advertising something in itself : it has the feel of music that is looking at itself in the mirror ... admiring it's costume & finery. Many people like exactly this quality in it ... the lifestyle choice ... the sense of self ... the effervescent gaeity. 

I agree with you re Mozart's concertos and divertimentos, largely. I find in them too much surface glitter and expecially too much noodling back and forth of tonic and dominant. But I have lately been listening seriously for the first time to Mozart's chamber music, including violin/piano sonatas and trios, and I find here serious contemplative use of more complex harmony than in his other music. I am actually quite surprised at the musical depth of these works and have just had to add a great many items to my must-listen list. Have you listened to his chamber music?

[Bogey]

Which one is your favorite, Bogey?

Easily Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back.....always was a sucker for winter scene battles and cliff hangers.....so the music to that one as well.  It happens to be my son's least favorite.

[Kullervo]

Easily Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back.....always was a sucker for winter scene battles and cliff hangers.....so the music to that one as well.  It happens to be my son's least favorite.

Yeah that is the best, and not only for sentimental reasons.

[Haffner]

I agree with you re Mozart's concertos and divertimentos, largely. I find in them too much surface glitter and expecially too much noodling back and forth of tonic and dominant.

This includes k563?

[sonic1]

only when we compare the works of one composer with another do things begin to really gather meaning...

I have never had to do this to gather meaning from music.

[Chaszz]

This includes k563?

I believe this is an aria. I didn't refer to arias.

[The new erato]

Easily Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back.....always was a sucker for winter scene battles and cliff hangers.....so the music to that one as well.  It happens to be my son's least favorite.

The winter battle scenes were shot quite near to where I live actually.