Your 5 favorite composers of classical music?

[Moleskin]

Thomas Tallis
Shostakovich
Gustav Holst
Vaughan Williams
Mozart

[steadyeddie]

Zappa

good man there speaketh a true connissuer

[martha]

The usual suspects of course...Schubert, Debussy, Beethoven, Mozart, Chopin, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Shostakovich, Bartók, Wagner, Grieg, Rossini, Bruckner, Sibelius, Purcell etc...

And then...I like quirky and offbeat stuff like Alexander Scriabin who is wacky and wonderful, Somei Satoh is subarashii. Erik Satie has some really beautiful stuff - does he count as Jazz or classical? I love the darker side of Samuel Barber.

But my favorite classical composer is probably Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber.

[Ghost of Harry Smith]

I respect the big guys (Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin etc.) but iTunes tells me the five I play the most are
Bach
Debussy
Ravel
Steve Reich
Shostakovich

I too love Takemitsu, Bartók, Scriabin, Sibelius, the list goes onnnnnnn

[northernsky]

Brahms
Mahler
Chopin
Debussy
Sibelius

[The Slider]

Wagner.

Then loads of others.
Mozart of course.
Richard Strauss.
Those two are always there

Currently.... Britten and Stravinsky.
On another day it is Mahler and Verdi.
Or Puccini and Tchaikovsky.

I like Beethoven but he has never been a favourite, despite his greatness.
And the Bach phenomenon completely confounds me. He wrote a few decent tunes but dressed them up in the most unimaginative clothing possible.

[joels344]

Igor Stravinsky
Arvo Pärt
Henryk Górecki
Steve Reich
Erik Satie

[never/ever]

Mahler
Pärt
Goreçki
Reich
Glass
sub: Riley

[PresMuffley]

But my favorite classical composer is probably Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber.

I find that difficult to distinguish between a lot of other baroque music - which is my favorite era. That isn't meant as a negative critique, but merely an observation. I'm familiar with his son, Carl, who also has never struck me as particularly unique either.

[PresMuffley]

And the Bach phenomenon completely confounds me. He wrote a few decent tunes but dressed them up in the most unimaginative clothing possible.

Well, this just might be the goofiest comment I've read on here - though I can't say I'm surprised that it comes from a Wagner fan.

[algroth]

As for current composers, I'm really digging Max Richter, Colin Stetson and Alberto Posadas. Would include Johann Johannsson in the list too but I've been mostly impressed with his film scores more so than his non-score work - of course I guess there can be some overlap there too.

[martha]

But my favorite classical composer is probably Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber.

I find that difficult to distinguish between a lot of other baroque music - which is my favorite era. That isn't meant as a negative critique, but merely an observation. I'm familiar with his son, Carl, who also has never struck me as particularly unique either.

His compositions for the violin particularly the solos are where he shines best in my opinion, and I love the absurdity of this:



So f-ing much...

I am travelling and forgot my charger, so I'm almost out of charge here and can't respond to this fully, but Aaron Marx has written what I consider to be an excellent defense of his brilliance here...anything I wrote would just plagiarize him probably anyway, because when I read this it was an "ah ha!" moment for me where I found myself nodding along in agreement as I read.

https://smartandsoulfulmusic.wordpress. ... anz-biber/

[The Fish]

Mahler
Richard Strauss
Wagner
Mozart
Elgar

[joklend]

It's quite difficult to name just five if you're taking classical in its broad form, which is what most have been doing. In terms of the most famous names, then Bach and Mozart for certain would be there, who for me represent the pinnacle of music as an art form. Mozart I was mostly non-plussed with for a long period before he suddenly clicked with me. Beethoven I would be a little more hesitant with; just a little bit too high-falutin' for my taste. Brahms' fourth probably eclipses all that he did, though he was less consistent. Mahler's peaks were exemplary, though there's a lot of ponderous filler to get through to find them.

After that, I've no idea where to begin. Would you compare Byrd or Dowland with Satie, or Stravinsky or Penderecki?

Henryk Górecki

Incredibly, I'm a friend of a friend of his, technically speaking. I've held one of the handwritten scores for his third and seen plenty of photos of his family house in Poland. A very religious man, loved the mountains and folk music of his homeland, gentle but had his moods, apparently.

[Count Machuki]

J.S. BACH



Ludwig Van
Stravinsky
Wagner
Rachmaninoff


(pretty pedestrian tastes for a guy who works at a Symphony Orchestra)

I like lots of scattered pieces by loads of other composers but it's hard to say favorites with much authority. There are people who are SO deep into classical music...it can be overwhelming.

Put it this way, I'd really enjoy putting together an orchestra season featuring two concerts for each of our lists.

[The Modernist]

Interesting thread idea. I'll be curious as to what's picked elsewhere..Debussy, Stravinsky, Satie, Puccini, Vaughn-Williams.
Probably.

[Fonz]

Maybe we should do a thread for fave ‘classical’ pieces, rather than considering the whole output of a composer...

Maybe it will make the endeavour less overwhelming, and provoke some discussion.

I’ll get onto it