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Greatest Composer


noviceluthier

Who is the greatest classical composer living or dead.  

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Nice topic. I haven't heard much from some of them. I voted for Peter, because his music has been certified as pure genius. I've also participated in playing some Tchiakovsky in a symphony or two, and it's seriously been just an amazing musical experience.

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You seem to have forgotten a few - Like Debussy, Ravel, both Strauss's, Wagner, Scriabin, Saint-Saens, Prokofieff, Messiaen, Satie, Copland, Gershwin, Stravinsky, Elgar, Cowell, Glass, and a host of other great composers. This is one of those "Could Segovia Outplay Hendrix?" threads - fun, but ultimately pointless, because it's a popularity contest. I vote "other". :D

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not one of the composers you listed comes close to bach, or beethoven!

Stravinsky is ok, but not one of my favorite, and Gershwin aint even in the running.Peter and the Wolf is a nice peice but is it at the same level as say the brandenburg concertos? You listed mainly later/more modern composers, than the ones i listed, but i guess it comes down to preference and what constitutes the "golden age" of classical music.

Not attacking you just trying to debate

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I voted other simply because i could not choose. I enjoy most if not all of Beethoven's work but i also enjoy alot of Brahms work. I heard awhile back that Beethoven wrote his first symphony at the age of 9... is this true??

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you know, i can't put down my true thought, because they were all amazing. i loved Bach for his chorale writing, Mozart's piano concertos and etudes blew anyone else's away (duh), Beethoven's small group stuff was just plain amazing, Tsaikowski (sp way off...) is loud which = fun, Gershwin, Debussy, i mean...it's hard to just pick one. that's like making me choose which is the best progressive pop punk group. can't be done, man...

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No one has mentioned Orff's "Carmina Burana" or Verdi's Requiem or "Pines of Rome" by Respigghi (sp?). There are so many great composers, and although Bach may beat Verdi in general, I like Verdi's Requiem better than many Bach chorales. "Best Composer" is a very hard question to answer because the argument takes place on so many different levels.

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No one has mentioned Orff's "Carmina Burana"

only popular as Duel of the Fates from Star Wars. no one would know it if it weren't for that movie.

im fond of "pathatique" by tsaikowski

Beethoven's 8th piano sonata "Pathetique" was so much cooler. :D

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i finally voted for beethoven. 'cause he was deaf for over half of his composing years. incredible. be deaf and play guitar. loose sight and still paint. wine tasting w/ no tastebuds or sense of smell...i mean, wow.

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not one of the composers you listed comes close to bach, or beethoven!

Stravinsky is ok, but not one of my favorite, and Gershwin aint even in the running.Peter and the Wolf is a nice peice but is it at the same level as say the brandenburg concertos?

Peter and the Wolf? B) How about An American in Paris, or Rite of Spring, or La Mer, or Danse Macabre? I like Brandenburg, but I don't think it (or any of the baroque composers' works) represents the high water mark for formal orchestral music. I do believe that for instance Strauss's tone poems (Till Eulenspiegel, Also Sprach Zarathustra, Ein Heldenleben), despite their fascist subtext, rival anything Beethoven wrote for both orchestration and sheer beauty. But as I said previously, it's a popularity contest - I just thought the list looked like something out of a 1963 Music Appreciation texbook, so I thought I'd give some other names some equal time. "There is more in Heaven and earth...", and stuff like that. :D

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I went with Vivaldi...

But without enough of a background to make an educated decision. Of course I've heard enough of the other popular composers (Beethoven, Mozart), but I hadn't heard of a few of the others.

So why Vivaldi? Because The Four Seasons is the only composition of its genre that I can go back to time and time again and in almost any mood I'll get something out of it. Sometimes I put on Beethoven and shut it off mere moments later. I haven't listened to that CD all the way through yet. I'm not particularly inclined to listen to classical/orchestral/symphonic music to begin with (I wish I were, but I'm simply not), so if a composer can bring me back to his music despite my predisposition, that's gotta be a sign of some sort of genius.

Greg.

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someone completely forgot Mendelsohnn in there as a choral composer. anytime my college choir sings one of his pieces, i melt. love that stuff.

speaking of new composers, Ernest Aguilar has some really nice stuff out there. nothing that would blow someone away or amaze the crap out of anyone, but it's still really nice. we sang two of his pieces at our last concert.

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No one has mentioned Orff's "Carmina Burana"

only popular as Duel of the Fates from Star Wars. no one would know it if it weren't for that movie.

im fond of "pathatique" by tsaikowski

Beethoven's 8th piano sonata "Pathetique" was so much cooler. :D

Beethoven's Pathetique Sonata would have to rank as one of my favorite songs in any genre.

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genius - beethoven, definately. his music, composed while deaf was astounding! I think it was his Emperor concerto in E minor that he was conducting, (he had never heard this piece ever!!) and the orchestra had stopped and he was still conducting....

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Chuck Schuldiner of Death composed all of their music, and I feel that his guitar skill is unmatched.

RIP Chuck

if you like him check out james murphy(you probably already have)and rusty cooley

but i don't think that is what was meant by "composer"

and truly,though i love chuck schindler,"human" was his only truly great work

"individual thought patterns" was just an attempt at another "human" which fell a little short

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  • 3 weeks later...

im going to be pedantic and point out that not everyone in that list is a classical composer. (romantic, baroque etc.)

also, i find it difficult to pick one out than any other. I voted other. As a personal preferance i would say messaen comes close to best because he wrote the music in a way no-one had ever done before. Its music that has to be understood to be heard.

For piano music, chopin, for "classical jazz" sammy nestico (if messaen can be thought of as classical then dates dont apply).

I think my two fave "classical" pieces of all time are The Planets and the Ring Cycle.

:D

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