Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin - these are the Himalayan peaks of Music. but it’s really downhill from there, and after the foothills of Ravel and Gershwin it turns into an vast plain of mediocrity. There have been a few bright spots/plateaus (John Williams), but almost everything after the 1930’s is dreck.
I like Elmer Bernstein, Patrick Williams, and Lalo Schifrin’s stuff.