The Greatest [Who were the top ten composers of all time?]

NY Times Blog ^ | January 7, 2011 | ANTHONY TOMMASINI

[Pharmboy]

YOU know that a new year has truly arrived when critics stop issuing all those lists of the best films, books, plays, recordings and whatever of the year gone by. These lists seem to be popular with readers, and they stir up lively reactions.

snip...

Yet in other fields, critics and insiders think bigger. Film institutes periodically issue lists of the greatest films of all time. (“Citizen Kane” seems to have a lock on the top spot.) Rock magazines routinely tally the greatest albums ever. And think of professional tennis, with its system of rankings, telling you exactly which player is No. 1 in the world, or 3, or 59.

snip..

Imagine if we could do the same in classical music, if there were ways to rank pianists, sopranos and, especially, composers. The Top 10 composers of all time. Now that’s the list I have secretly wanted to compile. It would be absurd, of course, but fascinating. My thinking about this was shaken, though, last spring, when Mohammed e-mailed me. That’s Mohammed Rahman, then a freshman at Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan. He was writing a paper on why people have different musical tastes, and he wanted to interview me. His questions were so thoughtful that I met him at a cafe.

Mohammed picked my brain about how my tastes had been formed, about what I looked for in good music. Inevitably we came to the question of how it gets decided that certain music, certain composers are the best. And of course some really are. I’m open-minded but not a radical relativist.

So if you were to try to compile a list of the 10 greatest composers in history, how would you go about it? For me

[MS.BEHAVIN]

It’s beautiful..

[MS.BEHAVIN]

I am not well versed in classical music..(something I hope to remedy soon)

My FRiend Publius, is!
I thought he might enjoy this thread.
;0)

[Errant]

May we also honorably mention Johann Pachelbel for his historical Cannon

[Publius]

I saw it. Thanks for the ping. If I had to make a list, it would be:

1. Beethoven
2. Schubert
3. Mozart
4. Bach
5. Brahms
6. Mendelssohn
7. Chopin
8. Schumann
9. Rachmaninoff
10. Mahler

[ml/nj]

It says "the young composer." but Mozart was 33

That's nice. Listen to the Orphanage Mass (K. 139) which Mozart wrote when he was 13 (f%@()g 13!) and get back to me. And maybe you can supply me with a list of Bach's greatest operas? Mozart's operas are so great that no one can seriously say for more than a month, without changing his mind, which is the greatest.

ML/NJ

[x]

I am focusing on Western classical music. There are compelling arguments against honoring this classification. Still, giants like George Gershwin, Duke Ellington and Stephen Sondheim are outside my purview here.

Way to tick people off.

Sondheim won't mind, but Tommasini is lucky that Gershwin is dead, and he should hope that Wynton Marsalis and Stanley Crouch don't have his address.

Top three are Bach, Beethoven, and Mozart. After that, does it really matter?

[MS.BEHAVIN]

I had a feeling Beethoven would be your first choice!
;0)

[Publius]

Yeah, I’m a sucker for the sonatas, string quartets and most of the symphonies. Take a listen to Beethoven’s Quartet in C# minor, Op. 131, to hear a man take the traditional format of the string quartet and stretch it to the breaking point.

[InternetTuffGuy]

I'll go with J.S. Bach in the #1 spot. Beethoven, a close 2nd. I get more intellectually and emotionally from Brahms and Mahler than I do Mozart, so I would have to put them in that order (sacrilege, I know). Schumann because he's so underrated, and Rachmaninnoff because people have a tendency to underappreciate just how well crafted his compositions are because of the luxurious and exuberant tunefulness which the average listener fails to dwell beyond. Debussey makes the list of course. Of modern composers, perhaps the music of John Williams and Arvo Part have achieved immortality.

End paragraph.

[mtg]

10) Willie Nelson

Well I'll say one thing for you, you certainly have a good sense of humor.

[Errant]

Or, ODE TO JOY

[Mariner]

You left out Verdi and Wagner.

[Mariner]

"Where is today’s Beethoven"

Put on your headphones and listen to Electric Ladyland or Band of Gypsys again.

[humblegunner]

HammerFrog may not have been the most talented or technically adept band..
But by golly they sure did generate original content!

[MS.BEHAVIN]

I’ll give it a listen!
Thanks!

[oldsicilian]

Bruckner,Ugh! Can’t listen to him. Great melodies and developments but doesn’t know what do do with them. Frustrating. Like trying to make love while fully clothed.

[Publius]

To prepare you, the Op. 131 quartet consists of 7 movements all linked togther to form one long arch of sound. The movements consist of:

1. The only slow fugue Beethoven ever wrote.
2. A Scottish dance.
3. A short transitional movement.
4. A slow movement in theme and variations format.
5. A scherzo that sounds like a music box run amok. There are a whole group of musical gags that are hilarious.
6. A short slow movement in which Beethoven writes a parody of his great slow movements that are conversations with God. Here the slow movement is just too sad for a genuine heartfelt Beethoven slow movement.
7. A finale that is the only movement in sonata format.

It's wonderful fun.

[Pharmboy]

I have listened to B’s 5th since I was 12...worn several LPs out, then tapes, CDs and now, STILL have it on my iTouch. But, I don’t really listen to it much anymore. Not so for the Opus 54 and 57 sonatas (among others) and the C sharp minor quartet: I will NEVER stop listening to those and the rest of his chamber music.

[Pharmboy]

Yep...the Opus 131 is the king of quartets. With Beethoven and Bach, my favorite depends on whose piece I listened to last.

Bach was amazing...please...have a listen to the sarabande from Partita #2 for solo violin; or, perhaps you would prefer the chaconne.

[Pharmboy]

Not an opera fan; but, having said that, the Liebestodt from T&I is gorgeous and brilliant at the same time.