Who is the best composer of all time? Look inside please!

Ok.

What the subject says!

Now what are the rules (cause, yes there are rules).

* You will only name 1 composer/name. No other

* You will give your reasons why (s)he is the best composer of all times!

* This is ONLY subjective so there is no reason to reply to other people.

* BY ALL MEANS. You will not bother to what other people say, or their opinion. You will not quote any other post about this one. This is not a debate. This is "give me your opinion"! All opinions matter. I will ask that you remain calm, and unflamatory through this thread please!

* Everyone would appreciate a based opinion, not only "I like his/her music". Stories, goes, technique, ideas, originality issues, (s)he was your parent, whatever...

So...

Who is No. 1?

You know that I love contemporary music but in this case I'll go to Beethoven. Although Bach and Mozart came close second.

Beethoven was deaf! That is bloody amazing on it's own!

He wrote lots of music! Much more than most composers do, and spent months to writing a single piece.

He had NO idea how to write a good melody. Most (ok not most, but anyhow) melodies are simple argpeges. Appasionata, Moonlight, 3rd piano concerto, etc... STILL he managed to create long works, of great beauty.

He had some pretty contempoary ideas, for his time, and even for our own.

He was a democrat, he believed in Napoleans' revolution, but then hated him for becoming an emperor! He believed in large crouds and commerciality of music (as opposed to Mozart who, most of his time, was employed by the aristocrats). His music is filled with jazz elements, which came in his mind alone (being deaf in died in 1827!) (look at 2nd movement 32nd Sonata for piano).

He introduced the choir in a symphony (the 9th), along with 4 solo voices.

He was GRAND in the full sense of the word.

He's written in most genres (ensembles), excluding of course music concrete, for example, since it is way ahead his time: 9 Symphonies, 5 piano concertos, 1 violin concerto, 1 opera (only one! He did not like operas at all! Opera means singing and he was BAD at making melodies. Already told you that), 10 violin sonatas, viola sonatas, trios, quartets, phew... and more...

I can listen to Beethoven music, any time really. I can stand all his music, and enjoy every bit of his output. If I was to order the full catalogue of 1 composer, Beethoven would be that one!

I do enjoy his works very much, without saying that my most loved music is written by him, though! The same goes for Bach, Mozart, Schnittke, Stravinksy, and another 30+ names more or less... But the above and all of the above only come with Beethoven! :toothygrin:

See? Highly subjective and there is no reason to discuss, or debate that I rank No 1 Beethoven. There is no right or wrong! It's all about personal opinion! Even Mendelson would be fine, had Saul be here still... Anybody really! But with some reasoning please...

To the mods: The main difference of this thread to all other top 10 threads is that this one shoud not be a debate at all. It's about learning about each other and learning about our No.1 (although it's damn difficult to pick just one). It's about opinion and to project what other people think of someone "special". I think that this does not exist in YC thus far. :)

Claude Achille Debussy

Yep. Before Debussy, music was pretty much centered around Germany and Austria. Debussy broke the barrier, opening the doors to the 20th century and bringing with it French music and impressionism. He added a "light touch" to what came before him, every bit of his mastery involved only "a little bit", never too much. Every feeling was subtle.

Debussy's music was as much based on nature as dream and imagination, and that can be seen in his most famous works, Claire de Lune (where moonlight dances across a placid stream, which delicately splashes about), L'apr

Ok So I'm going to say Puccini.

I think Puccini's music always gets me, he draws me into the scene or whatever and really makes me feel whatever he wanted. I think that is really important.

Also, he uses these musical ideas, that you just don't see anywhere else.

In addition, he has written the best opera like ever, he is the best operatic composer.

And....... Im a sucker for the late romantic muisc. lol

Ok.

Beethoven was deaf! That is bloody amazing on it's own!

I can listen to Beethoven music, any time really. I can stand all his music, and enjoy every bit of his output. If I was to order the full catalogue of 1 composer, Beethoven would be that one!

:)

I am dumbfounded every time I think about this genious and the fact he went deaf and if I could only listen to one composers work I would probably have to choose him. His 16 string quartets are amazing and the 9th symphony is unnerving for a deaf person.

With that said, the first time I heard the opening of Prokofievs 3rd Piano Concerto, I fell head over heels in love with a style of music I had never heard before. Then I heard his 1st Piano Concerto and knew I was listening to a man who understood music on more levels that I was used to. To top it all off, he was under constant death threats from his own goverment concerning the style of his music. To face that down for music takes a certain character that not many possess.

I have many albums and cd's and tapes of all the great composers. But for these 2, I have gone out of my way to try to collect their entire set of works.

If I was stranded on a deserted island and was only allowed one song, it would be Prokofiev's 3rd.

I didn't break the rules. I named only one composer, I just let you name the other.:toothygrin:

I agree with you roller, the no.1 is BEETHOVEN! His Piano Sonata no. 21 (C Major) is awesome :toothygrin:

* BY ALL MEANS. You will not bother to what other people say, or their opinion. You will not quote any other post about this one. This is not a debate. This is "give me your opinion"! All opinions matter. I will ask that you remain calm, and unflamatory through this thread please!

I will just repeat that the purpose of this thread is not to discuss with anyone else about their composer of their choice, or whatever. Or to quote other people. Even if you agree and want to say the same thing. The idea is to provide your opinion alone and nothing else. In YC boards there are tons of threads about the "top 10 of composers" where discussing is more than thriving! No need to discuss the same things here. Give you opinions instead. Try to convince us WITHOUT having dialogue! It's taugher than you think :)

Franz Schubert. I've always liked him. Maybe its our affinity for piano improv, maybe its the fact that he did what he did having never owned a piano. His music is just breathtaking.

I’m not familiar with all that many composers actually. And most of the ones I am familiar with are the famous one’s from the Baroque period. While I like many of them if I had to single out one as the ultimate best it would have to be Bach.

I chose Bach mainly because of his outstanding skill in writing very complex multiple-voice solos, for both the piano and violin. I’m tend to enjoy solo instrumental music, duets and chamber music more so than larger orchestrations. And I feel that Bach was the master of solo instrumentals. His partitas and sonatas for solo violin are really impressive pieces in particular. I’m learning to play them on guitar right now as they are currently out of my reach as a violinist. I’m working on that though too. My dream is to learn to play the Bach partitas and sonatas on the violin. It’s just something that I would like to “conquer”.

Having said that, and breaking all the rules, I just have to add that I think Haydn and Mozart were probably the masters when it came to string quartets, and I also think that Beethoven’s Waldstein for solo piano is one of the greatest piano pieces ever written. Chopin was a master of the piano as well. And of course, there were many other great composers as well.

But I feel that overall, in general, Bach had them all beat in terms of sheer diversity, and because of his mastery of the intricacies of multi-voice solo pieces. So if I had to narrow it down to one composer, it has to be Bach. :blink:

Frank Zappa would have to be my all time favourite composer. I suck at explaining things, so I will be brief. He wrote in a ridiculous amount of different styles, not only being a really talented rock and roll writer, but able to compose for orchestra as well. A pretty neat guitarist, and even admirable for his work in politics. He's influenced me a whole lot, and when I think I've had enough of Zappa, I find a whole other side of him I hadn't heard before, he wrote a musical, made two movies, and wrote some of the catchiest riffs and lyrics I've ever heard. In short the man was (imo) a genius. I was going list a few songs I liked but decided there was too many.

Frederic Chopin

How many of us could boast such a nice polonaise (No. 1 in G minor) written we were 7? :thumbsup:

What a guy. He invented the ballade as well as other musical styles.

And notice how his work got harder the older he got. I guess we're lucky he died in like his thirties. ;)

Chopin's polonaises brought the musical form to a higher level than anyone had envisioned the musical style to be capable of. The series of seven polonaises published in his lifetime (another nine were published posthumously), beginning with the Op. 26 pair, set a whole new standard for composing and playing the music and were rooted in a passion by Chopin to write something to celebrate Polish culture — after the country had fallen back into the Russian grip. The A major polonaise Op. 40 No. 1, "Military," and the polonaise in A flat major Op. 53, "Heroic," are among Chopin's most beloved and played works.

Carla Bley

Now, I know none of you have heard of her, or are going to try and check her out, so I'll do it for you...

I'd love to let you listen to the entire Birds of Paradise, but it's massive (20 minutes long), and illegal. I'll give you a taste though...and perhaps some other stuff.

To me, she's by far the most creative and original composer of modern jazz music. Working often with a large Jazz Orchestra she also works with smaller ensembles, even trios and duos. She writes exceptionally well for the player - many of whom have been in her band for decades (Steve Swallow, Gary Valente, Lew Soloff), and has composed some of the darkest, ugliest and most disturbing music of all time; ALSO she has composed some of the prettiest, simplest and most beautiful music of all time. Always is it original, powerful and with her distinct sense of humour...

I've own several of her scores, many of her leadsheets are available free on her website, and I'll finally get the chance to see her perform this summer at the Guelph Jazz Festival with the Charlie Haden Liberation Music Orchestra.

She's absolutely unbelievable, and it's impossible for me to explain it to you...So, please check it out... I warn you, she's not for all ears, and many of you will not like it. I don't care...

Dig:

• 
  
• Official Website - scores for sale, leadsheets for download, and some neat insight into a unique mind.
  
• 
  
• Escalator Over The Hill - rare footage of the second staging of Carla's frightening Rock/Free/Jazz Opera. The original record's Overture is the most powerfully terrifying pieces of music ever composed...
  
• Albums worth buying: Very Big Band // Fancy Chamber Music // Big Band Theory // Musique Mecanique // Live! // Songs With Legs // Ballad of the Fallen + any/everything else.
  

Clips to listen to:

• Birds Of Paradise - from the 1993 album Big Band Theory. I've excerpted some highlights from the piece (it's hard to distill a 20-minute masterpiece into 3 minutes). On a whole, the piece demonstrates Carla's mastery of the long-form. Amazing, possibly one of the greatest compositions of the 20th-Century.
  
• I Hate To Sing - from I Hate To Sing (1984), smaller ensemble, good demonstration of Carla's striking sense of humour
  
• Wolfgang Tango - from Fancy Chamber Music (1998), Carla wrote music for non-improvising classical musicians; a fascinating experiment with great results. You folks with the classical blinders on would do well to give at least this one a chance...
  
• Real Life Hits - from the 1982 record Live!.
  

Um...well, there you go. Carla Bley has had a huge impact on me and my music, she's a devastating composer and it's a shame more people aren't aware of her - she's relatively unknown in the jazz community as well. If you seriously want to check more out, let me know :thumbsup:

...

Why is the Birds of Paradise illegal?

Why is the Birds of Paradise illegal?

It'd be slightly illegal and morally objectionable for me to put the entire thing online, that's all.

Stravinsky

He had a way of re-inventing his music thorough the years and the various environments that he lived in. Very much like a chameleon. Unlike many other composers of his time and before, his music varies enormously from his different periods at a point that it is somehow impossible to recognize his music. Listen the Card Game and The Rite of Spring one after the the other one and prove me wrong.

EDIT: I don't think that he is the best composer, to name such a composer would be so difficult. But Stravinsky is my top composer.

Samuel Barber.

His music is just the most interesting thing to listen to. I get lost in it and it really captures emotion. Also, I am huge on patriotism, and even though he didn't really pledge allegiance like Copland did, when I think of American music, I think of Barber.

Johannes Brahms.

No composer - not even Beethoven - could write quite as compactly as Brahms. Hardly a spare note anywhere; the entire background develops the main motives in his work. This is especially true of his chamber music.

Peter Ilych Tchaikovsky

Better than "The Five" (Balakriev, Cui, Mussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Borodin) put together. One of the leading Russian composers of all time and easily my favourite composer in my favourite musical era - the Romantic period.

There's so much variety in Tchaikovsky's music, and so much to learn. Take "Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy" from The Nutcracker and compare it to "Marche Slave (The Slavonic March)". One is a light, delicate, short dance routine, the other a longer, louder, aggressive piece, the two of which do not sound like they're made by the same man. Thus demonstrating the versatility with the orchestra Tchaikovsky had, and his ability to make it work.

Tchaikovsky is often derided for his very humable melodies and mass appeal. On the technical end, many posit that his pieces lack organization and proper development. I, however, would say that humable melodies and mass appeal are not so easy to achieve and are arguably more of an accomplishment than some of the obscure garbage other "great" composers have churned out. While I concede his organization is imperfect, I think he more than makes up for it with the beauty of his music. His themes are as memorable as Beethoven's, but much more emotional. Anyone who respects old-fashioned tonal, romantic music has to respect what Tchaikovsky did for the romantic movement.

The man with the most developed dramatic sense in History. His operas had passion, gorgeous melodies, inventive orchestration and very powerful characterization. He never fell into long descriptive arias that do nothing to advance the plot - although his own arias are the most gorgeous in italian opera. When you hear a well interpreted Puccini opera, you can actually believe the people on stage are real.

There is no way I could ever name one single favourite composer, let alone the "best". However, just to contribute, I'll say B

Franz Schubert... i love complex music, i mainly write jazz and progressive music (fusion, film scores) but to me, schubert is the balance between catchy and complex melodies...

First of all.. the fact that he really loved beethoven

I absolutely LOVE Tchaikovsky. He's written music for some famous ballets also. You mostly hear him around Christmas time, like in the Nutcracker. The music is so beautiful and gets me in the best mood!

Well this is really hard too me, there's a lot of composers i love.

My top two i know, Shostakovich and Arvo P

For me, the greatest composer is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

To me, he embodies musical perfection. While I also rank Bach, Handel, and Beethoven highly, Mozart to me is on a different scale altogether. Bach's music is great because it is well-constructed, but one can see how it was constructed. It even sounds constructed. Hence, his technique can be learned and reproduced, as evidenced by the colossal number of truly brilliant fugues posted on this site. However, with Mozart, it is as if everything just happens to fall into the right place. It is as if he sees the music on a higher level. Like Bach, he has shown himself to be a master of technique, such as in his choral works, late symphonies, and works for mechanical organ, but, to me, his music also possesses a Handelian warmth and Beethovenian emotionality that Bach lacks, as well as a natural melodic elegance that all three of the above lack. Every aspect of his music is in a delicate balance, and yet he excels in all of them. For this reason, I feel he reached musical sublimity.

Hane Htut Maung

*high-fives Nikolas, and promptly ignores the now non-existent post where some guy tells Robin to listen to more Beethoven*

Also, I'll use this to sneak in another 'Greatest Composer' ...

Kenny Wheeler - genius, another unsung hero of jazz composers. Won't go into detail (don't want to break the rules too much :D ) , but please, listen at least to the opening to his suite on Large and Small Ensembles; another of the most beautiful pieces of music ever composed: listen (damn, I wish it wasn't so short).