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

Beethoven. Undoubtedly. He is just soo supreme. All his works are perfectly crafted.

11 pages of kindergarten show-and-tell, and no one brings up Wagner. Preposterous!

Wagner brought opera to a new sublime level, and created a new path

of music all on his own, which no one has managed to surpass. (IMO)

His Ring Cycle would be the most grand artistic project a single human being had ever

managed to take in history. I mean this one guy wrote all the libretto following mythical text, composed all the music, invented a new instrument for this project, the Wagner tuba, and even designed a specific theater to perform his work. What a monster.

And his music - so powerful and overwhelming, at times delicate, so rich with emotions, not even beethoven or brahms (whom i deeply adore) can take wagner away from me.

I have to say that I go through phases of composers who I think could be the greatest, but at the moment, and has been for a while, would probably be Franz Joseph Haydn.

1- His music (to me) always seems very light-hearted and jolly. No matter how sad I am, his music always cheers me up. He like Mozart (for me) was in that balance between technique and emotion.

2- His melodies, although often simply are incredibly catchy.

3- He is known as the father of the symphony and the string quatet as well as being renowed for his contribution to the development of sonata form.

Although I love the music of Mozart and Beethoven and think that they were geniuses for whatever reasons as well as a HUGE number of others.

Haydn's musical output is amazing and he has contributed SO much to musical development, and was admired for his genius in his time...Napoleon loved his music so much that when he invaded austria he had a guard of honour placed at Haydn's house...as well as he started as a choir boy and had very little, if any, formal compositional training. So I have to say that I think Haydn's influence, style and technique help propel him to be the greatest composer.

Lex

It was Handel that threatened to throw the Woman out of the window while rehearsing a work of his :w00t:

Bela Bartok.

His knowledge of the orchestra and how each instrument works was completely amazing. How he played with meter and tonality incorporating both beautiful melodic passages along with fascinating rhythmic patterns that often charactize is work.

Concerto for Orchestra is one of the most incredible pieces ever written. take time to look at the score, it's amazing -- the way he groups each instrument categorically yet manages to keep a coherent orchestral piece is truly amazing.

_____ IS THE GREATEST BECAUSE _________________ I'M ALWAYS RIGHT

AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Bela Bartok.

His knowledge of the orchestra and how each instrument works was completely amazing. How he played with meter and tonality incorporating both beautiful melodic passages along with fascinating rhythmic patterns that often charactize is work.

Concerto for Orchestra is one of the most incredible pieces ever written. take time to look at the score, it's amazing -- the way he groups each instrument categorically yet manages to keep a coherent orchestral piece is truly amazing.

Ahh, yes! Bart

Bela Bartok.

His knowledge of the orchestra and how each instrument works was completely amazing. How he played with meter and tonality incorporating both beautiful melodic passages along with fascinating rhythmic patterns that often charactize is work.

Concerto for Orchestra is one of the most incredible pieces ever written. take time to look at the score, it's amazing -- the way he groups each instrument categorically yet manages to keep a coherent orchestral piece is truly amazing.

His piano sonata is just about my favorite of all time. :)

Speaking of which, if you had to name a key for the main theme of the third movement, what would it be?

I dont know that....i wish i knew....maybe all what you like will suit in a good way :)

anyway to go back to the tread that asks for "who's the best composer of all times" and he also asks to look inside....

....well i did, and after a deep deep depp research that more deep cant be, i will say that

GUGLIELMO ESPOSITO is my best composer ever lived, and ever will live and all that sort of things u say when u like something :p

P.S. it's meeee, but shhhhh!!! dont tell it to anybody! i wanna keep it secret!! shhhh!!

GUGLIELMO ESPOSITO is a great composer, i have heard a lot of him! Realy great! he is the pride of 2008!

thank you very much! this is very nice of you! like wise here ;) amazed

I have enourmous respect for Haydn, Mozart, and Bach, but I'd have to say that Beethoven was the greatest. I'd also say that Stravinsky is very high up there because he is one of few composers to write music of extremely high quality in a vast variety of styles.

Hello, my name is John Gardier. My Father is from France, however I was born in Brooklyn, New York. I am 29 years of age. My favorite music composer is George Gershwin. First of all I have loyalty to Gershwin because he's from Brooklyn, NYC. Second of all I grew up listening to my mother listen to Jacob Gershowitz. George Gershwin also inspired great musicians such as Fred Astaire, Al Jolson, Art Tatum (a legally blind Jazz pianist), Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Billie Holiday, Judy Garland, Barbra Streisand, Natalie Cole, Maureen McGovern, Madonna, Sarah Vaughn and Sting. Since the title of the site is young composers, I have to go with George Gershwin. George Gershwin has inspired great American musicians, those of whom have definitely inspired me. Not to mention Gershwin's life was tragically snuffed out by a brain tumor at the tender age of 38. They say that the good die young, and I guess that holds true for the legend of Jacob "George Gershwin" Gershowitz. I can honestly listen to Beethoven, Verdi, Mozart, and Bach, however, I love George Gershwin!!!

I was going to say Bartok, because he basically invented ethnomusicology as we know know it today. Sure Brahms may have had his Hungarian dance, and Liszt might have taken it a little farther, but Bartok captured the true spirit of Eastern European music, opening the way for people to bring East and South Asian and African influences into Western music. But he was taken by many others, and I don't want to repeat what anyone else said.

So, I was going to say Sibelius, not for anything in particular, but just because I like his work, but he was also taken.

So, I was going to say Webern, because he never wasted a note. But he was taken.

So now I'll stick with Ives, who fused together American hymns and songs with the European musical tradition, all while pushing musical boundaries. Much of his work is quite chromatic (but still tonal), and he was probably the first composer to use multiple time signatures at once in a tasteful way.

By the way, welcome, Gardier!

Gustav Mahler. He brings the idea of "expressing the unecxpressible in word through music" to a new height. No better!

Without Berlioz most modern treatments of the orchestra would have taken much longer to be accepted.

The one thing I don't like about Mozart's music is that a lot of it seems to be very similar. Very rarely new. Again, my knowledge is limited but listen to the overtures to Don Giovanni and The Marriage of Figaro and you'll see what I mean.

Quoted for truth

I remember the first time I heard the overture to Don Giovanni, I had already heard the overture to Figaro, and I just couldn't believe someone could so transparantly do something like that.I think that Mozart's output is very very uneven, most of what he wrote is not very good to be brutally honest.

But imo he was just lazy, he had an incredibly prodgious output, he churned out pieces, and I really think he was just looking for a quick buck most of the time.But when you hear his operas...

My God!, the overture to Figaro!!!!!!, the queen of the night Aria!!!!!!!!!!!

IMO, although I believe Mozart occassionally achieved the same high level as Him, Beethoven is the greatest.His perfect pitch probably acounts for his ability to continue composing while deaf.That aside, his music is just SO beautiful, and so moving!!!!!

Mozart, because he was a magical man. period.

Um. Scriabin.

Because of the things he touches on in, say, his Piano Sonata 8 (and others).

pt1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxG8KgEp_y8&fmt=18

pt2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ef6z2U8Tjo&fmt=18

There's plenty of "great" musicians, of course. But there's my pick of the last several months (maybe it's been over a year or so now...)

If Mozart was a magician, then Scriabin was a shaman.

The one thing I don't like about Mozart's music is that a lot of it seems to be very similar. Very rarely new. Again, my knowledge is limited but listen to the overtures to Don Giovanni and The Marriage of Figaro and you'll see what I mean.

I remember the first time I heard the overture to Don Giovanni, I had already heard the overture to Figaro, and I just couldn't believe someone could so transparantly do something like that.

LOL WUT?

I just listened to both those overtures (which was unnecessary because I remember them both) to see what you guys were talking about, and now I'm as confused as ever. The two overtures don't even use the same form!! Maybe some motivic ideas are similar and some passage-work is used in both (sorta), but they share no main themes, structure, or anything else that I can see or hear. The beginnings are totally different, the endings are totally different, how they are developed is very different (one even has an introduction and the other doesn't). For god's sake, they're both works by one person in an era of strong common practice; of course they are going to be somewhat similar! You can find similarities between Palestrina and Ligeti if you want, but it doesn't mean anything, let alone say anything about either party.

I mean really, you could have said something as crazy as "listen to all the string quartets, sonatas, and symphonies and you'll see what I mean" and it would have made more sense than comparing these two works.

/rant

P.S. I of course would love to be disproven, as you both apparently know something I don't.

i would like to add to my previous post that even though beethoven went COMPLETELY DEAF at age 52, mozart DIED in his thirties.

LOL WUT?

I just listened to both those overtures (which was unnecessary because I remember them both) to see what you guys were talking about, and now I'm as confused as ever. The two overtures don't even use the same form!! Maybe some motivic ideas are similar and some passage-work is used in both (sorta), but they share no main themes, structure, or anything else that I can see or hear. The beginnings are totally different, the endings are totally different, how they are developed is very different (one even has an introduction and the other doesn't). For god's sake, they're both works by one person in an era of strong common practice; of course they are going to be somewhat similar! You can find similarities between Palestrina and Ligeti if you want, but it doesn't mean anything, let alone say anything about either party.

I mean really, you could have said something as crazy as "listen to all the string quartets, sonatas, and symphonies and you'll see what I mean" and it would have made more sense than comparing these two works.

/rant

P.S. I of course would love to be disproven, as you both apparently know something I don't.

Nik, come on! This isn't about form or development structure! It's about how it sounds. All of the classical period composers were able to have different sounds. Mozart's in particualr, was very bland and uninteresting. Yes, you should listen to all his symphonies in a row. I'll guarantee you'll shut your iPod off before you get to the 20s because you'll either be asleep or so bored that you'll listen to Jonny Cash for some entertainmnet.

Nik, come on! This isn't about form or development structure! It's about how it sounds. All of the classical period composers were able to have different sounds. Mozart's in particualr, was very bland and uninteresting. Yes, you should listen to all his symphonies in a row. I'll guarantee you'll shut your iPod off before you get to the 20s because you'll either be asleep or so bored that you'll listen to Jonny Cash for some entertainmnet.

Wow, that's an incredulously stupid post.

Why would you listen to the symphonies Mozart wrote before he was 10 anyway? Listen to anything he wrote from about 17 up, and (if you're not a moron) you will find something to enjoy in it. Almost every symphony from 25 through to 41 is a complete gem.

Anyway, I find it amusing that Mozart is called bland from the person who turns his nose up at harmony later than the common practice period.

Why wouldn't I listen to it? It was still his music. If he's this fabeled prodegy that he's claimed to be, his Childhood stuff should be just as good.

Bland compared to today's music. Sure, in his time, he was a harmonic inovator. But we're not talking about that here are we? Mozart hardly inovated compared to things like Beethoven and Mahler.