The Top 5 composers

1. John Adams

2. Henri Dutilleux

3. Igor Stravinsky

4. Gyorgy Ligeti

5. Leonard Bernstein

duh.

5. Leonard Bernstein

I really like some of Bernstein's works. Candide is my favorite of his.

I really like some of Bernstein's works. Candide is my favorite of his.

try the 2nd and 3rd symphonies

both amazing, very theatrical works.

the 2nd (The Age of Anxiety) is for piano and orchestra and has a glorious climactic ending.

the 3rd (Kaddish) is for narrator, soprano solo, children's chorus, mixed chorus, and orchestra, and finishes with the most astounding fugue I've heard in a long time.

try the 2nd and 3rd symphonies

both amazing, very theatrical works.

the 2nd (The Age of Anxiety) is for piano and orchestra and has a glorious climactic ending.

the 3rd (Kaddish) is for narrator, soprano solo, children's chorus, mixed chorus, and orchestra, and finishes with the most astounding fugue I've heard in a long time.

Will do.

I love threads like this (minus Saul). So much new music to listen to.

Hard to answer, especially given my listening habits.

1. Carla Bley
   
2. Kenny Wheeler
   
3. Charles Mingus
   
4. Tom Waits
   
5. Wayne Shorter
   

Could easily be expanded depending on style, or ensemble, etc...

...

Will do.

I love threads like this (minus Saul). So much new music to listen to.

decided to pull out the Bernstein 3rd as I wrote that... listening to it now.

1. Lisa Gerrard

2. Danny Elfman

3. Alban Berg

4. John Adams

5. Aram Khatchaturian

I hate to rain on everyone's modernist parade... but has anyone here heard Handel's Theodora by chance?? I might also be able to recommend any of vivaldi's later violin concertos, such as RV 177... the man knows how to use a cello, harpsichord, and double bass as a percussion instrument...

BTW, I listened to Prokofiev's first symphony... I like it..

I hate to rain on everyone's modernist parade... but has anyone here heard Handel's Theodora by chance?? I might also be able to recommend any of vivaldi's later violin concertos, such as RV 177... the man knows how to use a cello, harpsichord, and double bass as a percussion instrument...

the man KNEW how to use... :P

5. Aram Khatchaturian

Ah yes. I suppose Khachaturian deserves a mention. Some nice 20th century style stuff he did.

Andrew Lloyd Webber is pretty good too.

JohnGalt: Just to give another song of my favourite composer Hamauzu. This song gives you the perfect example how his oriental style is, how he uses the violin and piano and how good he is in chamber music and melodic behaviour. Not only capable of orchestral works...

He can mix timbres of instruments so very well. Ever heard a violin this way? Marvellous.

XTHost.info download page

decided to pull out the Bernstein 3rd as I wrote that... listening to it now.

The BBC had a special on yesterday, commemorating Bernstein's life - it was pretty good.

I forgot John Adams, I think I will add him to the list. His orchestration skill is unsurpassed and there is a wagnerian beauty to his music.

I recently listened to a recording of Bernstein's 2nd symphony on the back of recommendations made in this thread. What an outstandingly dramatic, varied piece of music. Loved every second.

I'll echo the praise heaped upon John Adams, too. I was lucky enough to see a few of his works played in concert a while ago, conducted by none other than the man himself. Pieces like Slonimsky's Earbox and Naive and Sentimental Music blew me away. And let's not forget Short Ride in a Fast Machine!

Can anyone recommend me any more of Grieg's work? I've only heard the famous Piano Concerto in A minor (which I love) and would like to listen to some more of his work.

There's a Griegpiece for solo piano called Homeward which is very interesting and fun.

If I may give my personal opinion I gleaned from Galt's sources...

Saulsmusic has some Jewish heritage...

Felix Mendelssohn was/is/up for debate a Jew...

I'm making a clean line between this and anti-Semitism... I do not hate, in any way, shape, or form, Jews.

It seems Saulsmusic considers only a composer of his own religion to be the greatest, and all others to be inferior BECAUSE they were not of said religion. If I may say something, this seems a little biased, especially coming from a person who's religion maintains that religion should not be the judge of a person or their art.

He also seems to hate Wagner for obvious reasons... I personally hate Wagner as a person for those reasons, but that is not to say he was a bad composer...

If you infer as I've infered from this, Saulsmusic, you are merely increasing the number of people who are biased against you and possibly your religion as a whole. From a religion and culture that is as strong and as lasting as the Jewish one, I hope that you've learned that equal respect for others, regardless of religion, is one of the most important things in life, and in understanding others. No doubt many from said religion have learned, but you, Saulsmusic, individually you have not learned respect for other people and cultures, and because of this, you are ruining your musical aptitude, your social skills, and helping to contribute to racial and ethnic tensions that are still alive in this world...

Most importantly, you are not going to go that far in music if you become one-composer-sided, and consider all else to be far inferior. Ignorance is bliss up to a point, at which it becomes deleterious.

One word for the above comments:

Rubbish.

I told you before that my fav composes before Mendy were Bach and Chopin.

And did you know that they were not Jews?

So your argument goes down the river faster then a dead fish.

Cheers,

So your argument goes down the river faster then a dead fish.

Hm, the accuracy of that statement is hard to derive, considering a dead fish would be eaten by predators quickly, in most cases, after getting killed. In fact, I'd wager the consumer would probably swim up river eventually, thus taking the dead fish with him, meaning the dead fish would be traveling upstream, not down.

Your metaphors are interesting.

Hm, the accuracy of that statement is hard to derive, considering a dead fish would be eaten by predators quickly, in most cases, after get killed. In fact, I'd wager the consumer would probably swim up river eventually, thus taking the dead fish with him, meaning the dead wish would be traveling upstream, not down.

Your metaphors are interesting.

Tehe. John, you're the best.

Tehe. John, you're the best.

Thank you Eddwin, I do try.

well, to continue the food chain imagery, a bit of advice: don't feed the troll.

I may be just a lurker on this forum (with a low post count and very basic knowledge of music in general), but I believe I have a bit of insight to share:

Nobody can be the greatest composer. The word 'great' is itself very subjective. This thread has so far only been about what your favorite composers are, and as far as I can see, it will never be about anything more.

I do notice Bach is on many of your lists. I myself am a big fan as well.

To make this post somewhat useful to any of you, my favorite composers are:

Me!

Bach

Chopin

Mozart

Uematsu

In that order, from most favorite to less favorite. (They're all 'favorites') Any composers not on that list fully deserves to be (these are just the first 5 that popped in my mind), as it is my belief that all music is worth hearing. Yes, even the heavy metal and videogame music and troubled teens with their guitar plunking.

And might I remind you all: Nature far predates humans. The birds and insects and whatnot; they were all making music far before we walked the earth. Respect them. I hope I've made a good impression of myself here. First posts on new forums are always exciting and a bit scary.

On a sidenote:

JohnGalt, who ARE you?

Does anyone know? 'Who is John Galt?'

And might I remind you all: Nature far predates humans. The birds and insects and whatnot; they were all making music far before we walked the earth.

Hm, reminds me of Olivier Messiaen.

On a sidenote:

JohnGalt, who ARE you?

Does anyone know? 'Who is John Galt?'

The phrase "Who is John Galt" is the opening theme and paradox from Ayn Rand's novel Atlas Shrugged. In the beginning of the book, the phrase literally means, "Who is no one?"

Who is John Galt?

A fairly oppinionated reaslist who likes debating and whoops my donkey at it.

Although you may have noticed that his real name isn't actually John Galt Alex, look at his soundclick.