Best Composer ever

[jsimunac]

I don't think he's the greatest composer of all time - in fact I'm not sure there is any such thing - but Charles Valentin Alkan must be considered one of the best. And probably the most neglected. Although he was firmly grounded in the early Romantic era, his compositions are very forward looking - usually in his shorter pieces, but here and there in his larger works as well. Many composers struggle to write a decent symphony or concerto, but Alkan did it on solo piano - and made it work! He was probably as good as Beethoven in theme and variations. He could also evoke emotions and mental images through is compositions better than almost any other composer, and on many different levels.

Just had to throw out something completely different

[Frederik]

Dmitri Shostakovich, to throw in a personal favourite. Especially when one would take orchestration as a criterion.
All best wishes.

[Yagan Kiely]

In terms of Orchestration, although I do appreciate Shosta's percussion work I don't believe his orchestration compares to R.Strauß's operas. They are perfectly written for strings, and the amount of various types of colours he gets is amazing. The thing I admire most of Shosta is the twists and turns he gives to traditional tonal music, that is pretty much on heard of before. Although I am sure it has been done before, the way he treats a double leading tone (say VII as opposed to viiº leading to the normal I) as in his 9th symphony first movement, and then treats the leading tone appoggiatura as the new key/chord (i.e. not resolving the leading tone appoggiatura). Although relatively simple, the way and the relativity of the way it is done make it stunningly irksome and bizarre, but most certainly in a very good way.

Take the ending of Der Rosenkavalier (Ist ein Traum, kann nicht wirklich sein - see youtube), (Ignoring the almost multitonal approach of treating the dominant of the dominant of the dominant (etc.) as either predominant, dominant or tonic, and resolving it such, with extremely dissonant outcomes) the instruments used (2 Flute, 1 Piccolo, Celeste, 2 Harps, and Violin harmonics) which are all over a pedal tonic in various other instruments. The way he makes, (through repetition but not only) the extremely dissonant (e.g. tritone, and minor 2nds etc.) chordal melodies sound so pleading, pleasing, sweet and ethereal, through the beautiful doubling of the voices with the A Clarinet, Oboe and Strings, the interplay of the different voices with other-worldly sonorities. It is stunning to say the least.[/b]

[killagorila13]

I listen to a broad range of composers nowadays, and I sometimes don't feel like listening to some of them.

But the music of Mozart is something that I have never gotten tired of and I don't believe ever will. I think that as I get older, I appreciate the genius of his music more and more. So it goes without saying that I think Mozart was the greatest composer that ever lived.

Albert Einstein pretty much summed it up when he said "Mozart is the greatest composer of all. Beethoven created his music, but the music of Mozart is of such purity and beauty that one feels he merely found it — that it has always existed as part of the inner beauty of the universe waiting to be revealed."


For me, Mozart's music is timeless and of such a pure quality, that it is elevated above the music of others.

With Beethoven, half his pieces are absolute master pieces, but the other half is.... well.... meh...

I'm going to have to agree with ArticWind7 here. I think the only great works that beethoven wrote were his Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor and String Quartet No. 15 in A minor. Mostly everything else is pretty luke-warm for me.

This is not to say that I don't also love Rachmaninov, Tchaikovsky, Chopin, Liszt, Schumann, Schubert, Copland, etc., etc. They were all genius'.

I just happen to think that Mozart was the greatest composer to ever live.

[Vivaldi]

Please don't hate me for this, but the debate regarding who is the greatest composer of all time will rage on and on until the end of time as the topic is very subjective and everybody is entitled to their own opinion. Personally though, I regard Mozart as the greatest composer of all time.

[Sanft]

Hi! I'm a newbee. As for the greatest composer of all times I'd start with Albèniz and end with Zemlinsky. Well, sort of. My personal favourites are Benjamin Britten, Robert Schumann, Franz Schubert, Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Verdi, Anton Webern, Johm Dowland... ooops, I did it again...
See, no such thing as "The Greatest". Well, maybe Bach. But then again there's Mozart...

[Cillian64]

I don't know if anybody else has read Dauglas Adams, but one of his books infers (jokingly) that all of Bach's music was infact produced mathematically by an alien spaceship.... Which is why I vote for him

[tanga]

The greatest composer? IMO It would be Chopin

I don't know if anybody else has read Dauglas Adams, but one of his books infers (jokingly) that all of Bach's music was infact produced mathematically by an alien spaceship.... Which is why I vote for him

Hitchiker's Guide?




Wow alot of Bach nominations! Looks like the guy with the weird hair wins!

[Cillian64]

Actually, it's one of the "Dirk Gently Holistic Detective Agency" series.

[goldberg988]

My ranking of the composers:

To me, Beethoven has that spiritual quality which makes him (for me) the greatest composer. His works are transcendental -- they point to something not of this world. Sorry to be so abstract, but that is how I find it.

Bach is the master of balancing the superficially "intellectual" nature of his compositions with the sublime inspiration he received, best seen in the large scale choral works (Mass and Passions, cantatas) but also many instrumental works.

Brahms wrote music in such a way that we must ask, "Could it have been any other way?" It's perfect in its construction, mastery of beauty in formal rigor.

Mozart was the master of contrast and emotion.

Haydn was the master of sonata form.

Chopin

Schubert

Ravel

Schumann

Debussy

Bartok

Prokofiev

Berg

Wagner

Mahler

Hindemith

Mendelssohn

Schoenberg

Shostakovich

Verdi

Liszt

Webern

Stravinsky

Puccini

Britten

Sibelius

Strauss (R.)

Dvorak

Ives


Towards the bottom it gets sort of blurry. And I probably left someone out. But this is basically how I feel about the issue.

[robbiethemann]

SCRIABIN

kthxbai!!!

[Vroke]

Personally, I listen to a lot of Russian/Soviet composers. In my opinion, Prokofiev, Stravinsky, Mussorgsky, Shostakovich, Tchaikovsky were the five greatest composers to ever live.

[Davidoff]

I'll keep it short:

Chopin is the best!

[Yagan Kiely]

How many people here who like Chopin the 'best', are not pianists?

[Sergeï]

How many people here who like Chopin the 'best', are not pianists?

Interesting question, heh.

As far as I'm concerned, answering to a "Who is the greatest composer ever" question is as hard as "Who is my favourite composer" one. It just depends on what I'm feeling on a given day. There are some trends though.

I took my iTunes library, put it into a spreadsheet, and calculated how much of each composer I had listened to over the last couple of years. Not a very subtle way of determining my favourites, but at least it gives an idea - one I don't wholly disagree with.
1°/ Beethoven.
2°/ Mozart.
3°/ Brahms.

Of course, the problem with determining a greatest composer ever is the question: what makes a man (or a woman) a great composer? Is it their entire works, or is one piece enough?
If the answer is "one piece is enough", then there is going to be one hell of a fight between such brilliant pieces as:
- Beethoven's 9th, his Fantasia for piano, chorus and orchestra, his appassionata,...
- Mozart's Don Giovanni (heck, half his operas), 23rd piano concerto, Nachtmusik,...
- Schubert's Unfinished (as well as some of his Lieds like Auf dem Wasser)
- Brahm's 4th symphony (1st movement), 3rd symphony (3rd movement), 2nd symphony (4th movement)
- Tchaïkovsky's violin concerto in D, op.35
- Rachmaninoff's 2nd piano concerto
- ....

If it comes to a choice, in the end, for me it would have to be Mozart. I absolutely love the others - especially Beethoven - but Mozart just has that little "something". Beethoven has it, but it doesn't show as often. Schubert and Brahms have it, but it doesn't show as often. It's that little tingle of pure, sheer, unique beauty you feel when you hear the finale of Die Entführung Aus Dem Serail, it's that feeling of gut-deep awe that seizes you when the Commander and Don Giovanni sing to the death, that feeling of heaven shining in your ear when you hear the opening to the 23rd piano concerto, the eternal peace that soothes you when you hear his sonata in B KV.333.


And yes, I have been exposed to Mozart quite young



P.S.: how the **** did a die-hard music fan like myself miss such an awesome site? This place is officially my new home.