Your FIVE favorite composers.

[Jacob Royal]

Yes, I did say five.
You do not have to say why.
Just put them in order from favorite to fifth favorite.

1. Beethoven
2. Tchaikovsky
3. Frank *EDIT* Franck (sorry, I never spell his name correctly)
4. Liszt
5. Schubert

If your opinions differ (by that I mean if you hate a composer that someone else loves), please be civil in your arguments. That is more of a reminder for me than a request for you :)

 

Since I can still edit my list (hehehehe) I have a new one

1. Beethoven

2. Tchaikovsky

3. Strauss, R.

4. Shostakovitch

5. Barber for his Adagio (I've only heard that one piece by him)/ Mozart (For Sym. 40, Eine Kleine, violin+viola duets, Mass, and Requiem)

HM Liszt

[Chris Alpiar]

Hehehe nope not as a composer. Even though I estimate Coltranes influence on western popular music to be greater than the beatles, elvis and jimi hendrix combined, it was as an improvisor and an artist, not a composer imo

Simon Godden said:

What, no Coltrane?

Chris Alpiar said:

Duke Ellington
Wayne Shorter
Horace Silver
Thad Jones
Gil Evans

[Jacob Royal]

Yes yes I did. No need to point that out. *runs away crying*
Yeah, I don't think I've ever spelled it right.

[Karl Joosep Pihel]

Hmm.

1. J.S Bach. (Though I remember one guy saying that stating that he is your favorite composer is a cop-out, since he simply defines what music is. Hehe.)

2. A tie between Frank Zappa and Steve Reich

3. Claude Debussy

4. Erkki-Sven Tüür

5. Arnold Schoenberg.

[Kristin Anderson]

Hmmm.... though the list changes some depending on mood...

Beethoven
Bartok
Alban Berg
George Crumb
John Adams (Possibly tied with Steve Reich and/or Terry Riley. I can't decide!)

[Peter Wiedermann]

J. S. Bach
Stravinsky
Debussy probably ties here with Bartok
Arvo Pärt
Tallis

That's at this very moment - by lunchtime it's likely to change. I only particularly dislike Haydn.

*EDIT* Having just listened to some asmples of music by Erkki-Sven Tüür, he could easily make it into my top 5. Thankyou to Karl for mentioning this composer of whom I've never previously heard.

[Ryan Chapman]

1) Copland (He was the first composer that made me interested in symphonic music.)
2) Holst (St. Paul's suite is an amazing 15min journey.)
3) Mussorgsky (He had many flaws, but I think he was struggling just to be heard and appreciated.)
4) Ravel (For Bolero and arranging Pictures at an Exhibition.)
5) Hans Zimmer (Say what you might about this last choice, but he is just like the rest of us and all those who have preceded, in that he loves music and is constantly trying to explore its boundaries.)

[Matthew Whiteside]

1. Feldman
2. Messiaen
3. Stravinsky
4. Boulez
5. Gorecki

Though they are all very close and prob all 1st equal

[Andrew Gleibman]

The choice is very hard, anyway:
1. Bach
2. Beethoven
3. Scriabin
4. Shostakovich
5. Prokofiev

Not sure -- maybe it's easier to name 50 favorite music masterpieces.

[Simon Godden]

So how about a discussion on that then, eh?

Ray Kemp said:

Andrew Gleibman said:

Not sure -- maybe it's easier to name 50 favorite music masterpieces.

Your not wrong there Andrew. much easier.

[Russell Jalland]

I’ll go with five of my favourites, though there are others, (in no particular order) also my favourite works by them.

1) John Ireland: Piano concerto in E flat
2) Django Bates: Music for the Third Policeman
3) Peter Gabriel: Soundtrack to The Last Temptation of Christ
4) Thomas Newman: Soundtrack to The Road to Perdition
5) Bill Bruford: One of a Kind

[Doug Lauber]

I've noticed that some of the liszts posted are incorrect...

My favs, in no particular order:

Beethoven (uplifting spiritual qualities)
Brahms (Symphony 1, 1st mov, Piano Quartets!, Piano Quintet)
Stravinsky (Symphony of Psalms)
Hindemith
Shorter

[Michael Tauben]

1. Beethoven (late period)
2. Beethoven (middle period)
3. Wagner
4. Stravinsky
5. Ravel