Your favourite classical composer?

Remove all ads!

Who is your favourite classical composer? I used to like Bach a lot and above anything else related to music, but my tastes changed before highschool times and since then Haendel has been the favourite. However, his music is lacking something and that something can be found in Vivaldi. I would have to say I like Mozart, but hey, just about everyone could say that. Err... well, it's not like I like everything he ever wrote, but maybe most of the stuff. His sacral music is better than the wordly pieces. Used to like Beethoven, but not so much now. I've recently started to enjoy the way Scarlatti nonchalantly played with tones, although I do love Ravel's heavy tune of Pavana above almost everything else. French impressionists is sort of a periodically returning interest. They're too specific to play often, but there are moments when they are most welcome. So, how about you?

 

My favourite is definitely Wagner - I find his music to be quite powerful and moving. After that there are many whose music I enjoy, mostly the usual suspects - Bach, Bizet and Mozart, Rossini, Verdi and Vivaldi would be the ones that instantly come to mind.

 

Niccolò Paganini was a virtuoso of the violin was also guitarist at his off hours.

Igor Stravinsky wrote the wonderful 'Rites of Spring' which got me into classical music.

What are your favourit timelines? It has to be the Baroque period for me.

 

@ Blackthorne TA - a good choice - I prefer Mars myself.

A couple others that have not been mentioned that have individual pieces that I like would be Sibelius (Finlandia) and Prokofiev (Romeo and Juliet).

 

This is tough because many of those composers have some classic (excuse the pun) work and some ordinary work. Example: Pachelbel's Canon is brilliant (it was our wedding march music) but as far as I am aware, he has no other notable work.

If I had to choose one composer who has the widest range of work I enjoy, I would choose Vivaldi.

But I am hardly the world's greatest connoisseur of classical music (I only have about 10 classical CDs).

I agree with BTA about Holst's Planets (which was surely the inspiration for some of the themes in Star Wars), but as I am not familiar with any of his other work, I cannot comment on his overall greatness.

 

Beethoven - All the symphonies, except maybe the first two, which are good but not in the same league as the others, IMO. All the piano concertos, especially No.5.

Mozart was a freakin' genius. I love his stuff. DMC - I hope you come to see how wonderful his music is at some point.

On Holst and the Planets - I like Mercury.

Others: Rachmaninov - Piano pieces and Symphonic Dances. Modest Mussorgsky - Pictures and Boris Godunov are masterpieces; Debussy (everything), and I also like the operas of Monteverdi.

 

I like all kinds of classical music, so it's hard to pick a favorite. Some notables are:

Beethoven - great atmosphere with mood swings and contrasting articulation.

Chopin - my piano teacher taught me many of his pieces and I still like them today.

Schubert - sweet melodies, original harmonies.

Liszt - his pieces are actually fun to play. There's usually something unique about the way you have to play his songs technically speaking.

Johann Strauss - catchy melody and rhythms in his orchestral works. You just can't help tapping your feet to the beat.

 

@BTA: Go Holst! My favorite is Neptune though. The chorus is divine.

If you consider Philip Glass to be classical (now that's a bit of a stretch), then it's Glass. If not, there's no one composer, but a lot of stuff by Beethoven, Brahms, Holst, Tchaikovski, Verdi, and Saint-Saens. To name only a few.

I can't stand Mozart (though the Requiem is good, I still prefer Verdi's). There's a few things by Bach that I like (including his organ and cello stuff, and Air), but most of his composition feels bland.

 

Alexander Borodin
Edvard Grieg
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Sergei Prokofiev

 

Mine is Beethoven.

 

Does Tchaikovsky qualify? I love dance of the sugarplum fairy.

 

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Johann Sebastian Bach, John Philip Sousa (classical by a technicality), and John Williams (not actually classical, but still classical-style).

 

It depends on what you define as classical. For example, would you consider Opera to be classical music in this instance or not?

Mozart, Schubert, and Bach are my favorites, although Beethoven and Tchaikovsky have their moments.

 

J S Bach
Vaughn Williams

 

Ah, if this counts then it goes for me too.

 

Vivaldi. His pieces are like the heavy metal of the classical music world. Such fury on the violins! Love it.