If you're not into classical then you don't have to answer, but if you had to choose, which classical composers would you listen to, play and cherish?

I'm kind of a Bach fan myself, not heavy Bach, but lighter. I studied his fugues and a few other pieces as a piano student. He's a solid value for me.

Then I'd have to pick Mozart, he's so light and airy.

Then perhaps Beethoven but once again, I'm not as fond of the really heavy stuff.

Chopin is mysterious and wonderful.

Tchaikovsky is truly wonderful.

Saint Saens is interesting as is Debussy.

Satie

Lully! Let's go way back!

Verdi

Rimsky-Korsokov

That's about ten.
When I go through my old piano books these composers seem so familiar to me, that they'll probably always be with me.

I like lots of music though, all types, but classical music I tend to flee the heavier stuff.
I also do not enjoy some of the experimental stuff from the twentieth century like Cage. I understand where it's coming from, but I wouldn't go to see a concert by him!

Okay...tied for number 1) Mozart and Tchaikovsky...it's impossible to decide between the two, both were so prolific and their collective repertoirs fantastic. Personal favorites: Mozart - The Magic Flute and Requiem, Tchaikovsky - Nutcracker and Swan Lake.

3) Wagner...his music is so powerful, it was the only thing Hitler got right. Personal favorite: Der Meistersinger.

4) Grieg...Underrated but again powerful music. Personal favorite: Peer Gynt suite, of course!

5) Rimsky-Korsakov...what can I say, I'm into the Russians. Personal favorite: Capriccio Espagnol.

6) Berlioz...just purchase Symphonie Fantastique, lie back and enjoy.

7) Glass...modern, minimalist, mellifluous. Personal favorite: Akhnaten and his film soundtracks (see Kundun and Koyaanisqatsi)

8) (tie) Strauss, Johann...for Die Fledermaus and the Blue Danube. Strauss, Richard...Also Sprach Zarathustra, Symphonia Domestica.

10) I'll leave this open because there are so many others, i.e. Holst (Planets), Albinoni (Adagio), Delibes (Lakme), Handel (Watermusik), Schubert (Ave Maria), etc. etc.

WHAT? NO HANDEL? WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?

How many other composers, dead 200+ years, can claim to have one of their compositions consistantly performed each year since their death? Chances are that anyone who sang in a school choir or chorus has been moved by Handel's "Hallelujah!" chorus (from his oratorio, "Messiah"). This guy was a genius, and the only composer, may I add, to have the honor of being interred in Westminster Abbey (and he's not even British!)

His abilities were prodigious....he composed operas, oratorios, masques, concerti, sinfonias, sacred and secular works, and the list goes on.

Not one mention of George Frideric! You should be ashamed!

I like Handel but the other ones sprang to mind, now I'm singing the Hallelujah chorus already for people responding to this thread though! oh yes!
My kids are playing a Handel piece right now and the teacher is really good at choosing stuff that a kid can't really mess up.
I also performed in the Messiah a few times, as a tenor and couldn't do a solo, boohoo as the director who'd pleaded with me to help him out with the gospel singers who couldn't read bass clef, was still ashamed at having a woman first tenor!
It was fun nonetheless.
My voice isn't that low but I could read the bass clef without any trouble and the gospel guys would take their cues from me, they had nice voices.

I like Russian composers too, they are fun to play.
So Valois, didn't you give us yours?
THe rest? hmmm?

Berlioz is missing. I like Berlioz too.
Ravel.

Ooops, love Grieg by the way.
What about Sibelius?

Strauss, ditto.
Wagner, wellllllll, let's say that...I'm not a soprano woman myself.
I've got someone missing, ah yes, Schubert.

[ 05-02-2002, 10:20 AM: Message edited by: Bruyere ]

hmm...you failed to mention your other 9 favorites Valois...how about it?

P.S. I did rank Handel as tied for 10th...he probably would have come in at a higher rank but I am just sick of hearing Hallelujah!

Bruyere...at the rate your going we'll have a list of your top 100 classical composers!

Nope I don't have 100 classical composers, I'm way too open to other types of music.
I like the ones I've played though.

Sick of hearing "Hallelujah"? That's like being sick of hearing the Lord's Prayer. I bet you kick puppies and pinch babies. George Frideric is doing about 1000 r.p.m. in his tomb because of you, kickazz. Which I'm sure George Frideric would like to do to you once he stops spinning.

My other favorites? Hmmm. Well, there's Bach. But the problem with Bach is that his compositions are like mathmatical equations. He didn't care how they sounded,as long as they were 'compositionally correct.' Some of his counter-point compositions are downright unpleasant to the ear, yet are as precise as algebra.

Mozart? The genius of all music geniuses. But composition came so easy to him, I tend to discount him in favor of those who had to struggle to compose. Like Beethoven.

Continued to compose after he became deaf? Amazing.

Schubert? So placid, gentle and moving. His Mass in G is a masterpiece.

Tchaikovsky? Another tortured, yet prolific and inspired, genius.

Allegri. His one and only composition, "Miserere Mei Deus," places him in the genius category. This is the most exquisite and moving piece ever composed.

That's about it, guys. The well is dry.

What, no Pachelbel? His Canon in D is such a beautiful and accessible piece of music ... I have never met anyone who didn't like it, and I have met a lot of people who profess to hate all classical music.

Ok, so he's like the one-hit wonder of the classical world, but does it really matter? What a hit!

I love Beethoven, J.S. Bach is all right.

I learned to drive listening to Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker in the tape deck. Music makes me much less tense, and you can't sing along to Tchaikovsky and get distracted.

Holst's Planets are awesome.

Strauss - Thus Spake Zarathustra. So cool! I get it stuck in my head during physics exams though.

I do like Prokofiev.

Okay, that's seven ... I'm sad to admit that I'm not really a huge fan of classical music in general, so that's as many as I can do. I've never really cared for Mozart, can't say why - he just doesn't speak to me, I guess. Ditto C.P.E. Bach, Chopin, Czerny, Rachmaninoff.

So to make up my 10, I'll count Henry Mancini and John Williams and scandalize everyone by including Rob D (for the seminal "Clubbed to Death," Track #4 on The Matrix soundtrack ... yes, it actually is classical. In a techno kind of way. But classicalish nonetheless. Also, ignore the title.)

My daughter just said to her brother, "if you watch Looney Tunes and listen, you'll get as good at me at classical music identification!"

And indeed, you'll see that Mel Blanc, Disney and all the great cartoonists used classics and probably are one of the main sources for many people!

For me these were parts of my life, dad had a classics program on the radio when I was little.

Some more about Allegri (first name is Gregorio), the 'one hit wonder'...part of the appreciation of his one hit, "Miserere Mei Deus", is its history. Allegri was a member of the Sistine Chapel choir when he composed the work. The Catholic church considered it so beautiful and sacred that it was performed only once per year, during Easter week, for the Pope's ears only. It was kept under lock and key for almost 300 years. Somehow Mozart heard a portion of it being rehearsed by the choir, retained it in his memory, and transcribed it when he returned to Vienna, letting the Miserere out of the bag, so to speak.

It's a moving, contemplative work, with a full choir and a sextet answering each other with Gregorian chants thrown in. A real gem.

Albeit my detractor Mr Jazzzee, I have other kinds of music that moves me, so I couldn't come up with 100 composers but I like medieval and renaissance music and instruments.
If you've ever had the pleasure to play in a quartet or quintet with a really together group, your recorder for example, becomes like a voice, and it's great fun. I could never afford my own bass, but I had all the others even my sopranino.
That's the only way I'd ever hit those high notes is via an instrument!

I was in a Renaissance choral group, (they probably needed a woman with an alto or contralto once again) and we did some old pieces, madrigals and had a wonderful time.

Around here in Provence where I live, they have these Provençal groups and you can play the flute and beat a drum at the same time. I'm out of practice or I'd try it. Plus you're wearing a traditional costume.
Our village doesn't have their own group or I'd join.
Guess the test is chewing gum and walking at the same time!

Anyone like Villalobos?

Hey, the music fairy visited and last night on TV "also spach Zarathustra" was on TV on the German French station for a program on Nietsche.

How deadly predictable I am, but:
Brahms (particularly the clarinet quintet)
Beethoven ( " " Pathetique)
Mozart ( " " Flute Concerto 1)
Bach ( " " Brandenburgs)
Vivaldi ( " " 4 seasons)
Mendelssohn( " " Midsummer Night's Dream
Chopin ( " Polonnaises)
Miguel Perez
Bruckner (well some)
Mahler(well some)

It seems Milady, you have quite a thing for the clarinet, right?

How could we have forgotten Mendelssohn? (ooops spelling in question!)

Anyone like Gerschwin? Or does that stretch your definition of classics.

Did someone get Mussorsky?

...still at work! ..but I have to go now. It's LUNCH TIME!

No one mentioned Copland. I know he's more modern, and I don't like all of his music, but some of it is so bright and interpretable, to my small soul, anyway!

I don't know if John Philip Sousa would be a candidate...but he certainly did compose! I just can't be unhappy when I hear almost ANY of his compositions.

I suppose I'm rather declasse' (sp?).

We do have a classical music program here at my school, and at 9:05am there is time set aside for a different classical composition each week. There is a brief introduction about the composer and what the music is attempting to convey, the instruments involved, and then the entire school comes to a stop to listen to the piece. Actually, this is our fourth year of this, and everyone quite likes it, especially the students!

Not time for my top 10 right now, and Copland and Sousa maybe aren't even on it! Just that they weren't mentioned...and I think they ought to be!

[ 05-03-2002, 12:23 PM: Message edited by: lefois ]

I like all types of music - but jazz and classical are my real favourites. I like most of the composers mentioned and I'm glad Ren mentioned Mahler - his 4th is one of my favourites. I also have a great fondness for Delibes; Pachelbel and other early choral works I love to have on the stereo when I'm driving. I often think that if more people listened to similar music whilst driving there would be less road rage - it has a very calming influence.

[ 05-03-2002, 01:16 PM: Message edited by: monkeycouzin ]

I think I mentioned Copeland, not really sure.
Sousa? Why not?
I loved some of those marches when I was in band.

I just noticed Monkeycousin's line, not bad, we'll have to give you a music thread of your own! Papa was a rolling stone?

I play clarienet, so I know about a lot of composers.
I like to play the music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, John Philip Sousa, Patrick Gilmore, George Bizet, Franz Schubert, Charles Gounod, George Cohan, and Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky.
I like W.A. Mozart's Turkish March, the Manhattan Beach March series by John P. Sousa. Patrick Gilmore did the Civil War song When Johnny Comes Marching Home. French composer George Bizet's song is Farandole from L'Arlesienne Suite.
Franz Schubert had the song March Militaire. Charles Gounod did The Soldiers Chorus from Faust. Cohan's most famous song is Give My Regards to Broadway. Tchaikovsky's most famous music is from the Nutcracker. I can't forget Beethoven. My favourite Beethoven song is Symphony Number 9. I like a lot of traditional music.

Oh Spikey, I should have known you were a clarinet player too! That was my first band instrument, then the other woodwinds.

Do you find that your preferences in classical music are often linked to your favorite instrument to play?
I'm not into strings myself;

I have no particular order to my favourites (sorry), but if I had to choose ten...

J.S. Bach: the king of music.
Beethoven: well he's got to be here as well. Mainly for his piano music and string quartets.
Brahms: my choice for exquisitely composed, yet romantic, music.
Brouwer: stunning 'modern' composer, mostly of guitar works.
Dodgson: Living British composer who writes modern music that isn't actually rubbish! His guitar music is particularly admired.
Haydn: Solid and dependable, he wrote some of the most addictive tunes either side (!) of Mozart.
Mozart: Apparently innocent yet perfectly composed.
Poulenc: Mad French composer of the 20th century, who wrote some of the most beautiful works ever.
Prokofiev: I absolutely love his dissonant, yet passionate style, particularly in his piano music.
Schubert: A genius.
Shostakovich: Grim, but pretty. His string quartets and preludes & fugues are a must!

Oops, that's actually 11...
I could add so many more...! And all this from someone who two years ago liked nothing but rock... (I still do, but in a different way).

Oh good, I like a challenge!

These are in no particular order:

1. Mozart - Too many favourites to number!
2. Beethoven - As with Mozart the favourites are too many to list, but I have always had a particularly soft spot for the Violin Concerto (in fact I went to see it again a fortnight ago!).
3. Bach - Particularly love the Brandenburg Concerto no 3.
4. Tchaikovsky - I have seen Swan Lake in so many different arrangements! The all male version was probably my favourite though, and no, not for shallow and obvious reasons!
5. Verdi - La Traviata the clear favourite followed by Rigoletto.
6. Grieg - He has a lightness of touch... which Anitra's dance from the Peer Gynt suite demonstrates perfectly.
7. Stravinsky - Not all of his work is my thing but sometimes it is just great... I think he particularly benefits from live performance. The Pucinella Suite is a good example.
8. Prokofiev - The energy surges when I hear the Montagues and Capulets from Romeo and Juliet! I can take on the world!
9. Clementi - This nomination from me in my capacity as piano player. He has composed some lovely sonatas.
10. My final choice is not a composer but a type of music - Gregorian Chants. Utterly beautiful.

My tastes in classical music are, well...a little....fluffy, and perhaps a bit predictable.

Number one is--without question--

Debussy

2) Ravel
3) Rimsky-Korsakov
4) Rachmaninov
5) Chopin
6) Vivaldi
7) Tchaikovsky
8) Strauss (Johann--although Richard was pretty cool too)
9) Verdi
10) Schubert

Okay, so my list reads like one of those K-Tel ads with the cheesy couples in front of a fireplace. I never said I was sophisticated--I'm a mush-headed romantic.

By the way, I can't say I care much for Handel. Maybe it was because I once had to sit through a particularly crowded and uncomfortable performance of his 'Messiah'. I yelled 'Hallelujah' when it was over.

And Jazz, not that I would ever promote Hitler in any way, but he also had some good designers for both aircraft and uniforms. Such a pathetic wannabe artist was bound to surround himself with some actual talents in order to look (and sound) better.

Of course I could not resist posting in here. I enjoy Country Music, but I also enjoy the composers. I do not have a top ten list, but I will give you a list of the composers that I like.

1) Mozart

2) Beethoven

3) Bach

4) Tchaikovsky

5) Brahms

6) Strauss

Those are the only ones that I truly enjoy.

[ June 06, 2002, 12:27 PM: Message edited by: JuniorTheJaws ]

Sitting through the Messiah when it's not working well must not be terribly fun, but performing in it when it's not going well is worse!
Plus as a woman tenor, as a favor to my director to help the 4 gospel singer tenors with reading bass clef, he couldn't give a woman a solo! Not that I cared but ....sniff sniff. No fair! Oh well, I made my contribution to the arts that night.

Plus those bleachers are darned uncomfortable in a choir! And never wear heels on those things if you'll be standing up for hours like that, you'll feel tipsy!

Do you think your likes and dislikes are influenced by the fact you might have performed the music by each composer?

I would add Rossini and his overtures such as "The Barber of Seville", "William Tell", etc.
In France he was known as "Monsieur Crescendo".