Classical Music Lovers, what are your top 10 composers with an example of why you consider them so?

Question

I'm trying to broaden my classical music tastes and thought this might be a good way to get some suggestions on music I otherwise would not have considered.

My top 10 at the moment would probably be:

1. Beethoven - Symphony #9
2. Mozart - Requiem
3. Brahms - Symphony #1
4. Dvorak - Symphony #7
5. Bach - "Little" Fugue in g minor
6. Schubert - String Quartet in D minor "Death and the Maiden"
7. Tchaikovsky - Violin Concerto
8. Berlioz - Symphonie Fantastique
9. Vivaldi - Winter from the Four Seasons
10. Mahler - Symphony #2

Answer 1

I misunderstood your question.
I thought you were asking for an EXPLANATION of why you like each composer.

I don't care. I'll submit my response anyway:

BACH--It takes a great composer to:

1. write a good fugue.
2. write an entire concerto movement based on only a few short motifs
3. write several completely diffferent harmonizations of the same chorale melody
4. write a composition for an unaccompanied orchestral instrument which cannot be improved by adding an accompaniment.

BEETHOVEN--I admire Beethoven because his compositions were so far different from each other. What do the Moonlight, Pathetique, and Waldstein Sonatas have in common? Virtually nothing, except that they are all masterpieces.

SCHUBERT--Schubert's music is more melodious than that of Beethoven, and therefore easier for a first-time listener.

His Ninth Symphony is especially interesting to me. I purchased a recording and score to analyze how he composed a symphony almost an hour long without tiring the listener.

PUCCINI--Most other opera composers either bore the listener with endless melodies or endless recitatives. Puccini was creative enough to find alternatives.

FRANCK--I especially like Frank's technique of making a soft and sneaky restatement of the opening theme:

Prelude, Fugue, and Variations, op. 18 for organ
Symphony in d minor, second movement
violin sonata, last movement

MAHLER--Mahler was able to write good symphonies without relying on standard blueprints, such as the sonata form, rondo form, or ABA song form.

JANACEK--same reason as Mahler

KETELBEY--Here's a composer I know I shouldn't like, but I do. His square melodies and programmatic gimmicks have awarded him a place in Music Appreciation class.

VIVALDI--Here's a composer who is like football and buttermilk: you either love him or you hate him. Like most violinists, I fit in the former category.

SCARLATTI--His single-movement sonatas are fun to play.

Answer 2

1. Rachmaninoff - Adagio Symphony No.2
2. Chopin, Ballade No.1
3. Tchaikovsky - Romeo & Juliet Fantasy
4. Vivaldi - Winter from The Four Seasons
5. Massenet - Meditation

Sorry I can't name 10 because I'm quite new to the classical music scene and have only listened to the works of the abovementioned composers.

Answer 3

I don't exactly have 10 favourite composers, because what really made me like Classical Music is its incredible variety. There are so many styles that in most cases one can't tell which is better, because they are so different. For example, how can one compare Händel and Stravinsky?!
But considering my current taste I'd say:

1 - Bach - St. Matthew's Passion
2 - Händel - Messiah
3 - Vivaldi - The Four Seasons
4 - Mozart - Le Nozze di Figaro
5 - Beethoven - Ninth Symphony
6 - Verdi - Aida
7 - Wagner - Tristan und Isolde
8 - Berlioz - Les Troyens
9 - Richard Strauss - Salome
10 - Stravinsky - Symphony of Psalms

Answer 4

You're off to a good start, but I can see why you want to expand your horizons...

Difficult to know how to advise without knowing what you already have in your collection. One thing I did notice with your list - no piano music. It sounds like you need a good dose of:
Mozart piano concerti - some of the most beautiful music ever written.
Chopin - the poet of the piano, try the Ballades.

Not much Baroque in there either: Try some Corelli and Handel in addition to Bach. Back on the piano theme, there is also Scarlatti.

One other composer that is conspicuous by his absense is Prokofiev, perhaps the greatest composer of the twentieth century.

Also what about some Schumann -try Carnaval.

Answer 5

In no particular order, and not 10, they are:
Beethoven, Saint-Saens, Rossini, Sousa, Wagner, Tchaikovski, Bach, Mozart...all wonderful.

Answer 6

tchaikovsky- symphony 5
dvorak -symphony 9
beethoven- symphony 7
schubert - symphony 9
mozart - symphony 41
bach- toccata & fugue
brahms - symphony 1
joplin- maple leaf rag
elgar- symphony 1
grieg - piano concerto
these are just some of my favorites!

Answer 7

Well I don't havea top ten, but my favourite is Saint-Saens, Danse Macabre.

Tchaikovsky is also good, and Tancredi by rossini is good as well.

They're the ones I've played at my orchestra. Another nice one is Le Cid Ballet by Massenet

Answer 8

i believe you forgot
Chopin - Raindrop Prelude/ Fantasy Impromptu
Claude Debussy - Claire De Lune
Flight of the bumblebees - Korsakov
Yanni - The End of August
Andrew Lloyd Weber - Phantom of the Opera


Ok, A lot of these songs are well known, but I love them bc/ anyone can enjoy them, they extend past all language barriers, and they are enjoyable to perform as well.