I am enjoying this thread. Not much to add for Classical composers - I am a Bach and Beethoven guy.
From a jazz standpoint, I would add Thelonius Monk, with his wonderful, weird chords and jagged rhythms. Duke Ellington is the dean of sophisticated jazz composing.
I feel differently…there are many excellent composers whoa re sadly, almost unknown:
-Francois Couperin
-Domenico Scarlatti
-Antonio Paradisi
-Luigi Boccherini
-Thomas Tallis
These guys were as good as, or better than the “popular” composers.
But Borodin, Rachmaninoff are definitely among the greats.
So, what’s the big deal about Handel? Seems his instrumental calling card is the Fireworks music and Water suites. Hardly iconic or pillars of Western music. Shouldn’t he be in the 2nd or 3rd tier of classical composers? I’ve always been perplexed to see many such lists (not just here) include him in the top tier.
I suspect that as Britain is the big market for classical music among the Anglophone countries and Handel, having been domesticated there, has sort of been bumped up a notch or two or on that account.
I admit that as I don’t listen to much classical music with voice in it, I may very well have missed out on his talents, but on the basis of his instrumental music I’ve heard, I am puzzled.
If you’re judging Handel by his instrumental works, you are really not doing him justice - it’s like someone looking at Beethoven without the symphonies. The oratorios and operas are what makes Handel great - chiefly among them The Messiah, but countless other oratorios that are being performed and enjoyed everywhere.
Well, it is a reflection on Handel that his pure musical essays aren’t much to talk about.
Well, you’d still have the string quartets, concertos, piano sonatas, piano variations, trios..etc
If you look at the operas and oratorios, you’ll see that most of them have only a handful of recordings each, barring a handful in double digits and the exceptional 3 or 4 works (like Messiah) making it past 20+ recordings. All the popular operas tend to have about 50+ recordings, like the usual suspects of Verdi or Puccini, and none except Messiah cross that mark.
To call J.S. Bach GOD, is to underrate him.
While the rest of your point stands, I find it a bit sad that you seem to view vocal music as somehow impure.
…Beethoven? ducks
Anyway, I’m nowhere near qualified to rate the best, but if I had to put together a list of my five favorites, the top five would probably include Bach, Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky, Verdi, and Schoenberg. Bach because I’m not sure it’s mathematically possible for other music to exist in a world that does not contain Bach, Tchaikovsky because how could you not, Stravinsky for his ballets, Verdi chiefly for his Requiem, and Schoenberg because he scares me, deeply.
[QUOTE=Pitchmeister]
I find it a bit sad that you seem to view vocal music as somehow impure.
[/QUOTE]
I was using pure only in its literal sense as applied here i.e. music presented on its own rather than paired with another semantic stimulus (such as lyrics or stage plays). No value judgement rendered.
I respect “the greats,” but my vote for underrated goes to Leos Janacek. Listen to the piano sonata 1.X.1905 and read about what it’s portraying, and try not to be sad the rest of the day. Then listen to a song cycle or an overture from an opera and try not to be at peace.
My favourite Janacek piece: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXvFHQyL-4g
Mine would be in rough chronological order: Vivaldi, J.S. Bach, Mozart, Beethovan, Rossinni, Wagner, Puccini, Richard Strauss, Shostakovich, George Gershwin, Ellington.
My picks:
The problem with a thread like this is that it’s hard to distinguish between “my favorites” and “the greatest.” I don’t know how to be objective about this. I put Lehar and Kalman on my list, but as much as I love them, I’m not sure where they come in on a “greatest” scale. And I didn’t mention Mahler, because i don’t care for most of his music, but I admit there’s something “great” about it.
Definitely he’s unjustly neglected.
Me neither so here are my totally subjective lists:
1750-1950
THE GREATEST: Bach, Brahms, Tchaïkovsky and Debussy.
THE ALMOST-AS-GREAT-BUT-NOT-QUITE: Beethoven, Fauré and Prokofiev.
THE OTHER-IMPORTANT-ONES: Schubert, Schumann, Chopin, Dvorák, Grieg and Stravinsky.
Post-1950
FUTURE CLASSICS: Ligeti, Dutilleux, Lutoslawski, Messiaen and Britten.
OTHER POST WWII COMPOSERS: Jolivet, Kurtág, Penderecki, Gubaïdulina, Takemitsu and Murail
Pre-1750
MEDIEVAL AND RENAISSANCE GREATS: Desprez, Dufay, Byrd, **Dowland **and Monteverdi.
Which boils down to…
MY FINAL LIST:
Bach
Debussy
Brahms
Tchaïkovsky
Prokofiev
Ligeti
Beethoven
Stravinsky
Dutilleux
Dowland
Yeah, PDQ Bach is a favorite of mine too, next to Victor Borge.