# My Classical Composer Pantheon **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [March 26, 2022, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-classical-composer-pantheon/961729 "2022-03-26T01:26:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2022, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-classical-composer-pantheon/961729/21 "2022-03-27T14:51:04Z")
> [@Temporary\_Name](#): > > I believe _The Rabbit of Seville_ and _What’s Opera, Doc?_ are the only other cartoons where the music is the whole point of the work What about [A Corny Concerto](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Corny_Concerto)—or its inspiration, Disney’s _Fantasia_? ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2022, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-classical-composer-pantheon/961729/22 "2022-03-27T15:00:28Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > ^^^ I went back to see if I could delete this but waited too long. I apologize for peeing in the thread. Carry on. Hehehe, don’t feel bad. My reaction to this kind of thread (or any top 100 articles, etc.) is to scream “ART IS NOT SPORTS, YOU CAN’T RANK IT LIKE THAT IN ANY MEANINGFUL WAY!” in my head. But you guys should probably go about your business and ignore me. 😃 ETA: Oh, and that Horowitz performance is indeed _the shit_. It’s so good, it’s like drugs. ---
**Author:** ![Temporary\_Name](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8c91f0/32.png) [@Temporary\_Name](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Temporary_Name)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2022, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-classical-composer-pantheon/961729/23 "2022-03-27T15:44:14Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > What about [A Corny Concerto](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Corny_Concerto)—or its inspiration, Disney’s _Fantasia_ ? Of course!! And how could I have forgotten **Fantasia** after the mouse was kind enough to pay the mortgage for us in the 90’s and early 00’s when the ex-wife worked for him?!? Thank you for the reminder! (I have to suggest you take all of my posts with a grain or two of salt- I do not appear to be very well informed, I am blaming it on advanced age.) ---
**Author:** ![Temporary\_Name](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8c91f0/32.png) [@Temporary\_Name](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Temporary_Name)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2022, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-classical-composer-pantheon/961729/24 "2022-03-27T16:14:35Z")
> [@Tibby](#): > > Speaking of Hungarian Rhapsody #2, Horowitz’s 1953 performance of it is jaw dropping, particularly the cadenza. This is a beautiful work of art and one of my favorite pieces of music in any genre. That being said, even listening to it just now, I could hardly believe it was written by a serious genius and master of his instrument who (I have been told), would sight read quite complex works when seeing them for the first time without missing a single note and could reach more than an octave (and play an honest thirteenth- which seems impossible!). Like Chico Marx, Liszt seems like the guy who would be told to quit goofing off and practice his scales and arpeggios during music class despite possessing rare talent. (He is certainly a better performer and composer than Czerny who was one of his teachers I believe.) ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2022, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-classical-composer-pantheon/961729/25 "2022-03-27T19:46:17Z")
Fun fact: Czerny called Liszt “Putzi.” (As Victor Borge once wrote, “I’d hate to know what Liszt called Czerny.”) ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2022, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-classical-composer-pantheon/961729/26 "2022-03-27T22:54:10Z")
Tier 1 Rachmaninoff, Tchaikovsky Tier 2 Chopin, Kalman, Verdi, Mendelssohn, Saint-Saëns Tier 3 Beethoven, Rimsky-Korsakov, Schubert, Brahms, Bach, Lehar, Puccini, Dvorak Tier 4 Mozart, Liszt, Schumann, J Strauss Jr., Wagner, Delibes, Gounod, Gershwin, Bizet, Franck Tier 5 Berlioz, Kabalevsky, Khachaturian, Offenbach, Grieg, Sibelius, Borodin, Bruch, Haydn, R. Strauss, Fauré, Rossini, Donizetti, Joplin ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2022, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-classical-composer-pantheon/961729/27 "2022-03-28T00:13:01Z")
Tier 1 Beethoven Bach Rossini Gershwin Tchaikovsky Tier 2 Von Suppe Johann Strauss Dvorak Tier 3 Britten (most because he was in love with my father) Milhaud ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2022, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-classical-composer-pantheon/961729/28 "2022-03-28T03:31:41Z")
> [@Temporary\_Name](#): > > Like Chico Marx, Liszt seems like the guy who would be told to quit goofing off and practice his scales and arpeggios during music class despite possessing rare talent. Liszt, despite being a bombastic showman, was also very philanthropic, giving much of his concert proceeds to charity. He also taught a great many students who went on to great things. His influence penetrated deeply and broadly. He lived a relatively long life (74) and produced a great body of exquisite music in those years. One wonders what additional masterpieces Mozart may have created had he lived to 74 instead of selfishly [😀] dying at 35. And what additional wondrous symphonies was mankind deprived of by Beethoven dying young at 56? A close second to Liszt in my book with regard to piano composers is Chopin. He taught me that instrument alone can convey the deepest of emotions. No lyrics necessary. Is it possible to listen to a Chopin nocturne without a very absorbent handkerchief? Not unless you’re a psychopath, or an android. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/c94nySKKoWE/maxresdefault.jpg "Chopin Nocturne Op 48 No.1 C minor") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c94nySKKoWE) ---
**Author:** ![Temporary\_Name](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8c91f0/32.png) [@Temporary\_Name](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Temporary_Name)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2022, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-classical-composer-pantheon/961729/29 "2022-03-28T05:13:13Z")
Thank you for this, most of it is brand new information for me. Most of what I know about Chopin I learned from Val Kilmer as Doc Holliday (which is mostly that he is no Stephen stinking Foster and he didn’t write _Old Dog Trey_) The clip is beautiful and moving and sounds so much more serious and … well, almost profound when compared to the Liszt. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2022, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-classical-composer-pantheon/961729/30 "2022-03-28T11:34:21Z")
> [@Tibby](#): > > One wonders what additional masterpieces Mozart may have created had he lived to 74 instead of selfishly [😀] dying at 35. And what additional wondrous symphonies was mankind deprived of by Beethoven dying young at 56? And then there’s Schubert, who lived to only 31. He was already on a trajectory to surpass Beethoven. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2022, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-classical-composer-pantheon/961729/31 "2022-03-28T17:29:53Z")
Schubert was certainly a busy bee creating his immense oeuvre in 31 short years. Love his shorter pieces (Serenade, and of course Ave Maria, among others), but his symphonies just don’t grab me like Beethoven’s. That’s why I relegated him to Tier 4 of my personal favorites. Same with Rachmaninoff. Love his concertos, sonatas and other piano works, but for me his symphonies are _meh_. ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2022, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-classical-composer-pantheon/961729/32 "2022-03-28T22:06:13Z")
“When I think of how comprehensive the piano repertoire is, how abundant it is with masterpieces, then I find Rachmaninoff has no place in it.” –Alfred Brendel. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2022, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-classical-composer-pantheon/961729/33 "2022-03-28T22:10:58Z")
> [@jaycat](#): > > “When I think of how comprehensive the piano repertoire is, how abundant it is with masterpieces, then I find Rachmaninoff has no place in it.” That’s about as catty as Glenn Gould saying, “Mozart died too late rather than early.” ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2022, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-classical-composer-pantheon/961729/34 "2022-03-29T02:05:11Z")
Re: Brendel—a stone-cold, cerebral Austrian Germanic piano specialist dumps on a Russian romantic composer. Probably jealous he doesn’t have Rach’s compositional chops. But, enough about him. Y’all look like you could use a sublime, yet playful interpretation of Gershwin’s RiB. So here you go: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Ce3OERuCY0E/maxresdefault.jpg "Yuja Wang: Gershwin Rhapsody in Blue [HD]") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ce3OERuCY0E) You’re welcome. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2022, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-classical-composer-pantheon/961729/35 "2022-03-29T02:39:34Z")
Wow, bold version. You’re right, I could use that. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2022, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-classical-composer-pantheon/961729/36 "2022-03-29T06:41:42Z")
I absolutely LOVE Yuja Wang! (Not so much, Alfred Brendel.) ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2022, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-classical-composer-pantheon/961729/37 "2022-03-29T12:19:55Z")
Yeah, Yuga’s the real deal. [This brief review](http://yujawang.com/five-stars-at-the-barbican-yuja-wang-nearly-out-horowitzed-horowitz/) excerpt sums her up accurately. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/e28xOQYYAWI/maxresdefault.jpg "Yuja Wang - Carmen Variations (Bizet Horowitz) / Yuja Wang Carnegie Hall 2017 ENCORE") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e28xOQYYAWI) ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2022, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-classical-composer-pantheon/961729/38 "2022-03-30T03:02:37Z")
I think about 4 of my top ten shorter pieces are by Faure. The Pavane, Siciliene from Pelleas et Melisande, Berceuse from the Dolly Suite, and the other Berceuse opus 16. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2022, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-classical-composer-pantheon/961729/39 "2022-03-30T05:35:27Z")
> [@Tibby](#): > > That’s about as catty as Glenn Gould saying, “Mozart died too late rather than early.” I’m not a Mozart fan but even I am shaking my head and saying “that’s just wrong”. His best stuff was his late stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2022, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-classical-composer-pantheon/961729/40 "2022-03-30T13:39:33Z")
I agree. Knocking Mozart (particularly his later work) is pretty ballsy and IMO ridiculous. But, Gould was eccentric and didn’t mind babbling his unorthodox views. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-classical-composer-pantheon/961729.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-classical-composer-pantheon/961729.md?page=3)