Haydn (or Mozart. I haven’t the time of day for him, but he seems to have weathered the test of time…)
Tchaikovsky
Brahms
Monteverdi
Telemann, or Debussy/Ravel if you feel that’s too 18th century. If you must have an expressionist, Arnold Schoenberg goes here.
It saddens me to leave out Rachmaninoff and Franz Lehar, but I have to be a bit objective in my assesment. Since someone brought up Morricone and John Williams, I also have a top 10 list of film composers:
1/2: Jerry Goldsmith
1/2: John Williams (don’t make me pick)
3: Bernard Herrmann
4: Henry Mancini
5: Erich Von Korngold
6: Miklos Rosza
7. Enrico Morricone
8. Danny Elfman
9. Hans Zimmer
10. Camille Saint-Saens (though I suppose that’s more of a "lifetime achievement award for pioneering the genre)
…
…
…998. Will Sasso’s “Casio Keyboard” character from MadTV
999. James Horner.
What does everybody think of Hildegard von Bingen? If the standard is “influential”, maybe not so much, but if the standard is genius and aesthetic appeal or effect on the listener, I’d say she’d have to be in the top ten. Especially since it was liturgical chant that first developed into the motets and chansons and what have you, and eventually into polyphony, classical opera and, uh, Christina Aguilera.
In my experience, she’s very highly touted by feminists and female composers. Perhaps rightly so. But you’re guilty of a huge logical leap if you’re making the case that hildy was responsibly for polyphony. If it was Helmut von Bingen, IMO he’d’ve been a historical footnote.
Sorry everyone, about rehashing old territory (what is “classical” for the purposes of this thread). I blush-- I admit I had only read a few of the posts before I responded.