When FlameHorse sent this list in, I was rather surprised to find that after two and a half years, we have not features a list of greatest composers! We have had influential composers, composers you didn’t know, and composers who died odd deaths. So, filling in the gap we now present the greatest composers ever.
The father of the modern symphony and the inventor of the string quartet. He wrote 340 hours of music, more than any other composer. His symphonies, though, leave a lot to be desired, as he himself said on his deathbed, “I have just figured out how to use the winds.” They are more like 1 symphony with 103 variations.
He invented the string quartet when only three members of an ensemble were able to attend a recital. A violinist, a violist, and a cellist. Haydn quickly re-orchestrated one of his composition scheduled for that evening, for a quartet including himself as a second violinist. He liked the sound so much that he decided to write more music for the orchestration.
Also an outstanding opera, oratorio and mass composer, although his operas were intended for Count Esterhazy’s personal opera house. Haydn explained that they should never be performed anywhere else. His string quartets and piano sonatas approach the melodic genius and pristine formality of Mozart’s. Haydn’s greatest work: his cello concerto, or his “Creation” oratorio (clip above), or his string quartets.
Born in Germany, but traveled Europe and settled in England, as the king’s court composer. He wrote 315 hours of music, second only to Haydn for prolificness. His mastery of all the complexities of the Baroque style is evident in all his works. He invented the modern oratorio, when he wanted to make money during the holy seasons of the year. During those seasons, operas were expressly forbidden to be performed, as they were secular. Handel requested from the king that he compose a musical setting of some story in the Bible. The king allowed this, and Handel wrote in 1732, “Esther,” which was performed by an orchestra and a choir, with soloists singing the parts of the characters, but without acting or costumes.
Handel is known today primarily for “The Messiah,” (video above) the greatest oratorio ever composed, in which some of the most famous music in history lies, especially the “Hallelujah Chorus,” which ends the Easter section.
Handel also wrote hundreds of concerti grossi, which were the forerunners of the Classical and Romantic concerto.
Handel’s greatest works are the “Messiah,” “Water Music,” and “Music for the Royal Fireworks.”
One of the few composers who was equally virtuosic at performance (piano), and conducting an orchestra. He legendary for his second two, of four, piano concerti, the third being probably the most difficult and pianistic concerto every written, containing one of the finest piano cadenzas. He is known for writing large chords of up to 5 notes per hand, which he could perform easily with his gigantic hands.
His shorter works include large-scale piano sonatas, epic enough to be considered concerti without orchestras, and preludes, of which his most famous is the “Prelude in c-sharp minor,” a work which became so famous in his lifetime that he grew sick of playing it.
His greatest works are “the 2nd Piano Concerto,” “the 3rd Piano Concerto,” the “Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini,” (video above) and his sonatas.
One of the finest orchestrators, and one of the supreme melody writers in all of music. Not surprisingly, his favorite composer was Mozart, in honor of whom he wrote “Mozartiana,” an elaboration of several of Mozart’s melodies. Tchaikovsky is the all-time master of the ballet, and all of his are world-famous: the “Nutcracker,” “Swan Lake,” “Sleeping Beauty.” He wrote two operatic masterpieces, “Eugene Onegin,” and “The Queen of Spades.”
His ballets are well known for their melodic magnificence, but he also wrote 6 symphonies, the last three of which are universally accepted as legendary for the resplendent orchestration and development of their lyrical melodies. The fourth is also noted for the bombastic, violent, celebratory spirit of its final movement. The fifth is famous as an elaboration of this same spirit, culminating in a complex final movement of victorious, fanfare quality. The sixth is considered by many to be more affecting and better than the fifth or fourth. It is nicknamed “Pathetique,” for its somber, sad emotion.
Tchaikovsky was also a master of the concerto, and wrote three piano concerti, the first of which is one of the most famous in history, and one of the most superb for its hyper-Romantic, lyrical qualities, and the famous octave passages. Its first movement famously ends with a 1-4-1 cadence, unique to all music up to that time. His violin concerto is world renowned for its technical demands and lush, lyrical beauty. Joshua Bell has compared the final movement to running a three minute mile.
Tchaikovsky’s greatest works are his “1st Piano Concerto,” his “Violin Concerto,” his last three symphonies, his ballets, “Eugene Onegin,” the famous “Overture to 1812,” (finale video above – listen for the canons!) and “Capricio Italienne.”
The symphonist of death, you could call him. Mahler’s repertoire is quite small compared to that of any other on this list. He only wrote 10 symphonies, the last of which he had not orchestrated before he died. He wrote a symphonic song cycle, “Das Lied von der Erde,” which has been called his finest symphony, though he did not intend it to be considered one, and he wrote dozens of other songs, many preoccupied with death.
His first symphony is largely imitative of a more Classical sound, but his second begins the career of the Mahler everyone knows when they hear his music. It is nicknamed the Resurrection, and it’s final movement’s premiere was said to have made women pass out, and grown men weep. His third is the longest symphony ever written, at an average performance length of 1 hour and 30 minutes. It also ends with a majestic bravura climax.
His sixth is called the tragic, and returns to his roots of a preoccupation with death. The seventh is notable for its last movement, a fanfare extolling the happiness of life on Earth.
His eighth is nicknamed “Symphony of a Thousand,” though he hated this epithet, because of the monstrous orchestra it calls for. It is the only symphony scored entirely for orchestra and chorus, the chorus present in all but 12 minutes or so of its 1 hour and 20 minute duration.
It ends with the most glorious, heavenly, galactic climax in the history of music, as the characters of Goethe’s Faust sing the final scene, and are lifted to Heaven.
Das Lied von der Erde is a song cycle of 6 Chinese Poems praising Earth, which Mahler translated into German. They are the maturation of his compositional style.
Mahler’s greatest works are his 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th symphonies and “Das Lied von der Erde.” (video above).
Italy’s greatest opera composer. Verdi’s operatic output is staggering, with 28 operas, many of which contain arias that have made their ways into popular culture and become mainstays. His mature period produced “Nabucco,” “Ernani,” “Macbeth” (after Shakespeare),” “Luisa Miller,” “Rigoletto,” “Il Trovatore,” “La Traviata,” “Un Ballo in Maschera,” “Don Carlo,” his most famous work: “Aida,” “Otello,” and “Falstaff” (both after Shakespeare).
But his finest hour came with the “Messa di Requiem per Alessandro Manzoni.” Verdi, devoutly Catholic, composed in this, some of the most deeply religious, majestically glorious, and terrifying music ever heard. The most famous section, and rightly so, is the Dies Irae (video above), or Day of Anger, which depicts God’s wrath inflicted upon Mankind in Armageddon. This is the most furious incarnation of melody and harmony ever put on paper. The Tuba Mirum, which follows, is the loudest un-amplified music ever written. The score calls for a bass drum played “fffff,” five fortes.
Verdi’s greatest works are his mature operas and the “Requiem.”
Brahms was one of the finest craftsmen in music history, refusing to write retrogressions, and adhering very strictly to form. He wrote 2 piano concerti, of which the 2nd is the most titanic concerto for piano ever composed. It is not as technically difficult as Rachmaninov’s 3rd, but the piano is required to overpower the entire orchestra much of the way through, and this demands a Hercules at the keyboard.
He wrote 4 symphonies, all outstanding, a Requiem in German, his finest work, and one of the greatest violin concerti in history. He was a superb fugue composer.
His finest works are 2nd Piano Concerto, Variations on a Theme of Paganini (the same theme Rachmaninov chose), Variations on a Theme of Haydn, A German Requiem (video above “Denn alles Fleisch”), and his Violin Concerto.
The greatest pianist of all time. Liszt sightread Grieg’s Piano Concerto, playing it perfectly the first time he saw the music. He wrote hundreds of short pieces, songs, preludes, etudes, two piano concerti, symphonic poems, and was an al-around master of every genre in which he composed. Most of his piano works are among the most technically demanding, almost impossible, to play, but of note are his Transcendental Etudes, designed for the piano student to master all forms of piano performance. They are probably the most difficult pieces of music ever written for any instrument, and even veteran professionals refuse to play No. 5, “Feux Follets.” (video above)
If not the Transcendental Etudes, his Sonata in b minor is extraordinarily difficult to play. It is his finest composition.
The most idiomatic composer for the piano who ever lived. Chopin did not understand orchestration, which he freely admitted, and had help from friends, including Liszt, in scoring his two piano concerti. Even so, the orchestra takes a back seat while the piano indulges in the finest filigree work any composer has ever managed.
Chopin’s melodic genius is superlative in all respects, and he composed primarily short works piano works, of which the most notable are his ballades, etudes, sonatas, mazurkas, waltzes, nocturnes, preludes, and impromptus. Chopin was the most innovative composer for all of these genres except the sonata. His finest work is his Ballade No. 1, in g minor (video above).
The quintessential Romantic composer. His music is the most German sounding of all. He was a genius in all genres, producing masterpiece symphonies, especially his 3rd, nicknamed “the Rhenish,” for its triumphantly Bavarian quality, his chamber music, especially his Piano Quintet, a monument in the history of music, and his Piano Concerto in a minor, perhaps the finest ever written. His finest works are the Piano Quintet, and the Piano Concerto. He is also well regarded for his huge quantity of vocal music.
The greatest songwriter of all time, and the second greatest master of melodic, lyrical composition. Schubert had a natural mastery of all the forms of the day, but loved songs the most, and wrote them so quickly that as soon as he was finished with one, he threw it to the floor and grabbed another sheet of paper to start another. He wrote “Hark, Hark, the lark,” one of his finest, on the back of a beer hall receipt, in one sitting. He wrote approximately 650 songs in the sixteen years of his career.
His most famous work is his Piano Quintet, nicknamed the Trout, for the inclusion of one of his songs as a movement. He also wrote masses, 9 symphonies, of which the last two are universal brilliancies, sonatas, ballets, string quartets, and operas.
His finest works are his 8th and 9th symphonies, his Trout Quintet, ballet music to Rosamunde, Marche Militaire, and some of his songs, Gretchen at the Spinning Wheel, The Erl-King, and Nacht und Träume (video above) among them.
One of the most hateful and unpleasant people who ever walked the earth. Wagner despised Jews, and blamed all the problems of the world on them. But you can’t hold any of that against him when you hear his music. It transcends all the idiocy of the man himself. He only wrote operas, which he termed “music dramas.” But of them, his finest masterpieces are Tannhauser, Lohengrin, in which you’ll find the world famous “Here Comes the Bride” theme, Tristan und Isolde, which some consider his finest achievement, Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg, Parsifal, and his gargantuan four-opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen.
These last four operas are the single most famous masterpiece in opera history. Of the top ten longest operas, 7 are by Wagner. The average opera length is 3 hours. Gotterdamerung, the last of the Ring cycle, is 6 hours long. More importantly, Wagner invented the leitmotif, a very short melody which represents a character, emotion, event, or object. He revolutionized the art of opera, and operas are not written in any other style today except his, or the Classical style which preceded him. There has been no progress beyond him in operatic art. It has also been said that the art of filmmaking would be set back 500 years, had Wagner not existed. Film soundtracks owe their ability to enhance the story to Wagner alone, who owes his ability to the next composer, and almost all film composers, including John Williams, agree that Wagner is the greatest film composer in history. Films can be set to his music.
His finest work is probably Tristan und Isolde, but the Ring cycle could well be equal to it. Everything he wrote, from Tannhauser on (video above), could be his finest work. All his mature works are unparalleled in orchestration, and he is one of the very few opera composers who wrote his own libretti.
The inventor of Romantic music. Before him, all that could be said in music had been said (by the next two composers). Beethoven began his career by imitating the styles of Mozart and Haydn, and is considered the third greatest Classical composer after them. With his 3rd Symphony, nicknamed “Eroica,” and his 4th and 5th Piano Concerti, the world of music entered its Romantic Era, out of which it may not yet have emerged.
The advent of film required that Romantic music not be done away with, as the more modern music of Schoenberg, Berg, Webern, etc., was not suitable for the enhancement of drama. Thus, as film’s musical lineage goes directly back to Wagner, it goes back farther, to Beethoven, who influenced Wagner the most.
It was Beethoven’s temperament that created his finest, and most idiosyncratic works, among them his 3rd to 9th symphonies, his last three of five piano concerti, his violin concerto, the finest ever written, two masses, one of which is the Missa Solemnis, the second greatest mass ever written, his chamber music, especially his string quartets, the last 6 of which, the Late Quartets, are universally considered to be among the greatest musical works in history. Of these, Igor Stravinsky deemed the Grosse Fuge of the second to last quartet the greatest piece of music ever written. Beethoven’s 5th Symphony (video above) begins with the single most famous melody in music history. People who don’t even know who he was hum it every day.
Beethoven’s finest works are also the finest works of their kind in music history: the 9th Symphony, the 5th Piano Concerto, the Violin Concerto, the Late Quartets, and his Missa Solemnis, although this last work is not quite as glorious as a mass composed by #1 on this list.
And he achieved all this despite being completely deaf for the last 25 years or so of his life.
The most gifted musical genius in history, the most famous genius of any field in history, and the perfecter of Classical music. He wrote 41 symphonies, 27 piano concerti, a large amount of chamber music, 23 operas, 18 sonatas for piano, 36 for violin, for cello, church sonatas, organ pieces, 18 masses, including one Requiem, 4 horn concerti, 20 string quartets, serenades, divertimenti, and many others.
He was the supreme composer of melody and lyrical quality in music history. All other melodic composers aspired to his greatness, including Schubert, Chopin, Tchaikovsky, Saint-Saens, etc. He wrote his music in full orchestral scores, without corrections of any kind, until late in life when he was sick. His first drafts were his final drafts. His greatest works are all legendary, and cannot be listed entirely, but of them, his Requiem Mass, the greatest ever written, although he only finished half. The second half was finished by his pupil, Sussmayer. His last 20 symphonies or so, his last serenade, nicknamed Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, his 20th through 24th piano concerti, his 15th and 17th masses, in C Major and c minor, respectively, his 12 variations on Ah, vous dirais-je, Maman, which is commonly known as Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star, and there are many others.
It was because of his perfection of the Classical mode, that Beethoven decided not to imitate, but rather to create a new mode. Mozart’s work features, among other things, the finest balance between solo instruments and orchestra.
He was one of the finest pianists to ever live, and equally adept at the violin.
Probably his greatest single work, for its pristine clarity in all respects, is his opera Don Giovanni (video above).
The greatest composer of music who has ever lived. Bach did not invent any new styles of forms of music, but rather perfected every single one of them which existed in his day. He remains the all-time master of the fugue, a form which is so difficult to write that even Mozart and Beethoven, both of whom wrote fugal masterpieces, hated writing them. Bach, however, improvised fugues for 2 hours at a stretch, and then wrote them down from memory afterward.
Bach wrote universal masterpieces in every genre, including the 6 finest concerti grossi ever written, nicknamed the Brandenburg Concerti (clip above). He also wrote the finest single work of sacred music in history, the Mass in b minor, which has been argued by many musicologsts and composers to be the single greatest work of music of all time, in any genre, in any style.
Whereas, most composers did not typically relish complexity, Bach was at home in it. The Sanctus from his b minor Mass is a 6-part chorus, including a 4-voiced fugue. In the annals of fugal composition, no composer as ever attempted what Bach accomplished, and he did so without difficulty: his monumental Art of Fugue, which is a thorough examination of all the methods by which fugues are written. Using one theme, Bach explains in music all the possibilities of contrapuntal composition inherent in a single musical subject: the fugue, the double fugue, the triple fugue, the quadruple fugue, the stretto fugue, the mirror fugue, canonizing the fugues, etc. If you were to turn the scores of the two mirror fugues upside down and play them, they would sound the same.
He wrote in the Baroque style, but his music is as Romantic as anything Beethoven or Wagner or Schumann ever composed, and films can be set to it. He is the greatest of all composers, of all time, because of the intellectual depth of his music, the technical demand, and the artistic beauty.
So there are NO composers from the last century worthy of inclusion here? Very Strange.
And my man Ludwig belongs at #1 instead of these other pretenders.
Cheers
Lee
Agreed. Stravinsky would have been a logical choice for certain!!
Er……Rachmaninov?
No way, Bach is king. I’m sorry he didn’t write much music for your precious pianos.
He did write any music for the piano. The piano didn’t exist in Bach’s day.
yeah
gershwin at least should have made it!
great list… top 3 rock… er.. i mean not exactly play rock, but rock.
i dont quite agree with the first one.. btw First! (:
no you are not.
Also omg didnt u noes! Beethove is a devil! http://www.balaams-ass.com/journal/homemake/beeth…
Great list! When I get home I’m going to have to listen to all of these
Cheers!
nice list but opinion on music is always subjective
Amazing. Gotta’ love oldzz people music.
Primero!
BOOORIINNNNGGGG……….
You don't understant it. The darkness does not comprehend the light.
First!Only heard of a few of these .Awesome list
Finally a Good List! Good job flamehorse
classic!
i was sad to see no schoenberg….
wow, some real hate there from the man himself, why does B hate islam? can’t we all just get along?
A great list and a great read. Thank you for this.
This list should specify “Classical Music Composers”. There are a lot of other music composers of other types of music that are considered brilliant such as: Stevie Wonder, Prince, Charlie Parker, T.Monk, John Lennon,etc. This is a list for snobs.
The music you speak of is not of the same level. That is to say that their music, while at the top within its own genre cannot express the variety and depth of emotion of classical music. This is in part because vast instrumentental colour available to classical musicians in the use of the orchestra, dynamics and interpretation. Those who don't understant the music of the great composers often use the term snob as an excuse for lack of appreciation. Many are called. Few are chosen.
No offense, but that may be the most snobby retort to an accusation of snobbery that I've ever read. I know what you're trying to say; there is something more grand about composing for an entire orchestra than for a single instrument or band. That being said, it's preposterous to claim that it's entirely impossible that the works of the artists mentioned by "christlike" CAN'T be on the same level as those created by Beethoven/Bach/Motzart/etc.
Hmm, nothing created by “Stevie Wonder, Prince, Charlie Parker, T.Monk, John Lennon” can even come close to, say, Bach’s Chaconne, which was written for ONE instrument. Hell, give them any amount of instruments and they won’t even come close to creating something as masterful as The Chaconne.
u don’t know music at all.All that u know of is just noise!!!!
“The most famous genius of any field in history”? More than Einstein? I seriously doubt so.
I enjoyed the list though.
Einstein himself said Mozart was much more genius than he. So I think its safe to say you are wrong. (Google if your stubborn enough to doubt)
Where in the hell is Edward Grieg??????? Should be atleast top 5. But not even on the list??
Nice list!
Liszt’s Feux Follets is amazingly similar in meter to the music I had turned off to listen to the video above. That was Jerry Garcia and Howard Wales playing All for Life. Of course the similarity ends there, but it was striking nonetheless.
Personally I like putting many forms of classical, rock, and jazz onto my ipod. Stones to Stravinsky, Albioni to Zappa. Then hit shuffle…
I think John Cage should have been thrown in there at some point.
great list i would have thought that Antonio Vivaldi would have made the cut though?
YES! I was looking for Vivaldi. OMG some his music can make me tear up…he really knows how to build you up with a single crying violin and then CRASH the whole orchestra erupts.
@beethoven (28): Ye ugly man, I’ll bash you ter a pulp if you spread yer filth in Listverse,start countin’ yer days man- when me gets mad gets very nasty
@beethoven (33): Mebbe mom or JF are sleepin’, if they woke up ye’d be banned into oblivion,yer stupid bucket of lard.
Beethoven here gave me an idea. How about a list of Islamic artists and composers?
@Easy (4): It is – but as a musician I agreed mostly with the choices (though not necessarily the order) so it seemed worthy of publishing
@k1w1taxi (37): There are – but they appeared on the composers you don’t know list. If it were my list of greatest composers it would have included Stravinsky, Ives, Shostakovich, and maybe (but very personally) Schnittke. I would replace Schumann, Haydn, Brahms, and Tchaikovsky.
Obviously this is very subjective and you appreciate 20th century classical (which I do too – it is my favorite period of classical music). Perhaps a more suitable title would have been pre-20th century classical composers. We should probably consider doing a best of renaissance, baroque, classical, romantic, 20th century.
All the names on the list are, well one of the most awesome musicians that ever lived of course. But writing the 9th symphony while being completely deaf is (no appropriate words to describe)next to impossible.
I always hear the same praises regarding Beethoven’s loss of hearing in the twilight of his career. I’m guessing that it’s typically non-musicians who are so amazed by his ability to compose music while being deaf. It’s actually not all that impressive to those who study and know music well. To put it into perspective; think about something that you’ve heard over and over again in your lifetime. You can actually hear it in your mind if you concentrate. Now translate that to the keyboard of the piano. I’m guessing Ludwig had the tone of middle C burned into his memory, and with that, many many scales, knowing that he was a MASTER of music. Is the general assumption that all composition takes place while performing on the instrument? Because it doesn’t. Several composers wrote without playing the instrument, but by hearing the music in their head. Which is all Beethoven did. It’s extraordinary talent, but it’s no more outstanding than any other composer who successfully composed pieces of music in their heads. So, why is it that Beethoven is so praised for this? It was simply second nature to the man. As it is second nature to all composers of great talent.
It’s not that I don’t think that Beethoven wasn’t an incredible talent, it’s just that the whole “how did he do it?!” mentality gets really annoying for people who actually understand it.
“Bach, however, improvised fugues for 2 hours at a stretch, and then wrote them down from memory afterward. ” This is way more impressive than writing the 9th symphony deaf.
I’m not a classical music expert, so what i might say might not be accurate. But my colleague whos studied it more has told me alot about Mozarts ability to compose large works straight on to paper without needing to correct one single note afterwards, like it was printed out by a computer. My friend also has told me about his ability to listen to a large musical work, go home, and write it down note by note. Then there is his ability to talk backwards on the spot. As i said, i’m not an expert, but if this is true it would mean that he had abilities Beethoven and Bach didn’t.
My own opinion is that music is subject and relative to human emotion, and still prefer Beethoven over Mozart.
@jfrater (38): hey but what about pierre boulez. In a list with 15 i was pretty sure boulez would make it. It would have given this list some originality.
Just a couple of thoughts after a long, hot day.
JSB 4 ever!!
Flamehorse didn’t specify any criteria, but several pointers (off the top of my head) towards “greatest composers of all time” must include 1) breadth of forms (ie did the composer write in many or even most of the forms available to “him”?); 2) breadth of emotional range; 3) depth of compositional technique; 4) a lifetime’s development of personal style; 5) at least one acknowledged masterwork, possibly even the greatest work in that genre; 6) a major innovation (Wagner) or summation (Bach) in the field of music.
Probably any composer still alive can’t satisfy my criterion 3. Nothing that Grieg wrote can be considered an acknowledged masterwork. I would go close to excluding Wagner and Mahler because of my criterion 1, but they rate so highly on everything else. The length of works is a factor (ie a long work requires consistency of compositional technique).
Hoo boy, no Indian composer here- seriously, hasn’t any of you heard Indian music? like ever? Lez see how much interest that list would generate- about Indian composers.. bet people would say- how boring, who wants to know about India.
BTW, in 2000, I took part in a performance of Mahler’s 8th Symphony for the Olympic Arts Festival. In 2002 many of the Sydney choir travelled to England where we joined the London and Birmingham choirs and the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain and Sir Simon Rattle to perform in the Albert Hall as part of the Proms series.
I found this clip about 2 years ago: http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=KR&hl=ko&v=uYM54vhLYTU&feature=related. It starts vewwy, vewwy qwietly and finishes VERY VERY LOUDLY.
I am visible at 1.13 and several other times throughout.
WTH Why no Vivaldi?
@bethoveen (46): it’s boring because you’re uneducated.
First of all, I don’t understand why classical music is ‘just for snobs’. Why does it take a certain economic, social or educational level to apprieciate this music? Perhaps once, when this sort of music was reserved only for those who could afford it, but now with access to the internet and such, it is still seen in such a light.
It is a shame, really, when classical music has influenced so much modern music, and those influences can be easily seen.
For example:
(I hope the embedding works. If not, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdxkVQy7QLM)
Yes, I entirely agree. Perhaps the reason is that the romance and tenderness so often prevalent in classical music does not fit in to the inconsiderate moronic mentality of so many people. Naturally, the reasons are more complex. As you say it is a shame. I can't help feeling a certain amount of contempt for those who don't enjoy classical music.
As a toddler, my favorite music was an old DG cassette of the Brandenburg Concerti I found in the attic. I must have listened to it thousands of times. No one told me I had to like it, or even bought it for me. I just loved it, and I have no idea why. It was concerti 2, 3, and 5. To this day, Bach remains my favorite composer by a good margin. I was not educated (could not even read), was not wealthy (grew up in an old mill town where most of the factories had gone under), and didn't really even know the name of the pieces. I am no musical genius either, or for that matter, even a musician.
So if you really want to believe a 3 yr old kid playing an old cassette of Bach's music in a poor town on an old radio shack cassette recorder was doing it for snob value, then whatever.
Beethoven( the composer not the cocksucker commenting above) shouldve been 1rst,cmon he composed the glorious ninth symphony deaf !!!
Considering he is number 3 on this list, Beethoven is pretty bad at spelling… and a lot more anti-Islam then I had anticipated.
I agree that Beethoven was cool, but considering everything that was written about the others here, I agree that he didn’t deserve to be number one. I think he is a little overrated, only because he is the more well known composer.
Not sure how you placed Bach at #1 when you categorically state that he did not invent any new styles, but simply perfected existing ones while both Mozart – whom you described as:
” The most gifted musical genius in history, the most famous genius of any field in history, and the perfecter of Classical music”
- and Beethoven both invented new ones.
As well; though it may be apocryphal – Musical history lecturers I have had in the past have ALL categorically stated (and I’ve heard it repeated by any number of so-called ‘experts’) that, where composers original manuscripts carry corrections and ‘crossings-out’ and notational scribbles to indicate a “change of mind” etc – Mozarts original musical notation is unblemished: he wrote it down note-for-note without any corrections or additional notations: including ALL the instruments as he went along.
Now THAT’s pure genius.
Other than that – a good list ‘horse!
Extra comment – as Chiles reminded us at comment 49; Beethoven was almost deaf when he wrote the 5th – totally so by the glorious 9th!
My personal favourites are Debussy and Mozart because I adore Clair de lune and Requiem but I have to give props to Bach for composing a multitude of pieces that have simple melodies that even children can learn. He has introduced many a young child to the wonders of piano music (myself included).
christlike at 23
If you came back in 100 years I doubt that any of the names that you list will be remenbered, but I would say all of the names on the list will be.
mf at 40
Even though he was deaf Beethoven could “hear” by placing a wooden stick on the piano and placing his chin on it.
Jobrag
Actually, 3 of these composers have my same first name, Franz. And the 3 greatest composers of all time are in nos. 1, 2 and 3. hi listverse i’m back. Entertained by this list and the previous one really
Love the list with the exception that Bach is first and Tchaikovsky is higher than he should be.
I have all of these composers on my iPod as well.
Wonder if John Williams has a place among these great composers?
What do you mean about Chajkovskij, that he is too high is that list??!! You shold be miles away of understanding good music. Unlike others composers, who created more or less famous masterpieces, everything hi wrote is beautiful and his best work I would put on the first place in the list.
For me Chajskovskj is number one at all time composer. Also I wounder why in the list no Musorgskij, whos mucis just amazing?! Where is Glinka or Rimskij-Korsakov? In this case West Europe and the World know nothing about good mucisians.
What? Wheres Vivaldi or even Gershwin? And also it should say classic composers, because you have modern day composers such as Williams, Horner, and Shore.
@bethoveen:Shame on you. You don’t belong here.
People who hate this list are musically illiterate
and those who say foul language on this site are (just like what Jack said)completely uneducated
Oh ***** off dude, people can cuss and be fully educated; it's just words, get over it. Have you ever see Penn & Teller's Bull***** series by chance?
Sidenote, I like most of the the music on here. I prefer Vivaldi though.
@johnric (59): Sorry, me also guilty. Me should have refrained from replying to an idiot.
People, just ignore beethoven – not the composer. He will just fizzle out into oblivion, like all scumbags like him.
Danny Elfman? Come on, the opening to Men In Black is brilliant!
This list is so inaccurate. As a lover of classical music I think that Bach shouldn’t be on top of the list because he’s too average. You should put Mozart or Beethoven on the top of the list. And where Dvorak? Philip Glass? Vivaldi? Grieb? Why not we make a Top 25 Greatest Composers list???? That would be much better.
@beethoven (12): Oh, man with a weak & moronic mind, why won’t you shut the ***** up???? I hate internet bullies. They are like real bullies except their more gay. I’ll bet beethoven didn’t finish high school & is a mama’s boy.
@johnric (59): I agree with you. People who don’t even like this list don’t have the intellectual capacity to appreciate classical music. Why not they listen to crap like Judas Priest or Soulja Boy????
uh….what? who are you? why are you speaking? just…just stop.
Bach- AVERAGE? I suppose you think Kant, Voltaire, Michaelangelo and Shakespeare are average as well. Good grief.
This list basically deals with sinfonia composers.
Music has a much more broader definition, I believe and this list makes it seem too narrow to me which excludes too much.
And what nudges me, is that in a world consisting of umpteen types of different races, HOW a specific type of music is seen to as setting the standards of music composition.
An American or European, hearing for the first time a Javanese gamelan performance or singing by the Ewe people of West Africa, might feel totally disoriented by the seemingly meaningless sounds of these kinds of music.
Likewise, Javanese or Ghanaian listeners might feel every bit as lost at sea when they first hear the symphonic music and they might find these equally meaningless.
Anyway, if it was for me to compose this list, Hans Zimmer would take the top spot hands down.
love these composers! wish they were alive to compose me a personally dedicated piece!
Great list! I would have had something scathing to say had Liszt not made your list.
Wagner: A hateful man does not write special music for his wife as a Christmas present and then have an orchestra there to play it for her Christmas morning. He was anti Semitic, no more or less than most.
It’s not his fault that Hitler used his music as a vehicle to promote hate.
Excellent list once again Flamehorse. Thanks to my mom, who forced us to listen to classical music every Sunday, I recognized each one of the selected recordings. Either that or Looney Tunes. I wonder how many folks were first introduced to classical music via Bugs Bunny. I betcha tons of those commenting about how boring this list is, don’t even realize how pervasive it is in our culture. It’s not an accident that everyone knows the Lone Ranger theme – and it’s not because of the TV show – it’s because the music is soo awesome and memorable.
@christlike (14): I am the least snobby person you will ever meet – and I loved this list. I learned something today – maybe you should too!
@astraya (30): all righty – awesome performance btw – I’ve the video paused at 1:15. Which guy are you? You all look the same in your nice suits.
Missing is Roger Waters at #1
This is BS! Why did Soljah Boi or Britney not make the list!!! This is an outrage!
Seriously though, great list, although I would have had Wagner in the 2 slot.
you forgot John Williams
uh..what? who are you? why are you speaking? just, just…stop.
just a suggestion:
may this list should be renamed as the
“15 greatest classical composers of all time”
i mean some composers like jason becker is phenomenal too.. creating a whole album note per note using a computer while suffering ALS deserves to be commended as well.. just my 2 cents..
I don’t think it’s quite fair to say Haydn composed one symphony in 103 forms — I think he did a bit better than that! That statement is similar to the famous “Vivaldi composed the same concerto 200 times” (btw, shame not to see Vivaldi on this list — his choral music alone is genius) — anyone who actually listens to these concertos surely can see the vast variety he managed to create within the confines of one format (listen to his op.3 concerto set to see how much variety is contained within a single set with identical instrumentation).
Also, are you sure you’re using the term “concerto grosso” correctly? I thought it was as specific type of concerto (invented by Corelli) to balance the sonority of a smaller “concertino” group against the rest of the orchestra (?)
I’m not sure how to create a top 15 list of composers — too subjective! I would give honourable mention to Vivaldi, Corelli, Telemann, LeClair, Zelenka, Purcell, or even C.P.E. Bach (who really did innovate, unlike his father).
THANK YOU!
As the "Father of Symphony" and "Father of String Quartet" Haydn's place on this list really infuriated me. In my honest opinion he should have been 5th or 6th. As high as Mozart is esteemed, he had such an affection of Haydn that he dedicated works to him.
I’m a music student alumni and im really glad to see you place Bach on top of the list. His musical style goes beyond his era. He was ahead of everyone else and his work was pivotal in shaping everyone’s view in music. Even Mozart and Beethoven were fans huge admirers.
Great List.
I really enjoyed reading this.