Comments on: Top 15 Greatest Composers Of All Time

By: petet2112

petet2112 — Tue, 15 May 2012 07:58:57 +0000

@ MrMe : First of all, one of the very true things about Mozart was his egomaniac ways. The movie “Amadeus” covered that nicely (I like “Amadeus” very much but it is much too “Hollywoodish” for my taste). Classical Music is broken down into 4 Main categories. The Baroque period which is the time of Bach, Handel, Vivaldi, Couperin, etc. You will find absolutely no percussion in their works and the Piano had yet to be invented along with other instruments. Then their was The Classical Period which started with Haydn and then included Mozart, Beethoven, Carl Maria von Weber. Joseph Haydn was called “Papa” Haydn because he indeed invented the symphony which Mozart followed and Beethoven just blew the symphony out of the water and was the greatest in History in that field of composing. Mozart did likewise with the Opera. Then came the Romantic Period which started just before the end of Franz Schubert’s life. Again with the Symphony, The Lieder (songs) and the ever increasing of the evolution of music. The Romantic Period lasted until Gustav Mahler came onto the scene and composed symphonies of Epic Proportion. Along with Brahms, you can also add Robert Schumann, Franz Liszt, Richard Wagner, Felix Mendelssohn, Frederic Chopin Peter I. Tchaikovsky, Antonin Dvorak and Anton Bruckner into the final stages of the Romantic Period. Then came along the 20th Century period of music like Igor Stravinsky, Sergei Rachmaninoff, George Gershwin. So as each musical period advanced, so did the use of instruments that weren’t even thought of back in the day of J.S. Bach. Creative Juices ? Figure that Bach composed 212 cantatas. One every week for almost every week for church and secular music. He had the harpsichord as the piano had not been invented yet. And his output was immense. Bach did only two things in his life. Make Music and Make Babies (he had 21 children, one of which was equal to his father, that being Carl Phillipe Emanuelle Bach). The name Bach translated into English means “Brook”. Beethoven was once quoted as saying, “His name should not be Brook, but should be Sea”. In all due respect, putting Bach behind Brahms would be like saying that your local high school football team could easily defeats the New York Giants. Brahms was one off the greatest (listen to his 2 Piano concertos and especially his Violin Concerto. So therefore by process of elimination, Bach did not have the instruments or tools to compose music as composers of 150-200 years after his death. His output was amazing and most if not all musicologists and musical experts will tell you immediately that Bach was indeed the greatest composer whoever lived. He’s not my favorite (Beethoven gets the nod in my book), but he is undoubtedly the greatest. The bottom line is that Bach was limited with what he had as far as what instruments to choose from. But NO composer in World’s history had a mastery of the mathematical aspect of music. His music was indeed PERFECT.

By: MrMe

MrMe — Tue, 15 May 2012 05:22:40 +0000

There is nothing Bach did that Mozart had not already covered in his training in youth. In his letters he referred to Bach as something dull and boring. I like Bach but he has nowhere near the creative juices of Mozart, in my opinion he belongs behind Brahms, he also did no Operas, and frankly didn’t do much else but the same formulaic chamber music.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Mon, 14 May 2012 21:15:23 +0000

These beautiful written little summaries inspire me to check out a lot of music I haven’t heard. Thank you!

By: rk

rk — Wed, 09 May 2012 17:28:15 +0000

Mozart is the best Composer of all time …..

By: Mar2837

Mar2837 — Tue, 08 May 2012 03:25:11 +0000

Controlled noise. Beautiful, mellifluous noise.

By: John Williams

John Williams — Tue, 01 May 2012 06:38:51 +0000

at least A.R. Rahman has to be in this list, he is world’s top most composer.

the person who made the list he does not know about world music. he only listen to western music & english music. 3rd class list.

By: peter2112

peter2112 — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 03:57:51 +0000

@ K : Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924) was a great composer and his operas are always in highest demand (along with Mozart operas). But that’s the thing. Puccini was strictly a composer of Operas and composed very, very little other pieces of music. His Operas “Manon Lescaut” (1893), “La Boheme” (1896), “Tosca” (1900), “Madama Butterfly” (1904), “La Fanciulla Del West” or “Girl Of The Golden West” (1910) and his unfinished “Turandot” (1924, which the world famous tenor Aria “Nessun Dorma” is performed) comprised about 90% of what he composed. He composed very little other than that. Now take Mozart, he composed something for every instrument in the repetoire. Or Beethoven who revolutionized the Symphony, the String Quartet, The Piano Concerto, etc. Its composers like that who are deserving of this list. With the exception of Wagner who composed only opera and also wrote his own librettos which was unheard of back in those days and sitting through a 4 -5 hour opera (which is about the length of operas he composed) is one heck of an undertaking, is the only exception that I can think of. Puccini as far as late 19th to early 20th century Operas, I would give the nod to, but that’s it. Go with what is on this list which is extremely accurate and J.S. Bach as the greatest composer ? Without a shadow of a doubt. He’s not my favorite (I give that to Beethoven) but I agree with Bach. Why ? His Mathematical perfection of his music. And what’s even more amazing is Bach lived during the Baroque Period. There were no Symphonies, Piano and if any, Operas (only Harpsichords and Organs)

By: K

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 00:04:27 +0000

Where is Puccini??????? Great list otherwise

By: peter2112

peter2112 — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 23:25:53 +0000

@ Daniel, Vivaldi was a great composer for strings during the Baroque Period at the time of Bach, Handel, Purcell, Scarlatti, etc. First off. Saying that Vivaldi was greater than Bach is like saying that your hometown High School Football team is better than The New York Giants. A five year old can tell you that. Regardless of the art form of music, experts and musicologists will tell you that Bach was the greatest whoever lived. He’s not my favorite, but I don’t argue the fact about Bach. There is a list here on LISTVERSE entitled “The Top 10 Greatest Achievements Of The Human Mind” and see what Number 1 is. It will give you a whole new perspective of what a musical genius Wagner was.

By: Daniel

Daniel — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 06:07:48 +0000

How could they put in Wagner and leave out Vivaldi.
Vivaldi is the greatest baroque composer.