Greatest Composer of all time?

[Boris Godunov]

Hmm, let's go through all the influential Greek composers...

...

...

...

Ya got me.

Oh wait: Yanni!

[Bereta_Eder]

or the americans for that matter

madona


and the americans didnt create the western civ either

[JohnT]

No, we just perfected it.

[Du_Chateau]

I voted for Mozart because Tchaikovsky was left out of the list. Who can forget the person that composed the Nutcracker Ballet.

[JohnT]

Ooh! Ooh! I know! :raises hand in air:

Monkspider!!!!

[monkspider]

Sorry, sorry! When creating these polls, one has an unfortunate habit to leave out some of the most obvious choices. For example, i once left out Alexander on a greatest military leader of all time quiz, and with all the greeks here, I never heard the end of it.

[JohnT]

Yeah, those Greeks sure are a trolling bunch, aren't they??

[Japher]

I like Berlioz

[monkspider]

Tell me about it.

[JohnT]

I mean, there's like only 2 of them on this board and all they do is troll.

[BeBMan]

I joined the Bach crowd

However, personally I like Händel a lot. I can´t really say why - I´m just another one of those "amateur classical conniseurs"

I never tried out Brahms so far - whats the best of his composings to begin with?

[devilmunchkin]

i voted for beethoven..but i had a hard time deciding as i REALLY love ravel...
kass, saint-saens wrote Danse MAcabre....a very very awesome tune...
monk: i can't believe you left off tchaikovsky!

[monolith94]

I'M SORRY BORIS… I JUST CAN'T IGNORE MY EMOTIONS THAT WAY!!!
:_(

[Boris Godunov]

Originally posted by Du_Chateau
I voted for Mozart because Tchaikovsky was left out of the list. Who can forget the person that composed the Nutcracker Ballet.

Ah the Nutcracker...the piece Tchaikovsky himself decried as the worst piece of drivel he ever wrote.

Don't worry monkie...I, at least, won't harp on his omission from the list.

[Boris Godunov]

Originally posted by BeBro
I joined the Bach crowd

However, personally I like Händel a lot. I can´t really say why - I´m just another one of those "amateur classical conniseurs"

I never tried out Brahms so far - whats the best of his composings to begin with?

Well, it depends on what genres you prefer.

I had the privelege of being able to sing in his Ein Deutsches Requiem when I was in college, which was my introduction to his music. But that's a long, rather intense piece for first aquaintance.

The pieces monkie mentioned are his most well-known and probably good starting points:

Hungarian Dance No. 5
Lullaby
Waltz in A flat
Academic Festival Overture.

Beyond that, there are some great chamber works to check out:

Piano Quintet in F Minor
String Quintet No. 2
Clarinet Quintet

Piano works:

Op. 116-119
Piano Concerto no. 2 (the best of its kind)

And beyond these are the "larger" works which are more complex and require a bit more listening dedication. Since the requiem was his first large-scale work, I'd start with that. Next are the symphonies, the last great classical symphonies written. I'd say listen to them in order (there are only 4). However, they're order of quality are:

No. 4 (Esp. mvts 2 and 4)
No. 1 (Esp. mvts 1 and 4)
No. 3 (Esp. mvts 1 and 3)
No. 2 (Esp. mvt 1)

And then there is the plethora of motets and other choral works, like the Alto Rhapsody and Nanie.

Finally, check out his Lieder (the Thomas Quasthoff CD is superb as an introduction)

Oh, and then there are his two greatest orchestral works outside of the symphonies: Variations on a Theme by Haydn and the Tragic Overture.