Thread: Who is the greatest composer?

Bach.

Just listen. His music justifies itself.

I could speak volumes on why I love a number of different composers, but I wouldn't dare try to call one of them "the greatest." Here are some different ways to look at it, from my point of view.

Most influential: J. S. Bach
Most prolific: Haydn
Most idolized: Beethoven
Most hummable: Mozart
Most adventurous: John Cage
Best orchestrators: Berlioz, Rimsky-Korsakov, Stravinsky
Best string quartets: Haydn and Shostakovich
Best symphonists: Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, Mahler
Best ballets: Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky
Best solo piano music: Beethoven, Brahms, Debussy
Best piano concerti: Rachmaninov
Best film music: Bernard Hermann
Most intense: Penderecki
Most influential to me personally: Stravinsky

Easy...

Gustav Holst - for "The Planets" <--would later influence pretty much all the great soundtack composers.

Others worthy of mention:

Rimski-Korsakov - "Procession of the Nobles of Mlada" got my attention. Then "Scheherazade "
Dvorak - "New World"
Hovhaness - "Mt. St.Helens"
Saint-Saens - "The Moldeau"
Shostakovich

My classical taste really has more to do with how the music creates visuals in my head. The composers and music I list are ones which can easily close my eyes and visualize some sort of scene (like in a movie). Which brings me to what I feel is another genre enormously underated-- movie soundtrack composers:

Hans Zimmer <-- fucking outstanding soundtracks! ("Black Hawk Down" probably my favorite of all)
Basil Poledouris - "Connan the Barbarian", among others
James Horner - just about any movie you've seen in the last 10 years or so.

There's more, but I think I got the main ones.

My vote's for Bach too. I love it.

And Mozart. He'd been writing music since he was 3.

John Williams! Although his music has not been around for as long, the Conductor of the Boston Pops has my vote. He has is the creative genius behind the Indiana Jones theme, all six Star Wars Movies, and many more. I like Bach and Beethoven just as much as the next person but nothing moves me more than hearing the Indiana Jones theme. Heck, I can jam out to that at the Gym. John Williams, a living legend.

Everyone seems to be drawing from composers of the Baroque and/or classical periods. I guess a better way to ask the question is to ask which is the best composer of their time or genre.

I would say Bach, but I don't particularly care for baroque period music. My personal favorite period of classical music is romantic. Of the romantic composers, Chopin is by far my favorite. That's mostly because I'm speaking in terms of Solo piano music morso than chamber or symphonic music, of which I don't listen to much.

Piano...Chopin I feel is the greatest. I don't know much about symphonic composers..

Mozart... hands down! That is my subjective view. His music is the most beautiful classical music I know of. I also love Tchaikovsky (most famous for the music in The Nutcracker) and Rossini (most famous for "The Thieving Magpie", which was the recurring piece in the movie A Clockwork Orange, and something I don't like so much-- the theme song to the old T.V. show The Lone Ranger). I like Bach and Beethoven too.

James Horner is simply amazing. And I used to completely neglect modern composers.

Originally Posted by Mes Tarrant

James Horner is simply amazing. And I used to completely neglect modern composers.

I abhor Horner. He's so predictable, and I've yet to hear an original idea come from his pen. Sure, he understands orchestration, and can write a "pretty" tune, but in my opinion there is no depth at all.

Originally Posted by skysaw

I could speak volumes on why I love a number of different composers, but I wouldn't dare try to call one of them "the greatest." Here are some different ways to look at it, from my point of view.

Most influential: J. S. Bach
Most prolific: Haydn
Most idolized: Beethoven
Most hummable: Mozart
Most adventurous: John Cage
Best orchestrators: Berlioz, Rimsky-Korsakov, Stravinsky
Best string quartets: Haydn and Shostakovich
Best symphonists: Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, Mahler
Best ballets: Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky
Best solo piano music: Beethoven, Brahms, Debussy
Best piano concerti: Rachmaninov
Best film music: Bernard Hermann
Most intense: Penderecki
Most influential to me personally: Stravinsky

additions to your list... for me

most prolific-telemann (he is often criticized for being so absurdly prolific- people think his pieces are formulaic)
most hummable- gershwin
most adventuresome-bartok
orchestrators- ravel, strauss (ricard)
best symphonists- scriabin (some may not agree)
best piano concerti-mozart
best film music- John Williams
most intense- I have never heard of penderecki (I am listening to him right now its interesting), I would probably have to include mahler here too.
best ballets- prokofiev for romeo and juliet

I have listened to Mahler's second symphony, but I found that it was too heavy. The second or third time through, I found the climax to be thrilling, but I think that intense music looses intensity with multiple listenings. I thought the symphony was too heavy and didn't have very many good melodies. Don't get me wrong, it was amazing the first times through, but it looses some of its power if listened to too much.

Originally Posted by Tornado Joe

Easy...

Gustav Holst - for "The Planets" <--would later influence pretty much all the great soundtack composers.

Others worthy of mention:

Rimski-Korsakov - "Procession of the Nobles of Mlada" got my attention. Then "Scheherazade "
Dvorak - "New World"
Hovhaness - "Mt. St.Helens"
Saint-Saens - "The Moldeau"
Shostakovich

My classical taste really has more to do with how the music creates visuals in my head. The composers and music I list are ones which can easily close my eyes and visualize some sort of scene (like in a movie). Which brings me to what I feel is another genre enormously underated-- movie soundtrack composers:

Hans Zimmer <-- fucking outstanding soundtracks! ("Black Hawk Down" probably my favorite of all)
Basil Poledouris - "Connan the Barbarian", among others
James Horner - just about any movie you've seen in the last 10 years or so.

There's more, but I think I got the main ones.

There are certainly good pieces listed here, but I don't know if any of these composers deserve the best composer award. Rimski-Korsakov, and the film composers I think are definitely not what I had in mind for greatest composer.

Originally Posted by DreamCloud

John Williams! Although his music has not been around for as long, the Conductor of the Boston Pops has my vote. He has is the creative genius behind the Indiana Jones theme, all six Star Wars Movies, and many more. I like Bach and Beethoven just as much as the next person but nothing moves me more than hearing the Indiana Jones theme. Heck, I can jam out to that at the Gym. John Williams, a living legend.

John Williams is a fantastic orchestrator, very clever. I love star wars and lots of his other stuff, but I don't think I could give him the title legend or genius, because a lot of his themes and ideas are basically stolen from other composers and some are complete obvious rip-offs. This doesn't bother me too much because he always does something great with the material, but I don't think I could call him a genius.

Originally Posted by skysaw

I abhor Horner. He's so predictable, and I've yet to hear an original idea come from his pen. Sure, he understands orchestration, and can write a "pretty" tune, but in my opinion there is no depth at all.

I agree. At least Horner does not call himself a composer but an "emotionalist." He is the biggest copy cat of his own work and all of it is emotionalist uninteresting writing that puts me in a bad mood. There is no depth

Bach for sure. I was thinking of transcribing some of his concertos onto guitar for my next guitar vids.

Ian Anderson

If you're looking for some interesting and original film composers, you should check out Thomas Newman (American Beauty) and Carter Burwell (Adaptation). This is the sort of stuff that should be getting much more attention. Completely original, striking, and haunting.

By the way, if you get a chance, listen to some of my original music linked in my signature. I have written two feature length film soundtracks, and a lot of orchestral stuff. If you like the big exciting stuff, take a listen to my Vesuvius or Equilibrium. Five Unlikely Visions is also fun. My music is heavily inspired by Stravinsky, Prokofiev, and Bartok, but goes off in its own direction from there.