Who is your favorite classical composer, please no other genres, and why? Please include the why becuase that is the most interesting part, I don´t want a list of composers. And if you can choose a favorite (I can´t) please include your favorite work by them.
The composers that I am struggling to pick between are Dvorak, Prokofiev, and Shostakovich. I like Dvorak for his melody and folk sound, Prokofiev for his orchestration, and Shostakovich for his modernity and the intimacy in his quartets which I like much more than his orchestral pieces.
Dvorak-Symphonies 8 and 9
Prokofiev-Violin and Piano Concertos
Shostakovich-Quartets and Violin Concerto no.1
Thanks for your input!
I love the depressing modern classical French and Russian composers. Especially Op. 43, Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini for piano and orchestra in A minor (By Rachmaninoff) And my all time favorite is The Mother Goose Suite, by Ravel. it’s so haunting and beautiful. i agree with you on Dvorak also, although i haven’t listened to him as much, my brother plays his various compositions for the cello and they are gorgeous.
I love the depressing modern classical French and Russian composers. Especially Op. 43, Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini for piano and orchestra in A minor (By Rachmaninoff) And my all time favorite is The Mother Goose Suite, by Ravel. it’s so haunting and beautiful. i agree with you on Dvorak also, although i haven’t listened to him as much, my brother plays his various compositions for the cello and they are gorgeous.
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Favorite classical piece – Vivaldi, Mandolin Concerto or Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony (it’s a tie).
Favorite classical composer – JS Bach
Favorite piece by him – all of them
Why? I love the almost mathematical purity of Bach’s work, free of the emotion and drama of later Classical and Romantic composers
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i am not an avid classical fan, but I must say that Chopin has always been a favorite of mine. I adore his Nocturnes and his Ballades. The deep resorvoir of feeling in his compositions can at times, bring me to tears. My opinion.
Nocturne no.9 op.2
Ballade no.23 in G Minor
Minute Waltz
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music junkie
Richard Strauss.
Apart from his wacky way of throwing in everything but the kitchen sink into his orchestral tone poems,
the way he allows harmony to become so fluid, and still have a key center. Wherever you land makes sense with im, and if you take the time to follow ( as in analysis) the harmonic progression, it makes sense.
I also love singing his Lieder. His sense of declamation in German follows ( as Wagner’s did) the pattern of the language, rather than being forced onto the language.
And then there are the operas, starting with his young works that are fairly innocuous, and then splitting the seams with Elektra and Salome, only to return to "conventional" opera with Ariadne and Rosenkavalier, where he shows us how much he still owed to The genius, Mozart.
Naxos put out a series several years ago of the complete chamber works of Strauss. there are several string works that would appeal to you for the Folk sound ( he managed to incorporate some of his Bavarian tunes in) as well as the orchestration.
Happy listening
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opera singer
It’s stereotypical, but I’ve always liked Aaron Copland. There’s just something about the sound of his music that has reverbrated with me ever since I was little. There are lots of other composers that I enjoy, but when I think of pure listening satisfaction and comfortable happiness level while listening to it, I think of him, especially his Appalachian Spring suite.
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For composers of the Classical period, or western music in general? I LOVE Beethoven and my favorite composition by him is Symphony No. 6 in F.
As a child, I was brought up with Disney’s Fantasia. Not only did it spark an interest in classical music early on, but when I was a teenager, I could be found at the computer printing out full symphonic orchestral scores instead of the latest teen gossip. I led a very sheltered classical life.
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I personally like most composers in the classical era of music. My favorites are Bach and Mozart. Mozart oboe concerto 1st movement is excellent. Bach’s art of fugue is genius too. His triple fugues are amazing (contrapunctus IX, etc.)
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My favorite is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, because, well…he’s a genius! All of his peices just flow, and there’s just no bumps or anything. I like his use of trill and rhythm.
My favorite peices by him is the Overture to the Magic Flute and his string quartets.
Sorry, I don’t really know the technical terms, I’m only 13. But he really does inspire me, and he makes me want to be a composer when I grow up.
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?Tchaikovsky because he made the nutcracker?
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Hard to pick just one, but I’ll go with Brahms’ Symphony #4, which is one of the truly great 19th century classical works. But the Shostakovich Cello Concerto #1 (especially performed by Rostropovich) is incredible, and Prokofiev’s ALEXANDER NEVSKY is perfect for blaring out the car windows. Sorry–I burned out on the Dvorak symphonies years ago, but his Cello Concerto is excellent. Oh, and Krystian Zimerman playing just about any piece of classical piano music is perfection!
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I agree with you…Shostakovich is pretty much amazing. I play piano, so I suppose we must hear different pieces, but his piano pieces are good, too. Do you mean composers of the classical PERIOD or just classical music in general? From the classical period, my favorite composer would definitely be Mozart. Although some of my friends accuse his compositions of being too "chipper" and happy, there IS an underlying sort of beauty. I actually like pretty much most of his sonatas. My all-time favorite period would definitely be the romantic period. I absolutely ADORE Rachmaninoff. You can totally feel the emotion and passion (I know, it’s cheesy but true) behind his pieces. I sometimes struggle with putting my emotions into my playing, but with Rachmaninoff, it came naturally. It sounds crazy, but when I play his pieces, I get these weird chills (in a good way:) because the music’s so beautiful, and it’s actually coming from my hands. My favorite pieces of his would probably be Elegie, Op. 1 No.3 and Prelude in C sharp minor. Elegie, especially, is haunting. I would say that it was lovely, but it’s too powerful to be JUST lovely. I hope I helped, and sorry for the long spiel!
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For me, it’s a tie between J.S. Bach and Antonio Vivaldi (although there are so many other composers who are close seconds, like Beethoven and Tchaikovsky). Again, it’s nearly impossible to pick favorites among their pieces, but I’d go with Bach’s Sonata No. 1 in G minor for Solo Violin, and Vivaldi’s Summer Concerto from the Four Seasons.
I love Bach for the complete purity he imbues in all his music, coupled with its fascinating complexity. He mastered the art of counterpoint like no one else; his music is complicated, but never mundane or dull, always leading you somewhere unexpected and breathtaking. He’s one of those composers whose music you can study for a hundred years, and still discover something new, inventive, and beautiful every time you play one of his compositions. His music encompasses an astounding range of emotions, from playful and almost whimsical to grave heartache to overpowering exultation; he evokes such depth of feeling that I always feel completely insignificant (but in a good way) next to the magnificent largesse and emotional power he’s written into his music, intended to exult some power greater than either the musician or the audience. He has a wonderful fascination with tension and resolution—and oftentimes, the tension is never ugly, always just as beautiful (if not moreso) than the release. As difficult as some of his music is to learn, it really is possible to pour all of one’s soul into his music once one has mastered it; it’s both incredibly gratifying for the performer and a deeply moving experience for the listener. In my eyes, he combines sheer musical genius with subtly overpowering emotion in a way no other composer, in the Baroque period or otherwise, has ever managed.
As for Vivaldi, he’s a childhood favorite that’s grown on me for fourteen years. His Four Seasons concertos were the first pieces of classical music I ever heard (I was two years old, but I remember the open-air concert perfectly), and from the instant I heard them, I knew I was meant to spend the rest of my life with a violin. He inspired the love of an instrument in a little girl whose family couldn’t stand classical music, and I have him to thank for my one great passion in life. There’s something wildly inspirational in all his music, such vibrant energy and whirlwind fire that you’re enthralled within measures. Even in the compositions without vocal parts, the music sings; and there is such joyful exultation of life in his writing that it is impossible not to be taken with it. He was a hugely innovative composer, especially for his time; he was really the first to introduce the lively and dazzling (if lengthy) violin solos into major concertos, and I’ve always been struck with his ingenious experimentations in setting conflicting rhythms and sustaining harmonies in the orchestral and solo parts. His music always has a story to tell, and he tells it vividly and excitingly.
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Beethoven because of his passion and his music is supreme to others’, best believe. Okay don’t getme started, but Mozart is overrated just a little. Favorite piece is the 9th, 4th movement.
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Bach – Brandenburg Concerto number 5….. as a Flautist it is one of the most enjoyable pieces i have ever played.
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