NationStates Jolt Archive

It seems like a lot of people on this site enjoy, or at least have knowlege of classical music. Since this is something I like, this makes me very happy.

So I was curious. Who was the best/most influential/most innovative classical composer? Why do you think that?

poll to come shortly, but no doubt won't be all inclusive. Feel free to mention anyone I leave out.

Personally, I love Goreckis 3rd symphony, specifically mvt 2. Beautiful, and very sad.

Your happy? You must filter out a lot of nasty stuff....

Well, I generally don't listen to classical(well maybe not classical per se, but played by a band of stringed instruments without words) music at all, but there's this one CD I have, it's listing of the songs the band in the main dining room on the Titanic played on the night the Titanic sank. I really like it, used to play it all the time. I sometimes find myself humming them, and I haven't listened to it in several years.

Your happy? You must filter out a lot of nasty stuff....
The voices in my head block out alot of stuff. :rolleyes:

Although I enjoy traditional classical composers such as Beethoven, Bach and Wagner, I really dig wild pseudo-classical stuff like Apocalyptica and Rasputina.

I adore Mozart's Te Deum, followed by Misericordias Domini, Vivaldi's Gloria, Haydn's Te Deum, and Musick's Empire..damn..I've forgotten. I've had to know classical, and other forms of music, as I was in choir for five years. Learned a good bit, too. As to whom is the most influential..eh, it's really hard to decide. I'm really not sure.

I am very fond of Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky. His contemporary critics called his music 'barbaric' and it wasn't until the mid-20th century that his music really began to gain appreciation. He is by no means an influential composer compares to Bach or Mozart.

His most well-known piece is St. John's Night on the Bare Mountain (also known as Night on Bald Mountain), used in Disneys 1940 motion picture Fantasia. It is the music of the sequence featuring the demon Chernabog.

Funny fact: I first discovered Mussorgsky when playing the computer game Frontier - Elite II, where St. John's Night on the Bare Mountain and The Gates of Kiev featured as a part of the ingame music.

BTW, I personally like Gustav Holst's "The Planets Suite" more than anything from the "traditional" composers.

Although I enjoy traditional classical composers such as Beethoven, Bach and Wagner, I really dig wild pseudo-classical stuff like Apocalyptica and Rasputina.
Apocalyptica ROCKS :D

Funny fact: I first discovered Mussorgsky when playing the computer game Frontier - Elite II, where St. John's Night on the Bare Mountain and The Gates of Kiev featured as a part of the ingame music.
You get bonus points for even remembering the "Elite" games, much less the soundtracks. *high five* :D

BTW, I personally like Gustav Holst's "The Planets Suite" more than anything from the "traditional" composers.
I almost listed Holst because John Williams borrowed heavily for Star Wars, plus, its just cool music.

I'm highly fond of both Mozart (Symphony No. 25 in G Minor rocks) and Vivaldi, some of my favourite flute solos have been their pieces, but obviously Tchaik is a huge part (no orchestral player can ever get around Tchaik), but I voted Mozart. However, I am a bit dismayed that you left off Musorgskii (Mussorgsky, non-Russian spelling), and ESPECIALLY Rimskii-Korsakov, but Borodin's hot too.

Sorry, I could go on and on, but the last one I have to mention....Gustav Holst. My life would be crap without Holst. Holst is what gets me through the day. I wish I had even the tiniest bit of talent for composing that he had....if I were a polytheist, he'd be my god. I heart Holst.

BTW, I personally like Gustav Holst's "The Planets Suite" more than anything from the "traditional" composers.

Holy crap!I forgot to add that! I had the pleasure of hearing a few of the pieces performed live, and it was incredible.

damn, it's hard!..........Gershwin!

Holy crap!I forgot to add that! I had the pleasure of hearing a few of the pieces performed live, and it was incredible.
The CC Symphony performed the whole suite live YEARS ago and I was just blown away. I had it on CD already, but seeing/hearing it performed live just blew...me...away.

Also, I can't believe nobody has mentioned Greig's "Peer Gynt Suite". "In the Hall of the Mountain King" is one of the most recognizable pieces ever.

Simonist']I'm highly fond of both Mozart (Symphony No. 25 in G Minor rocks) and Vivaldi, some of my favourite flute solos have been their pieces, but obviously Tchaik is a huge part (no orchestral player can ever get around Tchaik), but I voted Mozart. However, I am a bit dismayed that you left off Musorgskii (Mussorgsky, non-Russian spelling), and ESPECIALLY Rimskii-Korsakov, but Borodin's hot too.

Sorry, I could go on and on, but the last one I have to mention....Gustav Holst. My life would be crap without Holst. Holst is what gets me through the day. I wish I had even the tiniest bit of talent for composing that he had....if I were a polytheist, he'd be my god. I heart Holst.
I swore that I put Mussorgsky on since I was listening to it at the time. *sigh*

Again, I couldnt include everyone I wanted to. I love Holst (Mars is a favorite of mine) I would love to have included him along with Ives (from my state :)) Glinka, Debussy, Orff, Pacabel, Puccini, Rossini, Schoenberg, Schubert...there are so many I just couldnt fit. I'm sure even this list doesn't have all of the ones I love

I almost listed Holst because John Williams borrowed heavily for Star Wars, plus, its just cool music. Has anybody else noticed how similar the original Star Trek theme is to Holst's "Jupiter"?

I won't pretend he's one of the Top 5, but I've always liked Haydn. Such cheery music as his is always fun to play.

And, where would I be without Handel? "Immortal" is the only word I can think of to describe his music.

You get bonus points for even remembering the "Elite" games, much less the soundtracks. *high five* :D


*high five* :D

did you ever find the Alien Mothership? I didn't :(

Have you all heard the story where some philosopher was asked by a science mag what we should put on the next deep space probe we send out?

His answer was succinct: a continuous loop of Bach's music, "although that might be boasting."

Have you all heard the story where some philosopher was asked by a science mag what we should put on the next deep space probe we send out?

His answer was succinct: a continuous loop of Bach's music, "although that might be boasting."
I always noticed that people who are good at math (I mean really really good at math and are really concrete sequential) tend to love Bach. Just an observation

*high five* :D

did you ever find the Alien Mothership? I didn't :(
Yep. Took me 3 months of playing it every freakin' day, but I found it. :D

NERD ALERT: I get out my old Commodore 64 every now and then and play the original Elite just for nostalgia's sake. :D

Has anybody else noticed how similar the original Star Trek theme is to Holst's "Jupiter"?

Which original?
The VERY original, or the original movie? or...?

Yep. Took me 3 months of playing it every freakin' day, but I found it. :D

NERD ALERT: I get out my old Commodore 64 every now and then and play the original Elite just for nostalgia's sake. :D

Die, nerd! *calls in cyanide-laced cookie barrage*

Heh. To tell the truth, I'm not in the position to point the finger here.

Which original? Sorry, the original series.

I've listened to mostly nothing but classical music for a majority of my life. I do not have a favorite composer, but many favorite compositions. I tend to like classical composed in Romantic era and beyond.

By the way, I'm listenin' to Prokofiev's The Montagues and Capulets from his Romeo and Juliet suite. The real Montagues and Capulets of the time were the Nazis and Ivans.

I've always enjoyed a bit of Gustav Holst's The Planets of an afternoon. He's actually buried in Chichester cathedral, West Sussex, which is about seven miles down the road from me.

Bach is the awesome. Wagner's up there too. Stravinsky's pretty damn awesome.

A lot of those aren't really Classical. ;)

My fave would be my younger brother. But without the bias, Mahler.

I don't know... my three favourite pieces are "In the Hall of the Mountain King", by Grieg, "Montagues and Capulets for Romeo and Juliet" by Prokofiev, and "Agnus Dei" (a choral variation of Adagio for strings) by Barber.

I have probably listened to Mozarts "Requiem" more than any other, however, especially Dies Irae, Requiem itself, Lacrimosa, and Amen. (the last two composed, by necessity, by someone else, the composer for the Boston Baroque, although it pains me that I can rarely remember his name.

I think that Mozart was the best composer, with his uncanny ability to hear music once and play it without seeing the notes, but I put Beethoven because he's my favorite composer. Everyone loves the 9th Symphony. Although, my favorite piece of classical is Pachebel's Canon.

Mozart is personally my favourite composer and while he has certainly influenced many (especially during his later years) and began to herald in the Romantic era (fully realised by Beethoven) more credit should probably go to his contemporary, Haydn. He was the true "innovator" of the classical period and Mozart (in my opinion) only perfected it. Also why is there an option for Copland but not for Handel, Scarlatti or Corelli?

This is a tough one... Without the Requiem I'd say Beethoven... But since the Requiem wasn't 100% Mozarts work, I'd still say Beethoven. But my favourite piece is the Requiem. :)

A lot of those aren't really Classical. ;)

yeah, yeah, I know :rolleyes: lol

Also why is there an option for Copland but not for Handel, Scarlatti or Corelli?
not enough options. If I could have, I would have listed every major classical composer...unfortunatly, I was limited, and Copland is among the most important from America, and most revolutionary (sampling other music in his works)

Beethoven!

. . . -

Bach, can't really go wrong with Bach. Father of... most everything that followed. :)

For me, it has got to be J.S. Bach.

I had no interest in classical music until I saw Andrei Tarkovsky's 'Solaris' at the age of 13 or so, and Bach's Prelude in F Minor was so perfect a soundtrack for the movie and its characters' gloomy humanistic musings, that I just had to hear more.

So now I have loads of CDs of Bach's Preludes and Fugues, etc played on piano and organ. I even watched the BBC series '48 Preludes and Fugues', where various modern classical musicians played the whole set of works.

Sadly, perhaps for recording copyright reasons, very few CD compilations are released, certainly it is unlikely that anyone will ever attempt to release the whole lot as a single set.

I think that any classical composer capable of getting a teenage (as I was at the time) sci-fi fan to have a lasting interest in his work, has got to be getting something right in the inspiration department.

EDIT: And about the Bach and mathematics observation, engineering student here. Woo.

As for the "most influential" composer, I believe I would have to say Beethoven. He influenced his contmporaries and everyone after on (from Schubert to Crumb). Just about every romantic, post-romantic, atonal, and minimalist composer--everyone since him--has poionted to him as inspiring them, or claim his spirit in their particular brand of music. Bach's music is very good, and has similar effects to Beethoven's, however, it didn't even *start* to gain wide-spread support until Mendelsohn, so Beethoven's music had a bit of a head-start in effecting the minds of later composers.

I really can only give my subjection to the "best" composer(s). I'd say that Beethoven, Wagner, Brahms, and Bach all tie for that spot with me. Mozart is in a class all his own in my book (not better or worse than the four I tab "the best" as his music is un-comparable). I believe beyond that, an appreciation for each composer is easily attainable (I think it's easy for a music listener to fall in love with Vivaldi or Tchaikovsky or Bruckner) because they produce very high-quality stuff. But or me, it's Beethoven and Brahms and Wagner and Bach at the top of the list.

Tchiakovsky is my favourite on the list. My favourite overall is Debussy and I also love Sibelius.

Although I enjoy traditional classical composers such as Beethoven, Bach and Wagner, I really dig wild pseudo-classical stuff like Apocalyptica and Rasputina.
Apocalyptica is not classical in any way. They even use distortion!

I like Mozart. His music is everywhere today. P.S. Bump

This might piss all you Mozart fans off, but my favorite piece symphony is Dvorak's 9th 'From the New World'. This is probably the only symphony where I love every movement. I also like his Serenade for Strings. My favorite piece by Mozart was his Turkish March. Can anyone tell me who he named that piece of piano music that? It doesn't sound remotely like a march at all.

Oddly enough, I never really liked Beethoven's 9th. Well, except for the second movement, but that's probably because of it being used for the TV advertisement for Miele (http://www.miele.com/). I admire German industrial strength (which that advertisement depicted clearly) and it had a very industrial feel to the tune, which reminds me of that Golden Age of the human race known as the Industrial Revolution.

Please note that I'm only a listener as I have no musical talents. (You wouldn't count imitating the trumpet as musical.)

EDIT: And about the Bach and mathematics observation, engineering student here. Woo.

I'm an engineering student too. I'm majoring in civil engineering.

My favorite piece by Mozart was his Turkish March. Can anyone tell me who he named that piece of piano music that? It doesn't sound remotely like a march at all.
It doesn't sound like a march, but structurally, it is. Each phrase is repeted twice, the first time accenting one part, the second accenting another part. I think if it wasn't a piano piece, then maybe it would sound more like a march.

Probably either Mozart or Bach. It's tough to decide who had more influence. I really like Dvorak however, as well as a guy currently living called Michael Cutler. He friggin rocks! [http://www.sibeliusmusic.com/cgi-bin/user_page.pl?url=mcutler]

I can't believe no one has mentioned Wagner as the most influential. How many composers impacted the national boundries of the World the way Wagner did. Maybe no one studies music as a reflection of the time in which it was composed or its impact on later generations and sociopolitical philosophies.

Musically, however, Mozart is the King.

Beethoven's my DAWG, dawg! He's foreva in the dog pound!

(I'm so glad American Idol's over for the season. I'm starting to think like the judges. :eek: )

Seriously, I think that Beethoven is absolutely my favorite classical artist of all time. *Nods.*

I probably like the music of Beethoven and Mozart the most but I also like the fact that politically they were possibly two of the most left-wing and libertarian composers. I hate Wagner particularly for his right-wing anti-semitic views but I also don't like his music. See http://www.digitalronin.f2s.com/politicalcompass/composers.php for more information on the political views of composers.

I need to be more enlightened on classical music, since I'm only a listen. Anyone care to offer a helping hand?

I need to be more enlightened on classical music, since I'm only a listen. Anyone care to offer a helping hand?
what kinda help are ya looking for?

It was so difficult to choose...finally I went with Bach. If you can write six suites for unaccompanied cello (six suites that ROCK!), you have to be pretty cool. But maybe that's just because I'm a cellist. :)

Tchaikovsky was pretty influential.

what kinda help are ya looking for?

I'm wondering about arabesques. Has anyone else composed famous arabesques comparable to the two by Debussy? Are arabesques only for the piano? Debussy's arabesques are amongst some of my favorite pieces, it makes me wonder what they are depicting?

it has to be bach, you just can't beat toccata en fuge, tis pretty darn cool.

If it weren't for the technicality of Mozart being the only "classical" composer as opposed to Baroque, Modern, or Romantic I wouldn't be able to choose. Everyone on that list, and a whole lot of composers who aren’t, have produced more then a couple of perennial favorites which tend to stay in the mind of everyone who hears them.

Ravel of course!

I adore the romantics.

And Schönberg also wrote some pretty nice stuff.

Given that we don't actually have to vote for classical composers, given the list of options and everyone saying Holst, I'm voting for Grainger. If I could only listen to and play one man's music the rest of my life, it would most assuredly be his. I mean, Molly on the Shore, Mock Morris, Shepherd's Hey, Ye Banks and Braes of Bonnie Doon, Lincolnshire Posy all just so delightful. I just love Grainger. This may have something to do with the fact that, as a bassoonist, I'm contractually obligated to like him. Really, when you first start playing the bassoon you're contacted by a representative of the bassoon community who tells you that you have to make fun of the single reeds, ignore the brass and love Grainger, otherwise you will be hurt. But you didn't hear that from me.

I think Beethoven was the best and my personal favorite, but Mozart was probably the most influential. I can't base that on anything more concrete other then a feeling. If Mozart had lived to Beethovens age he most likely would have been much more prodigous and would been interesting to see what he might have evolved into.

:headbang: head explodes from having to make an impossible decision from a field of amazing composers :gundge: Damn you! ;)

In the end I chose Beethoven, because of the exhuberance and sheer energy of his composotions.

I also would like to add Verdi. I know he wrote almost exclusively for Opera and Opera only, but anyone who has heard the Chorus of The Hebrew Slaves has got to admit he was a musical genius.

As far as the most important and influential composer, Bach wins hands down. The Well Temepered Clavier is the first ever truly successful example of universal tuning. Without it our music would sound completely alien to what it is now. When we think of "how music should sound" and how ensemble music (be it an orchestra, a garage band or blues band) should be played, how intstrument should be tuned, we harken back to groundwork good ol JS Bach gaves us all those centuries ago.

Hector Berlioz.

The man could only play the pennywhistle -- no other instruments -- and yet his mind invented the Symphonie Fantastique and ushered in an explosion of programmatic (depictive of other things besides sound) compositions that gave rise to Richard Strauss, Holst, Stravinsky and many others who studies Berlioz's orchestrations.

Berlioz wrote for instruments that had hitherto gone largely ignored. Harold en Italie is a viola feature, and his Bassoon Concerto in C is one of the most beautiful things you'll ever hear. His latter-day oratorio L'Enfance du Christ is an unheralded gem which dramatizes the Holy Family's flight to Egypt with then-modern orchestrations of the venerated oratorio format.

He was a genius and goes far too unnoticed for the influence he wielded, and still wields, among compsers who came after him. Of course, it helps that I did part of my master's thesis on him, but still....

I'm wondering about arabesques. Has anyone else composed famous arabesques comparable to the two by Debussy? Are arabesques only for the piano? Debussy's arabesques are amongst some of my favorite pieces, it makes me wonder what they are depicting?
huh...good question. Very very very good question. I believe that there are more Arabesques, and that they are all written for piano. Unfortunatly, I don't know much about that group. I do have to agree...they are amazing

Given that we don't actually have to vote for classical composers, given the list of options and everyone saying Holst, I'm voting for Grainger.

yeah, I know. I know ;) I figured "classical" was the term most people would identify all symphonic and orchestral pieces with, plus listing the many different periods would be very tedious as I really don't know many of the names beyond romantic, actual classical, baroque, and a few others.

I do have to agree. Grainger writes beautiful Irish pieces. Molly on the Shore nearly killed me. It has one hell of a trumpet run, and when I had to play it I nearly passed out from lack of oxygen. Ye Banks is another great piece.

As far as the most important and influential composer, Bach wins hands down. The Well Temepered Clavier is the first ever truly successful example of universal tuning. Without it our music would sound completely alien to what it is now. When we think of "how music should sound" and how ensemble music (be it an orchestra, a garage band or blues band) should be played, how intstrument should be tuned, we harken back to groundwork good ol JS Bach gaves us all those centuries ago.

Just wondering, have you seen any really archaic musical scores? It is pretty interesting to see. Music went from having no lines, to one line (either the pitch was above, on, or below the line) to the modern 5 bar staff. Actually, I suggest looking at The White Whale from Of Sailors and Whales by W. Francis McBeth (movement 5). It is a piece based on Moby Dick, and in the section where birds fly over the whale, it is written very archaeic.

I like the Russian composers. Tchaikovsky, Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakov. (I'm to lazy to look on my CD's to check the spelling)
I think Wagner was a hack.

What regards do people have for those that compose for orchestras in the modern day? I see classical and symphonic music surviving mainly on epic films or computer games (especially in the RTS genre). Has anyone here played C&C: Generals? The U.S. side has the best soundtrack because it's orchestral (well, with a bit of electric guitar and synthesizers thrown in).

What regards do people have for those that compose for orchestras in the modern day? I see classical and symphonic music surviving mainly on epic films or computer games (especially in the RTS genre). Has anyone here played C&C: Generals? The U.S. side has the best soundtrack because it's orchestral (well, with a bit of electric guitar and synthesizers thrown in).

I've not played C&C Generals, but I have played a game with a hell of an orchestral score...

Soul Calibur.

There are some truly outstanding songs on this game. You should check it out (Dreamcast).

huh...good question. Very very very good question. I believe that there are more Arabesques, and that they are all written for piano. Unfortunatly, I don't know much about that group. I do have to agree...they are amazing.

They never resemble Middle Eastern in sound, so why would decorative pieces of music be called by such a name?

I've not played C&C Generals, but I have played a game with a hell of an orchestral score...

Being an occassional listener of Chinese folk music, that game's got some pretty good works in that genre. Good works coming from a White man.

Generals and Total Annihilation have the best classical scores amongst games.

Most influential at the time... hard to choose between Corelli, Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn, or any of another half-dozen composers. But not Bach.

Bach is probably the most influential composer when you consider him from a modern persepctive. But you have to remember that contemporary composers regarded him as being far too 'out there', while his successors regarded his music as being old-fashioned. It wasn't until the 1800s that a proper appreciation of his music was developed.

I'm sure you'd know where to get all the mp3s for that game. I've only managed to find a few from the composer's site and those ones were the U.S. masterpieces.

Being an occassional listener of Chinese folk music, that game's got some pretty good works in that genre. Good works coming from a White man.

I'll look into it, though I'm not familiar with video game music sites.

But, really, check Soul Calibur's soundtrack out, if possible. It's great.

I'll look into it, though I'm not familiar with video game music sites.

But, really, check Soul Calibur's soundtrack out, if possible. It's great.

Here's the site for it: http://www.billbrownmusic.com/musicG4.htm

Maybe the U.S. military should boost troop morale by adopting some of the U.S. tracks from that game as it's clearly the soundtrack of the War on Terror!!!