The greates piece of music of all time?

[lisztisforkids]

Not the longest or the loudest or the hardest, the GREATEST. Meaning most powerful, emotional, sublime, and never ever forget.
Mozart-Requiem
           -Piano concerto 21 mov 2

Beethoven- 9th Symohony

Bach- just about everything

[presto agitato]

Not the longest or the loudest or the hardest, the GREATEST. Meaning most powerful, emotional, sublime, and never ever forget.
Mozart-Requiem
           -Piano concerto 21 mov 2

Beethoven- 9th Symohony

Bach- just about everything

If you are asking for the greatest, what you mention 3 pieces? Bach?? everything he wrote? come on, give me a break...

Brahms "Tragic Overture" gets my vote.

[JCarey]

In my opinion, it would be a Mahler symphony, though I can't say which one.

[anodibu]

In my opinion, it would be a Mahler symphony, though I can't say which one.

Great call, I would say the 2nd.

[musicsdarkangel]

I strongly believe that for piano, Ravel's Gaspard, Barber Sonata, Rachmaninoff's 2nd sonata, and his Rhapsody on a Theme by Pagannini, as well as 3rd concerto are some of the best.

I would a few piano concertos other than that as well; Tchaik 1, Brahms 2, Prokofiev 3


Outside the realms of piano, I love the Sibelius, Barber, Mendelsson, Prokofiev 2, and Bruch violin concertos (all genius).

I think concertos are probably my favorite style of classical music. 

Particularly for violin and piano.

I would also put Barber's Adagio for Strings, pretty much all of Rachmaninoff's symphonies/symphonic poems, and Mozart's Requiem up there.

[stevie]

Great call, I would say the 2nd.

true

[brahmsian]

Beethoven's 9th

[arensky]

Classical    Mass in b minor, J.S. Bach

Jazz      A Love Supreme, John Coltrane

Rock   1983...(A Merman I Should Turn To Be)/Moon, Turn The Tides, Gently, Gently  Jimi Hendrix

Broadway Musical    West Side Story  Leonard Bernstein

Opera    Tunadot  Giacomo Pucinni

Country ('mercan  )   The Angel of Death   Hank Williams Sr.

Rock n' Roll    I Get Around    Brian Wilson

Light Opera/Operetta    Die Fledermaus   Johan Strauss Jr.

Early (pre-bebop) Jazz   Down South Camp Meeting    Fletcher Henderson

these spring immediately to mind. I may be back with more genres and subgenres later....

[musik_man]

Classical
Beethoven- Piano Concertos 4&5
Beethoven- Symphonies 5&7
Beethoven- Hammerklavier Sonata
Bach- St. Matthew's Passion
Bach- Goldberg Variations
Mahler- Symphony 2 'Resurrection'
Mahler- Songs of a Wayfarer
Mozart- Die Zauberfloete
Mozart- Piano Concerto 23 in A major
Mozart- Requiem
Handel- The Messiah
Brahms- Symphony 4 in E minor
Brahms- Ein Deutsches Requiem
Schoenberg- Verklaerte Nacht
Stravinsky- Rite of Spring
Tchaikovsky- String Quartet 1
Schubert- String Quintet
Poulenc- Sextet for Piano and Winds
Shostakovich- Symphony 5
Shostakovich- Cello Concerto 1

Jazz
John Coltrane- A Love Supreme
Miles Davis- Kind of Blue
Charles Mingus- Ah Um

Rock
Beatles- Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band
The Who- Who's Next
Led Zeppelin- Led Zeppelin IV
Yes- Close to the Edge
Genesis- The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
Gentle Giant- Free Hand
Van der Graff Generator- H to He Who am the Only One
Zappa- Hot Rats

As you might've guessed, I'm not very good at narrowing down my favorites.

[superstition2]

The superlative "greatest" only allows one choice. If you want to list more than one piece, you need to create categories.

[ryguillian]

Ludwig van Beethoven's “Grosse Fuge”.

—Ryan

[demented cow]

Ok, here's my preliminary list for a desert island collection, with max 3 in each category (works joined by 'or' I haven't decided on yet):

Piano concertos: Beethoven 4, Brahms 1, 3rd place would be a painful choice between Beet. 5, Brahms 2, or one of Mozart 20,21,22,23,24,25

Non-piano Concertos: Beethoven & Brahms violin, Mozart Clarinet

Fave concerto overall: Beethoven either 4th or violin

Symphony: Beet 3, 7 or 9; Brahms 1 or 4; Mozart 40 (Am I allowed to replace the last two movements of 40 with the last two of Beethoven 5, maybe transposed? I know this ruins the overall structure, but I can't live without the outer movements of this hybrid symphony.)

Piano sonata: Liszt Bminor; Beet op 106; Schubert Bb or Beet 111

Long piano piece other than sonata: Chopin Barcorolle, ballade 4; Liszt Benediction de Dieu or Vallee d'Obermann

Suite of piano pieces: Schumann Carnival, Chop op 10, Liszt transcendental etudes

Piano/keyboard variations: Schumann Symphonic variations, and 2 of: Beet Diabelli, Brahms Paganini, Bach Goldberg

Choral: Mozart Requiem, Brahms Deutsches Requiem, Bach B-minor mass

Opera: Mozart Don Giovani

Overture: Beethoven Egmont, Leonore 3

Rock albums: Beatles Abbey Rd, Rolling Stones Let it bleed, Led Zep IV or Physical Graffiti (4th: Nine Inch Nails: The Fragile)

Rock songs: Led Zep. Stairway to Heaven, Queen Bohemian Rhapsody, Beatles A day in the life or Led Zep: In my time of dying.

[gruffalo]

I had the priveledge of singing Mahler's 2nd in the albert hall when i was 9. unfortunately i fainted at the end. and more unfortunately i cant remember how it goes so im going to have to check it out.

[panic]

The two movements that close Mahler 2 are possibly the greatest 40 minutes of music ever composed, but the three that begin it seem the work of a very bright but inexperienced composer - most Bruckner is better than them. Mahler 2 seems a slightly above-average romantic symphony, just of enlarged dimensions, until the Urlicht kicks in. From then on it's breathlessly good.