Favorite Composers

[simonjp90]

Bainton

Edgar bainton??

what a lad

[thalbergmad]

That is the man.

The Concerto Fantasia has many romantic gestures and i enjoyed it thoroughly.

Marmite on toast.

Thal

[ahinton]

Marmite on toast.

Yuck! What a waste of decent bread! (assuming the bread to have been decent in the first place, that is). Well, it could have been worse, I suppose - as in "vegemite and goat's cheese on toast made from the most disgusting processed bread substitute, washed down with a pint of brown stuff"...

Best,

Alistair

[gep]

I think I'd prefer some of the home made home-grown-plum marmelade we've still got some two dozen jars of in the cellar...

[ahinton]

I think I'd prefer some of the home made home-grown-plum marmelade we've still got some two dozen jars of in the cellar...

Sounds infinitely finer to me than any of the above; Thal, however, will doubtless assume that I'd likely be far more interedted in what bottles you may have in same cellar...

Best,

Alistair

[gep]

Sounds infinitely finer to me than any of the above; Thal, however, will doubtless assume that I'd likely be far more interedted in what bottles you may have in same cellar...

Best,

Alistair

Hmmm, that would be milk, juices various, things fizzy, assorted fruit, a few crates of home-grown potatoes, plenty already emptied bottles for sticking in next years marmelade if the tree survives and some boxes of kitty food. Oh, and various bits and pieces tucked away for possible future use. And 1 (=one) bottle of by now probably stale beer.

If you see anything interesting edible or drinkable, please say so and I will eat or drink it for you. Barring the beer and kitty food (because me no like and me not allowed respectively).

[thalbergmad]

Thal, however, will doubtless assume that I'd likely be far more interedted in what bottles you may have in same cellar...

I would be more interedted to be honest.

Thal

[mephisto]

SCRIABIN

[djealnla]

Bach
Beethoven
Mozart
Mahler
Sorabji
Chopin
Medtner
Messiaen
Rădulescu
Boulez
Xenakis

More or less in order.

[fenz]

bach, beethoven, mozart, liszt, ravel

[retrouvailles]

Bach
Beethoven
Mozart
Mahler
Sorabji
Chopin
Medtner
Messiaen
Rădulescu
Boulez
Xenakis

More or less in order.

Great list, dude.

[magio]

My favourite composers are:
Alkan
Barber
Beethoven
Brahms
Chopin
Glinka
Grieg
Liszt
Lyadov
Mendelssohn
Ravel
Rachmaninoff
Schubert
Scriabin
Sorabji
Tchaikovsky
Vincent d'Indy
and many many many moreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[djealnla]

New list:  

Bach
Beethoven
Mozart
Sorabji
Mahler
Bruckner
Medtner
Skalkottas
Carter
Stravinsky
Rădulescu
Boulez
Sciarrino

[orangesodaking]

1. Ravel
2. Bach
3. Beethoven
4. Brahms
5. Alkan
6. Schubert
7. Chopin
8. Ginastera
9. Busoni
10. Mozart

[kelly_kelly]

Bach
Mozart
Beethoven
Chopin
Mendelssohn
Debussy
Ravel
Prokofiev

Not to say I enjoy pieces exclusively from these composers, but these are the ones I enjoy most uniformly. As for an absolute favorite... it generally varies between Bach, Mozart and Debussy.

Interesting to see what I said a couple of years ago... Now I would have to drop Mendelssohn, Ravel, and Prokofiev in favor of Schubert and some combination of Brahms, Scarlatti, Albeniz, Wagner, Scriabin... 

[williampiano]

Here are my top 20. Your welcome. 
20. Cziffra (He mainly just wrote transcriptions, but they are awesome, so he still counts.)
19. Antheil (Not enough people listen to him.  )
18. Bartok (Interesting and unique rhythm.)
17. Franck (Incredibly unique music. Especially for his time.)
16. Ornstein (Oh the beautiful dissonance )
15. Gliere (Preludes op. 30 and just about all his other piano works! )
14. Jelly Roll Morton (I love ragtime!)
13. Beethoven (Original and beautiful melodies)
12. Bach (I've been listening to his music since I was one, so the style has such a familiar sound to me.)
11. Dvorak (Wonderful texture and flowing sound.)
10. Chopin (I am sure you hear plenty of reasons why chopin is the "bestest composer ever" by the immense number of chopin fans there are on this forum. Do you really need to here another from me? )
9. Grieg (Music that really captures the images of nature.)
8. Gershwin (Amazing mix of ragtime, jazz, and blues.  )
7. Khachaturian (Reminds me of my own composing style.)
6. Piazzolla (I love tango.)
5. Prokofiev (Exciting and fun music to play!  )
4. Milhaud (Interesting and beautiful combinations of different musical styles.)
3. Haydn (My favorite composer of the classical era. I don't really know why.  )
2. Rachmaninoff (Just like Bach, I've been listening to him forever so it has such a familiar sound.)
1. Scriabin (The extreme intensity of some of his music is just fantastic. My favorite composer, and even my top 20 composers changes a lot, so if you ask me this same question in a week, I will probably have completely different answers.) 

[robpina]

1. Beethoven
2. Chopin
3. Bach
4. Rachmaninoff
5. Ives
6. Couperin
7. Liszt
8. Yann Tiersen (I'll take the heat that may come with this one)
9. Schumann
10. Scriabin

[pianoplayjl]

Baroque: Bach
Classical: Beethoven
Romantic: Chopin, Liszt, Schumann
20th century: Prokofiev, Scriabin, Ravel

[stoudemirestat]

I'll try giving a current top 10...

Liszt, Beethoven, Chopin, Rachmaninoff. In that order.

[pianoplayjl]

I'll try giving a current top 10...

Liszt, Beethoven, Chopin, Rachmaninoff. In that order.

You forgot the other 6....

[drkilroy]

Ravel, Debussy, Gershwin, Schumann, Bach, Saint-Saens.

Best regards, Dr

[mozartk365]

Mozart
Hummel
Beethoven
Chopin
Tchaikovsky
Medtner
Rachmaninoff
Schubert
Liszt
Scriabin

[ffszopen]

Chopin and Rachmaninoff

[caryljamesthompson]

As for now, my top 3 are:

1- Chopin
2- Liszt
3- Rachmaninoff

Short and sweet...

[patrickd]

Bach, Brahms, and Medtner.

[ziddy6]

1) Mahler
2) Rachmaninov/Rachmaninoff
3) Chopin
4) If a fourth is allowed, then it's either Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Bruckner, or Debussy.

Sooo undecided.

[ash120]

This is probably one of the only times my liszt (list*) actually ends:

1. Alkan - I remember when my friend first introduced me by showing me Alkan's etude sans opus, my gateway to Alkan, and I really lrked it so I started listening to more and more of his pieces and discovered I really love his style. So he's #1 on my list!
2. Chopin - I was in love with this one for the longest time ever in my piano life, I don't think he's ever leaving my top 3.
3. Scriabin - He wrote some really passionate music - I especially love his thick, pulling melodies.
4. Prokofiev - I personally think his percussive/chromatic-style music can be...seductive at times?
5. Liszt - He wrote some very nice pieces but I don't listen to him that often.
6. Piazzolla - I love tango music...but I don't listen to him that much.

[liszt-and-the-galops]

Top 3, in no order:
Liszt
Alkan
Chaminade

Next few, also in no order:
Medtner
Cziffra
Fauré
Scriabin (though I don't like his early period very much)
Schubert
Starting to consider Albéniz up here as well.

[thorn]

I'm glad Albeniz is getting some love! Iberia is one of my top 5 works, but wouldn't put Albeniz himself in top 5 as his other works vary in quality.

My long term top 3 (chronological order) are Liszt, Debussy and Ravel. Slots 4 and 5 change through time but my top 3 haven't changed in 20 years.

[jetrohbagonya21]

Mine are Rachmaninoff, Ravel, Gershwin, Poulenc and Beethoven. I’d also give Enescu and Bartok an honorable mention.

[gasplamey]

Rach Chopin

[ned174849]

 Hard to just pick a few but here are my personal favorites 

Top 10 In no particular order:
Chopin
Medtner
Scriabin
Beethoven
Schubert
Brahms
Liszt
Prokofiev
Ravel
Bach

Honorable Mentions:

Busoni
Rzewski
Albeniz
Szymanowski
Godowsky
Rachmaninoff
Debussy
Florent Schmitt

Best, Ned

[thorn]

Szymanowski and Schmitt have some great pieces. I wish more pianists would play Metopes, Masques, Ombres instead of always Gaspard, Petrushka, Firebird.

[pianistavt]

There is a huge divide between composers I like to play and composers I like to listen to, mostly because I mostly listen to orchestral and chamber pieces, ideal if they include a piano.  I like to hear how composers are using piano sonority in new ways in an ensemble setting.  Also, I listen to a lot of new music that I don't remember ... due to playlist algorithms putting new stuff in front of me.

My top composers for listening are:
- Prokofiev
- Lutoslawski
- Schnittke
- John Adams
- B. Martinu

Some composers of solo piano that I keep going back to are:
- Carl Vine
- Leo Ornstein
- Feinberg
- Roslavets
Mompou is interesting, but doesn't call for repeat listening, same with Szymanowski.  Too bad Lutoslawski didn't write more for solo piano.  Same with Martinu, I don't really care for his sonata.

The composers I tend to play are:
- Standard:   Bach, Beethoven, Chopin (though not so much lately), Brahms, Debussy
- Not Quite Standard:  Bartok, Prokofiev
I would explore other composers if I had more time:  Scarlatti, Scriabin, Feinberg, Medtner, Messiaen, Takemitsu,

[pianistavt]

Szymanowski and Schmitt have some great pieces. I wish more pianists would play Metopes, Masques, Ombres instead of always Gaspard, Petrushka, Firebird.

Tell us about some great pieces by Schmitt.

Reflets d'Allemagne, Op. 28 (1905)
Musiques foraines, Op. 22
Feuilles mortes, Op. 46
Crépuscules, Op. 56
Ombres, Op. 64
Mirages, Op. 70
Chaîne brisée, Op. 87