Your Favorite Romantic

[poiuytrewq11zc]

Which romantic composer speaks to you the most? Schumann? Liszt? Tchaikovksy? (watch a bunch of people say Chopin haha)

[myr]

I really wanted to search "list of romantic composers" on a search engine and pick some arcane piano composer few people had heard of just to be unpredictable but I have to say Chopin.

I got the facsimile of his Op. 21 concerto from the NIFC a couple of weeks ago for my birthday and am so interested by it. There are pages that have damp spots and spills on them, and sometimes Chopin's slur lines of his piano part are squeezed in to avoid hitting the slur lines of the person who copied the orchestral part below for him. Although the cover of the book is really magnetised towards attracting hairs, and my long-hair cat doesn't make that any better!

 So, yes it's him who's my favourite. I apologise to the people who get angry with others who have predictable tastes!!

[liszt_ani_rach]

Chopin is my favorite Romantic composer. His nocturnes are so beautiful, his polonaises are so majestically powerful, and his waltzes hold a lot of respect.

[bachbrahmsschubert]

Brahms.

[werq34ac]

Chopin is my favorite Romantic composer. His nocturnes are so beautiful, his polonaises are so majestically powerful, and his waltzes hold a lot of respect.

To not have mentioned the ballades.. you haven't truly listened to enough Chopin. And the Sonatas, wow, especially no. 3, fantastic stuff. Then there's the Barcarolle which is my favorite Chopin piece. the scherzos, the concertos, CELLO SONATA??? I mean really, you can't say Chopin is your favorite composer until you have listened to these.

Liszt revolutionized piano technique, and invented the symphonic poem, Chopin reinvented the etude and wrote some of the most beautiful piano music ever.

But today, I'm going with Schumann. The pure romanticism of his music, it's a window into the human soul. The opening of the Fantasie is one of my favorite passages of music of all time.

[healdie]

Probably gonna have to go Brahms as well, with Schumann not too far behind

[liszt_ani_rach]

To not have mentioned the ballades.. you haven't truly listened to enough Chopin. And the Sonatas, wow, especially no. 3, fantastic stuff. Then there's the Barcarolle which is my favorite Chopin piece. the scherzos, the concertos, CELLO SONATA??? I mean really, you can't say Chopin is your favorite composer until you have listened to these.

Liszt revolutionized piano technique, and invented the symphonic poem, Chopin reinvented the etude and wrote some of the most beautiful piano music ever.

But today, I'm going with Schumann. The pure romanticism of his music, it's a window into the human soul. The opening of the Fantasie is one of my favorite passages of music of all time.

I am sorry for not including those beautiful pieces. When I spoke about the nocturnes, I meant that they were the pieces that touched my heart. The ballades can be considered as the best and most beautiful pieces ever composed by Chopin. I also love the first movement of the Sonata no.3 in b minor. His 2nd and 4th Scherzi are one of my favorites.

[revanyoda777]

Chopin does it for me. He has the perfect blend of romanticism, and composed some of the most divine melodies to ever grace an instrument. Plus, limiting himself to the piano allowed him to master the instrument completely.

[richterfan1]

Tchaikovsky, piano and orchestral
 
but Chopin's piano is ^^....

[werq34ac]

I am sorry for not including those beautiful pieces. When I spoke about the nocturnes, I meant that they were the pieces that touched my heart. The ballades can be considered as the best and most beautiful pieces ever composed by Chopin. I also love the first movement of the Sonata no.3 in b minor. His 2nd and 4th Scherzi are one of my favorites.

I understand =) its just that the pieces are so amazing, I was shocked by their absence. Ballades are some of the best and most beautiful pieces EVER composed in the history of music. Give Chopin his due credit XD

[williampiano]

Rachmaninoff and Grieg.

[ethure]

(watch a bunch of people say Chopin haha)

  oh Chopin!

also my favorite. but when it comes to romance, it is still Mozart and Shumann. too pure and innocent

[myr]

Actually, you know what? I changed my mind. I actually adore... Zygmunt Stojowski. Yes. God, he is something, in fact.

[nataliethepianist]

What's wrong with saying Chopin, in fact I don't find it surprising so many people pick Chopin because he is truly a genius. In my opinion, Chopin grasped the romantic period so well, he will always, always, remain my favorite composer. His music does not only touch that of the romantic period but the ears that are given the chance to perceive his music, like it or not. 

[point of grace]

Brahms is my favourite romantic  composer ever... he is so mature...

[drkilroy]

Saint-Saëns, Schumann and Grieg. And yes, no Chopin! I do not hate him, but I am impressed with few of his compositions (Waltz op. 18, Military and Heroic Polonaises, Etude op. 25 no. 9 and that is it!).

Best regards, Dr

[scottmcc]

don't get me wrong, I love the brahms, but is he really one of the romantics?  sure, he lived in that time, but much of his writing style harkens back to classicism.  of course, there are counter-examples, like the stormy beauty of the 3rd sonata or the 2nd piano concerto, but I would say on the whole, the brahms style is generally categorized as neo-classical.

of course, while we're splitting hairs, are we to include the late and really late romantics as well?  certainly if we are I would add votes for rachmaninoff and medtner.

and are we to include my favorite pre-romantic, the incomparable ludwig van?  certainly a lot of his works ushered in the romantic style, but he's a transitional figure by every account.

and what of schubert?  or is he still too much in the classical vein?  certainly I prefer his works on the whole to those of the much-maligned schumann, although I have a certain fondness for many of schumann's works such as the symphonic etudes and the waldszenen.

[werq34ac]

Saint-Saëns, Schumann and Grieg. And yes, no Chopin! I do not hate him, but I am impressed with few of his compositions (Waltz op. 18, Military and Heroic Polonaises, Etude op. 25 no. 9 and that is it!).

Best regards, Dr

Omg.. what is it with people not giving Chopin his proper respect?  Military polonaise? Etude 25/9? you have got to be kidding me, I can't stand those pieces, some of Chopin's worst. The ballades are some of the greatest pieces of piano music ever written, the cello sonata one of the BEST cello sonatas written, piano concertos some of the greatest concertos ever written, and that Barcarolle is a piece of heaven.


I'm a little surprised no one is mentioning Liszt. Sure he's a ridiculous virtuoso and pretty much gave pianists the reputation of being showoffs, but that's not all he did! He revolutionized harmony and harmonic progression, and also invented one of my favorite genres of music, the symphonic poem. It seems all we remember Liszt for is his monstrous piano technique, which in itself is another musical achievement. Liszt not only created new techniques for pianists, he also created new colors of sound.

[point of grace]

don't get me wrong, I love the brahms, but is he really one of the romantics?  sure, he lived in that time, but much of his writing style harkens back to classicism.  of course, there are counter-examples, like the stormy beauty of the 3rd sonata or the 2nd piano concerto, but I would say on the whole, the brahms style is generally categorized as neo-classical.

of course, while we're splitting hairs, are we to include the late and really late romantics as well?  certainly if we are I would add votes for rachmaninoff and medtner.

and are we to include my favorite pre-romantic, the incomparable ludwig van?  certainly a lot of his works ushered in the romantic style, but he's a transitional figure by every account.

and what of schubert?  or is he still too much in the classical vein?  certainly I prefer his works on the whole to those of the much-maligned schumann, although I have a certain fondness for many of schumann's works such as the symphonic etudes and the waldszenen.

yeah they are romantics in their very own style

[nataliethepianist]

I know every is entitled to their opinion drkilroy, but I think that your comment deserves a big :O. Waltz Op. 18? Really? It is a piece of brilliance, but I strongly recommend you look more into his music. He is such a well-rounded composer, and surely there must be more pieces of his your would like!

By the way, know that you put the two together, do Waltz Op. 18 and Etude Op. 25 No. 9 sound kind of similar to you guys? Hmmm....

[healdie]

This is not directed at any one poster or comment but just something that I have observed throughout the topic, but I love the argument that if someone does not like another persons favourite composer then a common retort is that the person who does not like it it simply has not listened to enough of the said composers work or not listened thoroughly enough

it is a strange quirk of human behaviour to seek validation in our opinions (I know some people may now comment to the contrary but it does seem to appear a lot)

I know I myself have done this I sometimes work with a guy who absolutely detests Berg, and I myself simply cannot figure it out and I sometimes ask myself why is he missing what I find so blatantly obvious?

BTW this post has no real point I just found it amusing

[refugepiano]

Chopin, Rachmaninoff, Beethoven (?), Saint Saens and Schumann.

[zeusje]

I wished Franck composed more, his stuff is highly original.

[precipitato]

i'll say liszt. eye-drooping techniques at his time, i'll say he's the best composer ever. things he composed are very rewarding when learnt, extreme technical difficulties, but once you get it right other pieces seems so easy. his pieces have so much sentimental value and meanings, his symphonic poems potray so well, his pieces are hell difficulty too. like funerailles, you may say technically so easy, but its in frsm for a reason. ultimate control over the sound of the piano... gosh. what a legend.

[forgottenbooks]

Chopin and Rachmaninoff.

[stoudemirestat]

Liszt.

[redbaron]

Chopin, Brahms and Liszt. In their own unique ways they all had the most fanatastic understanding of what the piano is capable of.  Chopin is very much a pianist's composer and his style was pioneering. He had a superb gift for melody and he truly created some of the most beautiful piano music ever. Brahms had a genius fro creating very intense music but in a much more restrained fashion than many of his contemporaries. Much of his piano music is what I would call moody. There's very little joy in his pianistic output, Op 119, No 3 aside and I think this is one of the reasons why it is so effective as a body of work. His style of piano composition was so different from that of Chopin or Liszt, more restrained, more polyphonic and he knew how to use the bass register of the instrument to superb effect. Liszt, although more prone to rambling, revolutionized piano technique and for that his place in history is assured.

[dahmin]

Claude Debussy is my favourite.

[werq34ac]

Claude Debussy is my favourite.

He ain't romantic bub. Though he is one of my favorite composers.

[dahmin]

He ain't romantic bub. Though he is one of my favorite composers.

Ah, misread thread title.

[49410enrique]

.

[pianoplayjl]

Liszt. I especiallly admire his Transcendental etudes and rhapsodies. 

[shubertimproviz]

Liszt and Chopin

[werq34ac]

Liszt and Chopin

TODAY IS LISZT"S 200th BIRTHDAY

[pianoplayjl]

I forgot Alkan and Chopin. I like Alkan because of his sonata, etudes, preludes, barcarolle and equisses. I like Chopin because his music defines the romantic period.

[49410enrique]

[.

[pianoplayjl]

He IS Romantic. He lived during the romantic period.

[werq34ac]

He IS Romantic. He lived during the romantic period.

Romanticism is not a time period, it's an idea that flourished in the 19th century and into the 20th with composers like Rachmaninoff. Just because you live in a time where an idea of taking root, does not mean you are part of that idea.

[pianoplayjl]

None the less I still like Liszt.