Who do today’s leading composers rate as the finest? We asked 174 of them that very question and here, in their own words, we present the fascinating results.
‘Making decisions concerning the “greatest” this or that is always problematic,’ replies composer Brian Ferneyhough, when BBC Music Magazine asks him to name his greatest five composers in history. And, to be fair, he has a point. Can one really compare figures who were writing music 800 years apart? Or weigh the intricate craftmanship of a two-minute piano piece up against the grand vision that goes into a four-hour opera?
Nonetheless, when faced with the same question, Ferneyhough gamely named his top five – as did 173 other leading composers from across the globe.
To clarify things, we set out the criteria for greatness as follows:
a) originality – to what extent did your chosen composers take music in new and exciting directions? b) impact – how greatly did they influence the musical scene both in their own lifetime and in years/centuries to come? c) craftmanship – from a technical point of view, how brilliantly constructed is their music? d) sheer enjoyability – quite simply, how much pleasure does their music give you?
He we present the Top 50, in descending order, with each composer personally appraised by one of those who voted for them.
-------------------------------- We are all visitors to this time, this place. We are just passing through. Our purpose here is to observe, to learn, to grow, to love… and then we return home. - Australian Aboriginal proverb
Bazootiehead-in-training
Posts: 37884 | Location: Somewhere in the middle | Registered: 19 January 2010
Buncha no-taste hacks. Phillip Glass and John Cage made the list but Scarlatti didn’t? And Harrison Birtwistle? His “music” nauseates me. Monteverdi yes, but Telemann no?
I can't really quibble with the list, but some of their choices are odd--Tallis instead of des Prez, Palestrina, or Dufay? Why?
And where the heck is Handel?
I realize all lists are ultimately subjective, but there are some real howlers there. Was it just me, or were the majority of the composers on the list from the 1900s to now?
Posts: 35377 | Location: West: North and South! | Registered: 20 April 2005
Originally posted by Nina: Was it just me, or were the majority of the composers on the list from the 1900s to now?
I thought that too. The 174 who voted are currently living composers. Am guessing that could account for what seem to be skewed results.
I liked that there was commentary about each composer in the list and what one of the "supporters" had to say about why they chose a particular composer in their "best 5".
I wasn't familiar with a number of the people on the list, so the samples of his/her work that I could listen to was also a plus.
-------------------------------- We are all visitors to this time, this place. We are just passing through. Our purpose here is to observe, to learn, to grow, to love… and then we return home. - Australian Aboriginal proverb
Bazootiehead-in-training
Posts: 37884 | Location: Somewhere in the middle | Registered: 19 January 2010
Originally posted by Nina: I can't really quibble with the list, but some of their choices are odd--Tallis instead of des Prez, Palestrina, or Dufay? Why?
Beats me. But Tallis did feature in Orlando (1992) as the love interest of some nobleman or other. Maybe that bought him some street cred.
On composer No. 1: The avant-garde composer Mauricio Kagel famously quipped that ‘not all musicians believe in God, but they all believe in Johann Sebastian Bach’.
-------------------------------- “It's hard to win an argument with a smart person. It's damn near impossible to win an argument with a stupid person." -- Bill Murray
Posts: 13811 | Location: The outer burrows | Registered: 27 April 2005
