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Which Composer Has Works You Love Across The Most Number of Genres?

3K views 40 replies 24 participants last post by  BiscuityBoyle 
#1 ·
Beethoven and Mozart are tied for me.

I love Beethoven's Symphonies, String Quartets, and Piano Sonatas.

Mozart I love his late symphonies, Operas, and Piano Sonatas. I have two cycles of Mozart's piano sonatas, Gould and Krauss. Gould is fun and intriguing even though he said he hated Mozart!!!! :eek:
 
#2 ·
I wouldn't be able to pick one or two, so here are a few of my favorites:

Tchaikovsky - symphonies/orchestral, concerti, chamber music, solo instrumental, opera, ballet,

Stravinsky/Shostakovich/Prokofiev/Weinberg/Honegger/Arnold - symphonies/orchestral (including vocal), choral, concerti, chamber music, solo instrumental, opera, ballet, film music

Bax - symphonies/orchestral, concerti, chamber music, solo instrumental, film music (Oliver Twist-1948)

Arnold - symphonies/orchestral, concerti, chamber music, solo instrumental, ballet, film music

Schubert - symphonies/orchestral, chamber music, solo instrumental, choral works, lieder

Haydn - symphonies/orchestral, chamber music, solo instrumental, choral, opera

Schumann - symphonies/orchestral, concerti, chamber music, solo instrumental, choral, opera

Brahms - symphonies/orchestral, concerti, chamber music, solo instrumental, choral, lieder

Myaskovsky - symphonies/orchestral, concerti, chamber music, solo instrumental, choral, lieder


So many more!:D
 
#5 · (Edited)
You beat me to it. I was about to mention Brahms in my list. A professional musician once told me Brahms's oeuvre is the perfection since Op.1 That may not be an exaggeration at all since he was very finicky about what to publish. Regarding the organ works, I think his last work 11 Chorale Preludes Op.122 are quite interesting and up there in term of quality with other late works.

For me, the top of the list has to be Mozart, and that doesn't need too much explanation. But the next spot, surprisingly as I recount my favourite works, is Poulenc.

He wrote beautifully and wittily for chamber music (violin sonata, cello sonata, clarinet sonata, oboe sonata etc), concerto (piano concerti, organ concerto), ballet (Les Animaux modèles), opera (La voix Humaine, Dialogues des Carmélites), sacred works (Litanies à la Vierge Noire, Gloria), solo piano, and plenty of charming melodies. What lacking is a large-scale orchestral work as a symphony, but his Sinfonietta can make up for that.

And now with Opera out of the way, Brahms, Bach, Schubert, Beethoven (not really a fan of Fidelio) and Faure.
 
#6 ·
Mozart has to be #1 for me. A big reason he's my favorite composer is that I absolutely love works in every single genre he wrote in: symphony, opera, choral, chamber, piano solo, concertos. I dare say he wrote at least one or two works in each of these genres that stands at its pinnacle with the best ever produced.

After that, Haydn, Beethoven, Brahms, Schubert, Schumann, and Handel would be contenders for #2.
 
#9 ·
Beethoven for me, with a solid 9/10. Symphonies, piano concertos, overtures, string quartets, piano sonatas, cello sonatas, piano trios -- all of the highest quality. He loses a point for operas, choral music, quintets, and violin concertos, because his output was too limited. I'd ding him another point for not writing a cello concerto, but I'm feeling generous. This time.

Next time Ludwig may not be so lucky! :eek:
 
#11 · (Edited)
All genres? Mozart.
Beethoven is a close second choice.
Richard Strauss would be #3. I love his chamber music for winds.
Mendelssohn comes in at #4.
Haydn gets the 5th position.
Saint-Saens was wonderful in all genres too. #6.
Tchaikovsky would be 7th.
Dvorak has to be mentioned. #8.
Prokofiev is in at 9. Could be 1 for me depending on my mood.
My 10 would be Magnard. Love his symphonies, chamber music, opera, piano music.

Although Schubert did not write an opera (no concertos either), he did just about everything else. And I admire it all.

Brahms and Schumann. I mention them together out of reverence.
 
#13 ·
All genres? Mozart.
Beethoven is a close second choice.
Richard Strauss would be #3. I love his chamber music for winds.
Mendelssohn comes in at #4.
Haydn gets the 5th position.
Saint-Saens was wonderful in all genres too. #6.
Tchaikovsky would be 7th.
Dvorak has to be mentioned. #8.
Prokofiev is in at 9. Could be 1 for me depending on my mood.
My 10 would be Magnard. Love his symphonies, chamber music, opera, piano music.

Although Schubert did not write an opera (no concertos either), he did just about everything else. And I admire it all.

Brahms and Schumann. I mention them together out of reverence.
he composed an opera - not a bad one either.
 
#14 ·
Handel ticks all boxes for me - Opera, orchestral, concerti grossi, solo concertos, sonatas, keyboard works, organ, sacred choral. I've rarely if ever been disappointed. The only Handel works I don't listen to are the oratorios.

Many of the previously mentioned composers did not write opera, unfortunately, or their operatic œvre is not well known or well regarded. So I'm not including them. I'd like to add Richard Strauss, but most of his chamber and solo instrumental work I would consider juvenilia, written before he developed his definitive, mature style. I therefore leave him out. Beethoven is pretty awesome, especially in symphonic and chamber works. Only one opera, which is ok, but some outstanding work for violin and piano. I have not explored his lieder. I really must do that. Dvořák covered most genres. Some excellent pieces but not everything is a hit with me.
 
#22 ·
While I hugely enjoy works by all of the composers thus far named, I wonder though if the OP's wording of "across the most number of genres" has not been lost sight of. One might just as easily enlist the names of Verdi or Hugo Wolf as some of those already noted (I perhaps exaggerate to strengthen the point). This is not a "composer I like best" choice, and I did not take it as such, though Prokofiev is very high on that list, to be sure!
 
#23 · (Edited)
Bach, Mozart, Handel, and Haydn, in that order. I can't say Beethoven because he didn't compose a enough choral music, like those four, and he mostly stayed away from opera, unlike Mozart, Handel, & Haydn. Granted, Bach never composed an opera either, but his St. Matthew Passion, St. John Passion, Christmas Oratorio, and over 200 Cantatas more than adequately suffice for not having written any operas, in my view.

Another composer that worked impressively within all the musical genres of his time was William Byrd. Had Byrd lived in a later century, I suspect he'd be in the conversation.

The more difficult question, perhaps, is which composer of the 20th century best checks off all the boxes? For me, it's probably Prokofiev, with Shostakovich a close second, then Stravinsky, & Martinu. (Yet Debussy, Ravel, Mahler, and Sibelius are my favorite composers that lived into the 20th century.)

Which post WW2 composer? Not counting any of the above, I'd have to say Vagn Holmboe; although I wouldn't say that I love all of Holmboe's music across the many genres he worked in. But not all of his compositions have been recorded yet, either.

P.S. Darius Milhaud might deserve to be in the "20th century" conversation, as well. Anyone agree?
 
#32 ·
The more difficult question, perhaps, is which composer of the 20th century best checks off all the boxes? For me, it's probably Prokofiev, with Shostakovich a close second, then Stravinsky, & Martinu. (Yet Debussy, Ravel, Mahler, and Sibelius are my favorite composers that lived into the 20th century.)
I'd give Bartok the edge there: love at least something he did in the genres of stage works, orchestral works, concertos, string quartets, other chamber works, and solo piano.
 
#26 ·
Easy: Tchaikovsky.

Opera: Queen of Spades
Concerto: for violin
Symphony: no. 6
Chamber: Trio
Solo instrumental: The Seasons for piano
Incidental Music: The Snowmaiden
And then there are some songs, the suites...so much to explore, and some still not recorded!
 
#33 ·
20th C: Prokofieff here, too. At least three great symphonies (1, 5, 6), great concertos for violin and piano, terrific solo piano music, chamber music which hardly anyone knows, sensational ballets like Romeo and Juliet, wonderful film scores like Lt Kije, and then there are the operas which very few people have ever heard: The Fiery Angel is one of my favorites. He's weaker on songs and choral music, but this wasn't a strong point for most composers of his generation.
 
#35 · (Edited)
  • Tchaikovsky: Symphony, overture, symphonic poem, concerto, chamber music, opera, ballet, songs.
  • Glazunov: Symphony, Symphonic Fantasies (and poems), chamber, ballet, instrumental, incidental, concerto.
  • Rachmaninoff: Symphony, symphonic poem, solo piano, sacred, concerto, chamber, songs, opera.
  • Nielsen: Symphonies, overture, concerto, opera, chamber, songs, piano.
  • Bax: Symphony, symphonic poem, overture, concerto, chamber music, solo instrumental, film music.
  • Myaskovsky: Symphony, chamber music, solo instrumental, choral.
  • Melartin: Symphony, instrumental, orchestral, concerto.
  • Shostakovich: Symphony, concerto, chamber music, solo instrumental, opera.
  • Prokofiev: Symphony, concerto, chamber music, solo instrumental, opera, ballet, film music.
  • Sibelius: Symphony, symphonic poem, incidental music, misc. orchestral.
  • Dvorak: Symphony, symphonic poems, overture, chamber, opera, misc. orchestral music, sacred.
  • Barber: Symphony, orchestral music and overtures, opera, chamber.
  • Ravel: Ballet, solo piano, chamber, concerti, misc. orchestral music.
  • Debussy: Solo piano music, misc. orchestral music, opera.
 
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