IMSLP Forums

That said, two of my very favorites are Varèse and Ives. I would put Varèse up for "greatest" composer of all time, too to be honest.

I thought Elliott Carter was your favorite.

By the way, the Second is my favorite symphony by Brahms as well, followed by the underappreciated Third.

Arcangelo Corelli, actually (did I really say that? I thought I said "one of" again)

perlnerd666 wrote:Arcangelo Corelli, actually (did I really say that? I thought I said "one of" again)

While I love the Op.6 Concerti Grossi as well as some of the Op.5 Violin Sonatas, I do think Corelli wrote several trio-sonata books too many. Not much left after that. I would have gone for Biber.

--Sixtus

I don't know if you could say Wagner was the best composer, but he was probably one of the most ambitious and imaginative ones. I'm not even sure who the best composer is, or whether a composer can be considered "the best," but there are definitely those whose music have certain better qualities than others'. Ahh...aesthetics...

matthew wrote:

imslp wrote:Wait... is K.331 the minor key (a?) sonata? If so, then I also remember liking it a lot when I was little I would listen to a friend of mine play it over and over...

K.331 is in A major, the third movt. (the famous "rondo alla turka") does start minor, but finishes in A major.

The minor key sonata you're thinking of is most likely to be K.310 in a minor, there's another (K.457 in c) but the a minor is the famous one.

You are most right and correct, Mozart wrote only two piano sonatas in the minor mode, and to that it should be added the fantasy in d minor, the other in c minor, not completed by Mozart but acepted as a Mozart's work, the beautiful a minor rondo and the adagio in b minor. Those are the only works in minor keys the composer wrote for piano, and they are pure god.

I don't know about best since it is hard to imagine (or comprehend) what great composers would have created without the influence and innovation of those before them. In terms of most influential I might suggest Monteverdi- his introduction of unprepared dissonances for the purposes of text painting was bold and extremely progressive and has shaped modern music enormously. That said, Bach's influence probably lasted longer, and his technique still strikes me as most intellectually impressive (the art of fugue is a truly inspiring demonstration of musical craft). My personal favorite- Beethoven.