May 11, 200619 yr Who is Geroge Crumb? :) My pick is not only Adagio for Strings for best American composition, but for best of all time. I would probably also pick Barber as one of the top composers of all time.
May 11, 200619 yr Wow... I havent seen this thread yet..., but the greatest work? I would say Bach's St Matthew's Passion or his Mass in B minor.
May 11, 200619 yr To name the "greatest piece of music ever written," we'd have to first come up with a standard by which all music could be fairly judged. And for such a standard to be fair, it would have to have been understood and agreed upon by each composer. As far as I can tell, there is only one such standard. That is, every composer who ever wrote down a piece did so with a purpose. The purpose itself varies. It could have been for financial gain, to win a contest, to prove that he/she could, for fun, to make the most popular song ever, or just to keep from being bored. Judging by this standard, I believe it could be possible to name the greatest piece ever written. But unfortunately it's quite impossible to measure the fulfillment of each of these purposes so that they may be compared. While we can certainly look at how financially successful a piece was, or how popular it became (Happy Birthday might win here), it's quite impossible to know how truly well the composition of a piece kept a person from being bored or served to make his/her children happy. In the past I would have debated with someone who would argue that Michael Jackson was as good a composer as Beethoven. But not now. I no longer think it's fair to judge a composer or his/her works by standards which were not imposed upon him/her. Michael Jackson may have written to make money. If Beethoven was ever writing for the same reason, then I can definitely see there being a case for stating that Michael Jackson was a better composer than Beethoven. He may have been better at writing music that fulfilled the goals he started out trying to accomplish.
May 12, 200619 yr ...then I can definitely see there being a case for stating that Michael Jackson was a better composer than Beethoven. Michael clearly has Beethoven crushed in skill and genius. I mean, come on. Could Beethoven Moonwalk while shouting "Hee-Hee!" Case-Closed!
May 12, 200619 yr Dpes Michael Jackson actually compose his own music or does he pay someone to and he sing's to it. Thats generally the system used by post "pop" stars
May 12, 200619 yr Dpes Michael Jackson actually compose his own music or does he pay someone to and he sing's to it. Thats generally the system used by post "pop" stars He wrote many of his own songs.
March 20, 200818 yr Symphony - Beethoven 9th, 5th Piano Concerto - Beethoven 5th, Schumann 1st Piano Sonata - Beethoven Apassionata, Liszt B minor Short Piano - Chopin's Ballad Violin Concerto - Mendelsson Violin Sonata - Beethoven, Franck Orchestral piece - Pictures at the exhibition, La Mer
March 20, 200818 yr I am forever deciding the greatest piece of music in my opinion...so like teccomin, i will break up into catergories, except in periods. Baroque: Tocatta and fugue in D Minor for Organ - J.S.Bach Classical: Beethoven's Seventh Symphony - Allegretto Movement (so beautiful) Romantic: The First three Scherzo's and Ballades 1 and 3 by Chopin (I know thats 5, but man they are amazing pieces) 20th Century: Rachmaninov's 2nd and 3rd Concertos Impressionistic: Ravel's Gaspard de la nuit Serial: Suggestion Diabolique - Schoenberg Jazz: Gershwin's - Rhapsody in Blue Pop: BAHAHAHAHA I detest pop.
March 20, 200818 yr Old thread is old. I'm a huge fan of trance/techno pop/rock/pop/and a lot of other things. So, uh... If I were to go by category, it'd be a huge list. In interest of brevity, right now my absolute most favourite things ever are (these change per week at least twice!): Capsule ( YouTube - jelly and are my current favourites, but wow I like just about everything from them . . .) Pierre Henry Henry Cowell Louis Vierne Bad Religion Royksopp Air, though the last album was sorta scrafty. And then there's about a million other things.
March 21, 200818 yr now this is the most beautiful and gentle piece ever written, if you are not moved by it, there's something deeply wrong on this planet arvo part - spiegel im spiegel slower version, which i love more, oh, man, it's been decades since i listened to this, and i'm about to cry... YouTube - Spiegel im Spiegel (Arvo Part)
March 21, 200818 yr Baroque: Tocatta and fugue in D Minor for Organ - J.S.Bach You know, there is a lot of evidence circulating around that this piece isn't actually by Bach, and that he wrote a transcription from a violin solo of another composer's hand. You can search around for the articles on the web. They're quite surprising.
March 21, 200818 yr I'd probably go with... Bach's Mass in B Minor Mozart's Mass in C Minor Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, Missa Solemnes
March 21, 200818 yr You know, there is a lot of evidence circulating around that this piece isn't actually by Bach, and that he wrote a transcription from a violin solo of another composer's hand. You can search around for the articles on the web. They're quite surprising. sounds interesting I would like to get my hands on the violin solo:) however I googled it and could find anything......
March 22, 200818 yr Mozart's Requiem and Beethoven's 9th... DAMNIT! But in all seriousness: The Art of Fugue A Musical Offering B Minor Mass St. Matthew's Passion (I would say all the passion settings if, you know, they all still existed.) Really, there's little point in mentioning the obvious; namely, how impossible it is to answer this question. How does one even define a "piece" of music? Is it one movement? Multiple movements? A part of one movement? Someone earlier said all of Mozart's piano sonatas, and in many ways, those together act more like one piece of music than some multi-sectioned works of less, err, consistent composers. So should I really have said all of Bach's cantatas? Or maybe the complete works of Mozart or Bach? Mozart and Bach? But if I were to choose one piece, as in one "song" (so to speak), then I would probably choose a canon from one of the first two Bach works I cited, or something from the Renaissance, probably by Palestrina. :D
March 22, 200818 yr Bach - Prelude 7 in Eb from WTC book 1. This "prelude" is simply one of the greatest works of the Master. Thanks for the heads-up! :) I pulled out my WTC book and gave it a go... yep its definitely one of the better preludes - I must have overlooked it (can't remember playing it in the past). Anyhow, not 100% it is the best works of all time, but it might be one of Bach's best.
March 22, 200818 yr Mahler's 5th and 8th Symphonies Beethoven's 3ed and 6th Symphonies Dvorak's 7th 8th and 9th Symphonies The Holst band suites and the Planets Suite
March 22, 200818 yr Without a doubt "Oops, I did it again", especially in the unforgettable interpretation by B. Spears. Structurally, harmonically, melodically a BRILLIANT tour-de-force of vocal music which will SURELY withstand the test of time and be for the future a standard of the vocal repertoire.
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