Who would you give the title to? Or who are the top five composers?
I would have to put Beethoven on the top probably, and Bach somewhere up there as well.

Mozart would definitely be in there.

Chopin and liszt are one of the most famous composers in the 19th century

I think to make meaning of the question you have to break it down; ( i ) who wrote the best concertos? Depends on the instrument. Mendelssohn wrote the best violin concerto( ii )who wrote the best piano music? Rachmaninov 2 is the best by miles ( iii )who wrote the best symphonies? Beethoven is the clear winner ( iv ) who wrote the best music for string quartet? Shostokovich string quartet no 1 is the best but all his others are funereal. Looking at the question in this way allows you to compare individual pieces. When you get to number crunching to find out which composer is the best I think you`re missing the point a bit.

I forgot to mention. There is no place in any list for Bach. His famous "Chaconne" for the violin is as pants as everything else he writes. Just because its the hardest piece in the world doesn`t make it sound nice. He did things like counting the number of bars in one piece so he could write another piece with exactly twice as many bars. And trying to write themes based on the letters in his name. He may have a "citizen kane" type role in the development of music in general, and the formulation of unplayable cadenzas in particular, but as someone to listen to his music is pants pants pants pants pants. I suppose the double violin concerto is OK and the "antique roadshow" Brandenburg concerto played on the bassoon is quite jolly but on the whole? not worth the effort.

Sorry!!! Bach made lovely music, Toccata and Fugue in D minor wat do u say about that hm? The well tempert clavier Jesu,Joy of Man`s desiring ect... as wel 4 all the over organ/piano/harpsichord pieces
i don`t any violon pieces from him but i`m sur there great 2
I u think Bach is bad wel i can see direct that u are not culutured!I`m ot a geat fan of his but i know the music is good as any other musical person wuld say!!

OK I`ll give you Jesu Joy of Mans desire, but I still think his reputation promises more than he delivers on the whole. However you may be right that if I was more cultured I would enjoy it more. Can I ask are there any mainstream musicians who genuinely enjoy playing or listening to unaccompanied Bach? I admit I heard one person raving about it on radio 3 but they did sound like a bit of an anorak - they were also raving about the mathematical ratios in the number of bars etc.

Oh and that cello piece is quite nice as well - der der der der Der der der der etc.

-_-" Clearly u are showing of ur "cultureled" background. But u r thick i would like to accompaigne bach so stick that up ur a** as would anyone else just because u dont like it nor does ur gang down the road like it, does not give u a good reason to say it`s crap. u can BTW say u dont like it now that something i do agree with!

Let us not fall out Svaty! If the tone of my comments offend you I withdraw the tone. But the fact remains I would not put Bach in the top 5 of anything. You are right that this is no more than personal taste. You are right that there is a certain irony in the dismissal of such a musical giant as Bach by such a musical nobody as me. But the opening question on this thread called for a personal opinion. All the other comments I made (eg Rach 2, Mendelssohn VC) were personal. If the thread writer had only asked for comments from music professors, I would not have replied. But who is to say the writer is not an ordinary bod like me, who might have equally ordinary tastes? At least I have stated my own opinions, flawed though they may be. It would seem fairly soulless to respond to this question by simply naming the people who I understand to have the best reputation, even if I don`t like their music. I am conscious that my blathering has taken up more space than originally intended so I won`t blather any more on this thread - promise!

And that is your opinion, not many others. I personally love some of Bach`s pieces, especially his concertos and suites. He has written a lot of fantastic pieces, and so what if he counts the bars and makes a piece exactly twice the length. Heaps of people do wierd things like that, its kinda like developing a ritual or pattern as to the approach of a work. Or making a new lucky charm. Oh, I have no idea wat i`m really trying 2 say. Yeah, I`m a bit wierd. My fave composers are Malcolm Arnold, Vivaldi, Stravinsky, Debussy, Rossini

To David:

You have not heard enough Bach to say that he`s inferior to other composers.

The pieces you`re heard (brandenberg con, jesus joy of man`s desiring) is only the "mainstream" and more radio-friendly music of Bach.

You`re like playing on the beach and unaware of how deep and profound the sea is...

I suggest you hear the following works before you condemn bach:

1. Mass in b minor
2. art of fugue
3 musical offering


*PS: If after listening to my recommended pieces, you still persist, then perhaps Bach is not for you....

thanks Ness, thank you Ricercar. I shall put Mass in B and "suites" in general on my list as well as the other things you both mention. I must confess my earlier rant was due to having spent quite a lot of money on a CD of sonatas and partitas for unaccompanied violin which are very famous and way out of my reach technically, but which I just couldn`t enjoy even after a few listenings. However I`m glad I made that rather provocative posting as having highlighted the issue, It has already caused me to listen with a little more interest to anything by Bach I hear on the radio.

Svaty How dare you try to dis one of the greatest composers of all time. Ok i`ll give you a chance , how many compositions have you written. Bach has composed over a thousand great compositions that none of us could match so just shut you a** up!!!

Thank you

Oh come on, Juggaloo, he`s allowed to think whatever he wants.
I love Bach. And the B minor mass is one of the coolest pieces of music EVER.