So, I'm listening to some classical music and a break comes on and the dj is speaking in German and for some reason it takes me back. I suppose this is part of personalizing the music. Anyway, it starts me to thinking about how common perception of Germans is of a rough people and I start thinking about classical music and the top composers and it's quickly evident that they make up the bulk of the best in classical composition. So, here I am, putting down some Composers and where they're from, and it'll quickly become evident that some of the loftiest names and the greatest number were German.
Italy - Vivaldi, Rossini, Verdi
Hungary - Liszt
France - Debussy, Bizet
Poland - Chopin
Czech - Dvorak
Russian - Tchaikovsky
Norway - Grieg
Austria - Mozart, Haydn
Germany - Beethoven, Bach, Wagner, Strauss, Mendelssohn, Brahms.
You could put a few others up there like (Rimsky-Korsakov, Russian?), but I thought I'd stick with who are widely recognized as the best and at some point I had to cut the list off, right? To the point: Outside Italy and Austria, only Germany has more than one and it has six. Also, you could argue that Rossini and Verdi were more Operatic composers than straight classical composers.
As a aside, if I were to throw up my top five composers, I'd be stupid not to put up Beethoven and Mozart. After them, I'd put Mendelssohn and Brahms, but I'd have a hard time with the fifth because I'd have to make a choice between three (Vivaldi, Tchaikovsky, and Chopin). I suppose Chopin is really just about piano compositions and although he has a few very, very powerful pieces, I can't really rank him terribly high based on a few favorites. And, outside The Four Seasons (as awesome as it is), I can't say Vivaldi's work is exhaustive. On the other hand, Tchaichovsky is best known for his Nutcracker Suite, but he has many works I think are better, including a violin concerto that ranks up there with Beethoven and Brahms and Mendelssohn as the very best of the best. Okay, my fifth has to be Tchaikovsky.
Now that I have the top five picked, who would be my pick as best? It's a knee-jerk reaction to say either Mozart or Beethoven, but I'm going to think harder about it and not allow popular sentiment to rule over common sense. Certainly, Mozart had many very touching pieces (Eine Kleine Nachtmusik a good example), and he was very innovative, but there are also some pieces I think are a little light or even silly, even if easy to remember. Beethoven rarely wrote anything not bordering on perfect. There were sometimes you could say the same of Tchaikovsky, but the Nutcracker Suite is not one of them. I think of that more as a commercial piece and I'd think not something particularly near and dear to his heart, at least I hope not. Mendelssohns work isn't particularly exhaustive, but there are some pieces that like Brahms hit emotions not seen elsewhere. That could be said of some parts of Vivaldi's Four Seasons too. My emotional side wants to gravitate to Beethoven because his are deeply emotional works in general, and they tend to be very clean works. Hmmm.....
5. Mendelssohn
4. Brahms
3. Tchaikovsky
2. Mozart
1. Beethoven
Best Piano? Chopin, hands down. Popular sentiment is right here, I think.
Best Violin Concerto? Tougher. I think it's a toss-up between Brahms and Tchaikovsky, though Beethoven is only a half-step behind.
Italy - Vivaldi, Rossini, Verdi
Hungary - Liszt
France - Debussy, Bizet
Poland - Chopin
Czech - Dvorak
Russian - Tchaikovsky
Norway - Grieg
Austria - Mozart, Haydn
Germany - Beethoven, Bach, Wagner, Strauss, Mendelssohn, Brahms.
You could put a few others up there like (Rimsky-Korsakov, Russian?), but I thought I'd stick with who are widely recognized as the best and at some point I had to cut the list off, right? To the point: Outside Italy and Austria, only Germany has more than one and it has six. Also, you could argue that Rossini and Verdi were more Operatic composers than straight classical composers.
As a aside, if I were to throw up my top five composers, I'd be stupid not to put up Beethoven and Mozart. After them, I'd put Mendelssohn and Brahms, but I'd have a hard time with the fifth because I'd have to make a choice between three (Vivaldi, Tchaikovsky, and Chopin). I suppose Chopin is really just about piano compositions and although he has a few very, very powerful pieces, I can't really rank him terribly high based on a few favorites. And, outside The Four Seasons (as awesome as it is), I can't say Vivaldi's work is exhaustive. On the other hand, Tchaichovsky is best known for his Nutcracker Suite, but he has many works I think are better, including a violin concerto that ranks up there with Beethoven and Brahms and Mendelssohn as the very best of the best. Okay, my fifth has to be Tchaikovsky.
Now that I have the top five picked, who would be my pick as best? It's a knee-jerk reaction to say either Mozart or Beethoven, but I'm going to think harder about it and not allow popular sentiment to rule over common sense. Certainly, Mozart had many very touching pieces (Eine Kleine Nachtmusik a good example), and he was very innovative, but there are also some pieces I think are a little light or even silly, even if easy to remember. Beethoven rarely wrote anything not bordering on perfect. There were sometimes you could say the same of Tchaikovsky, but the Nutcracker Suite is not one of them. I think of that more as a commercial piece and I'd think not something particularly near and dear to his heart, at least I hope not. Mendelssohns work isn't particularly exhaustive, but there are some pieces that like Brahms hit emotions not seen elsewhere. That could be said of some parts of Vivaldi's Four Seasons too. My emotional side wants to gravitate to Beethoven because his are deeply emotional works in general, and they tend to be very clean works. Hmmm.....
5. Mendelssohn
4. Brahms
3. Tchaikovsky
2. Mozart
1. Beethoven
Best Piano? Chopin, hands down. Popular sentiment is right here, I think.
Best Violin Concerto? Tougher. I think it's a toss-up between Brahms and Tchaikovsky, though Beethoven is only a half-step behind.
Comments