SOOOO, who is your favorite composer(s)

[Danimal16]

One piece he is most famous for.

[herr_oberst]

I don't know enough classical to know but I can listen to this guy play this piece over and over.

[Scott Douglas]

Gershwin has been my favorite for a long, long time.
I once saw a movie made in 1936 about his life and he played Rhapsody In Blue in it. Hearing that recording, with all the nuances of the beat, just as the composer wanted them played pretty much ruined any other interpretation of it for me.
Leonard Bernstein got it pretty much right on this recording.

[Danimal16]

Originally Posted by herr_oberst

I don't know enough classical to know but I can listen to this guy play this piece over and over.

Same here, no expert, but I know what I like.

My favorite Copeland piece; El Salon Mexico. This is a very long piece, but so worth it.

[stevej37]

I don't have a favorite....but this list has to include John Williams for over a hundred movie scores.
He is 93 years old.

[jyl]

My dad was a huge classical music fan and for most of my childhood classical music was playing from his record player. I’ve heard every possible classical piece over and over, from his collection which is like 30 linear feet of LPs. I’m not that much of a classical fan myself, but I will happily listen to anything by Debussy, Ravel, Gershwin, Satie - I think of as the romantic side of classical. Some Tchaikowsky too. Most ballet suites are listenable. Chamber music is decent background music. Beethoven, Stravinsky, Mahler, Brahms I will usually not put on. The problem with many classical pieces, IMO, is the dynamic range. If you turn the quiet passages up enough to hear them well, the crescendos blow you out.

[Tobra]

Mozart

[Danimal16]

Originally Posted by Scott Douglas

Gershwin has been my favorite for a long, long time.
I once saw a movie made in 1936 about his life and he played Rhapsody In Blue in it. Hearing that recording, with all the nuances of the beat, just as the composer wanted them played pretty much ruined any other interpretation of it for me.
Leonard Bernstein got it pretty much right on this recording.

Like this?

[jyl]

My dad was a huge classical music fan and for most of my childhood classical music was playing from his record player. I’ve heard almost every possible classical piece over and over, from his collection which is like 30 linear feet of LPs. Despite that I’m not much of a classical fan myself, but I will happily listen to anything by Debussy, Ravel, Gershwin, Satie - I think of as the romantic side of classical. Some Tchaikowsky too. Most ballet suites are listenable. Chamber music is decent background music. Beethoven, Stravinsky, Mahler, Brahms I will usually not put on. The problem with many classical pieces, IMO, is the dynamic range. If you turn the quiet passages up enough to hear them well, the crescendos blow you out.

[Cajundaddy]

Classical- Mozart
Avante Garde- Charles Ives
Jazz- Duke Ellington
60s Rock- Lennon McCartney
2000s rock- John Mayer
Country- Merle Haggard

[Jeff Higgins]

Honest question, since the only thing I know about music is how to listen to it - what is the difference between a "composer" and a "songwriter"?

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins

Honest question, since the only thing I know about music is how to listen to it - what is the difference between a "composer" and a "songwriter"?

Composer writes music that uses instruments, songwriter writes music that uses the voice.

I don't have a favorite composer, I think I might appreciate art more than music. If I had to choose one it would be Roger Waters who is both composer and songwriter.

[Cajundaddy]

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins

Honest question, since the only thing I know about music is how to listen to it - what is the difference between a "composer" and a "songwriter"?

I'd say a songwriter is focused mostly on the lyrics and melody, while a composer develops the entire piece including instrumentation, harmonic content, and arrangement.

[Jeff Higgins]

That makes sense. I can see where many writers have a toe in both Waters (see what I did there?).

One of the better quotes from Frank Zappa's biographical movie was his reply when asked if he had any advice for budding songwriters and composers:

"Get a real estate license."

[flatbutt]

There are far too many genres to choose just one composer but if I had to pick my "stranded on an island" music it would be Beethoven.

[herr_oberst]

From the wiki;

"A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. A songwriter who mainly writes the lyrics for a song is referred to as a lyricist."

[cantdrv55]

Prince

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins

That makes sense. I can see where many writers have a toe in both Waters (see what I did there?).

One of the better quotes from Frank Zappa's biographical movie was his reply when asked if he had any advice for budding songwriters and composers:

"Get a real estate license."

[bleucamaro]

overall: Mozart

[Seahawk]

My wife is a very good musician and listens to classical music as her preference.

Quick Sea Story:

I can derive her mood dependent on the composer she is listening to: Beethoven, all is well; if the music sounds like the Russians crossing the steppe in winter: "Honey, what do you want me to pick up for dinner?"

Me?

Ramsey.