Puntastic word play. I was flabbergasted in the extreme that Beethoven was not NO.1 on this Liszt, it's more than I can Handel. Whoever wrote this should be Beethoven the head!
@Lisztian Well,no Chopin is not overrated. He is rated just fine. People like Chopin not because of an innovative work in the music field but because we simply like his beautiful and romantic piano songs. All of his etudes are very good even though they are only for-practice pieces. He composed a lot of etudes, impromptus, ballades, scherzos, polonaises, nocturnes, waltzes, marzukas, preludes. And they are very good and difficult. Also he is known as the poet of the piano.
@Lisztian Well I am not trying to hold a contest between Chopin and Lizst you know.... I'm just saying Chopin is not overrated. I mean you can feel his emotion that he was feeling when he was composing the song. The best example for this is Op.10 No.12 'revolutionary' etude. He composed that song with enrage because then, Russia took over Poland, which was Chopin's homecountry. So he wrote revolutionary etude then, with furious anger and when you listen to it, you can feel his anger going through you.
The world famous expert of classical music, Anthony Tommasini, who is the chief critic of the New York Times, created a Top 10 list of the most influential and complex composers of all time: 01) Johann Sebastian Bach 🇩🇪 02) Ludwig van Beethoven 🇩🇪 03) Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 🇦🇹 04) Franz Schubert 🇦🇹 05) Achille-Claude Debussy 🇫🇷 06) Igor Stravinsky 🇷🇺 07) Johannes Brahms 🇩🇪 08) Guiseppe Verdi 🇮🇹 09) Richard Wagner 🇩🇪 10) Béla Bartók 🇭🇺
@@largebill1245 Mozart was quite capable of composing complex pieces when he set his mind to it, see his fugues or his Requiem as examples. Even his simpler pieces contain a surprising amount of subtlety and nuance. In any case, the list also factors in influence, and Mozart’s influence on later composers is undeniably massive. There are incredibly complex composers who likely didn’t make the list due to lack of influence.
Liszt fuken wrote compositions that stretched the whole piano and pushed the classical music to it's limit and he's not on the list. Lmao this Watchmojo
+Allzumenschliches44 Thanks, I was just about to enter the same thing when you replied. +michelon1231 Schubert was Viennese, and more important than Schumann or Telemann. Austria also has Richard Strauss and Mahler. This is a phrase I have commonly heard, and it must have been coined by Austrians ;). I'd advise you not to tell a present day German or Austrian that their differences don't matter, but I agree, and I said above that in the greater sense they are the same peoples. Analyzing the two peoples from the examples provided, I'd have to say now that their musical contribution has been roughly equal.
***** Austria, being highly catholic and closer to the alps, had more influence from Italy. Musically you can see this pretty well in Mozart. Of course historically you could see Austria as something like another german region but too much time has passed since Bismarck excluded Austria with its special cultural sphere from the then united Germany under Prussia's dominance. Most today's Austrians would proudly say that Mozart, Haydn and Schubert were austrian and not germans.
+michelon1231 I just faced the same type of issues in tracking my family history. I've always known my maternal grandmother to be German, but recently found out the province her family came from in Germany (Prussia) was Posen. I think maybe the Austrians don't want people assuming they are German, as in from Germany, because they speak German, much the same as Canadians want their identity as Canadians to be known, even if they are nearly indistinguishable from people in the US to most people. In the US, we don't have the history of Europe and the ever changing borders to identify ourselves against, although we like to identify ourselves by our culture of origin (for me, it is mostly Franco-Germanic). Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that most Europeans like to identify themselves by the current country that they are from. I think we can all agree that whether you combine or separate Austrian and German peoples, together they are responsible for most of the significant output of Classical Music.
Geert Matthys 20th century was not electric noise🤣🤣 20th century was the most diverse music period of all time. You had duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Elvis, queen, etc etc. the 21st century music (right now) is mostly electric
Beethoven is easily the greatest composer of all time no question. While others are enjoyable to listen to, Beethoven pieces are the most emotional and hit the hardest. Let us not forget he was totally deaf by 44 and was having hearing difficulties prior to that and yet, he created timeless masterpieces! how crazy is that?
You could argue Beethoven had an even greater and more lasting impact to the world of piano sonatas...but his symphonies were pretty damn revolutionary so I can't really argue too much
Pls. Bach just wrote 5 Masses but he wrote more then 200 Cantatas. Mozart composed mutch more Masses. Just because Bach composed the B Minor Mass, maybe the greatest piece of all time, he isnt the master of Mass. He ist more the Master of Organ-, Keybord-, or Choralmusic. But not even the Master of Masses. In nearly every genre he created whitch are all hightleveled in their genre. Solo Violin Sonatas and Partitas, Organ Toccatas and Fugues, The Well-Thempered Clavier, Cantatas (for example: 106, 63), B Minor Messe, Motets like Jesu meine Freude, chorals, oratorios. But at least he uses mostly the Technic of counterpoint. The counterpointel workes might be the esence of his Work. Art of Fugue and The Musical Offering are the highest of composing tecnice. So better cal Bach the Master of Counterpoint.
Oh. I add for you. Haydn=Master of String Quartet Schubert=Master of Lied Tchaikovsky=Master of ballet Handel=Master of Oratorio Chopin=Master of Pieces for piano Do you agree?
Here a little funny trivia: Ludwig Van Beethoven would often travel to Austria. Once he tried to pass through my hometown Wiener Neustadt, however the people believed at first that he was some homeless person and refused to let him in and later even arrested him, believing he was a beggar. We later named the alley (which still exists to this very day) where he was arrested after him. =)
that is funny trivia? How sad, that Beethoven was treated so badly. But I have been treated as badly, too.. the so I guess it happens to all great men.
Thank you. Musical geniuses are gifted beyond wonder in music, but not so much in life. Many are taken care of by others, who remind them to bathe, eat, and pay their bills, among other things.
I am incredibly biased against baroque and classical era music due to how long ive been playing it and how predictable and quite frankly boring i find it, so I would have to disagree. I personally think rachmaninoff is the greatest composer of all time, followed closely by tchaikosvkys
thats false 1.beethoven 2.mozart 3.chopin 4.liszt u know something i think the best pianist composer is chopin becuase he compose the most pianistic and fantastic compositions he has to be number one ; but beethoven is the 1st and mozart 2nd then chopin after chopin (franz adam liszt ❤)
+Stravinsky91 That's because this list is only 'most well known' (most popular, essentially), not 'greatest', since 'greatest' has to be more thoughtfully determined using specific definable criteria. It's definitely a funny list.
+Fred Dearson Mahler,Schumann,Bruckner,Sibelius,Scriabin,Richard Strauss,Palestrina,Tallis. (Rossini has written the simpliest opera's ever written and Pachelbel does not deserve it because he only written music for organ.Also Gershwin is 20th century.)
Excuse me where is Haydn, the granddaddy of the classical period, father of the symphony, string quartet and sonata form, teacher of Mozart and Beethoven and basically led the whole classical period from a palace?
Ludwig van Beethoven absolutely, though I’d say your hearing loss and eventual deafness had you prod your best works, god had certainly helped you there
Bach Vivaldi Haydn Beethoven Mozart Liszt Chopin Tschaikowsky Rachmaninoff Debussy No particular order. These composers have to be the Top 10 if you want to include every era.
One of my teachers once said "Mozart is the face of classical music, but Beethoven is the sound of classical music". Most people, when asked to name a classical composer, will say Mozart, but when asked for a tune will hum or whistle Beethoven. Not much of a Mozart fan myself, but he deserves to be in the top three. I'd put Beethoven in number 1: Bach "formalised" music and perfected most styles and techniques of his time, but brought not much new to music; Mozart's livelihood depended on his music being popular, yet he contributed significantly to technique; Beethoven created new sounds and structures throughout his career, and was instrumental in the evolution of the modern piano's sound, power and depth because the pianos of his time couldn't deliver what he sought. He was one of the first to express himself through his compositions rather than producing tunes that would be popular with the masses - and became massively popular for it.
Honestly speaking, Bach brought as much as anyone to music. You may want to read a tad more on the art of Fugue. The beauty of some of Bach's pieces concerned the use of overlaying chords to create a completely new sound and composition. Beethoven didn't really bring in new structures, more that he created complex orchestrations far beyond what most others conceived. Each composer committed something that caused them to be known centuries after their death. You'd be surprised how many Bach preludes you have heard before, but never attributed to the actual person. What makes it harder is that so much of his music sounds nothing alike.
Andrew Neumann I'm not down-talking Bach. I thoroughly enjoy Bach and the simple beauty of his surprisingly complex work - much easier to listen to than to play. He perfected the fugue, but he didn't create it; he perfected counterpoint, but he did not create it. By contrast, I wish I could have been there to see the looks on people's faces when Beethoven performed his first self-published piano sonata, Op 2 No 1 in F minor: there's the bright and light Allegro, starting off very classically, then suddenly a fortissimo beyond the ability of the harpsichord; this is followed by the typical Adagio "middle movement", and "ending" on a forbidden baroque-style Minuetto & Trio (Post-baroque 101: "thou shalt not play polyphonic music"). And then, after the three movements are over, the (somewhat disgusted) audience politely raise their hands in preparation for applause when it happens: What is this, a FOURTH movement? Prestissimo? Blasphemy! Anarchy! Everybody knows that sonatas are lesser works that concerti, and therefore have only three movements. Bach turned a fixer-upper into the highest form of art. Beethoven dared to "boldly go wherever the hell I want to".
justcarcrazy It doesnt matter how much Beethoven fans try to bring Mozart down. Mozart wrote the most memorable tunes. Mozart is the Master of Melody. Mozart was the face and the sound of classical music because it was Mozart who PERFECTED Classicism paving the way for Beethoven and other romantic composers. Mozart is The God of Concertos,he wrote the Greatest Piano Concerto, Piano Concerto 24 in C Minor and he has more best piano concertos than any other composer;Mozart wrote the Greatest Clarinet Concerto,The Greatest Flute/Horn.Bassoon/ concertos, in few words Mozart wrote the GREATEST WIND MUSIC and no other composer has rivalled this. Mozart wrote some of the greatest operas with Don Giovani considered as the best opera ever written. Mozart wrote concertos for ALL THE Musical Instruments, unlike Beethoven. Mozart is the Most Versatile composer ever existed and he wrote almost 1,000 pieces before turning 36 Imagine if Beethoven had died at age of 35. What would be left from him? Every reply will be IGNORED
Beethoven's music is much more melodically heavy, so his work is much more recognizable among a common listener. However, if you ask me, Mozart's music is much more complex and layered, providing what I'd argue is the best music.
Once you understand the Bach piece, after listening it for a long time, you would have no doubt he is the best.composer of all time, and I would say the smartest and creative artist of humankind.
@@andrekaravia4216 Paganini Liszt and Rachmaninoff are interchangeable. But there should be at least one of them. Rachmaninov is my fav, but objectively List had the most influence on the history of music.
It doesn't matter to me if Liszt is in some top 10 list. I love his music and consistently play it. Why does a composer need to be among the "best" to be worthy of listening? I simply don't care what anyone else thinks, if I enjoy certain music, I'll play it.
Liszt was one of the greatest of all artists, performers and technicians of all time. He contributed so much to the works of music i it's extremely annoying that he is not on this list. Why is Liszt not on the list?
You want to know what I find annoying? Wagner is on the list,someone who was partly taught by Liszt,but Bramhs,Liszt's rival,whose music I personally hate is in the list,that annoys me.
Liszt was an incredibly skilled pianist, but a pretty mediocre composer. His works seemed more to show off the interpret's skill than demonstrate actual auditive quality.
My favourite is Mozart because he write sonatas, concertos of flute, piano, harp, oboe... any mass, divertimentos, a lot of Operas like DON GIOVANNI, symphonies, ouvertures, serenades, string quartets, Requiems... Is the Best And he only live 35 years!!!
It's truly crazy because Pachelbel wrote so much music it's not even funny. It's always Canon In D. Great work, but nobody ever cares to delve deeper into such a genius of a composer.
It is surprising to talk about classical music without mentioning JOSEPH HAYDN: he's the father of symphony, string quartet and chamber music! He is one of the most influential figures in classical music!! He is not well known by the public but when talking about CLASSICAL music it is mandatory to mention him in the top 5 (even though i don't agree to classify the geniuses by order since there is no objective classification; every classification depends simply on the musical taste of every person.
+Grant Boone - LISZT IS THE LISZT !!! NO ONE THREW THEIR SPEAR FARTHER INTO THE UNKNOWN THAN LISZT, UNFORTUNATELY HIS ORCHESTRAL WORK DIDN'T MATCH ALL HE ACCOMPLISHED ON PIANO, BUT EVEN STILL, IF YOU KNOW ALL OF HIS WORK, (AS I DO) YOU WOULD KNOW HE COVERED MORE GROUND AND SPACE THAN ANY OTHER....... THEIR #1 IS BACH, AND I AGREE THAT BACH BUILT THE COOLEST MOST BITCHIN' TRICKED OUT VEHICLE OF ALL TIME, TO TAKE HIS LISTENERS ON A VERY NICE RIDE, BUT BECAUSE OF THE TIMES HE LIVED IN, HE ONLY STAYED IN HIS OWN LANE.......
+Gytax0 That's why no one should e allowed to compare musicians and artists for that matter... For me Chopin is the best out of everyone else BY FAR. But it is all subjective.
I love Beethoven and I think he should be number one because he wrote so many iconic symphonies and sonatas but all the others are still masters of all of music very much respect ✊
@@anubisgod23 But I don’t think that we should compare both. No one is better than the other. Bach was an end of an era and Beethoven was the exact opposite of that
Top 3 composers of all time: A quantum superposition where Bach, Beethoven and Mozart are in 1st, 2nd and 3rd place at the same time. (Name of the composers in alphabetical order so no preferences)
+WondrousMoose He really shouldn't be, considering that the variety of compositional genres he contributed to is extremely narrow, and even given his high standing in opera, he isn't even necessarily considered the top opera composer (my nod goes to Verdi, personally). If opera was far and away the most popular genre in classical music, than he should be considered as a 'top ten'' composer possibly, however. it really isn't as popular as orchestral music, chamber music, or even piano music (with or without accompaniment, overall, so his inclusion is very disproportional to the great range of contributions of those who composed well in many different genres, and a lot of them also contributed with operas as well..
+Chad Allan But as mentioned in the video he is know by almost everybody thus his name on the list, and altough operas may not the be most popular among the others surely the average public (me included) know it better than even chamber music or piano concerts.
+Chad Allan Wagner had a MASSIF influence on musicians of all genre, however. In fact, music in the 50 or so years following him was often either described as wagnerien, or anti-wagnerien, a big conflict between the two camps in France.
Wagner invented leitmotif, the most important movie music element. Ever. He also pushed musical drama, look at Phantom of the Opera and Les Miserables.
For someone who works with music for long time like me, the answer is just only one. Johann Sebastian Bach He is by far the greatest composer of all time. All of his phrases, his ornaments. Listening the Goldberg variations, which is the same melody in a different way for 90 minutes, and you never get tired. His Brandenburg concerto's which are just absolutely magestic, his fuges, preludes, his organ pieces. Surely Mozart was absolutely fantastic in its melodies, and Beethoven did an excellent orchestra, but if you really appreciate every part of the pieces, there is nobody greater than Bach. Beethoven goes second and Mozart goes third in my opinion.
For me Bach and Beethoven are interchangeable at no. 1. I am amazed that you mentioned only the excellent orchestra by Beethoven. His piano sonatas and string quartets (with his symphonies, I agree with you) are the pillars on which modern music originated and is based. Nobody dared writing piano sonatas after him anymore, with very few (mostly irrelevant) exceptions. The same happened to Masses: what can a human being write after his Missa Solemnis? Therefore, Bach and Beethoven, or Beethoven and Bach are number one. Mozart? Yes he was a very great composer: bronze medalist.
I agree with the placement of Bach at #1, although many do not. Bach accomplished the most musically. He did so much when so little had been done before him. He adapted the musical system as we know it today through experimentation with chromaticism. This combined with the quality music he produced, is why I consider him the greatest composer of all time.
I agree that he is the greatest, but he's not for everyone. He produces either idolatry or revulsion in his listeners; there is no in-between. I know no other composer who produces such visceral reactions in his listeners.
Personally, I think Chopin should've been #1 but that's just because I've been obsessively listening to his piano pieces for the last few weeks and are now completely in love with everything he's composed. I'm upset he died so young, I want more
@@Q-Bits8 He said he knew it was not practical and just his personal wish . But with no doubt one can say , chopin s music is some of the most expressive music even if he only wrote for piano
@@ishanpareek2188 You've clearly never heard Sorabji or Liszt. Sorabji composed solely for himself, so you can hear the emotions clearly throughout his compositions. Liszt is severely underrated. His Mephisto Waltzes rival the Chopin ballades, and he composed incredibly expressive work that leaves the listener feeling emotions that couldn't be described in words. IMO Chopin is severely overrated.
BACH: He is the one with the most notes, he is also very mathematical in his music and incredible. BEETHOVEN: It has the most terrifying and mysterious music, of course, great. TCHAIKOVSKY: In my opinion, when it comes to beauty, tchaikovsky is unrivaled, the number of works and the variety are more beautiful than others, he is my favorite ...
bach was not the only one mathematical in music, debussy, chopin, and satie to name a few also used techniques such as the golden ratio (phi, 1.618), and the fibonacci scale
So your only defense for attacking one of the greatest composers who ever lived...is being a grammar Nazi? Beethoven wrote some of the most influential music of all time, he was crucial in the transition between the classic and romantic eras of music. His pieces are still considered to be some of the greatest of all time. Not to mention that he did all of this while going deaf. I truly doubt that you've actually heard very many of Beethoven's works beyond what is commonly played.
Erm... So? That's like saying that you cannot listen to other music and not be inspired to make your own, Bach may have been instrumental but writing most of your pieces, as Beethoven did, deaf is just another level! For me anyways !
You actually know nothing did you just say Beethoven stopped composing aged 31, his 5th symphony was composed when he was dead! Influence doesn't mean anything! Beethoven remembered every note in his head deaf and composed masterpieces that takes skill, talent and just amazing brain power!
My favorite is Chopin, he introduced me to this kind of music I really love his style, specially his nocturne and ballads Pd. my favorite is his 2nd nocturne
My personal Liszt would probably be. But objectively Bach is probably the best, I just enjoy listening to Beethoven slightly more than Bach. 10:Clara Schumann 9:Prokofiev 8:Scarlatti 7:Mendelssohn 6:Tchaikovsky 5:Schostakovich 4:Brahms 3:Mozart 2:JS Bach 1:Beethoven
We must give thanks to the great Italian composers who have discovered from '' A '' to '' z '' of every part of classical music Without the discovery of the notes to the treble clef, I don't know if we all had all this great love in classical music...GRAZIE ITALIANI
I don't understand why Joseph Haydn isn't in the list. He was most important composer in the first development of modern symphony. I think Haydn was the father of classical era music.
This is top ten composers in no particular order. I’m happy with the selection. Honourable mentions could go to, Claudio Monteverdi Felix Mendelssohn Hector Berlioz Franz Liszt Anton Bruckner Gustav Mahler ( he was more 20th than Romantic period)
For me, the best are (not in order) : -Mozart -Beethoven -Chopin -Bach I am aware that Bach defined the classical music and without him none of these composers would have achieved what they achieved but that does not mean he is better than the other ones. One and all wrote incredibly good pieces that cannot be compared because each one of them have their own style. That is why they cannot be ranked and can only be referred as "The great 4"
I dont agree. Bach (no classic but baroque) was the greatest. Beethoven said "He should have not the name Bach (Creek in English), but Meer (in English Sea).
I like beethoven and Mozart because they were contemporaries about the same age,well Mozart was born first and than beethoven,but I like both and also I like the other composers too,because I like music and I think all of them did a great job!
awesome420ication Even so, John Williams wouldn't be in the top 10 if you included the 20th Century composers, when you still have the likes of Rachmaninoff, Shostakovic, Stravinsky, Holst, Debussy, Bartok, Gershwin, Copland, Schoenberg, and Bernstein... not to say he's a great thematic composer, but John Williams has never really pushed the envelope. Note these may not be in everyone's top 10 for 20th century composers but guaranteed, they will be seen as miles ahead for John Williams.
I am sad with that Liszt is not on the list. Although most people say that his music is mostly showing off, I think people need to listen to more of Liszt's works, because a lot people only know for example La Campanella, Feux Follets, Hungarian rhapsody no. 2 or no. 6.... There are a lot other great works of him. Personal opinion :P
+Kurt S yah, you might have right, but there are some little changes, so we can say that he was just inspired by Paganini to make his version of "La Campanella"
Hmm... I'd say the placement of Bach vs. Beethoven is all about whether influence or quality is more important. While Bach was certainly the most influential composer, Beethoven's pieces were of a far superior quality (not to mention that, unlike Bach's, they actually had emotion).
I couldn't agree more. Beethoven really led into a new era of music with emotion and passion that are melodious and arguably better in quality, but Bach was by far more influential by perfecting discrepancies in music like getting rid of quarter tones (thank goodness) and standardizing written music as we see today. It's a tough call to make and really does depend on what you consider as more important as you said
I'm not sure what angle the "no-emotion" idea comes from concerning Bach's music. I guess that would be in the ears of the Beholder as would the appeals to 'quality'. Also, while Beethoven was I think the greatest composer of the Classical and Romantic eras, Bach is thought to have so fully raised the baroque style to such heights completeness that most music historians mark the end of the Baroque era with his death. And don't forget, in addition to retiring the quarter-tone, he also was the one who caused the acceptance of the tempered scale.
johnsonfromwisconsin Although I never specifically said "no emotion", what I meant was that Bach's pieces had a rather mechanical approach to it. Doesn't mean that it's bad in my opinion because I love playing and listening to Bach, it's just that it doesn't hold the same passion that is conveyed through as pieces from much later composers. And yes, Bach pretty much had the entire Baroque era upon his shoulders and I would agree with music historians who say that his death marked the end of the Baroque. I think that without Bach, the way we see Western music (meaning European, American, and music influenced by those) wouldn't be the same and modern music would be quite different. Anyway, point being is that Bach and Beethoven are both important and great in their own ways because there are so many things about them and their work that are magnificent and influential. Although they're not my favorite composers, I do agree with everything you've said thus far that it would be difficult to determine which should be the top classical composer of all. But in all honesty, it doesn't really matter which is number one because what really matters is that we appreciate their music now and they have made great impact in musical history that we should all be thankful for.
Evan Wheat I agree with you in general, but I wouldn't say Beethoven was by far superior. He might have been superior, but the musical time period is so different that it is hard to put those two in comparison and be objective.
My personal top 10: 10: Grieg, 9: Wagner, 8: Vivaldi, 7: Tchaikovsky, 6: Handel, 5: Liszt, 4: Chopin3: Mozart, 2: Bach, 1: Beethoven. Grieg is an understandable absence, I suppose, but I flinch at the though that they could forget about Liszt... Yes, I know Liszt was more of a piano virtuoso, but many of his works are fantastic. And where are your honorable mentions?! They could have included Debussy, Haydn, Ravel, Dvorak, Saint-Saens, Rachmaninov... A little dissatisfied, but this isn’t my video, so I’ll concede.
Yeah people mainly think Liszt only wrote dramatic and horrid music that requires the highest of skills, but he was also an absolute master of romance. So called 2nd movement/sequence of his B minor sonata. Libestraum no. 3. Un sospiro (I recommend Paul Barton’s interpretation) and Many others. I truly wish he would’ve been on this list. 😅
J.S. Bach is definitely #1 (a view also held by many musicians and music scholars). Overall a good list, although I wouldn't include Vivaldi. While he would definitely be in a Top 10 Most Popular Classical Music Composers list, "popular" does not automatically equal "greatest." I would probably replace him with Haydn, Schumann, Dvorak, Mahler, or Rachmaninoff.
Absolutely not. Wouldn't even place Bach in the top5. Highly overrated composer. He wrote a lot but really wasn't that good. I could easily name 5 better composers
@@anubisgod23 he’s undoubtedly the most influential Western composer, though. And in any case, I strongly disagree, his compositions are amazing. Looking at them in the context of their time, no one else had written music that complex and groundbreaking before then, and certainly not to the same degree of quality. Bach expanded the envelope of what was considered possible in counterpoint and harmony enormously. The solo violin works, the Well-Tempered Clavier, his organ fugues and similar works (particularly the C minor Passacaglia and the E minor fugue), among so many others, were all incredibly innovative and original. And this isn’t even mentioning the more flamboyantly complex works like the Musical Offering, the Goldberg Variations, and most of all, the Art of Fugue. Bach set in sound the basics of modern Western musical perception. Even composers as seemingly artistically distant as Schoenberg and Stravinsky considered Bach to be a major source of their own musical innovations.
This list definitely needs updating to include Haydn. It would be sinful to overlook his influence on classical music in general, with his wit and expansive repertoire that influenced people like Beethoven in particular.
@@anubisgod23 J.S.Bach revolutionized composition - his best compositions are otherwordly. Whilst Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons" is one of the greatest, the most trandescending musical pieces ever.
Erik Satie and Antonio Vivaldi are my favorites. In the professional world of music, your body of work must be impressive, but in the eyes of a humble and casual fan of great music, just 1 or 2 songs that resonate are enough to get me hooked. Satie's Gimnopedies and Vivaldi's Four Seasons are so good I dont wait for my favourite part, I love the whole songs.
I love the Germanic composers…Bach,Mozart, and love, love Beethoven and Wagner….I love Mozart’s operas. I can loop this guys all day with some Italian operas by Puccini,etc. Love Handel for tranquility.
Fun fact: Mozart was a huge effect to the musical laws. At the age of 14, he listened to Miserere by Gregorio Allegri in the Sistine Chapel twice, once on Friday, once on Sunday. After listening to it on Friday, he returned home, where he wrote the entire score from memory. When returning on Sunday, he listened again and corrected the tiny mistakes he made. After finishing the score, he returned for a third time, now showing it to the Pope, who eventually altered the rules. Before this time, Miserere was strictly prohibited to perform outside the Chapel (for about 150 years)
I can't Handel this Liszt. I'm going Bach to the closet Haydn my emotions while Chopin' onions.
wonderful homonyms, bravo
Volej Core This is literally the best comment I’ve ever seen in my life. 👏🏻
Stoppp
HEHEHEHEHE LOL BRAVO MAGNIFICENT
Puntastic word play. I was flabbergasted in the extreme that Beethoven was not NO.1 on this Liszt, it's more than I can Handel. Whoever wrote this should be Beethoven the head!
I’m too low on this Liszt
Hi
@Lisztian Well,no Chopin is not overrated. He is rated just fine. People like Chopin not because of an innovative work in the music field but because we simply like his beautiful and romantic piano songs. All of his etudes are very good even though they are only for-practice pieces. He composed a lot of etudes, impromptus, ballades, scherzos, polonaises, nocturnes, waltzes, marzukas, preludes. And they are very good and difficult. Also he is known as the poet of the piano.
@Lisztian Well I am not trying to hold a contest between Chopin and Lizst you know.... I'm just saying Chopin is not overrated. I mean you can feel his emotion that he was feeling when he was composing the song. The best example for this is Op.10 No.12 'revolutionary' etude. He composed that song with enrage because then, Russia took over Poland, which was Chopin's homecountry. So he wrote revolutionary etude then, with furious anger and when you listen to it, you can feel his anger going through you.
Where are your orchestrations? A person cannot become among the greatest if you have only one niche!
Lmao so is Liszt himself
I guess I wasn’t invited to the party
We love you 😌😌
It's ok liszt your always invited to my party
Yeah because Watchmojo is shit and innacurate
You are the best composer ever I love your music
*sorry man, by far way better than Ludwig (sorry man)*
Maybe mojo doesn’t know that musicians don’t actually rate composers.
Shut up, you're not my lover! You're just a girl who think i am the one, but the kid is not my son.
@Dano Zakerios look at the commenter name :-)
The world famous expert of classical music, Anthony Tommasini, who is the chief critic of the New York Times, created a Top 10 list of the most influential and complex composers of all time:
01) Johann Sebastian Bach 🇩🇪
02) Ludwig van Beethoven 🇩🇪
03) Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 🇦🇹
04) Franz Schubert 🇦🇹
05) Achille-Claude Debussy 🇫🇷
06) Igor Stravinsky 🇷🇺
07) Johannes Brahms 🇩🇪
08) Guiseppe Verdi 🇮🇹
09) Richard Wagner 🇩🇪
10) Béla Bartók 🇭🇺
@@sonatine3266 I don’t think this is factoring in complexity. If it was Mozart would not be no.3
@@largebill1245 Mozart was quite capable of composing complex pieces when he set his mind to it, see his fugues or his Requiem as examples. Even his simpler pieces contain a surprising amount of subtlety and nuance. In any case, the list also factors in influence, and Mozart’s influence on later composers is undeniably massive. There are incredibly complex composers who likely didn’t make the list due to lack of influence.
You've got Beethoven, Bach, and Chopin. However, your Liszt is still very lacking.
Liszt fuken wrote compositions that stretched the whole piano and pushed the classical music to it's limit and he's not on the list. Lmao this Watchmojo
He was a great composer and an excellent pianist, as well as my protege.
My favorite is chopin sins i heard hia composition
@@symondims4437 what the hell are you blabbing about?
@@oilersridersbluejays i mean since i heard his songs
Germans were truly amazing classic composers.
Nelson Villegas Actually, most of the great composers were Austrian, unless, of course, you mean Germanic in a greater sense.
***** Haydn was also austrian.
+Allzumenschliches44 Thanks, I was just about to enter the same thing when you replied. +michelon1231 Schubert was Viennese, and more important than Schumann or Telemann. Austria also has Richard Strauss and Mahler. This is a phrase I have commonly heard, and it must have been coined by Austrians ;). I'd advise you not to tell a present day German or Austrian that their differences don't matter, but I agree, and I said above that in the greater sense they are the same peoples. Analyzing the two peoples from the examples provided, I'd have to say now that their musical contribution has been roughly equal.
***** Austria, being highly catholic and closer to the alps, had more influence from Italy. Musically you can see this pretty well in Mozart. Of course historically you could see Austria as something like another german region but too much time has passed since Bismarck excluded Austria with its special cultural sphere from the then united Germany under Prussia's dominance. Most today's Austrians would proudly say that Mozart, Haydn and Schubert were austrian and not germans.
+michelon1231 I just faced the same type of issues in tracking my family history. I've always known my maternal grandmother to be German, but recently found out the province her family came from in Germany (Prussia) was Posen. I think maybe the Austrians don't want people assuming they are German, as in from Germany, because they speak German, much the same as Canadians want their identity as Canadians to be known, even if they are nearly indistinguishable from people in the US to most people.
In the US, we don't have the history of Europe and the ever changing borders to identify ourselves against, although we like to identify ourselves by our culture of origin (for me, it is mostly Franco-Germanic). Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that most Europeans like to identify themselves by the current country that they are from. I think we can all agree that whether you combine or separate Austrian and German peoples, together they are responsible for most of the significant output of Classical Music.
Debussy is highly underrated
He was mostly 20th century
20th century is just eclectic noise mostly
Debussy is not as influential as these 10
Hes probably the most celebrated composer of his time. He was and still is seen as a genius and still immensely popular.
Geert Matthys 20th century was not electric noise🤣🤣 20th century was the most diverse music period of all time. You had duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Elvis, queen, etc etc. the 21st century music (right now) is mostly electric
Beethoven is easily the greatest composer of all time no question.
While others are enjoyable to listen to, Beethoven pieces are the most emotional and hit the hardest.
Let us not forget he was totally deaf by 44 and was having hearing difficulties prior to that and yet, he created timeless masterpieces! how crazy is that?
its super debatable how much composers have you listened to
Exactly,for me beethoven is best tho i have to say best piece of classical music has to be vivaldi's 4 seasons@@user-gg7xb2os9y
Beethoven is the greatest composer. Nobody's even close.
Bach = Master of Masses
Mozart = Master of Operas
Beethoven = Master of Symphonies
You could argue Beethoven had an even greater and more lasting impact to the world of piano sonatas...but his symphonies were pretty damn revolutionary so I can't really argue too much
Pls. Bach just wrote 5 Masses but he wrote more then 200 Cantatas. Mozart composed mutch more Masses. Just because Bach composed the B Minor Mass, maybe the greatest piece of all time, he isnt the master of Mass. He ist more the Master of Organ-, Keybord-, or Choralmusic. But not even the Master of Masses.
In nearly every genre he created whitch are all hightleveled in their genre. Solo Violin Sonatas and Partitas, Organ Toccatas and Fugues, The Well-Thempered Clavier, Cantatas (for example: 106, 63), B Minor Messe, Motets like Jesu meine Freude, chorals, oratorios. But at least he uses mostly the Technic of counterpoint.
The counterpointel workes might be the esence of his Work. Art of Fugue and The Musical Offering are the highest of composing tecnice. So better cal Bach the Master of Counterpoint.
Oh. I add for you.
Haydn=Master of String Quartet
Schubert=Master of Lied
Tchaikovsky=Master of ballet
Handel=Master of Oratorio
Chopin=Master of Pieces for piano
Do you agree?
Ah. Paganini=Master of Pieces for violin.
Bach: master of passions
Here a little funny trivia:
Ludwig Van Beethoven would often travel to Austria. Once he tried to pass through my hometown Wiener Neustadt, however the people believed at first that he was some homeless person and refused to let him in and later even arrested him, believing he was a beggar.
We later named the alley (which still exists to this very day) where he was arrested after him. =)
Those policemen were assholes. I punched them out for giving me grief and now I'm the asshole.
that is funny trivia? How sad, that Beethoven was treated so badly.
But I have been treated as badly, too.. the so I guess it happens to all great men.
Thank you. Musical geniuses are gifted beyond wonder in music, but not so much in life. Many are taken care of by others, who remind them to bathe, eat, and pay their bills, among other things.
You Austrians & Germans are so hardcore.
He was a bit cantankerous
Beethoven, Bach and Mozart are without question the three greatest composers of all time. After that, positions 4-15 are Variable.
In my opinion my top 5 list is:
5: Schubert
4: Mozart
3: Bach
2: Mahler
1: Beethoven
totally agree.4. Tchaikovsky 5.Vivaldi.6.Paganinni.7.Korsakov.8.Prokofiev.9.liszt.10.Chopin.etc.
@@osmankubi prokofiev is from 20th century
I am incredibly biased against baroque and classical era music due to how long ive been playing it and how predictable and quite frankly boring i find it, so I would have to disagree. I personally think rachmaninoff is the greatest composer of all time, followed closely by tchaikosvkys
@@jetconway5995 that is your opinion. But it is not what we call a general opinion.
My top 4
4. Mozart
3. Chopin
2. Liszt
1. Beethoven
(I love pianos)
animeniac same
thats false 1.beethoven 2.mozart 3.chopin 4.liszt u know something i think the best pianist composer is chopin becuase he compose the most pianistic and fantastic compositions he has to be number one ; but beethoven is the 1st and mozart 2nd then chopin after chopin (franz adam liszt ❤)
these four composers are everything
Thanks buddy!
My top 5
5. Liszt
4. Mozart
3. Beethoven
2. Chopin
1. Debussy
I'm surprised that Haydn isn't on this list... The father of the String quartet and the symphony
+Stravinsky91 That's because this list is only 'most well known' (most popular, essentially), not 'greatest', since 'greatest' has to be more thoughtfully determined using specific definable criteria. It's definitely a funny list.
+Chad Allan do you know what piece that is at 6:44
+Stravinsky91 That is exactly what I also wanted to ask. Father of symphony.
+critter mccormick omg that was good
+Stravinsky91 and of the piano trio...
Time to list 10 composers that Watchmojo missed
1.Liszt
2.Debussy
3.Saint-Saens
4.Rachmaninoff
5.Grieg
6.Strauss II
7.Offenbach
8.Rossini
9.Mendelssohn
10. Dvorak
Others
Pachelbel
Paganini
Satie
Schumann
Bizet
Haydn
+Fred Dearson Mahler,Schumann,Bruckner,Sibelius,Scriabin,Richard Strauss,Palestrina,Tallis. (Rossini has written the simpliest opera's ever written and Pachelbel does not deserve it because he only written music for organ.Also Gershwin is 20th century.)
ok
Debussy's Clair de Lune, IS FREAKIN THE BEST PIANO MUSIC I HAVE EVER HEARD, I WAS EXPECTING HIM ON THE LIST, 😂😂😂😝
But it is not his greatest.Take a listen to Debussy's Pour le piano suite Debussy's and Estampes and Debussy's Children's Corner.
+Freedom Mendoza You should read the descibtion.. ONLY Baroque Classic and Romantic
Twoset, react to this!
Finally, i found another lingling wannabe here
Jessica Woen Haha hi! Dumb mojo is really triggering me
Guys... Go Practice so that Twoset can hear you... LING LING 40 HOURSSSSSSSSS
Long long wannabe found
Ling ling
Excuse me where is Haydn, the granddaddy of the classical period, father of the symphony, string quartet and sonata form, teacher of Mozart and Beethoven and basically led the whole classical period from a palace?
He's hiding.
S A C R I L E G I O U S
Where is Snoop Dog & Bow Wow?
His music isn't that good. He might have kick started the romantic period but let's be honest his own music wasn't great
@@anubisgod23 without him there's no odetojoy
You know this *Liszt* is fucked up when you dont see him
🌂
that's rude
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Liszt isnt really good in making beutiful music he is more of a show off making pieces so technical that it actually doesnt sound good
Nixon Cheung Ive wondered too why Liszt isn't in thid list
Tchaikovsky is love, Tchaikovsky is life!!
He is definitely in my top 3 of favorite composers right after Mozart and Beethoven.
Anasszl i love “Swan lake”. it feels magical
I don't know
Anasszl Were Is My Cannon Boy AKA Tchaikovsky
totally agree
My fav is Beethoven. He might have became world's best pianist if he could hear.
Anime India Dubbers he was not deaf his hearing just got worse as he got older
I wasn't born deaf smart guy.
@@millky3634 Is this a joke? Of course he got deaf. For example, He composed the entire 9th Symphony while being deaf.
Ludwig van Beethoven absolutely, though I’d say your hearing loss and eventual deafness had you prod your best works, god had certainly helped you there
@@millky3634 he was 100% deaf by the time he composed his 9th
Bach
Vivaldi
Haydn
Beethoven
Mozart
Liszt
Chopin
Tschaikowsky
Rachmaninoff
Debussy
No particular order. These composers have to be the Top 10 if you want to include every era.
Brahms is missing
Mine favourites composers:
1600-1700s :
.Henry Purcell
. Bach
. Antonio Vivaldi
. D.Scarlatti
1700s-1800s
.Mozart
.Niccolò Paganini
1800s-1900s ( A lot.)
.Chopin
. Liszt
.Erik Satie
. Amy beach
. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
.Johannes Brahms
.Claude Debussy
. Camile saints saëns
. Fanny Mendelssohn
u kiddin? Händel is on top of all of them
@@Q-Bits8 Händel over bach? Nah fam
@@user-fu7zf4ck9z ye händel is the real OG. He was the most admired also back then. Mozart and Beethoven loved him the most out of all composers
One of my teachers once said "Mozart is the face of classical music, but Beethoven is the sound of classical music". Most people, when asked to name a classical composer, will say Mozart, but when asked for a tune will hum or whistle Beethoven.
Not much of a Mozart fan myself, but he deserves to be in the top three. I'd put Beethoven in number 1: Bach "formalised" music and perfected most styles and techniques of his time, but brought not much new to music; Mozart's livelihood depended on his music being popular, yet he contributed significantly to technique; Beethoven created new sounds and structures throughout his career, and was instrumental in the evolution of the modern piano's sound, power and depth because the pianos of his time couldn't deliver what he sought. He was one of the first to express himself through his compositions rather than producing tunes that would be popular with the masses - and became massively popular for it.
Honestly speaking, Bach brought as much as anyone to music. You may want to read a tad more on the art of Fugue. The beauty of some of Bach's pieces concerned the use of overlaying chords to create a completely new sound and composition. Beethoven didn't really bring in new structures, more that he created complex orchestrations far beyond what most others conceived. Each composer committed something that caused them to be known centuries after their death.
You'd be surprised how many Bach preludes you have heard before, but never attributed to the actual person. What makes it harder is that so much of his music sounds nothing alike.
Andrew Neumann I'm not down-talking Bach. I thoroughly enjoy Bach and the simple beauty of his surprisingly complex work - much easier to listen to than to play. He perfected the fugue, but he didn't create it; he perfected counterpoint, but he did not create it.
By contrast, I wish I could have been there to see the looks on people's faces when Beethoven performed his first self-published piano sonata, Op 2 No 1 in F minor: there's the bright and light Allegro, starting off very classically, then suddenly a fortissimo beyond the ability of the harpsichord; this is followed by the typical Adagio "middle movement", and "ending" on a forbidden baroque-style Minuetto & Trio (Post-baroque 101: "thou shalt not play polyphonic music"). And then, after the three movements are over, the (somewhat disgusted) audience politely raise their hands in preparation for applause when it happens: What is this, a FOURTH movement? Prestissimo? Blasphemy! Anarchy! Everybody knows that sonatas are lesser works that concerti, and therefore have only three movements.
Bach turned a fixer-upper into the highest form of art. Beethoven dared to "boldly go wherever the hell I want to".
justcarcrazy It doesnt matter how much Beethoven fans try to bring Mozart down. Mozart wrote the most memorable tunes. Mozart is the Master of Melody. Mozart was the face and the sound of classical music because it was Mozart who PERFECTED Classicism paving the way for Beethoven and other romantic composers. Mozart is The God of Concertos,he wrote the Greatest Piano Concerto, Piano Concerto 24 in C Minor and he has more best piano concertos than any other composer;Mozart wrote the Greatest Clarinet Concerto,The Greatest Flute/Horn.Bassoon/ concertos, in few words Mozart wrote the GREATEST WIND MUSIC and no other composer has rivalled this. Mozart wrote some of the greatest operas with Don Giovani considered as the best opera ever written. Mozart wrote concertos for ALL THE Musical Instruments, unlike Beethoven. Mozart is the Most Versatile composer ever existed and he wrote almost 1,000 pieces before turning 36
Imagine if Beethoven had died at age of 35. What would be left from him?
Every reply will be IGNORED
***** "Every reply will be IGNORED"
And so will you...
Beethoven's music is much more melodically heavy, so his work is much more recognizable among a common listener.
However, if you ask me, Mozart's music is much more complex and layered, providing what I'd argue is the best music.
you could have added honorable mentions...
Agreed.
thenameisgsarci the honorable mentions would have been longer than the video itself there are too many not mentioned musicians.
No kidding! I can probably name 50 off the top of my head that they didn't *Liszt*
Yea
+Classical Music A Lizst in the *Bach* of your head?
Once you understand the Bach piece, after listening it for a long time, you would have no doubt he is the best.composer of all time, and I would say the smartest and creative artist of humankind.
Wholeheartedly agree. Crazy how his music became a good WHOLE century after his death!
wrong
You are absolutely right
4:43 Frédéric "Chopaigne"
Yanks have trouble with "foreign" words.
french names and pronunciations
@@TheSeafordian she is Canadian
Where's Niccolo Paganini and Franz Liszt??
And Rachmaninoff
@@andrekaravia4216 Paganini Liszt and Rachmaninoff are interchangeable. But there should be at least one of them. Rachmaninov is my fav, but objectively List had the most influence on the history of music.
Check your wardrobe
It doesn't matter to me if Liszt is in some top 10 list. I love his music and consistently play it. Why does a composer need to be among the "best" to be worthy of listening? I simply don't care what anyone else thinks, if I enjoy certain music, I'll play it.
Making Spaghetti
Liszt was one of the greatest of all artists, performers and technicians of all time. He contributed so much to the works of music i it's extremely annoying that he is not on this list.
Why is Liszt not on the list?
FRANZ LISZT
ROBERT SCHUMANN
JOHN FIELD
NICCOLÒ PAGANINI
FELIX MENDELSSOHN
Who is with me!!!
You want to know what I find annoying?
Wagner is on the list,someone who was partly taught by Liszt,but Bramhs,Liszt's rival,whose music I personally hate is in the list,that annoys me.
+ENiGMA He was great pianist, but no composer (ok he was good, but these 10 were better).
Liszt was an incredibly skilled pianist, but a pretty mediocre composer. His works seemed more to show off the interpret's skill than demonstrate actual auditive quality.
And Rachmaninov
My favourite is Mozart because he write sonatas, concertos of flute, piano, harp, oboe... any mass, divertimentos, a lot of Operas like DON GIOVANNI, symphonies, ouvertures, serenades, string quartets, Requiems... Is the Best
And he only live 35 years!!!
I’m so in love with the Requiem!!! Ugh, if only he lived a little longer to write more 🥺
Meanwhile Johann Pachelbel, "Why I composed Canon ?"
A one-hit wonder.
It's truly crazy because Pachelbel wrote so much music it's not even funny. It's always Canon In D. Great work, but nobody ever cares to delve deeper into such a genius of a composer.
I just love Beethoven’s style. His music is so dark, and it really gets my mind moving.
Bach made the rules, Mozart followed them, and Beethoven broke them. Beethoven for number 1!
Hell ya
You need to have rule, if you want to break them. So Bach for number 1.
Superb comment!
Finally someone gets it!
Yet Bach is the most influential of them all...
Tchaikovsky is just brilliant 👌
He really is. My personal favorite!
It is surprising to talk about classical music without mentioning JOSEPH HAYDN: he's the father of symphony, string quartet and chamber music! He is one of the most influential figures in classical music!! He is not well known by the public but when talking about CLASSICAL music it is mandatory to mention him in the top 5 (even though i don't agree to classify the geniuses by order since there is no objective classification; every classification depends simply on the musical taste of every person.
Maybe my personal favorite, as of now.
Haydn was very influencial in the younger Mozart
I watched this to see Bach at No.1
Michiru Nanayakkara
Michiru Nanayakkara Mozart was number one
i was sweating during mozart. was thinking, "these motherfuckers better get it right"........#2 beethoven, "holy shit, they got it right!".
No Liszt? Cool list mates, cool list..
+Grant Boone - LISZT IS THE LISZT !!!
NO ONE THREW THEIR SPEAR FARTHER INTO THE UNKNOWN THAN LISZT, UNFORTUNATELY HIS ORCHESTRAL WORK DIDN'T MATCH ALL HE ACCOMPLISHED ON PIANO, BUT EVEN STILL, IF YOU KNOW ALL OF HIS WORK, (AS I DO) YOU WOULD KNOW HE COVERED MORE GROUND AND SPACE THAN ANY OTHER.......
THEIR #1 IS BACH, AND I AGREE THAT BACH BUILT THE COOLEST MOST BITCHIN' TRICKED OUT VEHICLE OF ALL TIME, TO TAKE HIS LISTENERS ON A VERY NICE RIDE, BUT BECAUSE OF THE TIMES HE LIVED IN, HE ONLY STAYED IN HIS OWN LANE.......
+Gytax0 Don't you mean, "cool liszt"? Zing!
Ok. Sorry. I'm out.
+Gytax0 That's why no one should e allowed to compare musicians and artists for that matter... For me Chopin is the best out of everyone else BY FAR. But it is all subjective.
+Gytax0 It's Fliszt, mate.
Liszt mostly made other composers works into piano pieces, just like la campanella that originally were written by Paganini.
I love Beethoven and I think he should be number one because he wrote so many iconic symphonies and sonatas but all the others are still masters of all of music very much respect ✊
Bach wrote 1128 works, a lot of thos works could be 3 hours long, could be one minute long
So no bach is the greatest
@@galileofigaro4747 bach is so incredibly overrated. 95%of his music is mediocre. While 95% of beethovens is amazing. Quality over quantity
@@anubisgod23 No actually, that’s wrong! It’s not me saying but a lot of leading composers. Bach is just hard and complicated to approach
@@anubisgod23 But I don’t think that we should compare both. No one is better than the other. Bach was an end of an era and Beethoven was the exact opposite of that
Top 3 composers of all time:
A quantum superposition where Bach, Beethoven and Mozart are in 1st, 2nd and 3rd place at the same time.
(Name of the composers in alphabetical order so no preferences)
😅😅
I don't know what to think about Wagner in the top 5...
GreatWonderMoose Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen & Tristan Und Isolde are arguably the greatest operas ever. That's why I think his spot is fine
+WondrousMoose He really shouldn't be, considering that the variety of compositional genres he contributed to is extremely narrow, and even given his high standing in opera, he isn't even necessarily considered the top opera composer (my nod goes to Verdi, personally). If opera was far and away the most popular genre in classical music, than he should be considered as a 'top ten'' composer possibly, however. it really isn't as popular as orchestral music, chamber music, or even piano music (with or without accompaniment, overall, so his inclusion is very disproportional to the great range of contributions of those who composed well in many different genres, and a lot of them also contributed with operas as well..
+Chad Allan But as mentioned in the video he is know by almost everybody thus his name on the list, and altough operas may not the be most popular among the others surely the average public (me included) know it better than even chamber music or piano concerts.
+Chad Allan Wagner had a MASSIF influence on musicians of all genre, however. In fact, music in the 50 or so years following him was often either described as wagnerien, or anti-wagnerien, a big conflict between the two camps in France.
Wagner invented leitmotif, the most important movie music element. Ever.
He also pushed musical drama, look at Phantom of the Opera and Les Miserables.
History's finest composer is Beethoven🙋❤
I agree. Your compositions are so emotional; it's crazy. It's also genius in a classical way; you're like Mozart except on drugs.
Tell us what heaven looks like
There’s a reason that god exist...
It not for ur talent
But he make u deaf on purpose
Beethoven called Handel the best composer so If your best composer is Beethoven I guess you're mistaken.
Unparallel music by these geniuses which we still enjoy today. Some musics came out yesterday but today they have been forgotten.
mozart
beethoven
bach
liszt
chopin
Bach must be 1st just because the pure perfection of his works! Pure as Heaven...
I agree 👍🏻
Chopin's work moves me more than any other composer. His work single handedly made me fall in love with the piano.
For my last three I would have,
3.Bach
2.Beethoven
1.Mozart
Mine too XD
I'm not sure if I wouldn't swap Mozart and Beethoven...
Absolutely correct David. I am in complete agreement with your proposition
And fourth would either be Chopin or Liszt.
Same here!
Bach 1 👍👍
For someone who works with music for long time like me, the answer is just only one.
Johann Sebastian Bach
He is by far the greatest composer of all time. All of his phrases, his ornaments.
Listening the Goldberg variations, which is the same melody in a different way for 90 minutes, and you never get tired.
His Brandenburg concerto's which are just absolutely magestic, his fuges, preludes, his organ pieces.
Surely Mozart was absolutely fantastic in its melodies, and Beethoven did an excellent orchestra, but if you really appreciate every part of the pieces, there is nobody greater than Bach. Beethoven goes second and Mozart goes third in my opinion.
can't argue with that...😊
True i think Beethoven and Mozart are debatable but number 1 is always easily bach
If you like basic baroque and classical tonality then yes
He was baroque not classic,classical emerged from gallante
For me Bach and Beethoven are interchangeable at no. 1. I am amazed that you mentioned only the excellent orchestra by Beethoven. His piano sonatas and string quartets (with his symphonies, I agree with you) are the pillars on which modern music originated and is based. Nobody dared writing piano sonatas after him anymore, with very few (mostly irrelevant) exceptions. The same happened to Masses: what can a human being write after his Missa Solemnis? Therefore, Bach and Beethoven, or Beethoven and Bach are number one. Mozart? Yes he was a very great composer: bronze medalist.
I agree with the placement of Bach at #1, although many do not. Bach accomplished the most musically. He did so much when so little had been done before him. He adapted the musical system as we know it today through experimentation with chromaticism. This combined with the quality music he produced, is why I consider him the greatest composer of all time.
I agree that he is the greatest, but he's not for everyone. He produces either idolatry or revulsion in his listeners; there is no in-between. I know no other composer who produces such visceral reactions in his listeners.
@@roman1akid Beethoven
Personally, I think Chopin should've been #1 but that's just because I've been obsessively listening to his piano pieces for the last few weeks and are now completely in love with everything he's composed. I'm upset he died so young, I want more
Olivia Scott Beauty is not the only thing that makes a great composer.
are you nuts? chopin greatest composer? LUL
He almost exclusivly wrote for piano
@@Q-Bits8 He said he knew it was not practical and just his personal wish . But with no doubt one can say , chopin s music is some of the most expressive music even if he only wrote for piano
I guess dying young is ironically also part of the legend (Mozart, Schubert…)
@@ishanpareek2188 You've clearly never heard Sorabji or Liszt.
Sorabji composed solely for himself, so you can hear the emotions clearly throughout his compositions.
Liszt is severely underrated. His Mephisto Waltzes rival the Chopin ballades, and he composed incredibly expressive work that leaves the listener feeling emotions that couldn't be described in words.
IMO Chopin is severely overrated.
I am so glad that I came here to educate myself more about these legends ❤️
BACH: He is the one with the most notes, he is also very mathematical in his music and incredible. BEETHOVEN: It has the most terrifying and mysterious music, of course, great. TCHAIKOVSKY: In my opinion, when it comes to beauty, tchaikovsky is unrivaled, the number of works and the variety are more beautiful than others, he is my favorite ...
bach was not the only one mathematical in music, debussy, chopin, and satie to name a few also used techniques such as the golden ratio (phi, 1.618), and the fibonacci scale
Tchaikovsky is my favorite too he is so underrated
fredrick hundle would come 2nd after Bach
my favorite composeres are tchaickovsky and chopin
My favorites are Mozart,Beethoven,Bach,Tcaickovsky and Vivaldi.
canon in D major, huh? XD
Σοπεν xD
Ο τσαϊκοβσκη ειναι η χαρα της ψυχης
Same
My top 3:
3. Chopin
2.Mozart
1.Beethoven
1Beethoven
2 Bach
3 Mozart
the only one with the IQ of a fishfinger here, is You my friend !!
George Carpelan Your not better than Beethoven, are you JEALOUS BRO?
ROBLOX XxSxX You're*
So your only defense for attacking one of the greatest composers who ever lived...is being a grammar Nazi? Beethoven wrote some of the most influential music of all time, he was crucial in the transition between the classic and romantic eras of music. His pieces are still considered to be some of the greatest of all time. Not to mention that he did all of this while going deaf. I truly doubt that you've actually heard very many of Beethoven's works beyond what is commonly played.
My favorites
1. Beethoven
2. Tchaikovsky
3. Paganini
4. Rachmaninoff
5. Vivaldi, Bach or Chopin
Order can be changed and so could Vivaldi
Tchaikovsky and Rach are so bad lol
Geert Matthys what a sad life it must be not being able to hear the overwhelming beauty of their music
Bach is for sure the greatest
Erm... No
Erm... So? That's like saying that you cannot listen to other music and not be inspired to make your own, Bach may have been instrumental but writing most of your pieces, as Beethoven did, deaf is just another level! For me anyways !
You actually know nothing did you just say Beethoven stopped composing aged 31, his 5th symphony was composed when he was dead! Influence doesn't mean anything! Beethoven remembered every note in his head deaf and composed masterpieces that takes skill, talent and just amazing brain power!
He never stoped composing, one of his symphonies where delayed I suspect because he was going deaf!
No1, Bach is good, but for me Beethoven is better
I love Mozart
Chopin is my favorite. He has the most emotion in his pieces.
Choping?!?!
Choping Chicken?!?!?!!?!??!!?!?
TheSharinganBeast 写輪眼獣 Than you never heard Beethoven
wrong
Hang on a second, top5 Chopin? ok! but where is Liszt??
Eduardo Hillman-Waller I would keep Chopin in top 5 because he was a very good composer
I think both shouldn't be in top 10
Agreed, BACH ! Always the most beautiful, most clever, most elegant, complex yet his music is always humble and dignified.
My favorite is Chopin, he introduced me to this kind of music
I really love his style, specially his nocturne and ballads
Pd. my favorite is his 2nd nocturne
my fav is his 1st ballade
ballade no 4 is my jam
Same my favourite is Nocturne 20
Beethoven over Bach I'd say but what I really enjoy is the debate over classical music overall. Looks like not all of UA-cam has been tailorswifted.
Bach all the way...
Thumbs up for the tailorswifted comment though :))
My top three would have to be Beethoven, Mozart and Chopin. Bach would be a close fourth
Hugh Jazz
Definitely Beethoven is the best in the history of classical music , music.. and everything.
most ot these people say bach because he start it before ,bach is not even in top 5 for me
My personal Liszt would probably be. But objectively Bach is probably the best, I just enjoy listening to Beethoven slightly more than Bach.
10:Clara Schumann
9:Prokofiev
8:Scarlatti
7:Mendelssohn
6:Tchaikovsky
5:Schostakovich
4:Brahms
3:Mozart
2:JS Bach
1:Beethoven
Ummmm where the fuck is Chopin? I can't find him... Oh wait... your autocorrect changed Chopin to Shostakovich; both start with "sho".
@@nerddoctor8505 chopin & vivaldi are my 2 favorite composers btw 😄
We must give thanks to the great Italian composers who have discovered from '' A '' to '' z '' of every part of classical music
Without the discovery of the notes to the treble clef, I don't know if we all had all this great love in classical music...GRAZIE ITALIANI
Is it just me or do all Italians seem to be obnoxious short sighted nationalists (you are right btw about the composers)
no, germans are the best
I don't understand why Joseph Haydn isn't in the list. He was most important composer in the first development of modern symphony. I think Haydn was the father of classical era music.
Yes, one of the greatest, IMHO.
This is top ten composers in no particular order. I’m happy with the selection. Honourable mentions could go to,
Claudio Monteverdi
Felix Mendelssohn
Hector Berlioz
Franz Liszt
Anton Bruckner
Gustav Mahler ( he was more 20th than Romantic period)
My top 4
4: chopin
3:mozart
2: Scott Joplin
1: Beethoven
Haha good joke🤣🤣 you don't want to put Michael Jackson in the second spot??😂😂😂😂😂
What
@@patrickhauser588 ? racist??
THIS IS LAMENTABLE DEBUSSY IS SO UNDERRATED
I agree that hes underrated but they said that they won't include composers of the 20th century.
So they dont have to do much research
LAMENTABLE
For me, the best are (not in order) :
-Mozart
-Beethoven
-Chopin
-Bach
I am aware that Bach defined the classical music and without him none of these composers would have achieved what they achieved but that does not mean he is better than the other ones.
One and all wrote incredibly good pieces that cannot be compared because each one of them have their own style.
That is why they cannot be ranked and can only be referred as "The great 4"
I dont agree. Bach (no classic but baroque) was the greatest. Beethoven said "He should have not the name Bach (Creek in English), but Meer (in English Sea).
I like beethoven and Mozart because they were contemporaries about the same age,well Mozart was born first and than beethoven,but I like both and also I like the other composers too,because I like music and I think all of them did a great job!
Same here bro!
can't help but feel that they used the word "classical" to exclude John Williams from this list
awesome420ication Even so, John Williams wouldn't be in the top 10 if you included the 20th Century composers, when you still have the likes of Rachmaninoff, Shostakovic, Stravinsky, Holst, Debussy, Bartok, Gershwin, Copland, Schoenberg, and Bernstein... not to say he's a great thematic composer, but John Williams has never really pushed the envelope.
Note these may not be in everyone's top 10 for 20th century composers but guaranteed, they will be seen as miles ahead for John Williams.
I wish I could go to one of these classical concerts this music calm my nerves.
I can’t believe you put Bach at #1. This makes me happy! Great list overall. I have same top 4, in slightly different order.
You missed:
Johann pachelbel
Haydyn
Johann strauss II
George bizet
Edvard grieg
Giochino rossini
Luigi bocherini
True, they should make a Top 20 list
Who is Haydyn?
+Giuseppe Verdi
Dmitri
What about Franz Liszt?
I am sad with that Liszt is not on the list. Although most people say that his music is mostly showing off, I think people need to listen to more of Liszt's works, because a lot people only know for example La Campanella, Feux Follets, Hungarian rhapsody no. 2 or no. 6.... There are a lot other great works of him. Personal opinion :P
Liebestraum
Un Suspiro
Sonneto 104
Consolation 3
+Sergei Rachmaninov yup XD
+Ricky Lai la campanella was paganini's composition. LIzst transcribed it to piano.
+Kurt S yeah，I know. But still a great piece :P
+Kurt S yah, you might have right, but there are some little changes, so we can say that he was just inspired by Paganini to make his version of "La Campanella"
Forgot Mendelsohn
Mozart 🐐
I m a Chopin fan boy
Hmm, they do exist!
Same
Chopin club!!!! :)
My second favorite :D i'm Chopin fan also.
I am a Rock n Roll guitarist who writes music, but my first love musically is Classical. It takes me places that rock cannot.
Looking forward to to top 10 classical piano pieces series.. Thanks.
That top three will probably never change.
Hmm... I'd say the placement of Bach vs. Beethoven is all about whether influence or quality is more important. While Bach was certainly the most influential composer, Beethoven's pieces were of a far superior quality (not to mention that, unlike Bach's, they actually had emotion).
I couldn't agree more. Beethoven really led into a new era of music with emotion and passion that are melodious and arguably better in quality, but Bach was by far more influential by perfecting discrepancies in music like getting rid of quarter tones (thank goodness) and standardizing written music as we see today. It's a tough call to make and really does depend on what you consider as more important as you said
I'm not sure what angle the "no-emotion" idea comes from concerning Bach's music. I guess that would be in the ears of the Beholder as would the appeals to 'quality'. Also, while Beethoven was I think the greatest composer of the Classical and Romantic eras, Bach is thought to have so fully raised the baroque style to such heights completeness that most music historians mark the end of the Baroque era with his death.
And don't forget, in addition to retiring the quarter-tone, he also was the one who caused the acceptance of the tempered scale.
johnsonfromwisconsin Although I never specifically said "no emotion", what I meant was that Bach's pieces had a rather mechanical approach to it. Doesn't mean that it's bad in my opinion because I love playing and listening to Bach, it's just that it doesn't hold the same passion that is conveyed through as pieces from much later composers.
And yes, Bach pretty much had the entire Baroque era upon his shoulders and I would agree with music historians who say that his death marked the end of the Baroque. I think that without Bach, the way we see Western music (meaning European, American, and music influenced by those) wouldn't be the same and modern music would be quite different.
Anyway, point being is that Bach and Beethoven are both important and great in their own ways because there are so many things about them and their work that are magnificent and influential. Although they're not my favorite composers, I do agree with everything you've said thus far that it would be difficult to determine which should be the top classical composer of all. But in all honesty, it doesn't really matter which is number one because what really matters is that we appreciate their music now and they have made great impact in musical history that we should all be thankful for.
Excellent comment!
Evan Wheat I agree with you in general, but I wouldn't say Beethoven was by far superior. He might have been superior, but the musical time period is so different that it is hard to put those two in comparison and be objective.
Where is ( franz liszt )are you kidding
Ali Abdel Naeem he's missing rachmaninoff too !
Liszt and rachmaninoff is too hard for this guy.
Now are you going to do a set on 20 cent. composers?
Liszt wasn't that good, although I think he deserves to be ahead of Vivaldi.
Álex the Benighted No, Liszt was transcendent and arguably on the same level as Chopin; In my opinion, obviously.
My favourites:
1.Sergei Rachmaninoff
2.Ludwig van Beethoven
3.Frederic Chopin
4.Antonio Vivaldi
5.Pyotr Tschaikowsky
Tchaikovsky will always be the greatest
He is not bad. I think Number Two. But Beethoven is away ahead for me.
Bach is the goat. There is nothing without him
@@Mason_____ Really. Ask people to hum 10 tunes from Bach and then 10 from Tchaikovsky. The average person will find it easier with Tchaikovsky.
Tchaik is the Goat
Chopin wins as the best for me personally
No way ! haha
Homeboy8227 Lol I do!
arjenbij exaggerating. Chopin is incredible aswell, if you say that, you are doing the same they are, you aren't listening to romantic era nor Chopin.
arjenbij Bach is the best composer
arjenbij there is only a number 1
My personal top 10:
10: Grieg, 9: Wagner, 8: Vivaldi, 7: Tchaikovsky, 6: Handel, 5: Liszt, 4: Chopin3: Mozart, 2: Bach, 1: Beethoven.
Grieg is an understandable absence, I suppose, but I flinch at the though that they could forget about Liszt... Yes, I know Liszt was more of a piano virtuoso, but many of his works are fantastic. And where are your honorable mentions?! They could have included
Debussy, Haydn, Ravel, Dvorak, Saint-Saens, Rachmaninov...
A little dissatisfied, but this isn’t my video, so I’ll concede.
I agree grieg is so much underated
They arbitrarily threw away all the composers after the Romantic period. I guess Rachmaninoff isn't good enough for them. Shame
Chopin fanboy spotted
Yeah people mainly think Liszt only wrote dramatic and horrid music that requires the highest of skills, but he was also an absolute master of romance. So called 2nd movement/sequence of his B minor sonata. Libestraum no. 3. Un sospiro (I recommend Paul Barton’s interpretation) and Many others. I truly wish he would’ve been on this list. 😅
Liszt, Grieg and Vivaldi ahead of Brahms, Schubert, Chopin! I don't think so. For me Rossini is better than Debussy or Ravel.
How is Liszt not on this list
Patrick T-B you should’ve wrote “how is Liszt not on this *List*.”
ITS BECAUSE HE INLY HAD ONE GREAT PIECE
@@Tguchi26 just no
Elliot Facey 3 sorry 😐
@@Tguchi26 bruh pretty much all of his pieces are great
For me: 1,2. Chopin, Liszt 3. Чайковский 4. Mozart 5. Bethoven 6. Verdi 7. Bach 8. Schubert 9. Debussi 10. Satie
wrong
Beethoven is absolutely the greatest of ALL TIME
Nope, J S Bach.
Nope it's Tchaikovsky and you can't argue with that
Tchaikovsky is my favorite, think this list should have had a few honorable mentions. I would have Johann Strauss II as one.
J.S. Bach is definitely #1 (a view also held by many musicians and music scholars). Overall a good list, although I wouldn't include Vivaldi. While he would definitely be in a Top 10 Most Popular Classical Music Composers list, "popular" does not automatically equal "greatest." I would probably replace him with Haydn, Schumann, Dvorak, Mahler, or Rachmaninoff.
Absolutely not. Wouldn't even place Bach in the top5. Highly overrated composer. He wrote a lot but really wasn't that good. I could easily name 5 better composers
@@anubisgod23 he’s undoubtedly the most influential Western composer, though. And in any case, I strongly disagree, his compositions are amazing. Looking at them in the context of their time, no one else had written music that complex and groundbreaking before then, and certainly not to the same degree of quality. Bach expanded the envelope of what was considered possible in counterpoint and harmony enormously. The solo violin works, the Well-Tempered Clavier, his organ fugues and similar works (particularly the C minor Passacaglia and the E minor fugue), among so many others, were all incredibly innovative and original. And this isn’t even mentioning the more flamboyantly complex works like the Musical Offering, the Goldberg Variations, and most of all, the Art of Fugue. Bach set in sound the basics of modern Western musical perception. Even composers as seemingly artistically distant as Schoenberg and Stravinsky considered Bach to be a major source of their own musical innovations.
This list definitely needs updating to include Haydn. It would be sinful to overlook his influence on classical music in general, with his wit and expansive repertoire that influenced people like Beethoven in particular.
@@anubisgod23 J.S.Bach revolutionized composition - his best compositions are otherwordly. Whilst Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons" is one of the greatest, the most trandescending musical pieces ever.
@@amjan he revolutionised the methods and approaches to composition. That doesnt mean his music is better, because it isnt
I think you missed Mendlessohn, the composer who revealed Bach music.
Nah
He doesn't deserve it. Mendelssohn is a good composer, but he's not top material. Maybe top 20.
I find it ironic that you name Bach as #1, yet in your Top 10 Iconic Pieces of Classical Music, he didn't make the top 10 once!
Hey Dmitri, you are in my top 5
Yeah. Like what about his Tocatta and Fugue?
Classical Music He was Baroque.
He's in baroque era
True
Rachmaninoff's 2nd concerto comes first on Classic FM's Ultimate hall of Fame and he's not even mentioned here !!!
Erik Satie and Antonio Vivaldi are my favorites. In the professional world of music, your body of work must be impressive, but in the eyes of a humble and casual fan of great music, just 1 or 2 songs that resonate are enough to get me hooked. Satie's Gimnopedies and Vivaldi's Four Seasons are so good I dont wait for my favourite part, I love the whole songs.
Satie the mad man.
Please, make video on top 10 greatest poets and top 10 greatest poems books of all time.
Bach is clearly number one no question. I am shocked to find people who think otherwise. If you disagree, you better start composing.
I completely agree. Vast majority of people rather prefer melody over harmony that's why they chose Chopin instead of Bach.
thumbs up if you love the works of tchaikovsky
When you realized that most of these composers are from the Romantic Era
Duh
Best era so
I love the Germanic composers…Bach,Mozart, and love, love Beethoven and Wagner….I love Mozart’s operas. I can loop this guys all day with some Italian operas by Puccini,etc. Love Handel for tranquility.
My favourite three:
1. Franz Liszt
2. Frederic Chopin
3. Ludwig van Beethoven
You are pianist😂
Otherwise Liszt and Chopin wouldn't be that high
Lol Liszt with his showman trash no way
@@geert574 yeah O dont know why he's always ranked so highly. To put him below Chopin is kinda insulting.
I don’t see how anyone can put Liszt above Chopin, Tchaikovsky, and Bach. Hungarian Rhapsody was his only masterpiece
If this was including 20th century Shostakovich would be up there
So as Carl Orff
And Samuel Barber❤
And Jean Sibelius
Fun fact: Mozart was a huge effect to the musical laws. At the age of 14, he listened to Miserere by Gregorio Allegri in the Sistine Chapel twice, once on Friday, once on Sunday. After listening to it on Friday, he returned home, where he wrote the entire score from memory. When returning on Sunday, he listened again and corrected the tiny mistakes he made. After finishing the score, he returned for a third time, now showing it to the Pope, who eventually altered the rules. Before this time, Miserere was strictly prohibited to perform outside the Chapel (for about 150 years)
I didn't compose just the ride did you know? Tired of hearing that...
What would you say are your other best works then sir?
Nomad I agree! Love that overture. One of his best for sure