Postby KagayakiWashi » Sat Jan 30, 2010 5:36 pm
I'd like to say that anyone who writes music is a composer. People who write rock music compose rock music, people who write pop music are pop composers....people who write "classical" music are "classical" composers.......that's the Stravinsky that I've read coming out, haha.
As for "classical" composers (including those of the impressionist, romantic, and modern eras):
J.S. Bach (Musical Offering, Cello Suites for unaccompanied cello, Concerto for 2 Violins)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Don Giovanni, Die Zauberflote, the Requiem, various piano concertos, Symphony #25)
Ludwig van Beethoven (Symphonies 5, 7, 9, Fur Elise, The Moonlight Sonata, Piano Sonata 32, and many other piano works)
Franz Liszt (Hungarian Rhapsody #2, Mephisto Waltz #1, Totentanz, Fantasia on Hungarian Folk Themes)
Carl Maria von Weber (Der Frieschutz)
Richard Wagner (Der Ring des Niebelungen, Die Meistersinger von Nurnburg, Tannhauser)
Gilbert & Sullivan (HMS Pinafore, Patience, Ruddigore)
Gustav Mahler (Symphonies 1, 2, 3, and 8)
Claude Debussy (Children's Corner, Suite Bergamasque, La Mer)
Peter Tchaikovsky (The Nutcracker, Concerto #1 in B-Flat Minor, 1812 Overture)
Igor Stravinsky (The Firebird, Petrushka, The Rite of Spring, Octet, Concerto for Violin, Pulcinella, Scherzo a la Russe, Fireworks.....alot of his smaller works)
Dmitri Shostakovich (Symphonies 4 and 7, String Quartet nos. 3 and 8, The Bolt Suite, Moscow-Cheremushki suite, many piano works, Jazz Suites 1 and 2, The Song of the Forest, The Execution of Stepan Razin)
Philip Glass (String Quartets, Glassworks, A Descent into the Maelstrom, Heroes Symphony)
Danny Elfman (Serenada Schizophrena)
Frank Zappa (Strictly Genteel, *-**** Tornado, Dupree's Paradise, Cletus Alreetus Alrightus, Pedro's Dowry, Bogus Pomp, The Dog Breath Variations, Uncle Meat)
Film/TV/Game composers
Bernard Herrmann (Vertigo, The Trouble With Harry, Jason and the Argonauts)
Ennio Morricone (The Man With No Name Trilogy, Once Upon a Time in the West, Giu la Testa, My Name is Nobody, The Cicillian Gang, The Untouchables)
John Williams (Star Wars series, Indiana Jones series, Hook)
John Barry (Goldfinger, You Only Live Twice, Thunderball, On Her Majesty's Secret Service)
Philip Glass (Mishima, Koyaanisquatsi)
Danny Elfman (Batman, Edward Scissorhands, Dolores Claiborne, Sommersby, Midnight Run)
Yoko Kanno and the Seatbelts.....their work on Cowboy Bebop of course!
Nobuo Uematsu (One Winged Angel, Tifa's Theme, Dancing Mad, Liberi Fatali, Don't Be Afraid, Final Fantasy I-III Medley)
Jazz Composers (I include this because of the focus on music)
Raymond Scott (Powerhouse, Dinner Music for a Pack of Hungry Cannibals, Dance Music for Egytian Mummies, The Penguin, Tia Juana, Mexican Jumping Bean)
Bela Fleck and the Flectones (The Sinister Minister, Bil Mon, Scratch and Sniff, Throwdown at the Hoedown, The Yeehaw Factor, Blu-Bop, Turtle Rock, Bigfoot)
Frank Zappa (Big Swifty, Waka/Jawaka, The Grand Wazoo, Farther O'Blivion, Imaginary Diseases, D.C. Boogie, Montreal)
I will say that overall, I believe Richard Wagner is my favorite composer, but you have to be ready to listen to him, since he primarily composed operas. Following closely is Beethoven and then Stravinsky......but it's always hard for me to decide between those two.
As far as film composers go, I think Ennio Morricone is my favorite (some of the pieces he's written are just unbelievable......especially "Lontano" from "Got Mitt Uns"), but Danny Elfman's "Batman" is my absolute favorite film score of all time.
Finally, Frank Zappa is also up there as a favorite because of the diversity and complexity of his music, and his "Hot Rats" album is my absolute favorite album of all time.
You can tell I'm passionate about music!
"To be a good listener, you must acquire a musical culture...you must be familiar with the history and development of music, you must listen...to receive music you have to open your ears and wait for the music, you must believe that it is something you need ...to listen is an effort, and just to hear has no merit. A duck hears also." - Igor Stravinsky
Are you hurting? Struggling with something? Need an ear? Check out The Hopeline!
https://www.thehopeline.com/CSDefault.aspx
The Blog!
http://kagayakiwashi.livejournal.com/