Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner Top 10 Lists

This is sort of a 2-part question.

1) Who are the top 10 most famous composers?

2) Make a top 10 list of your favorite composers!

Off the top of my head:
1) Mozart (no.1) Bach (no.2) Beethoven (no.3) Chopin (no.4) Debussy (no.5) Hans Zimmer (no.5...or maybe 2 for those modern music lovers) Strauss (no.6) Haydn (no.7 )Liszt (no.8) Rachmaninoff (no.9) Tchaikovsky (no.10)....:P

2) Debussy, Mozart, Ravel, Haydn................can't think of anymore, unless somebody mentions their name!

No Chopin?

Nope. Chopin's works make my fingers move too fast for me to catch up!

If you really think about what you are asking, you may well find that "most famous" and "my favourite" will be the same for many people, since they'll be judging renown on the basis of their own preferences, on their familiarity with certain composers to the exclusion of others, and on their personal musical experiences.

A singer who has spent his life steeped primarily in vocal repertoire will have a very different list of most famous from someone who has spent his life as a violinist, for example. Does that make one list more valid than another? Isn't it just personal opinion?

By what criteria are the top ten most famous composers going to be based? Presumably the most famous are those that are heard most often and that is simply a question of popularity. So the difference between the two might be hard to distinguish among certain people.

These personal opinion poll questions have been asked so many times in various guises on this forum. I can't think of any reason why you - or anyone else, for that matter - would want to know who my ten favourite composers are. I enjoy the music of many composers for different reasons, but a "top 10 list of [my] favorite composers" would be totally meaningless to anyone.

I notice that you didn't offer your two lists.

I have no idea about the first, so I will only answer the second.

At this point in time...

1. Liszt.
2. Beethoven.
3. Debussy.
4. Rachmaninoff.
5. Chopin.
6. Schumann.
7. Schubert.
8. Berlioz.
9. Brahms.
10. Scriabin.

McCartney, Lennon, Harrison, Starr, Gershwin, Bacharach, Berlin, Sondheim, Lloyd Webber, Gaga.



No thanks!

1) Byrd, J.S. Bach, C.P.E. Bach, P.D.Q. Bach, Beethoven, Berlioz, Brahms, Boulanger, Berg, Boulez, Birtwistle.

2) Wolfie

No idea about the first, but I will attempt to answer the second.

1. Bach
2. Mozart
3. Beethoven
4. Brahms
5. Schubert
6. Alkan
7. Ravel
8. Chopin
9. Busoni
10. Haydn

Favorites at the moment, subject to change without notice: Chopin, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Bach, Schumann, Schubert, Scriabin, Beethoven, Telemann, Rossini (a few of these not necessarily for piano works).

I disagree with the first paragraph because it's just not logically concrete. For example, I listen to Chopin 10x more than I listen to Mozart, but I know that Mozart is much more famous. I agree with the second paragraph BUT, we are not singers, but pianists, no? We are surrounded by classical composers. I think my first question was perfectly reasonable to ask on this forum. Plus, I really wanted to know. Again, I disagree with the third paragraph - on the same line with the first. And the fourth paragraph - I guess you think it's a meaningless question but it's interesting for me..

And since you mentioned it,

My favorite:

1) Chopin
2) Debussy
3) Mozart
4) Tchaikovsky (had to use spell check )
5) Schubert
6) Liszt
7) Schumann
8) Haydn
9) Gershwin
10) The Sherman Brothers

(this list could change because i have only recently discovered haydn)

I'll tackle the Top 10 Famous:
If you were to ask musicians and non-musicians alike, and we're talking 'classical'/'concert' music here right, and not Showtunes? - then it would be most likely that people have heard of:

1. Beethoven (the winner) - You'd have to be living under a rock not to at least have heard his name or the strains of Fur Elise, Moonlight Sonata, Ode to Joy or the Fifth Symphony drifting out of your computer/car speakers at some point in your life.
2. Mozart (close runner-up)A Little Night Music, Symphony 40, C Major Piano Sonata
3. Tchaikovsky (Nutcracker baby)
4. J.S. Bach (more known to musicians, but just play the opening of Toccata and Fugue in d minor for everyone else):)
5. Handel (although nobody would remember his name, just play the Hallelujah Chorus for 'em!)
6. Chopin (Minute Waltz)
7. Debussy (Chopin and Debussy's placement were tough calls - they could be reversed - anyway Clair de Lune anyone?)
8. Rossini (HiHo Silver!)
9. Wagner (The Valkyries are coming!)
10. Brahms (yawn, I need some sleep after making this list - someone sing me a ...)

Often it's the case where one work defines the composer's placement on the list, and even if he gets to be on the list in the first place. I think it's amusing that Tchaikovsky's ticket to fame was the work which he despised the most!

1. Beethoven
2. Mozart
3. Bach
4. Brahms
5. Schubert
6. Tchaikovsky
7. Chopin
8. Wagner
9. Schumann
10. Liszt


1. Chopin
2.Chopin
3.Chopin
4.Chopin
5.Chopin
6.Rachmaninoff
7. Beethoven
8. Dvorak
9. Brahms
10. Mahler

1)
1. John Williams
2. W.A. Mozart
3. Beethoven
4. J.S. Bach
5. Handel
6. Strauss II
7. Vivaldi
8. Chopin
9. Haydn
10. Tchaikovsky

2)
1. John Williams
2. Beethoven
3. J.S. Bach
4. W.A. Mozart
5. Handel
6. Chopin

1) Mozart
2) Beethoven
3) Brahms
4) Strauss
5) Shostakovich
6) Tchaikovsky
7) Schubert
8) Bach
9) Mahler
10) toss-up: Haydn, Mendelssohn, Dvorak, Prokofiev, Schumann, Chopin etc.

mine:
1) Chopin
2) Schubert
3) Beethoven
4) Grieg
5) Rachmaninoff
6) Debussy
7) Mozart
8) Bach
9) Schumann
10) Brahms

1. Schumann
2. Brahms
3. Prokofiev
4. Albeniz
5. Haydn
6. Schubert
7. Rachmaninoff
8. Bach
9. Sondheim
10. Beethoven