Impressive! Who woulda thunk we had a music scholar in our midst among all the cartalk.
On Fri, Jul 29, 2011 at 3:46 PM, Benz Hogs <benz-n-h...@gulseth.net> wrote: > In pure terms of innovation during a composer's time period, I would order > (from greatest to least) them as such: Bach, Beethoven, Wagner, Mozart. I > think greatness should be evaluated mostly on how much new technique they > foster that makes an impact for many years to come. > Mozart's mature works aren't as obviously mature as they follow the same > harmonic structure and normal Classical era form rules. It's hard to put > him last based on the amount of music he wrote, but it's all similar.... > Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Mozart. > Beethoven & Wagner are similar that they expanded and created grand works > of a genre. Beethoven combined the choir with the symphony more than once > (Fantasia for Piano, Chorus, and Orchestra, Op. 80... 9th Symphony) and > Wagner used leit-motif in his opera's that expanded to 4 & 5 hours. Both > have definite differences between young works and mature works. > Bach, IMHO, has not been surpassed in his counterpoint (many composers have > tried since and NONE have equaled even Bach's modest works, let alone his > greatest: "The Art of the Fugue") and his chromatic harmony. Bach was alive > during the transition from Meantone to Equal temperment and had the luxury > of an organ in his early years that was tuned Equally, allowing him to > explore chromatic harmony that many composers didn't touch for over 100 > years. Study his 150 Cantatas (as I did this summer) and you will find many > chromatic chord progressions that boggle the mind. He also wrote a fugue > based on his own name, using the notes B-A-C-H (in modern terms B=B-flat & > H=B-natural) that are 4 neighboring half-steps. > > L, Master of Music in progress... > > Luther KB5QHU Oak Park, IL > '87 300SDL (312,xxx mi) > '91 Dodge Ram 150 (290,xxx mi) > > On 7/28/2011 11:01 AM, Donald Snook wrote: > >> astrasfogel wrote: "So is Bach the greatest? I call it a dead heat with >> Ludwig." >> >> The greatest what? The greatest composer? The greatest composer in his >> style/era? The term classical music is confusing because "Classical" is a >> style or period or era. J.S. Bach and Beethoven are in different >> eras/styles. Bach is in the Baroque era/period, it's pretty difficult to >> compare them. It would be like asking who is the greatest Sports figure? >> When the question might be who is the greatest football player? It's >> pretty hard to compare a football player and a tennis player. Likewise, it >> is difficult to compare composers from different eras/periods. >> >> So, Bach is arguably the greatest of the Baroque period/style. And >> arguably, Beethoven the greatest of the Classical period. EXCEPT, ole >> Ludwig only wrote 9 symphonies. So, I think Mozart gets the nod. Some >> people would include Beethoven in the Romantic period, but I think that is >> incorrect because his symphonies followed most of the strict formalities of >> the classical periods. He might be a transition between the two. For me, >> the greatest of the Romantic period is Wagner. >> >> >> Donald H. Snook >> ______________________________**_________ >> http://www.okiebenz.com >> For new and used parts go to www.okiebenz.com >> To search list archives >> http://www.okiebenz.com/**archive/<http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/> >> >> To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: >> http://mail.okiebenz.com/**mailman/listinfo/mercedes_**okiebenz.com<http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com> >> > > ______________________________**_________ > http://www.okiebenz.com > For new and used parts go to www.okiebenz.com > To search list archives > http://www.okiebenz.com/**archive/<http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/> > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > http://mail.okiebenz.com/**mailman/listinfo/mercedes_**okiebenz.com<http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com> > _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com For new and used parts go to www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
