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And so to Number 2 in the list of the Greatest Composers Ever

By Old Grumpy Guy on January 10, 2009 at 11:49 PM in Humor, OldGrumpyGuy

As many people guessed, the composer at number 2 in the list of the greatest composers of all time is Ludwig von Beethoven.

The composer at number one will be revealed next Friday, but I am sure that many will already have guessed who that is.

A two-DVD set of the complete series, in wide screen high definition and with additional material, is now available from my website.

After that there will be a video on some of the composers who were considered for the Top Ten but didn’t quite make it.

  • Tricia Spiegel

    Wonderful!

    • Dawnelle

      YES MOZART WILL BE NUMBER ONE!!!

      my choice too!!

      ur so clever Grumpy! Thanks and thanks to your understanding wifey! All you geniiii
      lol

      • Dawnelle

        oh ps.

        I would have bumped Vivaldi way up personally.

        jmo ;-)

        • OldGrumpyGuy

          But then you would have been wrong Dawnelle. I’m right. Some people have outrageously claimed that I only picked my personal favourites. That is not true. If that was the case I would have included Brahms, Prokofiev, Aaron Copland (whom I discuss in a later video on other composers who were considered for the Top Ten) and others. Also, I am not a great Wagner fan (although I like some of his work) but I had to include him because of his influence.

          • Dawnelle

            ur my “favourite” Brit so

            what ever you say – okie dokie!

            heh

            • Old Grumpy Guy

              thanks

          • socalannie

            I love Copeland & agree with you about Wagner.

  • http://deleted Buzz Latte LaRue

    Bravo!!

    Thank-you for another foray into civility and culture. I will never be able to listen to Beethoven with the same uninspired ear again. Indeed, the senses must come into play when listening to Fur Elise and Moonlight Sonata.

    We’ll be enjoying him with our coffee in the morning.

    Again, thanks OGG.

  • Zeke

    Have followed with great enjoyment…
    Just personal preference here, but I’d have only swapped your top two!
    Thanks

  • JozefAL

    Hmph! How you could mention Beethoven without including a mention of Charles Schulz is utterly reprehensible (perhaps your being English might excuse the oversight).
    YouTube has this example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXOjSzJ4YKQ
    and this one:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toyLQzd8HrY&feature=related
    and this long one (Schroeder’s part is basically done about the 5:30 mark):
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJZclaUKCQo&feature=related
    and, there’s this classic (not much Beethoven content–it’s right at the start–but still fantastic):
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ie0lJ1QCHZ4&feature=related

    Plus, Schulz made Beethoven’s birthday a regular feature of the strip. Some of the better strips feature Schroeder, starting around December 1, carrying a sign “counting down” the number of days to Beethoven’s birthday, and there was one strip where Charlie Brown asks Schroeder, somewhat off-handedly, how his “Beethoven’s Birthday” went, and Schroeder, looking very horrified, admits he forgot.

    Aside from Charles Schulz, the other major thing you overlooked was that Beethoven was, during the rock era, the only composer to reach #1 on the pop charts in the US, courtesy of Walter Murphy’s disco/pop hit “A Fifth of Beethoven”. (A number of pop hits have been based on classical pieces and reached the upper reaches of the chart, but “Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony” is the only one to have been the basis for a #1 hit.)
    Here’s that song (keeping with the animation theme, it features Mickey Mouse) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8XnON3rCU4
    (Incidentally, Murphy, who is a trained classical and jazz musician, spends much of his time as the composer for the TV series, “Family Guy”.)

    • OldGrumpyGuy

      You are right. It was very remiss of me, particularly as I have been a lifelong Peanuts fan.

  • socalannie

    Beautiful! Love this series! Am glad that you are doing more material on others after No. 1. Wonderful job OGG!!!

  • andrew191

    As many times as I’ve listened to the 9th symphony, I still can’t get through the 4th movement without tearing up. At this point it may be merely a Pavlovian response, but it still resets my dial, and brings the type of order into my life that only exceptional music can inspire. I look forward to your #1 choice (Brian Wilson), for further inspiration. That was a joke(sort of), as you don’t strike me as a “Beach Boys” fan, but you’ve shown some signs of an open attitude.

    • OldGrumpyGuy

      Brian Wilson? What about Frank Zappa?

      • andrew191

        FZ was very prolific, but I thought you had already justifiably eliminated him because of the ridiculous names he gave his children.

        • Old Grumpy Guy

          Maybe it was just a smokescreen to fool the viewers. Did you think of that?

    • oowawa

      you don’t strike me as a “Beach Boys” fan, but you’ve shown some signs of an open attitude.

      I have found that there is but a thin line between “signs of an open attitude” and “contemptuous disdain.” (If I knew how to do a smiley face, I’d put one here, OGG)

  • wodiej

    excellent GOM…thank you.

    • wodiej

      sorry meant GOG…Grumpy Old Guy

      • OldGrumpyGuy

        actually it’s Old Grumpy Guy (OGG). Sigh.

        • oowawa

          Old Grumpy Guy (OGG) was a good choice for a blogname. I mean, someone with less foresight might have chosen Unpleasant Grumpy Guy (UGG), or Haughty Old Grump (HOG). Not nearly as dignified.

          Ludwig Van was a good choice at #2, IMO. I can’t wait for #1, when I’m sure the maligned Tchaikovsky will finally receive the proper respect due him. Or will you throw us a curve ball, or a googly, or whatever the heck you guys call a tricky pitch over the pond, and pick yet another dude whose native tongue was German??? We’ll see.

          • OldGrumpyGuy

            (Another sigh). Really oowawa, you must try to get a grip. Tchaikovsky produced some sweet music (I will not insult him by using the word “sugary”), but was not exactly the most original composer. He added little to the vocabulary of musical expression apart from a few cannon blasts in the 1812. Also, the depth and range of his output was limited, unlike the other composers in the top ten.

            • oowawa

              Have you considered the implicit sexism in consistently choosing composers of the Fatherland over composers from the Motherland?

              Anyway, I’m sorry your posting had to compete against the thread “You Know You’re an Obot If . . . ” It’s like trying to carry on a synchronized swimming performance when there’s blood in the water and the sharks are in the midst of a feeding frenzy.

              • OldGrumpyGuy

                Indeed

  • bert

    Thank you for this ninth installment of your wonderful series of the ten greatest composers. Beethoven’s music has always moved me. And now I know why. His music is full of feeling and emotion and is a full body sensual experience. (I interpreted your words my way.)

    After a long day of driving on our nation’s by-ways, highways, and interstates nothing relaxes me more than a long soak in a tub of hot water listening to Moonlight Sonata, followed by a glass of good Chablis.

    That is a very touching story about Beethoven at the end of the premier of his Ninth (another of my favorite pieces of classical music) and had to be physically turned around to see the reception as he could not hear the tumultuous applause.

    I look forward to Friday and to learning more about Mozart. It is Mozart, isn’t it??????

    Lastly, I loved the glimpse of YGG in this your ninth installment of the ten greatest composers.

    • OldGrumpyGuy

      It COULD be Mozart. But of course we musn’t forget Frank Zappa.

  • JulieD

    OGG-

    Lovely. Thank you for sharing.

  • Steve_in_KC

    Excellent series, OGG, and I applaud your analyses!

    Personally, I would have Beethoven at #1, but that would be because of my own personal preference for his music. I’m sure Mozart will be your #1 choice, and I know your reasoning will be valid.

    As for myself, also a composer of little note, I feel deep personal aching at the very idea of Beethoven’s deafness, his not being able to actually hear his own works performed. When I compose music, it is often done in my head, before I ever sit down at an instrument to play what I have been hearing in my mind. So I understand how he did so, in a practical sense, while empathizing deeply with the frustration and anguish he must have felt. The very fact that he was able to compose and conduct a work as magnificent and glorious as his Ninth Symphony with the incredible Fourth Movement (the chorale rendition of Ode To Joy), make him #1 in my book.

    Thanks again for presenting and sharing your compilation of insights with us here at NQ.

    • OldGrumpyGuy

      I think his Ninth Symphony is definitely one of the greatest musical works ever created (though some of those who prefer a more precise mathematical framework to their music may not agree), and the fact that he only ever got to hear it inside his own head is indeed very sad. But there are a number of works by the number one composer that I would rank alongside it.

      • oowawa

        But there are a number of works by the number one composer that I would rank alongside it.

        No fair “ranking alongside!” You have to settle this “best of all time” thing once and for all. I mean, do you really think Amadeus and Ludwig would like to see their greatest works sharing the gold medal? I’m glad I don’t have to make the decision.

        • OldGrumpyGuy

          Ignoring oowawa completely, I would also rank Haydn’s “The Creation” alongside Beethoven’s Ninth. It was a ground-breaking work that had a big influence on Mozart and Beethoven and all the other composers who followed

          • oowawa

            Yikes. I think I’ll just slouch back into the shadows (until next week).

            • Old Grumpy Guy

              in the shadows, waiting to pounce like a ferocious tiger (or should that be puma?)

  • Marty

    Just my opinion:

    Gershwin does not belong to this list. I like Gershwin, but he’s not nearly on the level of the other composers in the top 10. What about Chopin? I would also remove Debussy and Strauss and replace them with Tchaikovsky and Dvořák.

    Mozart is definitely No.1!!

    • OldGrumpyGuy

      Chopin’s output was limited in its depth range, as was Tchaikovsky’s. As I said above, Tchaikovsky produced some sweet music (I will not insult him by using the word “sugary”), but was not exactly the most original composer. He added little to the vocabulary of musical expression apart from a few cannon blasts in the 1812. Apart from the New World, which in itself was not a groundbreaking work, Dvořák produced little else of note. Debussy, Richard Strauss and Gershwin were true originals who extended musical expression in a way the people you mention did not even come close to. You cannot even begin to compare Chopin, Tchaikovsky and Dvořák to the composers I have ranked in the top ten, whose originality was matched by the depth and the range of their catalogue.

      • Marty

        Admittedly I am not an expert on the post early-Romantic era so I will not argue your points. I based my opinion on “popular” consensus. I personally find Debussy, Tchaikovsky and Dvořák uninspiring, except for a few exceptions. That may just be my biased towards the Baroque and Classical eras.

        I like most of the other choices however!

        One last comment: I think the contribution made between Bach and Mozart-Haydn was exponential. Beethoven added much to Music in terms of expression, depth and character of musical ideas. But to form and structure he added little (to the developments of Mozart and Haydn) to the symphony (perhaps excluding the extension of the coda as an almost 2nd development), string quartet, concerto or sonata.

        • OldGrumpyGuy

          I think he added a dramatic element to the platform provided by Haydn and Mozart, as well as a majesty that owed something to Handel. But in general I agree with you.