RSS Feed for This PostCurrent Article

The greatest composer of them all

By Old Grumpy Guy on January 17, 2009 at 11:00 PM in OldGrumpyGuy

Finally we come to the number one spot in the series on the greatest composers of all time. There will be seven additional videos on this composer presented on my Youtube channel over the next two weeks – six devoted to his “Greatest Hits” and one to his Requiem.

Next week I will be looking at some other composers who were considered for the top ten, but didn’t quite make it. Finally, there will be a video that looks at the Emperor’s Clothing Syndrome in music, the arts and society in general.

  • stodgie

    requiem, yes a great favorite of mine!

  • shep

    Well, Old Grumpy Guy, I’d call that a Grand Finale!

    I’ve loved this series and look forward to your thoughts on the “runners-up” to the top 10 (hoping you’ll include two of my personal favorites, Chopin and Franz Liszt, among them).

    Very nicely done.

    • andrew191

      Hey, how about Rossini?

      • Old Grumpy Guy

        Rossini wrote some great pieces (“The Thieving Magpie” was a great favorite of mine as a child) but, like Puccini and Verdi, the range of his output was primarily limited to the musical stage and did not really add to the vocabulary of musical expression.

    • OldGrumpyGuy

      Not quite done yet. There are two curtain calls to come – one on the ones who were considered but didn’t quite make it, and one that looks at the “Emperror’s Clothing Syndrome” in music and in academia in general

      • socalannie

        Wonderful. Am looking forward to those. I hope you’ll have something on Aaron Copeland on it. Also, still would love to see you do something with opera.

        Thanks for a great series, OGG! Loved it, and looking forward to more of your work! Hugs!

  • Wise up

    Well now I understand why Brahms did not make your list. You were “exposed” to clasical music in the Army by “gay guys” (and no doubt took an “music appreciation course” somewhere down the line). Seriously, Vivaldi, Strauss, Wagner, Debussy and Gershwin (Gershwin!) and NOT Brahms? What poppycock! He should be 3rd or 4th.
    Goodness, Dvorak was a greater composer than about a third of your list, and that is not setting the bar very high.

    And neither Palestrina or Lasso either. It is like listening to Oprah hold forth on “literature”. What mediocre tastes you have. What thoroughly prissy, affected, lower middle class pretentious to culture.

    You know considerably less about your subject than you think you do. Do you actually know any serious musicians? Mozart as an “great innovator”? Breaking “theoretical bounds”? Not bound by “theory”? Wow. You know absolutely nothing about music theory.

    Brahms is too good for you.

    • OldGrumpyGuy

      Dvorak better than Beethoven or Mozart? I think you seriously need to see a doctor about these strange delusions.

      • OldGrumpyGuy

        And by the way, in my next video I will be explaining why Brahms didn’t make it into the top 10.

  • Cindy

    Well, since I was fortunate enough to have performed with a symphony on one of the very stages Mozart performed on, I feel a connection to him.
    He was a genius, but hey, so are you, Monsieur Grumps!
    Dare I say we might hear “Symphony in G(rumpy)” someday soon, or “Don Grumpiovanni” of “The Marriage of Grumpio”?
    Seriously, professor, thank you for all of the lovely music.

  • R2D2

    I disagree with this decision. I put Beethoven first.

    • andrew191

      Sorry R2D2, some things are obvious, and beyond reasonable debate. In various disciplines there have been indisputible paragons. Jordan in basketball, Gretzky in hockey, Ruth in baseball, Einstein in physics, Pele in soccer, Shakespeare in literature, and God in everything. Mozart is the closest thing to an Earthly God in music. Deal with it.

      • andrew191

        OGG, I fully understand what makes you grumpy when I realize what you have to put up with. I.E., morons like myself that foolishly post arguments that you are far better capable of crafting. Please excuse my petulent defense of your choice, I certainly wouldn’t want to step between you and a thorough stomping of R2D2. Go for it.

      • OldGrumpyGuy

        Go Andrew! Yay! That is so true.

        • Old Grumpy Guy

          I meant your first comment. Not the one about morons.

    • Old Grumpy Guy

      If and when you have listened to the seven videos of Mozart excerpts I will be uploading over the next two weeks on my Youtube channel, and realise the extent and depth of his output – ranging from the playful to the passionate to the dramatic to the incredibly poignant – you might feel differently.

      • AnnieO

        I’m definitely looking forward to that.

  • JozefAL

    While I’m not aware of any of Mozart’s music that topped the (pop) charts, Mozart himself was the subject of a multi-national number 1 hit, “Rock Me Amadeus” by fellow Austrian, Falco (who was, somewhat ironically, more inspired by the sounds and rhythms of rap, but obviously became inspired to record the song after seeing Milos Forman’s award winning film, Amadeus).
    The original video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0snDGTcYOyk pushed the notion of Mozart’s being the first rock superstar and the first punk musician.
    The version, though, that was most often heard on US pop stations was a “Canadian remix” which featured a mini-biography recitation. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDPg0UfXWC4
    Even though my knowledge of German is very limited, I preferred (and still do) the original version over the Canadian remix.

  • elise

    I haven’t agreed with your placement of all of the other nine, but this one makes up everything. “The Greatest of the Great”. Absolutely touched my soul. He burned bright in his short life and left an enduring legacy of beauty for us all.

    • OldGrumpyGuy

      He did indeed Elise.

  • Gary McGowan

    Thanks for this post and series. Mozart rarely fails to “stop me in my tracks” if I listen attentively. And I am neither a musician nor did I have a “musical upbringing.”

    Here are two related (to this thread and to each other) articles which some may find of interest. I’ve read the second a few times; I have yet to make the time to get beyond scanning the first, but is by far the most easily readable to the non-professional musician.

    Norbert Brainin: Founder and Primarius of the Amadeus Quartet
    http://www.schillerinstitute.org/highlite/2005/brainin_obit.html

    Mozart’s 1782-1786 Revolution in Music
    http://www.schillerinstitute.org/fid_91-96/fid_924_lar_mozart_pix.html
    (These are the illustrations, the complete article is linked at the top of the page.)

  • bert

    Well, I thought learning who would be #1 on your list would be anti-climatic since you gave excellent clues along the way and so many of us had guessed correctly. But I was wrong.

    Getting a glimpse into your psyche and soul and learning how you came to appreciate classical music and to hear you describe so well your thoughts and feelings as you listened to Mozart’s Horn Concertos was worth its weight in gold.

    For me that is the main purpose of art in all its forms – music, words, paint – is to help overcome life’s disappointments and imperfections and soar to new heights and help us realize our better selves.

    Music and all of the arts can enable us to enjoy and experience heights that our regular and ordinary lives do not normally afford us. A great piece of music or art, or a well written phrase carries me to another dimension and helps to renew and become energized again to face daily life.

    I heard some of that in your description of the first time you listened to Mozart’s Horn Concertos.

    I think we will all need to rely on art during the next four years of an Obama administration to help us through. I know I will.

    Thanks for a great series and I am hearting your you tube channel to visit often and help me through and even enjoy the next four years.

    • Old Grumpy Guy

      And thanks for a wonderful comment Bert. I think NQ should sign you up as a regular writer. You are very eloquent.

      • bert

        Thank you for the lovely compliment, Old Grumpy Guy.

  • mountainaires

    That was a brilliant way to start my Sunday, Old Grumpy Guy. Thank you so much! You’ve motivated me to dig out my Mozart and have a re-listen today. I do have a special place in my heart for Beethoven, though! :-)

  • Katmoon

    My first introduction to classical music, by my gay father was Mozart. I am not sure if that was the influence which led Mozart to be my favorite, but he set the standard for my young ears. Great choice for number one, and thank you Grumpy for this whole series, it helped me to be more mindful of what fills my soul, not what breaks my heart.

    • Old Grumpy Guy

      They say gay fathers often make for very caring and loving parents. Was that the case with you Katmoon?

      • Katmoon

        He is the best father, sweet, gentle and kind, and also firm, serious morals, and very, very intuitive. I count him as one of my two best friends. Yes, gay parents are wonderful, speaking from the experience and during a time when it was very difficult for him to come out. My father and his friends
        (affectionately known as the “Aunties”), taught me a great deal about patience and tolerance.

  • oowawa

    Congratulations on a greatest “of all time” list very well done, Old Grumpy Guy. For the most part, I concur with your picks, and agree that Mozart probably edges Beethoven, though I’m not sure about Bach. My own list would be much more eccentric, but mainly in an effort to rattle some cages. I appreciate that you have a responsibility to spread culture to the heathens on the periphery of civilization, and I applaud your diligence in this endeavor.

    My personal fave Mozart is the 40th Symphony, in which I think he was truly pushing the envelope.

    Now if you really want to see your viewers and readers go for the jugular with each other and with you, try a “Greatest Rock and Rollers of All Time” list. Genuine scholars deeply familiar with this topic, and ready to defend their opinions unto death, lurk in every hidden cranny of the world.

    I’ll be looking forward to the “wrap up!”

  • Katmoon

    Great idea oowawa; I can see some on the list already, by group or by artist? Eric Clapton, The Who, or Pete Townshend, Pink Floyd, Dave Gilmore, Led Zeppelin, Blue Oyster Cult, Doobie Brothers, ZZ Top…. so many!

    • oowawa

      Your choices have already got me excited, Katmoon. And then we get into the first generation: Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, Jerry Lee Lewis–and of course that kid from Mississippi. I’d better stop now. Hail! Hail! Rock N Roll!

      • OldGrumpyGuy

        You sound pretty chirpy today, oowawa. And complimentary too. Wow.

      • OldGrumpyGuy

        The first ever record I bought at the age of 9 or 10 was “Hound Dog” by the kid from Tupelo. But I soon got bored with him in favor of Little Richard, Fats Domino (I found my thrill on Blueberry Hill, Saturday Morning etc) and Jerry Lee Lewis, but I never liked Chuck Berry. He was too much of what in England is called a “spiv” – an oily, unsavory lowlife. Of course Jerry Lee was not exactly a poster boy for civilized behavior, but he could sure tinkle them ivories

  • Katmoon

    Is that BB King from Mississippi? I also thought of other 2nd generation, Stevie Ray Vaughan, George Thorogood, The Doors. Bill Haley, Buddy Holly, Carl Perkins. So cool!

    • oowawa

      LOL Katmoon, I was thinking of that Mississippi boy who is buried at Graceland in Tennessee; and I would put Buddy & Carl in the first generation of rockers, but I’m already derailing the serious import of this thread, and so now I’m really really going to shut up.

  • Katmoon

    I digressed as well, my apologies Grumpy; yet if not for these classical composers, we would not have other music to reflect on and have serious joy about!

    • Old Grumpy Guy

      What about the Rolling Stones, often dubbed the “greatest rock ‘n roll band in the world”? Like the Beatles, they had two excellent songwriters who worked well as a team. I would not really classify the Beatles as a rock ‘n roll band, otherwise I would put them at number 1. It was quite sad how both Paul McCartney and John Lennon became so kitsch after the Beatles split up. But together they produced some wonderful music (with a little help from George Martin).

  • Katmoon

    Yes,Yes, The Rolling Stones, Jefferson Airplane (Grace slick the siren), I agree about the Beatles, however love John’s writing, and George Harrison’s guitar work. Neil Young, Canned Heat, Eric Clapton (oops is that a repeat teehee) of course Jimi Hendrix, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Alice Cooper, Doobie Brothers, Allman Brothers, Lynard Skynard, Tom Petty, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Ike and Tina,
    Cream, the Yardbirds, The Kinks, The Hollies, Santana(cross-over).

  • Tricia Spiegel

    You are SO good, Grumpy. This was a great series.

    • Old Grumpy Guy

      Thanks Tricia

  • NomNomNom

    Thx, OGG, for this great series! It was a real pleasure to listen to the videos and think about your reasons for the ordering.
    Hope you have many more music themed articles.
    :smile:

  • http://sonicninjakitty.wordpress.com Sonic Ninja Kitty

    Dear OGG, Thank you for the incredible thought, time and talent you put into this series. I enjoyed every note!

    • Old Grumpy Guy

      thanks for the thanks

  • AnnieO

    AWESOME, as usual!

  • Query

    Hello, OGG. What was that beautiful piece of music that closes out your Mozart segment of the Greatest Composers? Ir begins at 8:02 of 9:57 on the YouTube Time Counter.

  • http://community.icontact.com/users/antivirusa cleonricht
  • shiro maguro

    I’m sorry OGG, but Beethoven’s powerful Mass in C – Kyrie, Fur Elise, the Adagio Cantabile from Sonata 8 “Pathetique” — and Bach’s Goldberg Variations and the Brandenburgs, especially numbers 2 and 3, eclipse anything by Mozzie.  Beethoven had something Mozart could only imitate:  Emotional content.  It’s also known that Mozart worshipped Bach’s compositions and incorporated a lot of contrapuntal rhythms in his later work.  I’m glad you learned about music from two gay guys.  (Does it mean they are more qualified to critique classical music because you had to distinguish them as gay??  That’s strange.)  I worked for a lawyer who was a Ph.D. in musicology as well, and he agreed with me:  Bach and Beeethoven were the best.  If it ain’t baroque, don’t fix it.  But I enjoyed your comments nonetheless.

  • Some dude

    Lol. 
    I see your point about not having Brahms on the list. 
    But seriously. Have you never ever heard Mozart?