Anthony Tommansini, music critic of the NY Times has created a minor stir in musicological circles by seemingly giving credibility to the creation of a 'top ten' list of great composers.  Were we to take ourselves, and the exercise, less seriously, who might we add or substract to the list he comes up with, and why?


1. Bach
2. Beethoven
3. Mozart
4. Schubert
5. Debussy
6. Stravinsky
7. Brahms
8. Verdi
9. Wagner
10. Bartok


You can read about his list here 

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/23/arts/music/23composers.html?hp=&pagewanted=all

An impossible task, since these sorts of lists are always highly subjective (quite a fun exercise though!). I couldn't open the NYTimes article with registering as a user to read it properly (will do so later), so don't know what Mr Tommasini's justification is for including certain composers. My thoughts, for what they're worth follow - and bear in mind that I'm a pianist, and therefore biased towards composers of piano music!

1. Bach. Obviously. The grand-daddy of them all.
2. Haydn - father of the symphony and 'modern' sonata, influence on Beethoven
3. Mozart. Obviously.
4. Beethoven - no list of top ten composers should be without him
5. Schubert - bridges the gap between Classical and Romantic. Influence on later composers - Wagner, Mahler et al
6. Liszt - let's hope his bicentenary year offers a re-evaluation of his music and his lasting influence on those who came after him
7. Chopin - took the piano to the extreme of its (then) capabilities
8. Debussy - ditto. His influence continues to this day
9. Stravinsky
10. Bartok

It's a little disheartening to find so few Baroque composers in the list. Will be interesting to read others' thoughts on this! FRAN

Subjective as this list is, I wonder what it would have looked like if it had been compiled 100 years ago. Very similar I suspect. It would definitely have included Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Schubert and Wagner. Brahms and Verdi would probably have got a look in too. And what would a similar list look like if it was compiled 100 years in the future? Very similar as well. How depressing. Perhaps this is why we call it classical music, to go back to a different debate.
Anyway, just for the record, I agree with most of the list, although I'd remove Debussy and Bartok, and replace them with Josquin and Mahler.

I would put in Schoenberg and take out Bartok. And put in Berlioz and Liszt - so Verdi and Brahms are out. And I would list them chronologically, as one composer's work led on to another's.
But I like Tommasini's last paragraph -

'And now, in an act of contrition, I am beginning a personal project to listen nonstop to recordings of Britten, Haydn, Chopin, Monteverdi, Ligeti and those composers whom I could not squeeze in but whose music carries me through my days. '

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/jan/24/classical-composers-top-10

204 comments on the Guardian article about that list. Hmm - interesting divergences of opinions!