Classical composers. Who for you are the best?

I put Tchaikovsky in my 2nd group that didn't quite make my Top 5. That was almost a mention.

its hard to believe Tchaikovsky has't been mentioned one of my favourites...also Holst....Rachmaninov....Grieg...Mozart...plus many more....i wonder how many peole watching TV realise how much classical music is used for TV commercials and background atmospher music in films and plays i do wonder why the music used is never mentioned in the TV credits.Lillian

Did anyone mention John Ireland in the lists above? (British, 1879-1962)

I heard some of his Downland Suite the other day and loved it. Also some piano music. I've never heard of him before.

What's more my much loved Rough Guide to Classical Music also hasn't heard of him. Just a bit later on the radio I heard some Enescu (Romania, 1881-1955) - who I have heard of, but the Rough Guide doesn't list him either! Shame, when two of us were saying above how much we like and recommend the book. Hmmm..... Still like it though - for most composers!

I love youtube, you can find just about anything on there. Of course I did start getting sucked into Leadbelly and Ma Rainey as well

Deeda feetlebaum Just look at this Satchmo and then Velma Middleton. Isn't she wonderful?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqujvTl5zns

Ah perhaps it was! I remember we went on the tube but the actual destination passed me by. I've always remembered Velma Middleton, yards of fabric and tiny feet flashing about underneath! I didn't know much about it before I went but my father was quite clear that it was a historic occasion and he was absolutely right!!

@Deedaa "Talking of jazz can I just mention that I saw Louis Armstrong play (I think at Wembley) when I was 10? It normally gets people fairly jealous."

Revolving stage? One legged tap-dancr (Pegleg Bates)? Velma Middleton, like a pink barrage balloon?

I thought that was at Wembley, too, but learned recently it was at Olympia.
I was, I think, 16 at the time, and it was the first time an American jazz band had played this country for many years, owing to the Musicians' Union and the American Federation of Musicians, blast their collective eyes.

I was floating for days after...

I've just rediscovered 'Solemn Melody' by Walford Davies. There's a version played on the cello by Julian Lloyd Webber on Youtube. I think it's such a beautiful tune.

Yes Hunt I like madrigals. I wish I were a competent enough singer to sing them with others. Listening to them makes me feel I am wrapped around in Tudor and Elizabethan times - a kind of transport to the past.

My cd player has stopped working and I'm having a 'fit of the vapours'. Don't know if I've done something to scramble it, but have just realised how much it's worth and how much it's going to cost to replace. Do they just stop working after so many years?

Louis Armstrong I'm jealous. But I did see Duke Ellington when I was at Uni.

Byrd, Dowland, Purcell, Warlock, Britten. Anyone else out there like Madrigals?

It was a golden age of BBC programmes, I think. GBH and A Very Peculiar Practice [filmed, I think, at Salford University where my ex husband did his post grad stuff] spring to mind. Bleasdale and Stephen Poliakoff [well, his earlier stuff].

Didn't know about Alan Plater! He was one of the best writers for television. Talking of jazz can I just mention that I saw Louis Armstrong play (I think at Wembley) when I was 10? It normally gets people fairly jealous.

Or not, as the case may be

The two leads were excellent and the writing was a treat! Sadly Alan Plater, who wrote it, passed away not long ago. A real loss.

Back to the Classical Music OP.....

I find that people who refer to the other half as the S.O. are ones who used to watch it. Actually bought the set of dvd's a while back as I so wanted to see it again, but, thus far haven't got round to doing so. It was a brilliant series though; quite ground breaking I think.

crimson wow that was a long time ago! Answer is Yes. I like early jazz (Beiderbecke and others), was that why you asked?

Did you used to watch the Beiderbecke Tapes, isthis?

isthis I envy you the Dowland CD. I also like counter-tenors especially with
Early music.
The Boyan male voice choir from Ukraine do a UK tour every autumn and always visit Bristol.Some years they have a male soprano. The sound he makes is spine-tingling -as is the sound of the deepest basses.
Look out for them if they come anywhere near you.

You lot! I've splashed out £2.50 today on a Dowland CD (2nd hand, I'm glad to say. And I did preview it beforehand, sounds pretty good. Andreas Scholl. I have a bit of a thing for counter-tenors).

I'd better like it, or you're all in for the high-jump. Er ..... not sure how

It's like a time machine, is it not? The 'trouble' being that's why I live in Miss Havisham's house [there are quite a few of us, self confessed Miss Havishams on here; get ready for a 'I'm Spartacus moment'].....

crimson In what way "trouble is"?? Sounds educative bliss to me!

I love utube; it was awful when my sound stopped working. Trouble is, you can disappear for days on utube..one thing leads to another. Music, old horse races [they did stop those for a while but they're creeping back on again, thank goodness].

crimson, on the same subject, I recommend youtube for extracts from almost any composer you can think of. If you explore, you will soon find music you'd like to follow up. Good hunting! The Zipoli mentioned above is a good example.

I had to Google Zipoli, grannieannie66, because the name is new to me. I am now listening to this www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMTMAoRceJY. Thanks for the tip.