About this Blog
After a brief consideration of the top-100 classical composers and how they were determined, this blog series will explore roughly 500 unranked composers, beginning with a "second-100," a group who have left us a surprising amount of great music. Some of these are well-known, as in the following sample (click on the links to listen):
Jan Dismas Zelenka, a Baroque composer, sometimes called the “Czech Bach“ - Gloria, ZWV 30 (1724)
Louise Farrenc, a French early romantic composer - Symphony No.3 in G Minor, Op.36 (1847)
George Antheil, a 20th century composer who brilliantly combined jazz and classical idioms – A Jazz Symphony (1925)
The links above, like all that will appear throughout this series, should take you directly to YouTube postings of the pieces. Should you encounter a post that has been removed, you should be able to readily find a substitute on YouTube or another streaming service of your choice. Should your listening be interrupted by advertisements, a good ad-blocker should help. Listening to music and judging for yourself is worth more than a truckload of words from pundits or scholars.
The Amadeus Principle derives from the marvelously entertaining, but historically dubious film of the same name, featuring the rivalry between Mozart and Salieri, and Mozart’s overwhelming superiority. It refers to the human compulsion to compare, judge, and rank things, in this case classical composers. Applied step by step to many composers, it results in a ranked or tiered list.
Scene from the movie Amadeus, in which Mozart “improves” Salieri’s welcome march in front of the Emperor Josef 2 of Austria. FYI, the real Salieri did not write this march, or anything so banal. It was made up for the story!
The second 100 greatest composers, along with lists of runners-up, will be presented in chronological order, providing an overview of the history of Western music from the perspective of those who lived in the shadows of the better known masters. These lists were compiled, as objectively as possible, from other sources, including lists of notable composers, great women composers, underrated composers, and contemporary composers. Citations will appear like this: (A1), and will be found on a separate References page.
There will be little of my own experience, tastes, or opinions in this series, no critical or technical analyses, and no advertisements, membership solicitations, or donation requests. I do not pretend to be other than an ordinary listener – a consumer at the end of in the musical food chain. I am mostly presenting data with as little bias as possible. So take it for what it's worth.
There are more great composers than you might think! If you are intrigued, stay with me. You won’t be disappointed.
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