Do you have a favorite classical/orchestral music composer?

[NeutralDrow]

Even aside from the obvious (Uematsu), I have to profess a liking for Stravinsky and Tchaikovsky in particular, though I'm also fond of Holst, Copland, Mussorgsky, and quite a few people of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. I'm not usually fond of most impressionist media, but I also have to admit liking Debussy's music.

 

[traceur_]

André Rieu, hands down.

Oh dear lord I hope that is sarcasm.

I know some violin players wouldn't care less if he was hit by a train tomorrow.

Nope, his shows are actually fun. He and his orchestra are the only ones I've seen that don't look as though they have an extra bow shoved up their arse.

 

[FallenJellyDoughnut]

Metallica. Wait, what was the question?

 

[Endocrom]

Edvard Grieg, just for In the hall of the Mountain King

 

[WhiteTiger225]

In a Gaming Discussion thread about Guitar Hero a shameless threadjack on my part led to me thinking...do Escapists have favorite composers? My love of the music of Johann Strauss II is well-known and my love of Romantic Period music in general (Beethoven, Bizet, Strauss, Verdi, among others) is likewise no secret to people who know me well.

Furthermore, do Escapists' orchestral-music tastes fall into certain eras/periods of music? It'd be interesting to see if people are into Baroque (Vivaldi, Bach, Pachelbel), Classical (Mozart, Haydn), Romantic, Early Modern (Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, Shostakovich), avant-garde (Philip Glass, Brian Eno, John Cage), or Postmodern Orchestral (John Williams, Alan Silvestri) eras.

Show your cultured side here. And if you say "I liked the orchestra behind Guns N Roses when they played November Rain at the '92 Video Music Awards", I'll say "yes, that was badass, I saw it too, and Slash on top of the piano was one of the iconic moments of my youth, but you missed the point."

Sarah Brightman comes to mind.. her vocals for Beethoven's 7th is just hauntingly beautiful

 

[Wrann]

I would say Beethoven his music is amazing and he wrote his 9th when he was deaf and that is just amazing.

 

[scrambledeggs]

Yann Tiersen or Vivaldi

 

[MysticnFm]

André Rieu, hands down.

Oh dear lord I hope that is sarcasm.

I know some violin players wouldn't care less if he was hit by a train tomorrow.

Nope, his shows are actually fun. He and his orchestra are the only ones I've seen that don't look as though they have an extra bow shoved up their arse.

Yeah I can actually agree with you on that point. But there is just something about him that doesn't come off right. Also he is a little overrated as a violinist.

I suppose they are more relaxed due to the fact that they usually play to a "party" atmosphere, as opposed to a classic orchestral "sit down, shut up" kind of deal.

 

[Thaius]

Definitely Nobou Uematsu (Final Fantasy series, Lost Odyssey, Blue Dragon). Every single soundtrack of his is huge, varied, and just plain amazing: love them all, even the old 8-bit stuff.

And I just have to mention John Williams as well: Star Wars is one of the best musical scores of all time. And the rest of Williams' soundtracks come close.

 

[KedynCrow]

I've got a thing for Chopin, though I'm not sure he's often categorized as an "orchestral composer." But the things that man does with a piano...

 

[AvsJoe]

Since I haven't gone out of my way to listen to the classical stuff, I am not very enlightened. I have never heard any Bach, Strauss, Wagner, Salieri, Dvorak...

So my answer has to be Mr. John Williams and the London Symphony Orchestra. Even if his music is overplayed by a wide margin, you cannot in all honesty feel nothing when the iconic bits of his Jurassic Park theme or the Raider March kick in. I have a few other favourites from movies and games, such as Hans Zimmer and Nobuo Uematsu (sp?), but no one comes close to Mr. Williams' iconic film scores.

 

[zen5887]

I've gotta admit, I'm not that big on Classical, I mean, it sounds nice and all but it is just rigid and robotic.

Also, I know to many classical musicians who are annoying.

 

[traceur_]

André Rieu, hands down.

Oh dear lord I hope that is sarcasm.

I know some violin players wouldn't care less if he was hit by a train tomorrow.

Nope, his shows are actually fun. He and his orchestra are the only ones I've seen that don't look as though they have an extra bow shoved up their arse.

Yeah I can actually agree with you on that point. But there is just something about him that doesn't come off right. Also he is a little overrated as a violinist.

I suppose they are more relaxed due to the fact that they usually play to a "party" atmosphere, as opposed to a classic orchestral "sit down, shut up" kind of deal.

I don't think his fame is just because of his skill of a violinist, I think it does draw a bit from the party atmosphere of his shows, he sort of brings the show to the "average crowd" a bit, it helps that it looks like his group is having fun up there and not just playing while looking like they're secretly trying to lay an egg. See, I'm not that big on classical, it's nice but Andre makes it more fun and easy going.

 

[Wanderer1911]

danny elfman

 

[drakenabarion]

I've gotta admit, I'm not that big on Classical, I mean, it sounds nice and all but it is just rigid and robotic.

Also, I know to many classical musicians who are annoying.

I guess you have never heard Rachmaninoff or Tchaikovsky? Neither are very ridig.

For me, I love Chopin and Rachmaninoff.

 

[Vrex360]

Tchaikovsky, I like Beethoven and Mozart alot as well but Tchaikovsky made 'Waltz of the Flowers' my single most favourite music piece to date.

 

[L33tsauce_Marty]

Does Nightwish count? Some composers are amazing, unfortunately I haven't gotten into classical so much.

 

[Hitman 43]

My two most favourite are Mozart and Beethoven. My most favourite piece being Moonlight Sonata. A fantastic piece.

 

[zen5887]

I've gotta admit, I'm not that big on Classical, I mean, it sounds nice and all but it is just rigid and robotic.

Also, I know to many classical musicians who are annoying.

I guess you have never heard Rachmaninoff or Tchaikovsky? Neither are very ridig.

For me, I love Chopin and Rachmaninoff.

I'll be the first to admit I don't know many composers and as I said, it sounds nice, its not like I can't listen to it without covering my ears. Its just the fact that they are all reading, and the score tells them how fast, how loud and pretty much how TO play the notes.

 

[SimuLord]

Definitely Nobou Uematsu (Final Fantasy series, Lost Odyssey, Blue Dragon). Every single soundtrack of his is huge, varied, and just plain amazing: love them all, even the old 8-bit stuff.

And I just have to mention John Williams as well: Star Wars is one of the best musical scores of all time. And the rest of Williams' soundtracks come close.

I think Uematsu is the best orchestral composer alive today, but he's no Strauss.