# Your favourite composer if you had to name just one



## dcoscina (Jun 26, 2013)

Tough choice I know but who would you choose as far as one who has influenced your writing, captivated your interest in learning their canon and just sounds great to your ears? For me, it was Mahler for a good portion of the '90s with Prokofiev just a little bit behind. Now it is actually Prokofiev. Ever since I head Alexander Nevsky and Ivan the Terrible, I've been a huge fan of his music. His Third Symphony is underrated in my opinion as is his 4th Symphony that is derived from his Prodigal Son. This 2nd Piano Concerto last mvmt is still astonishingly virtuosic while his Romeo & Juliet never ceased to move me (I've seen it staged twice- the music is brilliant). Prokofiev's music always had a sly wit about it. And his piano writing is some pretty difficult stuff as there are some parallel 11ths that only the biggest pianists hands can reach (he stood 6ft 3 and only Rachmaninov was taller at 6ft 6)

For film composers, yes I know this is cheating a bit, hands down John Williams. It used to be a tie between him and Goldsmith but I like far more Willliams scores than Goldsmith. Not that I can write anywhere close to him!


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## EastWest Lurker (Jun 26, 2013)

You are asking 2 different questions: who I loved most years ago and who influenced me most, vs. who I love most now,


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## Studio E (Jun 26, 2013)

Not that I'm qualified in what is "good", but Danny Elfman just floats my boat. Edward Scissorhands, Charolette's Web, and Frankenweenie are some of my all time favorite scores by far. No apologies from me on that.


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## mark812 (Jun 26, 2013)

Classical: Maurice Ravel. 

Film music: Hans Zimmer, followed closely by James Horner & Michael Giacchino.


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## dcoscina (Jun 26, 2013)

EastWest Lurker @ Wed Jun 26 said:


> You are asking 2 different questions: who I loved most years ago and who influenced me most, vs. who I love most now,



Who would you say just off the cuff if someone said "hey Jay who's your favorite composer?"


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## dcoscina (Jun 26, 2013)

Studio E @ Wed Jun 26 said:


> Not that I'm qualified in what is "good", but Danny Elfman just floats my boat. Edward Scissorhands, Charolette's Web, and Frankenweenie are some of my all time favorite scores by far. No apologies from me on that.



No conditions on who you like. "Good" is a subjective term anyhow. What is good for you might not be for someone else. 

I enjoy a ton of Elfman scores too.


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## dcoscina (Jun 26, 2013)

mark812 @ Wed Jun 26 said:


> Classical: Maurice Ravel.
> 
> Film music: Hans Zimmer, followed closely by James Horner & Michael Giacchino.



Ravel's Pavane for a Dead Princess is one of the loveliest melodies ever composed. Should have been played during Princess Diana's memorial service IMO.


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## dinerdog (Jun 26, 2013)

Well, the one who made me sit up and say "I want to do that" was Thomas Newman after seeing "The Man With One Red Shoe" (I know, I'm OLD) and him for most of the years gone by, however for sheer variety, brilliance, range and overall "I can't wait to hear what he does next" it would have to be Christophe Beck today.


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## EastWest Lurker (Jun 26, 2013)

dcoscina @ Wed Jun 26 said:


> EastWest Lurker @ Wed Jun 26 said:
> 
> 
> > You are asking 2 different questions: who I loved most years ago and who influenced me most, vs. who I love most now,
> ...



I would ask Pop, Rock Film or Classical. The answers would be Burt Bacharach, The Beatles, Goldsmith, and Mozart.


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## germancomponist (Jun 26, 2013)

What a question.

If only one, the Ennio Morricone. But there is also Bernard Herrmann and ..... .


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## impressions (Jun 26, 2013)

Lame I know. Tchaikovsky just is king for me.


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## Guy Bacos (Jun 26, 2013)

impressions @ Wed Jun 26 said:


> Lame I know. Tchaikovsky just is king for me.



Not lame. He is the king! (Well after Elvis)


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## Farkle (Jun 26, 2013)

I'll follow dscocina's "Who's your favorite composer?", and answer off the cuff.

Classical? Maurice Ravel. His Daphnis and Chloe is masterful. His main theme to the concerto for the left hand brings tears to my eyes. Often gets overshadowed by Debussy in film scoring circles, which is a shame. He's a guru.

Film? Jerry Goldsmith. The man is a titan, and could do it all. And his themes are so tight and muscular. (Honorable mention to A Silvestri, J Williams, and E Bernstein). 

Rock? No two ways about it. Rush. Yes, they're a band, but they've influenced me since I was 9 years old. I got to meet them this summer, so that bucket list item is chalked off! 

So those are my answers, David! 

Mike


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## Tanuj Tiku (Jun 26, 2013)

It is hard to name just one composer but I have long phases of me just listening to one or two composer's work for countless hours. It has reduced in the last two years as I get less time because I am writing so much more these days.

This is strictly Film music of course. But, classical music or concert music is always going on. 

John Williams's music changed my life. That's how I got pulled into orchestral music as a kid. I would watch Superman over and over again. While all the kids were dancing and singing bollywood songs or listening to Michael Jackson, I was always humming the superman march and providing a score for everything I used to do - thank god that has stopped since I now get to do it professionally! 

For me its always been three interests. I guess, that could sum it all - Music, Technology and Cinema. 

Films are a place where all of these areas meet at a multi-disciplinary level. 

Early on it was John Williams and I guess even though I do not write in his style (cannot), his music has moved me on an emotional level and I just like almost everything he has ever written. It is a strange connection (addiction) to his music. Sometimes, I may not like a few cues from other composers but Williams's music always speaks to me personally - all his scores, even all the recent ones. 

As great as the early ones as far as I am concerned. 

And the last 10 years of Mr. Zimmers work has inspired me tremendously. It might be strange to some that on the one hand I adore John Williams so much and then Hans Zimmer (both composers work being so different) but once again its the bridge between music and technology. 

I like both at the same time. 

I deeply admire what Hans has achieved with the new instrument of our time - the computer. His vision and advancements in the use of technology and the thought that goes behind his melodies, concepts and very different orchestration (including non-orchestral elements) is really a great joy to listen to. 

As I studied electroacoustic music and got exposed to film music at the same time, it was a strange world of Zimmer and Williams colliding at the same time and lighting my brain up.

In between there were wild adventures of listening into countless other classical and concert works that have moved me deeply too. 

I guess, I am too inexperienced and young to the music world to name just one. Danny Elfman has been a great influence. Bernard Herrmann and Korngold - tremendous works. 

And then there is Mozart, Beethoven, Ravel, Debussy, and Prokofiev - I absolutely adore Prokofiev's work - just not from this planet whatsoever! 

Sorry I am just going on about so many composers but its just difficult to imagine a world without all these guys and I am sure I am missing a few of them still!


Tanuj.


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## EastWest Lurker (Jun 26, 2013)

Guy Bacos @ Wed Jun 26 said:


> impressions @ Wed Jun 26 said:
> 
> 
> > Lame I know. Tchaikovsky just is king for me.
> ...



He is a king of orchestration and melodies, but emotionally, rather vapid IMHO.

_(Jay ducks for cover.)_


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## Farkle (Jun 26, 2013)

EastWest Lurker @ Wed Jun 26 said:


> Guy Bacos @ Wed Jun 26 said:
> 
> 
> > impressions @ Wed Jun 26 said:
> ...



Good thing I'm on the other side of the country, Jay, I'd be a-comin' for you!! 

Blasphemy!! 

Mike


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## EastWest Lurker (Jun 26, 2013)

I guess I have just had to sit through too many performances of "The Nutcracker" and "Swan Lake".


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## Christof (Jun 26, 2013)

In chronological order:
Bach-Mozart-Brahms-Shostakovich-Williams-Jarrett-Queen-Bach


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## Farkle (Jun 26, 2013)

EastWest Lurker @ Wed Jun 26 said:


> I guess I have just had to sit through too many performances of "The Nutcracker" and "Swan Lake".



Fair enough, Jay. Try the 4th and 5th Symphonies, especially 4th Symphony, 1st and 2nd movement. The opening melody in the Oboe in the 2nd movement is gorgeous, and then the second answering theme in the strings will make you weep. 

Mike


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## passenger57 (Jun 26, 2013)

The guy in my avatar of course.


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## Guy Bacos (Jun 26, 2013)

EastWest Lurker @ Wed Jun 26 said:


> Guy Bacos @ Wed Jun 26 said:
> 
> 
> > impressions @ Wed Jun 26 said:
> ...



Yes, the "IMHO" is important here.


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## Guy Bacos (Jun 26, 2013)

EastWest Lurker @ Wed Jun 26 said:


> Guy Bacos @ Wed Jun 26 said:
> 
> 
> > impressions @ Wed Jun 26 said:
> ...



Yes, the "IMHO" is important here.


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## givemenoughrope (Jun 26, 2013)

For non-film music, I really don't know. There is too much to choose from and too many pieces that everyone seems to know backwards and forwards that I am only discovering; be the late beethoven quartets or scriabin. Used to be into Shostakovich quite a bit but then I heard Bartok and kind fazed out of that a bit...

For film music, it's absolutely Ennio Morricone. All eras from the truly epic to the spine-tingling and the saccharine. He is really his own genre of music, much much more than whistles and reverbed-out guitars with flat-wound strings... His 'microcell' approach is always interesting. His use of improv and rock instrumentation sounds as great as 70s miles Davis. Too many great themes to count. the orchestra seems to melt iron in his hands. 

There is some impossible universe where Jerry Goldsmith adapts his themes to the score...I dunno...


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## Ron Snijders (Jun 26, 2013)

Going to go with the 'lame' people and say Tchaikovsky  I just can't seem to find any work of his that I dislike. Starting to love Mozart more and more as well. But I've only recently began listening more actively to classical music (though a few hours of Classic FM during work every day surely add up, and help in discovering music I would never have found on my own), so I don't have all that much to reference.


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## EastWest Lurker (Jun 26, 2013)

Farkle @ Wed Jun 26 said:


> EastWest Lurker @ Wed Jun 26 said:
> 
> 
> > I guess I have just had to sit through too many performances of "The Nutcracker" and "Swan Lake".
> ...



It does make me weep but perhaps not for the same reasons. 

To be fair, I am not a big Romantic period guy. That music as a whole wears its heart on it sleeve a little too much for my taste. I prefer Brahms to Tchaikovsky greatly, because he understood restraint a bit better.


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## Guy Bacos (Jun 26, 2013)

I don't think it's a question of Brahms understanding to restrain better than Tchaikovsky, because that the side I and so many people love about him. He can bring you in another world so easily.


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## EastWest Lurker (Jun 26, 2013)

Guy Bacos @ Wed Jun 26 said:


> I don't think it's a question of Brahms understanding to restrain better than Tchaikovsky, because that the side I and so many people love about him. He can bring you in another world so easily.



But Brahms never seems syrupy or sloppily sentimental to me in the way that Tchaikovsky does, but maybe it is just my reaction.


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## passenger57 (Jun 26, 2013)

"I have played over the music of that scoundrel Brahms. What a giftless bastard!"

-Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky


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## passenger57 (Jun 26, 2013)

> To be fair, I am not a big Romantic period guy. That music as a whole wears its heart on it sleeve a little too much for my taste. I prefer Brahms to Tchaikovsky greatly, because he understood restraint a bit better.



Listen to the late works of Liszt. No syrup there. Just cold hard stark reality. No wonder Kubrick used this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYKl41e_hoU


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## EastWest Lurker (Jun 26, 2013)

passenger57 @ Wed Jun 26 said:


> "I have played over the music of that scoundrel Brahms. What a giftless bastard!"
> 
> -Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky



Now I feel less guilty knocking Tchaikovsky

There is IMHO...IMHO...IMHO... more genuine sentiment in Brahms Requiem alone than the best moments of Pyotr's entire oeuvre.


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## Guy Bacos (Jun 26, 2013)

EastWest Lurker @ Wed Jun 26 said:


> Guy Bacos @ Wed Jun 26 said:
> 
> 
> > I don't think it's a question of Brahms understanding to restrain better than Tchaikovsky, because that the side I and so many people love about him. He can bring you in another world so easily.
> ...



They are both giants. Personally I think this syrupy or cheesy description is way over rated. But in the end it comes down to what you are more sensitive to.


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## passenger57 (Jun 26, 2013)

The war of the romantics is actually a very interesting story. They had manifestos, took sides, had completely different interpretations of Beethoven's legacy.

Basically it was Wagner/Liszt (the modernists) vs Brahms, Schumann (the traditionalists)


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## EastWest Lurker (Jun 26, 2013)

passenger57 @ Wed Jun 26 said:


> The war of the romantics is actually a very interesting story. They had manifestos, took sides, had completely different interpretations of Beethoven's legacy.
> 
> Basically it was Wagner/Liszt (the modernists) vs Brahms, Schumann (the traditionalists)



Where do you place Tchaikovsky in that spectrum? Just curious.


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## Jetzer (Jun 26, 2013)

I have limited experience with classical music and older film scores, but I'm catching up. 

If I had to make a choice, NOW, I would choose Beethoven.
Film music would be Hans Zimmer. Lion King being the first movie I ever saw in the cinema, which had a bit of an impact on me  

Ask me again next year and it could be different, because I'm still in discovering-mode...

If a piano would be the only instrument left after a Apocalypse, and the works of one composer could be saved, I would choose Chopin


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## Markus Kohlprath (Jun 26, 2013)

For me all the mentioned above certainly.
But one who somehow seems not so popular but wrote some of the music that still moves me most is Bruckner. Especially the 2nd movement of the 5th symphony. Which again doesn´t seem to be his most popular symphony- to me is one of the greatest pieces of music ever written. Especially in the interpretation of Günther Wand.
If you ever walked through the alps of austria and took a deep breath there in the woods to me it´s what that music is all about.
My 2 cents just that he is not forgotten in the list.


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## Ned Bouhalassa (Jun 26, 2013)

3, for 3 eras: Herrmann, Goldsmith, Zimmer.


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## Musicologo (Jun 26, 2013)

Erik Satie. (Makes sense, non?


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## TSU (Jun 26, 2013)

deleted


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## AlexRuger (Jun 26, 2013)

In terms of concert music...Shostakovich will always be my guy. Every note he writes is gold and just shakes me to the core.

I'm also a huge fan of Penderecki, Kilar, and Ravel.

In terms of film music: right now the two most intriguing guys on the scene, IMO, are Jonny Greenwood and Nathan Johnson. I also really, really dig Alexandre Desplat. 

But the more and more I learn about film scoring, the more and more I do it, the more I realize that John Williams is just the absolute master. Everything he does is brilliant, and time and time again he blows me away. I can listen to Jurassic Park a million times and realize a million new things.

On a different note: same with the Beatles, but in terms of songwriting as opposed to film scoring. It's funny...you tend to start out listening to a genre's respective giants, move away from them, and then return with a new-found perspective and humility.


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## mark812 (Jun 26, 2013)

This is perfection as well imho:


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## Guy Bacos (Jun 26, 2013)

Just listen to this, one of the most uplifting piece I know, and then those beautiful contrasts and colours. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwZF0JIRFqA

(BTW, unrelated story. A few days ago I had this dream where I somehow took an engagement to play Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No 1 in concert with live orchestra. 
The day came of the concert and I realized I hadn't practiced it at all and couldn't remember most of the 2nd mov. So I wanted to ask the conductor if it's ok if we'd skip the 2nd mov. Glad I woke up!! )


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## jleckie (Jun 26, 2013)

Thats easy peasey. Jerry Goldsmith.


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## EastWest Lurker (Jun 26, 2013)

Musicologo @ Wed Jun 26 said:


> Erik Satie. (Makes sense, non?



Non. Of Les Six, Poulenc by a landslide with Honneger second.


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## Ryan Scully (Jun 26, 2013)

I'll go outside the grain a bit here and say Augustin Barrios Mangore.

He was an instrument specific composer(classical guitar) and I name him because he was the most influential composer to me on a number of levels. His depth of melody and harmonic language are practically unrivaled on the guitar and his music taught me more about my instrument than I could have ever hoped to learn elsewhere..



Ryan :D


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## Kralc (Jun 26, 2013)

John Williams, his scores are pretty much my childhood. And nostalgia always wins.


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## EthanStoller (Jun 26, 2013)

If I had to name just one? Duke Ellington. His gift for harmonies combined with his innovative use of timbre sets him apart for me. Andre Previn's famous quote sums it up pretty well:



Andre Previn said:


> Stan Kenton can stand in front of a thousand fiddles and a thousand brass and make a dramatic gesture and every studio arranger can nod his head and say, 'Oh, yes, that's done like this.' But Duke merely lifts a finger, three horns make a sound, and I don't know what it is.



His writing kept evolving for over 40 years, always welcoming new ideas while maintaining a healthy respect for tradition. And he wrote some great pop tunes to boot.

Was he the "greatest" composer who ever lived? Maybe not. My vote there would be for Beethoven. But yeah, Ellington is my favorite.


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## Arbee (Jun 26, 2013)

Can only get as far as two - Beethoven and Ravel.


.


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## dcoscina (Jun 26, 2013)

mark812 @ Wed Jun 26 said:


> This is perfection as well imho:




Wow I haven't listened to the Rach piano concerto 2 in ages. What a lovely work. Thanks for posting.


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## Darthmorphling (Jun 26, 2013)

I am really having a hard time with this. I have tried to post a reply several times today and just couldn't pick one.

Concert music: Mahler or Stravinski. Though I will be looking up some of the names mentioned here.

Film: Williams, but I find myself listening to a lot more hybrid composers lately.

Metal: James Hetfield. The man can write a riff.


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## Scrianinoff (Jun 26, 2013)

My heart's favourite: Rachmaninov
My mind's favourite: Scriabin

But you already knew, looking at my user name here.

The rest of my top 10 is very close to the top positions however. I am not at all a fanboy of either two, I just worship and adore them, that's all.

Oh, and by the way, 'our own' Guy Bacos is in my top 10 list too, yes, I believe he's that good.


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## impressions (Jun 26, 2013)

EastWest Lurker @ Wed Jun 26 said:


> Guy Bacos @ Wed Jun 26 said:
> 
> 
> > impressions @ Wed Jun 26 said:
> ...



just to opposite to me , i actually find his orchestration good but not that unique, his emotional statement is very powerful to me ,The way his melodies contrast to orchestration and structure. but I'm a sucker for romance(6th symphony? chillingly good).
in terms of melodies grieg kicks everyone ass in his peer gynt, but that's about it, so it it almost counts. I think he reached that certain level that bach got in some of his pieces. regarding bach, i think of him like charlie parker, very advanced and shines in very certain places. the other places they can be too "calculated" and without any breathing. but that's due to experimentation probably.


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## Nick Batzdorf (Jun 26, 2013)

The correct answer is Stravinsky.


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## Goran (Jun 26, 2013)

Of the well known, at the moment, Schumann. Of the lesser known, at the moment, Draeseke (this 2nd Symphony of his I'm just listening to is a masterly work, especially with the disturbingly ominous "alla marcia" 2nd movement).


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## MikeH (Jun 27, 2013)

John Williams. But followed oh-so-very closely by Bernard Herrmann and John Barry.


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## wlotz (Jun 27, 2013)

Brian Hans Tyler-Zimmer :mrgreen:


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## ghostnote (Jun 27, 2013)

Yeah, it's really tough.

Classic: Hard to choose between _Chopin_ and _Beethoven_. I grew up wíth Beethoven, but Chopin is the one who keeps fascinating me. Here's a great example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOH-Px9sshM (love that part at 5:40 btw).
Rock/Pop: _Jimmy Page_.
Gamemusic: _Jeremy Soule_ (reverb to 80% and Horns at 127 HA! , but I love his sense for melodies)
Film: I really don't want to sound like a kiss-ass, but yeah... _Hans_. His writing is simple yet effective. He wants to dig deeper with his music. Thanks for your music and inspiration Hans.
Trailermusic: _Nick and Jay_. I think I don't have to explain why.


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## SymphonicSamples (Jun 27, 2013)

Ludwig Van Wagner-kovich 

It's like taking the most beautiful women in history and asking who's number one . You can't help but love them all .


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## jlb (Jun 27, 2013)

Beethoven

JLB


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## Guy Bacos (Jun 27, 2013)

Nick Batzdorf @ Thu Jun 27 said:


> The correct answer is Stravinsky.



So close, sorry, the answer we were looking for is Tchaikovsky. Better luck next time.


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## nikolas (Jun 27, 2013)

Just look in the mirror you guys! ^_^


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## EastWest Lurker (Jun 27, 2013)

Guy Bacos @ Thu Jun 27 said:


> Nick Batzdorf @ Thu Jun 27 said:
> 
> 
> > The correct answer is Stravinsky.
> ...



I have a funny story about this.

My best friend is the film/tv composer David Michael Frank and he is a huge Tchaikovsky fan, while I greatly prefer Stravinsky. The night before my daughter was born, he and I and our wives went to the Hollywood Bowl and coincidentally Stravinsky and Tchaikovsky were both on the program.

During the Stravinsky piece, my daughter _really_ started to kick in utero. My take was that the music greatly excited her. David's take was that she was saying, "Get to the Tchaikovsky already."


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## Nick Batzdorf (Jun 27, 2013)

The LA Phil had - maybe still has - a series of concerts called Toyota Symphonies for Youth. They were $10, and of course they were great (because it was the Phil, and they played most of what they were playing in the $100000000 concert that weekend).

We started going while my wife was pregnant, and our daughter kicked when....sorry if I'm upsetting your romantic story....the bass drum was loud.


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## Consona (Jun 27, 2013)

Kralc @ Thu Jun 27 said:


> And nostalgia always wins.


 :lol: QFT


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## TGV (Jun 27, 2013)

I've got three favorite composers: JS Bach, JS Bach, and JS Bach. You should be able to deduce my academic background from that.

But it's not someone I strive to emulate. Neither do e.g. Schubert and Brahms, although I hold them in very high regard too. Composers that I would like to have a bit of are Mahler, Ravel, Shostakovich, Poulenc, Copland and Monteverdi (and an enormous list of slightly lesser gods such as Wagner, (Richard) Strauss, Telemann, Gershwin, Korngold, Braunfels, etc.).

In film music, I admire what's now old school: Hermann and Williams being two different peaks, and in song writing Randy Newman.


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## Sasje (Jun 29, 2013)

Thomas Tallis. (1505 - 1585)

Then: Guillaume Dufay & Johannes Ockeghem are my favorites.

Thomas Tallis - Spem in Alium: Motet for 40 voices.


How's that for counterpoint, Mr. Bach?


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## rgames (Jun 29, 2013)

Mahler never gets enough love around here - only one mention in two pages.

Given that so many people are into film music on this board I find it hard to believe he doesn't come up more often. Mahler's symphonies are some of the best fodder for inspiration when it comes to writing orchestral music to picture. Pick an emotion: he's got it in spades.

After Mahler it's Beethoven for orchestral work. For chamber music I prefer Debussy. Never been a huge Mozart fan except for the late symphonies and clarinet concerto.

And then, of course, there's Bach. The problem with Bach is that his influence has become so pervasive that it's hard to understand there was a time when it didn't exist.

rgames


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## TGV (Jun 29, 2013)

rgames @ Sat Jun 29 said:


> Never been a huge Mozart fan except for the late symphonies and clarinet concerto.


I forgot about Mozart and Haydn! Big fan of both, except for ... Mozart's symphonies! Although the late ones are ok, and there is a movement in 31 that I really like, to me his talent is much clearer in other works: concertos, masses, operas, piano and chamber music. Le cœur triste, l'esprit gai, which I personally (and this is pretty subjective) interpret as: outer movements cheerful, inner movement reflecting and compassionate. If you play or listen to K280 in this way, life will never be the same.

BTW, if you read carefully, or use the Find function, you'll find three mentions of Mahler. For me, he is the epitome of Romantic music. But not only does he have all the emotions, his orchestration is fantastic. Did you ever hear the "distant orchestra" live?


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## jlb (Jun 29, 2013)

No one is going to have a bust of Jerry Goldsmith, Hermann etc, or any of these composers on their desk in two hundred years time. But I have my bronze bust of Beethoven next to my monitor, because Beethoven got as close to perfection as any composer I have ever heard.

Listen to the first couple of minutes of this, its beautiful simplicity makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. You have to just admit, none of us could ever get close to this, that includes Hans, John Williams, all the top guys, and I'm sure they know it.

I am going to Vienna sometime just to visit Beethovens grave.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSeg69d3CQ8

JLB


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## ThomasL (Jun 29, 2013)

Right now and film? I got to say Desplat. Can't get enough of "Coco" right now...


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## Steve Steele (Jun 29, 2013)

dcoscina @ Wed Jun 26 said:


> mark812 @ Wed Jun 26 said:
> 
> 
> > Classical: Maurice Ravel.
> ...



Although, Debussy and Satie said it was a "mistake". Ravel later agreed. Actually I love it. It was the very first piece of classical music I ever fell in love with. Followed by Debussy's La cathédrale engloutie.


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## Steve Steele (Jun 29, 2013)

Classical - Debussy

Film (currently) - James Newton Howard


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## Daniel James (Jun 29, 2013)

Harry Gregson-Williams.

Reason I do what I do 

-DJ


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## EastWest Lurker (Jun 29, 2013)

Daniel James @ Sat Jun 29 said:


> Harry Gregson-Williams.
> 
> Reason I do what I do
> 
> -DJ



Hey, don't blame Harry for that!


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## passenger57 (Jun 29, 2013)

Currently for me: Nick Cave & Warren Ellis. More intimate. I'm kinda burned out on huge epic orchestral scores right now.


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## Daniel James (Jun 29, 2013)

EastWest Lurker @ Sat Jun 29 said:


> Daniel James @ Sat Jun 29 said:
> 
> 
> > Harry Gregson-Williams.
> ...



God dammit Jay.  

-DJ


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## EastWest Lurker (Jun 29, 2013)

Daniel James @ Sat Jun 29 said:


> EastWest Lurker @ Sat Jun 29 said:
> 
> 
> > Daniel James @ Sat Jun 29 said:
> ...



You should know better than to hang that slow curveball right over the plate with me  

Just having some fun wit ya, D.


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## antoniopandrade (Jun 29, 2013)

If it's just one I would have to say Maria Schneider. 

Her music made me want to write music.


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## RobertPeetersPiano (Jun 30, 2013)

I would say Harry Gregson Williams. 

I just love his scores!


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## olajideparis (Jun 30, 2013)

Richard Wagner


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## DaddyO (Jul 4, 2013)

Hands down Sergei Rachmaninoff (his Piano Concerto No. 2 is what got me hooked on classical music in 1972). Or is it Beethoven, or Brahms?


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## Guy Bacos (Jul 4, 2013)

Bach No 1 and very close behind John Cage.


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## KEnK (Jul 4, 2013)

Bach
Ellington (glad to see I'm not the only one)
Herrmann

Classically speaking, I have a growing admiration for both Mahler and Brahms.
But nobody has ever gotten near Bach as far as profound melody. 

Ellington was/is in a class by himself. 

Herrmann- seemed to have a huge impact on the way film music went.
You can practically draw a line pre/post Herrmann.
Personally, he had a huge impact on my musical thinking- and not just for film music.

If I have to name one though, it would be Ellington.
Just because of how much joy I get out of his music.

k


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## MackComposer (Jul 4, 2013)

Ok, I'm just going to go forward and say that Koji Kondo has been my influence for many years. I grew up playing Super Mario and Legend of Zelda. I was very impressed with the score for the Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. Koji and his team are doing some awesome things!  So, Koji Kondo has to be my favorite composer!


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## Ned Bouhalassa (Jul 4, 2013)

Guy Bacos @ 4/7/2013 said:


> Bach No 1 and very close behind John Cage.



Cage + Guy? Seriously? If it's not a joke, I say a big BRAVO! One of the most fascinating minds of the previous century. I loved his book, Silence.


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## Evan Gamble (Jul 4, 2013)

Mahler


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## Chriss Ons (Jul 4, 2013)

_Name just one?_ I'm having a hard time narrowing it down to 10. In chronological order:

Johannes Ockeghem
Josquin Des Prez
Tomás Luis De Victoria
Henry Purcell
Johann Sebastian Bach
Ludwig Van Beethoven
Maurice Ravel
Béla Bartók
Igor Stravinsky
Dmitri Shostakovich


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