jho@ihuxn.UUCP (Yosi Hoshen) (12/10/84)
This is an interim survey report on the question: Who is your favorite composer? If you have not responded, feel free to send me your response. (Please try to come with one name only.) Next week, I will repost again. Hopefully I will get more responses. The following table tabulates preferences of 30 net.music.classical respondents. --------------------------------------------------------- Composer Votes ======== ===== Bach J.S (1685-1750) 7 Beethoven (1770-1827) 5 Mozart (1756-1791) 4 Vivaldi (1678-1741) 2 Bartok (1881-1945) 1 Brahms (1833-1897) 1 Debussy (1862-1918) 1 Chopin (1810-1849) 1 Hovhaness A. (1911- ) 1 Koonce P. (*) 1 Mahler (1860-1911) 1 Scarlatti D. (1685-1757) 1 Zappa F. (?) 1 Uncommitted (**) 3 ----------------------------------------------------------------- *Paul Koonce, graduate student of composition and Computer Music at the University of California, San Diego (La Jolla). ** Thoses netters who could not come with one favorite composer. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Observations: 1. At this point J. S. Bach seems to be the winner in the net.music classical poll. 2. The 18 century seems to be the most popular century among the net.music.classical readers. 3. Twenty century composers do not appear to be very popular in this news group. 4. The supporters of J.S. Bach are very firm. Supporters of Beethoven and Mozart were less committed to their preferred composer. Quite a few of them said that this is their current favorite, but that they may switch in the future. I guess, we may use the term floating voter for these respondents. -- Yosi Hoshen, Bell Laboratories Naperville, Illinois, (312)-979-7321, Mail: ihnp4!ihuxn!jho
jeffw@tekecs.UUCP (Jeff Winslow) (12/11/84)
Don't draw too many conclusions from the "favorite composer" poll. I have
a feeling the largest category is "no response".
Personally, I don't see how anyone can have a "favorite" composer. I have
loved Debussy and Mahler for many years now, but I think I was 18 the last
time I thought of them as my favorite composers.
Jeff Winslowmarcus@pyuxt.UUCP (M. G. Hand) (12/12/84)
In connection (or connexion as the paper I am about to mention frequently
spelled it) with JS Bach being very "firmly" some peoples favorite, I
recall some discussion from the pages of the Times (London).
It was well know to readers that the columnist Bernard Levin (of "I think
I can fit at least 100 more words into this sentence" fame) was besotted
with Wagner, particularly the operas of the ring cycle. Several other
columnists sparred with him periodically about this and his dismissal
of J. S. Bach, until eventually someone claimed to have discovered the
reason. It was, he claimed, because Levin was tone deaf - Wagner's
complexity was mistaken for musicallity and Bach's syncopation and
counterpoint were not recognised by the listener concerned!
Maybe, there is an analogous but opposite effect in operation here.
--
Marcus Hand {ihnp4!}pyuxt!marcusrjw@ptsfc.UUCP (Rod Williams) (12/13/84)
> Observations: > > 2. The 18 century seems to be the most popular century among > the net.music.classical readers. > 3. Twenty century composers do not appear to be very popular in > this news group. > -- > > Yosi Hoshen, Bell Laboratories Now wait just a minute! When introducing this poll, you said: > "Who is your favorite composer?...please try to come up with one > name only". It's then quite a leap of imagination to decide from our responses that we prefer 18th Century music to 20th Century music! It was tough enough to come up with one composer, since my own musical preference can change hourly depending on mood, time of day, lunar phase... But, honoring your request, I gritted my teeth and plumped for Mozart, since I can usually find something of his that is *just right* for the moment. But that is NOT to say that I don't adore Stravinsky, Prokoviev, Shostakovich, Hindemith, Debussy, Ravel, Poulenc, Schuman, Copland, Ives, Bernstein, Schoenberg, Strauss, Rachmaninoff, Carter, Tippett, Webern, Takemitsu, Boulez...I think I've made my point. (Flame off :-)) But I guess I'd put Bach #2, Beethoven #3, Chopin... -- Rod Williams dual!ptsfa!ptsfc!rjw
jho@ihuxn.UUCP (Yosi Hoshen) (12/13/84)
Jeff Winslow writes: >Don't draw too many conclusions from the "favorite composer" poll. I have >a feeling the largest category is "no response". > >Personally, I don't see how anyone can have a "favorite" composer. I have >loved Debussy and Mahler for many years now, but I think I was 18 the last >time I thought of them as my favorite composers. I began to like classical music at the age of 11. My favorite composer at that time had been Mozart. In high school, I became more interested in the music of Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms, Bach, etc. In recent years, I have acquired a taste for Wagner's music. Although many years have gone by, Mozart is still my favorite. From the responses I received, many people seem to have favorite composers. It is true that many people have more than one favorite. (Therefore, I feel that my pole is somewhat unfair.) -- Yosi Hoshen, Bell Laboratories Naperville, Illinois, (312)-979-7321, Mail: ihnp4!ihuxn!jho
jlg@lanl.ARPA (12/13/84)
How would you define 'favorite composer'? Is he the composer that wrote the piece which is you current favorite? Is he the composer of the music that is most represented in your record collection? I think I would have to define 'favorite composer' experimentally. Suppose that any composer in history could write just one more piece, which would you pick? (This would be biased against prolific composers whose works were similar.) Then, suppose two concerts were held the same night featuring the works of different composers, which would you attend? (You have to do this one pairwise for all composers.) I don't know. I'd have difficulty choosing, whichever definition was selected.
jho@ihuxn.UUCP (Yosi Hoshen) (12/16/84)
>How would you define 'favorite composer'? Is he the composer that >wrote the piece which is you current favorite? Is he the composer >of the music that is most represented in your record collection? > >I think I would have to define 'favorite composer' experimentally. >Suppose that any composer in history could write just one more piece, >which would you pick? (This would be biased against prolific composers >whose works were similar.) Then, suppose two concerts were held the >same night featuring the works of different composers, which would >you attend? (You have to do this one pairwise for all composers.) When I posed this question, I expected every respondent to define it for himself/herself. The responses indicated that different people had different criteria for selecting their favorite composer. -- Yosi Hoshen, Bell Laboratories Naperville, Illinois, (312)-979-7321, Mail: ihnp4!ihuxn!jho