Most influential musician in history (2nd ver.)

[Ron Ofir]

I think he meant "first one to write concertos optimised for orchestras", Then again, Bach wrote suites for orchestras, and I'm he's not the first one too. That, and I don't really know what concerto for orchestra means (I think Bartok has one?).

[fundrazor]

Vivaldi, Albinoni, Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Stamitz, Hummel, Weber, Beethoven, Chopin, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Liszt .... need I go on?

[Will Kirk]

Even though this poll is quite biased I am very surprised that neither Paganini nor Liszt made it in the list. They were some of the most inspiring or perspiring (is that the right word?) musicians of their time

[reith]

Originally Posted by Will Kirk

Even though this poll is quite biased I am very surprised that neither Paganini nor Liszt made it in the list. They were some of the most inspiring or perspiring (is that the right word?) musicians of their time

I surely agree about Liszt. Brushing common perceptions aside he was as good as the inventor of chromatic harmony - let's face it, he taught Wagner whose harmonising changed abruptly after visiting Liszt and who therefore reaches into Debussy and the French school. Liszt also lifted pianism to a new level. No previous studies and exercises prepared one for Liszt. Chopin might be in the same bracket pianistically but was lesser influence.

[Will Kirk]

Originally Posted by reith

I surely agree about Liszt. Brushing common perceptions aside he was as good as the inventor of chromatic harmony - let's face it, he taught Wagner whose harmonising changed abruptly after visiting Liszt and who therefore reaches into Debussy and the French school. Liszt also lifted pianism to a new level. No previous studies and exercises prepared one for Liszt. Chopin might be in the same bracket pianistically but was lesser influence.

Perhaps but there's no surefire way to compare the two, some will say Liszt, some will say Chopin. Opinions are subjective

[Peter Bolton]

I'm not sure that I would vote for Peri, even though he did write the first opera. Viewed from today, we can see more influence the further back we look and it not really possible to assess the influence of contemporaries (unless you possess a crystal ball). As you suggest Bach (JS), I will go along with him but curiously he was scarcely known outside of Germany in his day.

[Peter Bolton]

Originally Posted by reith

I surely agree about Liszt. Brushing common perceptions aside he was as good as the inventor of chromatic harmony - let's face it, he taught Wagner whose harmonising changed abruptly after visiting Liszt and who therefore reaches into Debussy and the French school. Liszt also lifted pianism to a new level. No previous studies and exercises prepared one for Liszt. Chopin might be in the same bracket pianistically but was lesser influence.

Whilst I agree with the advances made in pianism, I question some of the other claims made for Liszt. For one thing, his symphonic poems were presaged by Mendelssohn's overtures, which are in effect tone poems. If you want to find advanced chromatic harmony you can find it in Fanny Mendelssohn to name one and she precedes Liszt.

[somtow]

A list that excludes Mozart is a bit pointless. Mozart's influence pervades even every pop song. Why? The idea of music being composed in parallel sections, in question and answer, in 2,4, 8 bar sections that balance each other out, was not a fundamental principle of music until the classical period. The incredible "memorability" of Mozart's music was what imposed classical form on music and moulded its basic structures for the next two and a half centuries.

[Thorolf]

^ Good point! Highly agreed! (Even if Mozart’s music doesn’t interrest me much per se… )



Regards

[Ron Ofir]

A list that excludes Mozart is a bit pointless. Mozart's influence pervades even every pop song. Why? The idea of music being composed in parallel sections, in question and answer, in 2,4, 8 bar sections that balance each other out, was not a fundamental principle of music until the classical period. The incredible "memorability" of Mozart's music was what imposed classical form on music and moulded its basic structures for the next two and a half centuries.

I didn't know any of that, I've always thought that question and answer origins in Blues! One thing though, what do you mean by composing using parallel sections?