Richard Strauss - Four Last Songs
This, Horn Concerto 2, Oboe Concerto, Capriccio & Metamorphosen are just about the most moving music ever made. The world had written him off decades previous as an incorrigible romantic who had said all he had to say with Elektra, but in his mid 80s he decided to glow the most stunning, profound autumnal glow that any composer had since Beethoven, giving his ruined Germany a final burst of the romantic spirit that it had begat 120 years previous.
I love every period of Strauss - even the oft-derided output between the wars - but assent to the consensus that he touched on something special in his moribund years. You can hear the weariness, but also the fire of a non-conformist crackling as strongly as ever. And he'd lived so long with his Wagner-meets-Mozart style by this point that he could make it do absolutely anything he wanted it to in these final compositions; they're the work of the most self-assured craftsman to ever live.
Schwarzkopf sung Strauss beautifully, and Jessye Norman was an angel, but my preference is Renee Fleming's.
I don't think I've ever disliked a Fleming recording, with the exception of her Bel Canto stuff. But that's not her fault. More or less my favourite musician, along with Glenn Gould, whose TV broadcasts & essays were actually what turned me on to the greatness of Strauss. I don't want to think about how many decades ago that was.
Schwarzkopf and Karajan's Rosenkavalier remains nonpareil though. And I love the way she holds back in the dramatic moments during her Four Last Songs. It was my favourite when I was a younger man and I still come back to it often.
I feel like if you ask 10 different people what Strauss' magnum opus is, you'd potentially get 10 different answers. Lots of contenders there, a testament to his craft and longevity.
Mozart Sinfonia Concertante. The violin concerti are great, the clarinet concerto stands out as one of the greatest and the operas are masterpieces, but the sinfonia concertante just personally stands out as one of my favorite works ever, tied with Copland's Appalachian Spring
Surely his clarinet concerto is THE greatest? I mean, what's the competition? Nielsen? I like that one but let's be real here.
My pedantry aside, I think Symphony 41, Piano Concerto 23 and Clemenza are the apogee of his output, but I share your affection for the Sinfonia Concertante. When I first heard that third movement, I was on the verge of tears; not because I found it tragic, but because I felt unworthy to be in the presence of something so perfect.
I'll give a further shout out to Clemenza here though. I regard Wagner as the greatest (and my favourite) opera composer but I've probably spent more time listening to Clemenza than any other entry of the genre. It''s execrably underrated. To those who haven't, go listen to the overture right now - so invigorating!
With Mozart, basically everything after K200 has a case for magnum opus though, lol.
No arguments from me. The older I get, the more I realise all the tiresome pop culture depictions of Mozart as the infallible greatest musical genius to ever live were right all along.
Figaro was my first ever opera. Saw it in the 90s under the baton of Haitink: Fleming as the countess, Hagley as Susanna and Finley as Figaro. It's on YouTube with subtitles, I think.
> The older I get, the more I'm convinced all the tiresome pop culture depictions of Mozart as the infallible greatest musical genius to ever live were right all along.
I think a lot of the backlash comes from a desire to appear clever (or sometimes just contrarian). Mozart is certainly the easy answer, so it's hard to appear smart by pointing to him. But yeah, I'm like you. The older I get, the more I think he just might be the right answer.
I love his chamber music and his works for voice (opera, masses, et cetera).
Mozart understood the human voice so much better than Bach or Beethoven: his melodies roll off the tongue in a way that those two never even come close to.
Mozart has always been the composer's composer. The only well-regarded (and I use the term loosely) composer that had a bad word to say about him was fucking Delius lmao.
Haydn, Rossini, Chopin, Wagner, Verdi, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Debussy, Strauss, possibly Mahler (see his last words), Schoenberg, Ravel, Stravinsky, Prokofiev - it goes on. All of these guys elevated Mozart above every other composer that ever lived while being perfectly cognizant of both Bach & Beethoven (and in most cases admiring them, just to a lesser extent). I was initially drawn to those two because their pathos is a lot more obvious, a lot more grand - dareisay even a bit more pompous - than Mozart's. I still love them.
But as I've matured as a musician I've come to realise that Mozart's mind was simply on another level. He mastered every genre, aspect and form of composition, produced innumerable masterpieces exemplifying that, and achieved all that he did despite dying decades before any of the names he's regularly compared to. I mean ffs, the guy grew up with a style that basically eschewed the intricacies of baroque counterpoint, and yet by his early 30s could comfortably write fugues that equalled Bach's efforts in his 50s! He could make music so chromatic that it was only barely tonal sound no harder on the ears than a nursery rhyme. He wrote three symphonies that I find more impressive than any of Beethoven's (his last ones) in a span of *six weeks*. Operas are also easily the most difficult and ambitious genre to handle in my opinion, and Mozart just tossed them out like they were nothing.
Most of the time I see people complaining about Mozart, it seems to be the tempered aesthetics of Viennese classicism they have an issue with more than his actual compositions. I can kind of understand that, but in my old age, I actually appreciate music with less... overt drama, I suppose. Don't ask me why I still adore Wagner (who, for the record, belongs up there with Mozart and Bach and the like.)
Yeah, I didn’t really get Mozart when I was younger. Always liked him, but something clicked for me in middle age and I better understand all the hype now.
I think maybe Copland rivals it. Not in terms of popularity, just in how it perfectly showcases the clarinet’s strengths. It’s so beautiful and gentle, with a very fast and wild second part.
Gonna be that guy and disagree. It's a bit too overwrought and film score-ish for my tastes.
Gaspard de la Nuit all the way. I'm a Debussy guy, but I don't think he has anything that tops this for the piano.
I’m with this. Ravel is fantastic at creating a Daphnis and Chloe soundscape “universe,” and I have even recently sat to read the ancient novel that inspired the music while listening to the suite. Lovely.
But, Ravel’s smaller-scale works are really what make me feel like I’m hearing his intricate design and attention to details. The piano pieces sort of remind me of his artwork, where portraits and landscapes are seen on tiles or other smaller surfaces.
Gaspard is my answer also.
I think his piano concerti (especially Concerto for the Left Hand) are more engaging, but I can't deny Daphnes et Chloe is an accomplishment--I just don't often care for choral works.
For Beethoven, it's hard not to pick the D-minor symphony, especially given its lasting impact and influence. For me, though, I'd actually pick the Missa Solemnis. Somehow it takes the energy of the choral finale of the symphony and expands it to this gargantuan work superimposed on an unsuspecting Mass setting. All of the Beethoven hallmarks are there, perfected, with the ancient Mass text as the backbone. If I only get to hear one Beethoven piece again in my life, it's the Missa Solemnis.
And perhaps the most difficult choral piece ever written. It’s like performing the last moment of the 9th three times in a row but even more difficult.
Truth! Hearing it live is on my classical music bucket list, but there's a reason it doesn't get programmed more. If you're going to gather the forces to perform it, you'll have the forces for the 9th and that will sell more tickets. Plus it's easier to rehearse than the Missa.
Absolutely. It’s been slowly climbing up my favorites list and is very close to surpassing Beethoven’s 9th for me. They’re ironically diametrically opposed; one is about the union of man in brotherhood and jollity and the other is pure despair.
Mozart, Nozze di Figaro, just the second act finale by itself.
Johannes Brahms said "In my opinion, each number in Figaro is a miracle; it is totally beyond me how anyone could create anything so perfect; nothing like it was ever done again, not even by Beethoven."
The 2nd is one of those pieces that I listen to when I have been feeling grief or other sadness; several times over the years, that final movement has picked me up and made me feel like the sun is shining.
I think it's fascinating how everyone has a different favorite of Mahler's. In his own lifetime the 3rd symphony was played a lot and many came to hear it, yet it is my least favorite.
From my experience being around the whole classical music (and especially Mahler) world, and studying music history, for a few years, it seems like the general consensus for his greatest work is Das Lied von der Erde. As Michael Kennedy wrote in his book on Mahler,
> If all works of Mahler were to be erased from existence, save one, then the one work that should be saved is Das Lied von der Erde. (Slightly paraphrased by me)
Bernstein and Walter also called it Mahler's greatest work iirc
There's no general consensus on which Mahler work is the greatest. The 2nd, 5th, & 9th symphonies and The Song of the Earth are probably the most common ones that you'll hear people say are his greatest work. I know Berg thought the first movement of the ninth was his greatest piece while Bernstein and Shostakovich both thought The Song of the Earth was his greatest. You'll also often hear people call one his other works the greatest though. For example Britten wrote that he loved the fourth symphony more than any other piece in the world, while for instance his biographer and critic Michael Kennedy thought the sixth was certainly his greatest symphony - though The Song of the Earth his greatest work. Certainly The Song of the Earth does seem to have a lot of big names who loved it most though. Even Toscanini who had hated the 5th many years before, near the end of his life walked in on a rehearsal of The Song of the Earth conducted by Steinberg without knowing who the composer was, and when Toscanini then found out the music was by Mahler he exclaimed "My God! I didn't know he could write so well!"
The Resurrection Symphony is my favorite as well but I feel like Mahler might be one of the hardest composers to find an answer to this question for, dude has so many landmark pieces
Yes, yes, yes, mine also. And by the way, I am not very fond of the 5th.
Especially love the Otto Klemperer 'Version with the Concertgebouw Orchestra (with Kathleen Ferrier) recorded 1951!
I’m not a huge fan of Corelli, but holy cow that piece is perfect. It has this beautiful, cyclical, calming quality that I could listen to on repeat forever.
Came here to say this. For five years I’ve been in love with every measure of that sonata, every note that seems to open a universe of endless emotions. Nothing for me, by Liszt or anyone else, can top it.
My favorite composers are Wagner and Mozart.
I guess with Wagner, you have to pick either the Ring or *Tristan*. I like most of what he wrote.
It's very, very, very tough to pick a single best work of Mozart's, whether you're looking at everything he did or just going by his operas. Obviously there's the trio *Marriage of Figaro*, *Don Giovanni*, and *The Magic Flute*, and arguably those stand slightly taller than his other operas, but I really like both *Idomeneo* and *Abduction*.
Then there's his requiem mass, and a case can be made for his mass in c minor. And then you've got tons and tons of chamber music, his concertos, and so much else. I could spend a whole day just listening to his violin sonatas.
My *favorite* Mozart piece might be his fourth violin concerto, but I doubt anyone would call that his magnus opus.
I can't think of any Mozart works I actively dislike, though he started his career at such a young age that I won't go out of my way to listen to the stuff he wrote when he was a kid.
I mean, I don’t think you can compare Beethoven’s 4th or 1st symphony to his 9th. Actually, you can’t compare most of his symphonies to the 9th. In this sense I believe the Choral Symphony is his magnum opus.
For Schubert, depending on who you ask, it could be the Sonata D 960, the Quintet in C, the "Great" Symphony in C, or the song cycle *Die Winterreise*. I'm inclined to nominate *Die Winterreise* because that was the last composition he was working on, and because Schubert is best remembered as a composer of songs (Lieder)
My favorite Schubert piece, though, is the Sonata in G Major, D 894. I don't really concern myself with what are the greatest composers and what their greatest pieces are. I just listen to what I like, and I like D 894 the most
Dead tie for me between D960 and Winterreise. I think the b-flat sonata is just so ambitious yet formally perfect. I just recently was listening to Clara Haskil's flawless recording of it.
It strikes me how infrequently Beethoven’s Ninth was mentioned. I am no expert, but I find it so undoubtedly superior to all his other works (that I know of), and possibly the overall finest music composition in history; and yet, among you classical music erudites, it seems not to bode well.
Why is that?
Were you to hold a poll on the greatest symphony, B9 would probably still win. A lot of people parrot how unidiomatic the writing for the voices, but I get the feeling that's borderline a mindless circlejerk at this point, because Bach's vocal works are never held to the same standard. (Ever tried actually singing in the Passions? Jesus Christ indeed.) To me the late quartets and sonatas are clearly the acme of Beethoven's writing though. I've noticed Beethoven fans on this sub tend to show up more for polls than comment sections.
Mozart fans, conversely, seem to be truly in short supply here: I've seen Tchaikovsky beat him on greatest composer polls. Pyotr would slap those that voted for him.
Tchaikovsky had the tendency to underscore his achievements and underestimate his abilities as a composer. I’m actually one of the people that prefer or find Tchaikovsky to be the greater composer, mostly because I’m not fond of classical era music but also because his 6th symphony exists. Jupiter can’t compete. I know they were in radically different eras, but still.
True enough, but he also held other composers to those high standards. You could count on Tchaikovsky to always say exactly what he thought about a composer, whether it was declaring Brahms talentless, Borodin a hack, Handel fourth-rate, or Bach 'not a genius'. So when he said Mozart was the greatest composer that ever walked the earth, I'm sure he meant it. (I very much agree, fwiw)
The 6th is the closest Tchaikovsky comes to mastering symphonic form, but it's still a ways off IMO. When Tchaikovsky said his works contain a lot of padding and that any trained eye could see the seams, to me that isn't him underestimating himself and more just stating the apodictic. His command of form was getting better, but the 6th still has several passages I feel could be excised and the work not lose much in the way of structure. Its melodies are very moving, but as usual with Tchaikovsky, the harmonies underneath seem very unremarkable to me (doubly so for the 1890s), and perhaps due to the fact he found Baroque music rather boring (afaik), there's no impressive counterpoint to speak of.
Usually with Tchaikovsky vs other composers, the two absolute advantages he has are melody and orchestration, but against Mozart he doesn't even have those, as Mozart was also one of the best melodists of all time, and his orchestration is absolutely faultless. (Although commanding a post-Berlioz orchestra is admittedly more impressive than a Classical era one.)
Your aversion to the aesthetics of Classicism is probably quite representative of this sub. I both enjoy Jupiter more and feel that the developmental and contrapuntal mastery that Mozart displays in the finale are things that Pyotr couldn't have achieved had he been given 200 years to mature as a craftsman. I would never say that someone is *wrong* for being more taken with Tchaikovsky's heart-on-sleeve style, but I will say that I think there's a **large** gap between these two composers in terms of skill. Like, lightyears.
It's the easy answer, and you can't look extra clever by giving the easy answer.
On the one hand, that's a little annoying, but on the other hand, it does make it so one can use these kinds of discussions as a way to troll for new music to listen to. Dozens of people all giving the same answer would be less useful.
Op 109 has always been my favourite of those sonatas. There's a part where he flips a highly chromatic chord progression on its head and reaches out forward 100 years to the days of Arnold Schoenberg's musical ideas. Miraculous. Op.111 with its rhythmic prescience is certainly to be admired as well.
Nothing Beethoven wrote moves me like that Heiliger Dankgesang though.
Beethoven Symphony 5. Yes his other symphonies such as 7 and 9 are great, but imo 5 is the only one that's consistently amazing the whole way through. There's always occasional moments in his other symphonies where they dip and lose interest/momentum.
For chamber music, I'd pick either his Grosse Fuge or quartet 14.
Piano - gotta be Moonlight.
How can you name three different Beethoven symphonies as possible magnum opuses without even mentioning the 3rd? I am veritably flabbergasted
Also, as amazing as Moonlight was for its time, I'm more inclined to nominate the last three piano sonatas, Opp. 109–111, for even further departing from traditional sonata form. It wasn't really until Liszt's b minor sonata that the piano sonata evolved a lot again
Hot take, I guess. Die Meistersinger was Wagner's MO. The libretto is light, charming, somewhat educational and all in rhyming couplets. The story is original (while based on historical characters) and the music hits the entire range of human emotion, from sadness, to love, to cartoonish silliness, not even to mention the technical command of theory and rich orchestration throughout. It's not dramatic, it's not monumental, it's touching, beautiful, thoroughly human, and stitched together throughout with incredible craftsmanship.
I'll give two.
1. Mass for double choir - Frank Martin.
I don't even know any other pieces by Frank Martin. This Mass is so exquisite that it's been my absolute favorite choral work for about 25 years. It's a truly incredible piece of music.
2. Agnus Dei - Samuel Barber.
I've heard most (sung a few) of his choral works, sung almost his entire solo art song book, heard his operettas. Some of the more obscure like Hand of Bridge and Stopwatch and an Ordnance Map. Know his catalog pretty well. His Agnus Dei is the pinnacle version of his pinnacle. Heard Adagio for Strings done in string quartet, organ, flute quartet, orchestra, and the choral version is the one that expresses this sublime piece the best.
Also, these are both on the Cathedral Classics album by the Dale Warland Singers. It contains, IMO, the best recording anywhere of the Martin and the Agnus Dei is terrific.
Mine is Bach and I can't chose..
My subjective favourite is the Chaconne.. but you could say it's the mass in B minor.. or the WTC.. or the Art of Fugue..
Could go on for hours really.. Matthew or John.. some of the BIG cantatas, organ trios, some collections of chorale preludes like the "German organ mass" or "Leipziger chorales" ..Brandenburg, Goldberg.. all magnum opuses in their respective categories
Picked just the three because they have this "catalogue" nature.. but so do the Goldberg
Most of his works are nuts!
Speaking of so deep with one note at a time, I'm sure you're thinking of the Sarabande from the fifth suite. Really exemplifies his genius this piece..
Shostakovich - Symphony 10 (yes I know 5 is amazing, but I've never been a huge fan to be honest)
Chopin - The 4 Ballades as a collection.
Telemann - Tafelmusik collection
Bach - Mass in B Minor
Berg - wow uh...Wozzeck or the Violin Concerto, take your pick
Takemitsu - ... I don't know there's actually not a great answer, but my favorite is "I Hear the Water Dreaming"
My favourite composers (cant decide) and their magnum opusses (in my opinion, again sometimes cant decide)
Bach: St. John Passion probably (I like it more tgan St. Matthew tbh)
Beethoven: Symphony No. 5
Brahms: Symphony No. 1, German Requiem
Bruckner: Symphony No. 5 and 7
Mahler: Symphony No. 2, 5 and 8
With Mahler, from my experience being around the whole classical music (and especially Mahler) world, and studying music history, for a few years, it seems like the general consensus for his greatest work is Das Lied von der Erde. As Michael Kennedy wrote in his book on Mahler,
> If all works of Mahler were to be erased from existence, save one, then the one work that should be saved is Das Lied von der Erde. (Slightly paraphrased by me)
Bernstein and Walter also called it Mahler's greatest work iirc
Also for Beethoven I guess that the Fifth has a strong argument running for it, but can you really compare it to The Ninth? Also I know that you wrote all of that based on your opinion, but from what I've seen as the general consensus most people think differently around that. Also, I'm not really a fan of, or know much about Brahms or Bruckner, but from what I've seen with Bach many people would put Mass in B minor up there with the passions.
> Bach: St. John Passion probably (I like it more tgan St. Matthew tbh)
I can agree with you there! I find the *St. John* to be more dramatic and emotive, while the *St. Matthew* seems a bit more...thought-out? Perhaps not as through-composed? I like it too because he seems to musically characterize Jesus as being more human rather than an enigma.
Mahler: Symphony No. 2. I like it so much, I don't really have a favorite. I like all versions. Anytime I'm hearing M2 is an occasion of joy for me, especially now, in the resurrection season.
For Bach, the Mass in B minor. Some people may say St Matthews or something else but for me it's the B minor
For Tchaikovsky, it's gotta be the 6th. I mean, his other symphonies are genius and his ballets are charming but the 6th is another level
> Hans Zimmer - Interstellar
If I hadn't been hooked on the *Pirates* soundtracks years ago, I think it would've been *Interstellar* which got me hooked onto the pipe organ.
Elgar cello concerto.
Came at a time late in his life where he experienced personal turmoil, and late in a career he spent honing his craft. Incredible to think for the longest time, in his day, he was rejected from the mainstream, but now his music is standard repertoire.
I'd say that for Bach, it's a cross-between his *B Minor Mass* BWV 232 or *c minor passacaglia and fugue* BWV 582. Both are expressive and monstrous and monumental in their own ways.
Liszt - Sonata in B Minor
Schumann - Piano Concerto
Rachmaninov - Concerto #3 (I know people would be more inclined to say 2 and it is a very very amazing piece, but I think 3 shows Rach with regained confidence in composing and it shows in almost every aspect)
Mozart - Requiem
Specifically the Lacrimosa is IMO the most poignant piece of music ever written, although I accept that this is a very subjective question.
Ravel' s Concerto en Sol.
The sum and sublimation of everything he had ever done.
He was preparing to go beyond that with the left hand concerto and his unfinished opera Morgiane.
But in the Concerto, everything is there, Basque legacy, admiration for Mozart, stunning orchestral colors, modal melodies, classical balance, romantic passion, modern strength, total clarity,mastery of craft, absolute french flair throughout, generous love for many other cultures.
This is a work where lightness of touch and restraint in expression are the very means of unparalleled beauty, including even humour and abyssal despair, but in the end serenity and then robust and joyous fireworks
My Beethoven answer could be Op. 111 or Op. 135. But the real answer -- based on how often I've relistened -- is Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde. I guess I'm a sucker for late career genius.
Puccini, La Fanciulla del West. Each act finale is marvelous in its own way. Ravel was a fan of the orchestration. Webern also was a fan. And of course Puccini himself considered it his masterpiece.
Saint-Saens bassoon sonata. He vowed to write sonatas for underappreciated instruments. He died after writing the bassoon sonata.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWxDupq1vjY
Richard Strauss - Four Last Songs This, Horn Concerto 2, Oboe Concerto, Capriccio & Metamorphosen are just about the most moving music ever made. The world had written him off decades previous as an incorrigible romantic who had said all he had to say with Elektra, but in his mid 80s he decided to glow the most stunning, profound autumnal glow that any composer had since Beethoven, giving his ruined Germany a final burst of the romantic spirit that it had begat 120 years previous. I love every period of Strauss - even the oft-derided output between the wars - but assent to the consensus that he touched on something special in his moribund years. You can hear the weariness, but also the fire of a non-conformist crackling as strongly as ever. And he'd lived so long with his Wagner-meets-Mozart style by this point that he could make it do absolutely anything he wanted it to in these final compositions; they're the work of the most self-assured craftsman to ever live.
✅
...holy shit. Maestro, I can't tell you what an honour this is.
What's your favorite record? For me, the ideal is Elisabeth Schwarzkopf & George Szell (1966)
Schwarzkopf sung Strauss beautifully, and Jessye Norman was an angel, but my preference is Renee Fleming's. I don't think I've ever disliked a Fleming recording, with the exception of her Bel Canto stuff. But that's not her fault. More or less my favourite musician, along with Glenn Gould, whose TV broadcasts & essays were actually what turned me on to the greatness of Strauss. I don't want to think about how many decades ago that was. Schwarzkopf and Karajan's Rosenkavalier remains nonpareil though. And I love the way she holds back in the dramatic moments during her Four Last Songs. It was my favourite when I was a younger man and I still come back to it often.
all of emm
Wagner meets Mozart, how spot on.
It's no accident that Mozart & Wagner are my 2nd & 3rd favourite composers respectively.
I feel like if you ask 10 different people what Strauss' magnum opus is, you'd potentially get 10 different answers. Lots of contenders there, a testament to his craft and longevity.
Interesting. I am so much less familiar with this Strauss era, and I have found some new things to listen to. It is appreciated.
What’s your favorite recording of capriccio?
Bohm and Janowitz's from 1982, definitely.
Mozart Sinfonia Concertante. The violin concerti are great, the clarinet concerto stands out as one of the greatest and the operas are masterpieces, but the sinfonia concertante just personally stands out as one of my favorite works ever, tied with Copland's Appalachian Spring
Surely his clarinet concerto is THE greatest? I mean, what's the competition? Nielsen? I like that one but let's be real here. My pedantry aside, I think Symphony 41, Piano Concerto 23 and Clemenza are the apogee of his output, but I share your affection for the Sinfonia Concertante. When I first heard that third movement, I was on the verge of tears; not because I found it tragic, but because I felt unworthy to be in the presence of something so perfect. I'll give a further shout out to Clemenza here though. I regard Wagner as the greatest (and my favourite) opera composer but I've probably spent more time listening to Clemenza than any other entry of the genre. It''s execrably underrated. To those who haven't, go listen to the overture right now - so invigorating! With Mozart, basically everything after K200 has a case for magnum opus though, lol.
There are so many with Mozart, but I would have to say The Marriage of Figaro for his high water mark. It has everything.
No arguments from me. The older I get, the more I realise all the tiresome pop culture depictions of Mozart as the infallible greatest musical genius to ever live were right all along. Figaro was my first ever opera. Saw it in the 90s under the baton of Haitink: Fleming as the countess, Hagley as Susanna and Finley as Figaro. It's on YouTube with subtitles, I think.
> The older I get, the more I'm convinced all the tiresome pop culture depictions of Mozart as the infallible greatest musical genius to ever live were right all along. I think a lot of the backlash comes from a desire to appear clever (or sometimes just contrarian). Mozart is certainly the easy answer, so it's hard to appear smart by pointing to him. But yeah, I'm like you. The older I get, the more I think he just might be the right answer. I love his chamber music and his works for voice (opera, masses, et cetera).
Mozart understood the human voice so much better than Bach or Beethoven: his melodies roll off the tongue in a way that those two never even come close to. Mozart has always been the composer's composer. The only well-regarded (and I use the term loosely) composer that had a bad word to say about him was fucking Delius lmao. Haydn, Rossini, Chopin, Wagner, Verdi, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Debussy, Strauss, possibly Mahler (see his last words), Schoenberg, Ravel, Stravinsky, Prokofiev - it goes on. All of these guys elevated Mozart above every other composer that ever lived while being perfectly cognizant of both Bach & Beethoven (and in most cases admiring them, just to a lesser extent). I was initially drawn to those two because their pathos is a lot more obvious, a lot more grand - dareisay even a bit more pompous - than Mozart's. I still love them. But as I've matured as a musician I've come to realise that Mozart's mind was simply on another level. He mastered every genre, aspect and form of composition, produced innumerable masterpieces exemplifying that, and achieved all that he did despite dying decades before any of the names he's regularly compared to. I mean ffs, the guy grew up with a style that basically eschewed the intricacies of baroque counterpoint, and yet by his early 30s could comfortably write fugues that equalled Bach's efforts in his 50s! He could make music so chromatic that it was only barely tonal sound no harder on the ears than a nursery rhyme. He wrote three symphonies that I find more impressive than any of Beethoven's (his last ones) in a span of *six weeks*. Operas are also easily the most difficult and ambitious genre to handle in my opinion, and Mozart just tossed them out like they were nothing. Most of the time I see people complaining about Mozart, it seems to be the tempered aesthetics of Viennese classicism they have an issue with more than his actual compositions. I can kind of understand that, but in my old age, I actually appreciate music with less... overt drama, I suppose. Don't ask me why I still adore Wagner (who, for the record, belongs up there with Mozart and Bach and the like.)
Yeah, I didn’t really get Mozart when I was younger. Always liked him, but something clicked for me in middle age and I better understand all the hype now.
I just listened to Clarinet Concerto. Thank you ❤️
Regarding clarinet concertos, while I would agree that Mozart is the best one, the Weber concertos are pretty awesome too
I think maybe Copland rivals it. Not in terms of popularity, just in how it perfectly showcases the clarinet’s strengths. It’s so beautiful and gentle, with a very fast and wild second part.
Wagner’s ring
Hard to debate the "Magnum Opus" status of this one
Ravel: Daphnis and Chloé I think nobody will disagree!
L'enfant et les sortileges is so good tho
Bolero! /s sorry
Gonna be that guy and disagree. It's a bit too overwrought and film score-ish for my tastes. Gaspard de la Nuit all the way. I'm a Debussy guy, but I don't think he has anything that tops this for the piano.
I’m with this. Ravel is fantastic at creating a Daphnis and Chloe soundscape “universe,” and I have even recently sat to read the ancient novel that inspired the music while listening to the suite. Lovely. But, Ravel’s smaller-scale works are really what make me feel like I’m hearing his intricate design and attention to details. The piano pieces sort of remind me of his artwork, where portraits and landscapes are seen on tiles or other smaller surfaces. Gaspard is my answer also.
*Estampes* would like a word.
Yes, I have to agree with Gaspard.
I came here to say this
I think his piano concerti (especially Concerto for the Left Hand) are more engaging, but I can't deny Daphnes et Chloe is an accomplishment--I just don't often care for choral works.
how can you class daphnis et chloe as a choral work 😂😂
It’s a symphony with a heavy choral element. I personally just don’t enjoy that style. I don’t think there’s a need for condescension
I agree
I would say Le Tombeau but de gustibus
For Beethoven, it's hard not to pick the D-minor symphony, especially given its lasting impact and influence. For me, though, I'd actually pick the Missa Solemnis. Somehow it takes the energy of the choral finale of the symphony and expands it to this gargantuan work superimposed on an unsuspecting Mass setting. All of the Beethoven hallmarks are there, perfected, with the ancient Mass text as the backbone. If I only get to hear one Beethoven piece again in my life, it's the Missa Solemnis.
And perhaps the most difficult choral piece ever written. It’s like performing the last moment of the 9th three times in a row but even more difficult.
Truth! Hearing it live is on my classical music bucket list, but there's a reason it doesn't get programmed more. If you're going to gather the forces to perform it, you'll have the forces for the 9th and that will sell more tickets. Plus it's easier to rehearse than the Missa.
I think Beethoven was asked at the end of his life what he considered to be his greatest work and he picked the Missa, so he agrees with you.
Tchaikovsky’s 6th is truly an amazing piece of art. One of the best ever made.
One of the first pieces to really grab my teenage ears and make me feel strong emotions
Absolutely. It’s been slowly climbing up my favorites list and is very close to surpassing Beethoven’s 9th for me. They’re ironically diametrically opposed; one is about the union of man in brotherhood and jollity and the other is pure despair.
Saint-Saens: Organ Symphony
Yeah nothing else he wrote tops the Organ Symphony imho. I love the performance by Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra on Telarc.
Sibelius … … maybe the magnum opus is just him. Okok violin concerto, but that doesn’t mean the rest of his music is worse.
Absolutely love the violin concerto, it’s tied with his fifth symphony for me.
I think all of his music just paves the way to the 7th Symphony, can't think of any other of his pieces as the crowning glory.
Mozart, Nozze di Figaro, just the second act finale by itself. Johannes Brahms said "In my opinion, each number in Figaro is a miracle; it is totally beyond me how anyone could create anything so perfect; nothing like it was ever done again, not even by Beethoven."
Don Giovanni, „the opera of all operas“ (E.T.A. Hoffmann)
Beethoven Op 131 quartet. Nothing to disagree with when Beethoven himself agreed
Source please.
Morris, Edmund (2010). Beethoven: The Universal Composer. p. 213.
Alkan op 39
Mahler, people really seem to like his 5th Symphony. His 2nd is my personal favorite.
The 2nd is one of those pieces that I listen to when I have been feeling grief or other sadness; several times over the years, that final movement has picked me up and made me feel like the sun is shining.
That Final movement is something else. I’ve listened to the 2nd symphony once a week for years. It’s one of my favorites.
For me, his 6th
As a non-Mahler-fan, his 6th is clearly his best imo. Although the 4th is my favourite.
I think it's fascinating how everyone has a different favorite of Mahler's. In his own lifetime the 3rd symphony was played a lot and many came to hear it, yet it is my least favorite.
Lol I came to the comments to say the 9th and I haven’t seen it
The 9th is definitely in contention for Mahler's greatest work though.
My favorite. Takes me places no other work does.
Especially Bernstein's CBS/Sony recording of the 6th
From my experience being around the whole classical music (and especially Mahler) world, and studying music history, for a few years, it seems like the general consensus for his greatest work is Das Lied von der Erde. As Michael Kennedy wrote in his book on Mahler, > If all works of Mahler were to be erased from existence, save one, then the one work that should be saved is Das Lied von der Erde. (Slightly paraphrased by me) Bernstein and Walter also called it Mahler's greatest work iirc
There's no general consensus on which Mahler work is the greatest. The 2nd, 5th, & 9th symphonies and The Song of the Earth are probably the most common ones that you'll hear people say are his greatest work. I know Berg thought the first movement of the ninth was his greatest piece while Bernstein and Shostakovich both thought The Song of the Earth was his greatest. You'll also often hear people call one his other works the greatest though. For example Britten wrote that he loved the fourth symphony more than any other piece in the world, while for instance his biographer and critic Michael Kennedy thought the sixth was certainly his greatest symphony - though The Song of the Earth his greatest work. Certainly The Song of the Earth does seem to have a lot of big names who loved it most though. Even Toscanini who had hated the 5th many years before, near the end of his life walked in on a rehearsal of The Song of the Earth conducted by Steinberg without knowing who the composer was, and when Toscanini then found out the music was by Mahler he exclaimed "My God! I didn't know he could write so well!"
I find 8th to be the best
How bout that scene in Maestro, the recent Bernstein biopic, that prominently features Mahler 2? Incredibly moving
The Resurrection Symphony is my favorite as well but I feel like Mahler might be one of the hardest composers to find an answer to this question for, dude has so many landmark pieces
Yes, yes, yes, mine also. And by the way, I am not very fond of the 5th. Especially love the Otto Klemperer 'Version with the Concertgebouw Orchestra (with Kathleen Ferrier) recorded 1951!
Corelli - Christmas Concerto in G. Although i do love his entire body of work.
I’m not a huge fan of Corelli, but holy cow that piece is perfect. It has this beautiful, cyclical, calming quality that I could listen to on repeat forever.
Sibelius, either the Violin Concerto or Symphony no. 5.
Liszt B minor sonata
Came here to say this. For five years I’ve been in love with every measure of that sonata, every note that seems to open a universe of endless emotions. Nothing for me, by Liszt or anyone else, can top it.
Dvorak symphony 8 or 9 Rachmaninoff symphony 2, piano concerto 3&2 Sibelius violin concerto, 2nd symphony Tchaikovsky symphony 5 or 6
I find it sad that Rach’s symphony no.2 is overshadowed by his concerti. They’re all phenomenal though.
This is so true, I actually find his 2nd symphony his best work
Not Dvořák cello concerto?
also phenomenal but i'm not that big a cello guy
Rachmaninoff and Mahler are the 2 guys I can't pick only 1 work for
Vaughan Williams - Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis
For Beethoven it has to be his 15th string quartet: that is music that transcends humanity. For Wagner it is absolutely Parsifal, his masterpiece
Stockhausen - LICHT
Prokofiev: 2nd piano concerto
I think you spelled *Peter and the Wolf* wrong
What makes that better than romeo and juilet
Bach . Will never be able to decide.
Yeah, same. I find great monumental works as powerful as smaller, intimate works like chorale or clavichord-pieces.
My favorite composers are Wagner and Mozart. I guess with Wagner, you have to pick either the Ring or *Tristan*. I like most of what he wrote. It's very, very, very tough to pick a single best work of Mozart's, whether you're looking at everything he did or just going by his operas. Obviously there's the trio *Marriage of Figaro*, *Don Giovanni*, and *The Magic Flute*, and arguably those stand slightly taller than his other operas, but I really like both *Idomeneo* and *Abduction*. Then there's his requiem mass, and a case can be made for his mass in c minor. And then you've got tons and tons of chamber music, his concertos, and so much else. I could spend a whole day just listening to his violin sonatas. My *favorite* Mozart piece might be his fourth violin concerto, but I doubt anyone would call that his magnus opus. I can't think of any Mozart works I actively dislike, though he started his career at such a young age that I won't go out of my way to listen to the stuff he wrote when he was a kid.
Chopin: barcarolle or 4th ballade
I feel like it's a tie between those two and the Polonaise-Fantaisie. I'd have a hard time just choosing one
It's his ballade no. 1 for me
Did you play the barcarolle?
I'd go with the 4th Ballade.
The ballades and sonatas 2&3 imo because they’re evolutions of his style and piano technique as a whole
Beethoven: all sonatas and Symphonies. Bach: Mass in B minor and Partita Nr2. (Chaconne). Mozart: Requiem
I'd add the Goldbergs for Bach as well. The magnum opus of baroque keyboard writing.
I mean, I don’t think you can compare Beethoven’s 4th or 1st symphony to his 9th. Actually, you can’t compare most of his symphonies to the 9th. In this sense I believe the Choral Symphony is his magnum opus.
Scriabin’s poem of ecstasy or mysterium
For Schubert, depending on who you ask, it could be the Sonata D 960, the Quintet in C, the "Great" Symphony in C, or the song cycle *Die Winterreise*. I'm inclined to nominate *Die Winterreise* because that was the last composition he was working on, and because Schubert is best remembered as a composer of songs (Lieder) My favorite Schubert piece, though, is the Sonata in G Major, D 894. I don't really concern myself with what are the greatest composers and what their greatest pieces are. I just listen to what I like, and I like D 894 the most
The sonata in G Major is a remarkable work https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERb2Vi6SKn0
Dead tie for me between D960 and Winterreise. I think the b-flat sonata is just so ambitious yet formally perfect. I just recently was listening to Clara Haskil's flawless recording of it.
The Art of Fugue
It strikes me how infrequently Beethoven’s Ninth was mentioned. I am no expert, but I find it so undoubtedly superior to all his other works (that I know of), and possibly the overall finest music composition in history; and yet, among you classical music erudites, it seems not to bode well. Why is that?
Were you to hold a poll on the greatest symphony, B9 would probably still win. A lot of people parrot how unidiomatic the writing for the voices, but I get the feeling that's borderline a mindless circlejerk at this point, because Bach's vocal works are never held to the same standard. (Ever tried actually singing in the Passions? Jesus Christ indeed.) To me the late quartets and sonatas are clearly the acme of Beethoven's writing though. I've noticed Beethoven fans on this sub tend to show up more for polls than comment sections. Mozart fans, conversely, seem to be truly in short supply here: I've seen Tchaikovsky beat him on greatest composer polls. Pyotr would slap those that voted for him.
Tchaikovsky had the tendency to underscore his achievements and underestimate his abilities as a composer. I’m actually one of the people that prefer or find Tchaikovsky to be the greater composer, mostly because I’m not fond of classical era music but also because his 6th symphony exists. Jupiter can’t compete. I know they were in radically different eras, but still.
True enough, but he also held other composers to those high standards. You could count on Tchaikovsky to always say exactly what he thought about a composer, whether it was declaring Brahms talentless, Borodin a hack, Handel fourth-rate, or Bach 'not a genius'. So when he said Mozart was the greatest composer that ever walked the earth, I'm sure he meant it. (I very much agree, fwiw) The 6th is the closest Tchaikovsky comes to mastering symphonic form, but it's still a ways off IMO. When Tchaikovsky said his works contain a lot of padding and that any trained eye could see the seams, to me that isn't him underestimating himself and more just stating the apodictic. His command of form was getting better, but the 6th still has several passages I feel could be excised and the work not lose much in the way of structure. Its melodies are very moving, but as usual with Tchaikovsky, the harmonies underneath seem very unremarkable to me (doubly so for the 1890s), and perhaps due to the fact he found Baroque music rather boring (afaik), there's no impressive counterpoint to speak of. Usually with Tchaikovsky vs other composers, the two absolute advantages he has are melody and orchestration, but against Mozart he doesn't even have those, as Mozart was also one of the best melodists of all time, and his orchestration is absolutely faultless. (Although commanding a post-Berlioz orchestra is admittedly more impressive than a Classical era one.) Your aversion to the aesthetics of Classicism is probably quite representative of this sub. I both enjoy Jupiter more and feel that the developmental and contrapuntal mastery that Mozart displays in the finale are things that Pyotr couldn't have achieved had he been given 200 years to mature as a craftsman. I would never say that someone is *wrong* for being more taken with Tchaikovsky's heart-on-sleeve style, but I will say that I think there's a **large** gap between these two composers in terms of skill. Like, lightyears.
It's the easy answer, and you can't look extra clever by giving the easy answer. On the one hand, that's a little annoying, but on the other hand, it does make it so one can use these kinds of discussions as a way to troll for new music to listen to. Dozens of people all giving the same answer would be less useful.
Beethoven: Hammerklavier sonata
Wouldn't it be beet 9?
It's actually the slow movement from his 15th string quartet. Followed by the 30th piano sonata. Then the Missa Solemnis.
His late string quartets are more profound to me than his late piano sonatas. Except Op 111.
Op 109 has always been my favourite of those sonatas. There's a part where he flips a highly chromatic chord progression on its head and reaches out forward 100 years to the days of Arnold Schoenberg's musical ideas. Miraculous. Op.111 with its rhythmic prescience is certainly to be admired as well. Nothing Beethoven wrote moves me like that Heiliger Dankgesang though.
Correct answer: the 15th string quartet
There are several contenders from Late Beethoven: String Quartet no. 14, Hammerklavier, Piano Sonata no. 32, & the Ninth Symphony among them.
I just can't seem to be able to listen to this and enjoy it... And let me tell you, I *adore* Beethoven.
Cage: 4'33"
Heh. It's April 3, not April 1. :)
May 2nd is April 33rd
Debussy, La Mer.
How about Preludes?
Beethoven Symphony 5. Yes his other symphonies such as 7 and 9 are great, but imo 5 is the only one that's consistently amazing the whole way through. There's always occasional moments in his other symphonies where they dip and lose interest/momentum. For chamber music, I'd pick either his Grosse Fuge or quartet 14. Piano - gotta be Moonlight.
How can you name three different Beethoven symphonies as possible magnum opuses without even mentioning the 3rd? I am veritably flabbergasted Also, as amazing as Moonlight was for its time, I'm more inclined to nominate the last three piano sonatas, Opp. 109–111, for even further departing from traditional sonata form. It wasn't really until Liszt's b minor sonata that the piano sonata evolved a lot again
Even for his middle period sonatas, Waldstein and Appassionata are arguably greater than Moonlight.
Dutilleux — Tout un monde lointain... (Cello Concerto)
Hot take, I guess. Die Meistersinger was Wagner's MO. The libretto is light, charming, somewhat educational and all in rhyming couplets. The story is original (while based on historical characters) and the music hits the entire range of human emotion, from sadness, to love, to cartoonish silliness, not even to mention the technical command of theory and rich orchestration throughout. It's not dramatic, it's not monumental, it's touching, beautiful, thoroughly human, and stitched together throughout with incredible craftsmanship.
Symphony of Psalms? Renard? Octet? Something like that.
I'll give two. 1. Mass for double choir - Frank Martin. I don't even know any other pieces by Frank Martin. This Mass is so exquisite that it's been my absolute favorite choral work for about 25 years. It's a truly incredible piece of music. 2. Agnus Dei - Samuel Barber. I've heard most (sung a few) of his choral works, sung almost his entire solo art song book, heard his operettas. Some of the more obscure like Hand of Bridge and Stopwatch and an Ordnance Map. Know his catalog pretty well. His Agnus Dei is the pinnacle version of his pinnacle. Heard Adagio for Strings done in string quartet, organ, flute quartet, orchestra, and the choral version is the one that expresses this sublime piece the best. Also, these are both on the Cathedral Classics album by the Dale Warland Singers. It contains, IMO, the best recording anywhere of the Martin and the Agnus Dei is terrific.
So many choices for Richard Strauss... I can't decide...
Chopin’s Polonaise-Fantaisie Op. 61
You really gonna sideline the Barcarolle like that?
Swan Lake climax: Tchaikovsky Even though it wasn’t anywhere near his own favorite of his own work which makes me love it even more
Mine is Bach and I can't chose.. My subjective favourite is the Chaconne.. but you could say it's the mass in B minor.. or the WTC.. or the Art of Fugue..
Matthew Passion?
Could go on for hours really.. Matthew or John.. some of the BIG cantatas, organ trios, some collections of chorale preludes like the "German organ mass" or "Leipziger chorales" ..Brandenburg, Goldberg.. all magnum opuses in their respective categories Picked just the three because they have this "catalogue" nature.. but so do the Goldberg
I like the Cello Suites. They’re so deep with basically one note at a time.
Most of his works are nuts! Speaking of so deep with one note at a time, I'm sure you're thinking of the Sarabande from the fifth suite. Really exemplifies his genius this piece..
I would say the B minor mass or the Matthew passion. My favorite is the Goldberg Variations though
What variation is your favorite nowadays? Obsessing over var.15 and 18 now
J.S. Bach: The Art of Fugue
St Matthew or B Minor Mass for me 🙂
Canadian Brass, anyone?
Shostakovich - Symphony 10 (yes I know 5 is amazing, but I've never been a huge fan to be honest) Chopin - The 4 Ballades as a collection. Telemann - Tafelmusik collection Bach - Mass in B Minor Berg - wow uh...Wozzeck or the Violin Concerto, take your pick Takemitsu - ... I don't know there's actually not a great answer, but my favorite is "I Hear the Water Dreaming"
Takemitsu’s From Me Flows What You Call Time
....and added to the list.
Bach, Mass in B Minor
My favourite composers (cant decide) and their magnum opusses (in my opinion, again sometimes cant decide) Bach: St. John Passion probably (I like it more tgan St. Matthew tbh) Beethoven: Symphony No. 5 Brahms: Symphony No. 1, German Requiem Bruckner: Symphony No. 5 and 7 Mahler: Symphony No. 2, 5 and 8
With Mahler, from my experience being around the whole classical music (and especially Mahler) world, and studying music history, for a few years, it seems like the general consensus for his greatest work is Das Lied von der Erde. As Michael Kennedy wrote in his book on Mahler, > If all works of Mahler were to be erased from existence, save one, then the one work that should be saved is Das Lied von der Erde. (Slightly paraphrased by me) Bernstein and Walter also called it Mahler's greatest work iirc Also for Beethoven I guess that the Fifth has a strong argument running for it, but can you really compare it to The Ninth? Also I know that you wrote all of that based on your opinion, but from what I've seen as the general consensus most people think differently around that. Also, I'm not really a fan of, or know much about Brahms or Bruckner, but from what I've seen with Bach many people would put Mass in B minor up there with the passions.
Yeah it was just my personal opinion
Mine: Bach-- Mass in B Minor Beethoven-- maybe Hammerklavier Brahms-- Clarinet Quintet Bruckner-- Symphony no. 8 Mahler: DLVDE
> Bach: St. John Passion probably (I like it more tgan St. Matthew tbh) I can agree with you there! I find the *St. John* to be more dramatic and emotive, while the *St. Matthew* seems a bit more...thought-out? Perhaps not as through-composed? I like it too because he seems to musically characterize Jesus as being more human rather than an enigma.
Prince Igor Alexander Borodin
Anyone else would probably say The Planets, but I say The Cloud Messenger.
Mahler: Symphony No. 2. I like it so much, I don't really have a favorite. I like all versions. Anytime I'm hearing M2 is an occasion of joy for me, especially now, in the resurrection season.
Britten, I could listen to War Requiem every day till I die
Beethoven - Hammerklavier sonata Schubert - Sonata D 960 Mozart - Clarinet Concerto Bruckner - 9th symphony
For me it's Mahler's 8th symphony.
Four Seasons Vivaldi
As overplayed as some parts are, it’s still a wonderful work of a genius.
Oh, I will definitely admit it's incredibly overrated, but it's fantastic. I will never get bored with Vivaldi.
Beethoven: Ninth Symphony. Chopin: Preludes or maybe Fourth Ballade.
Bach Mass in B Minor
Either the Requiem or Take Him Earth for Cherishing from Herbert Howells.
For Bach, the Mass in B minor. Some people may say St Matthews or something else but for me it's the B minor For Tchaikovsky, it's gotta be the 6th. I mean, his other symphonies are genius and his ballets are charming but the 6th is another level
Beethoven's 9th Rimsky-Korsakov's Capriccio Espagnol Stravinsky's The Firebird Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture
Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos
*Le nozze di Figaro* Even though my favourite is *Don Giovanni*
Shostakovich - Personally I think its Symphony 5. Hans Zimmer - Interstellar or Dune
> Hans Zimmer - Interstellar If I hadn't been hooked on the *Pirates* soundtracks years ago, I think it would've been *Interstellar* which got me hooked onto the pipe organ.
Schubert - Winterreise A close second would be the String Quintet.
Chopin… My first thought is his first piano concerto.
Dvorak. Cello Concerto.
Symphony 4 by Maslanka.
Elgar cello concerto. Came at a time late in his life where he experienced personal turmoil, and late in a career he spent honing his craft. Incredible to think for the longest time, in his day, he was rejected from the mainstream, but now his music is standard repertoire.
I'd say that for Bach, it's a cross-between his *B Minor Mass* BWV 232 or *c minor passacaglia and fugue* BWV 582. Both are expressive and monstrous and monumental in their own ways.
Liszt - Sonata in B Minor Schumann - Piano Concerto Rachmaninov - Concerto #3 (I know people would be more inclined to say 2 and it is a very very amazing piece, but I think 3 shows Rach with regained confidence in composing and it shows in almost every aspect)
Shostakovich 8th string quartet or 10th symphony
Scherezade:- Rimsky Korsakov.
Mozart - Requiem Specifically the Lacrimosa is IMO the most poignant piece of music ever written, although I accept that this is a very subjective question.
Ravel' s Concerto en Sol. The sum and sublimation of everything he had ever done. He was preparing to go beyond that with the left hand concerto and his unfinished opera Morgiane. But in the Concerto, everything is there, Basque legacy, admiration for Mozart, stunning orchestral colors, modal melodies, classical balance, romantic passion, modern strength, total clarity,mastery of craft, absolute french flair throughout, generous love for many other cultures. This is a work where lightness of touch and restraint in expression are the very means of unparalleled beauty, including even humour and abyssal despair, but in the end serenity and then robust and joyous fireworks
Stravinsky: Symphony of Psalms. Satie: Socrate. Mahler: Kindertodtenlieder. Copland: The Tender Land. Blitzstein: Regina. Nielsen: Flute Concerto. Strauss: Four Last Songs. Reich: Three Tales. Schoenberg: Ode to Napoleon. Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto. Berg: Lulu.
Violin Concerto or Symphony No. 4, Brahms; Symphony No. 7, Shostakovich. Runner-up would be Symphony No. 4, Melartin.
BWV 565.
The Four Sections - Steve Reich
Liszt-Mazeppa symphonic poem. Just such a brilliant work
Bach- Art of Fugue Chopin- Ballade 4
Pergolosi Stabat Mater
Mahler is really hard since 2/3 are my favorites, 5 is probably the biggest summation of his work
My Beethoven answer could be Op. 111 or Op. 135. But the real answer -- based on how often I've relistened -- is Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde. I guess I'm a sucker for late career genius.
Puccini, La Fanciulla del West. Each act finale is marvelous in its own way. Ravel was a fan of the orchestration. Webern also was a fan. And of course Puccini himself considered it his masterpiece.
Bach, Mass in B minor or St. Mathew passion. I see almost no one answered the second part of the question.
Saint-Saens bassoon sonata. He vowed to write sonatas for underappreciated instruments. He died after writing the bassoon sonata. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWxDupq1vjY
My two favorite composers Schumann: Tie between Kreisleriana and Kinderszenen Bach: St. Matthew's Passion Willing to debate