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in the last 5 years?(in regards to their piano music)

All of the following have "improved"(sounds a bit strange to tell Hadyn etc., he's improved) in my opinion during that period:Haydn, Albeniz, Rachmaninov, Medtner. Although I'd probably still rank them all somewhere in the 10th-15th positions, I think they've all moved closer to composers I'd put in the first ten spots. I'd say that in each case the upward movement was due to hearing more of their works or hearing their works I was familiar with live in concert.

Which composers have moved up or down in your opinion in the last few years?

Mozart: down, pianistic uniformity (the variations and pianoconcerts do contain good fingerwork)
Bach: up, the Master
Chopin: up, even more complex than I thought
Liszt: down, only a few (very) interesting pieces (sonata, B.d.D.d.l.S., some études)
Beethoven: down, I just don't seem to like his pianism for the moment
Schubert: up, what a wonderful unpianistic, yet rich world
Ravel:up, the best 20th-century piano-writing
Debussy: down, don't know, may be overplayed (by me)
Haydn: up, what imagination
Rachmaninoff: down, he wrote his best pianomusic for pianoconcerto's and cellosonata's lol
Schumann: down, so awkward, even in opp.9,13,16,17
Weber: up, his 2nd sonata outdoes many of Beethoven's
Ligeti: down, always the same problems, and not pianistic but mental problems

one could go on and on, but I feel like just having put my nose in a beehive...

I now like Bach much more than 5 years ago.

For me, Mozart. I have only recently really begun delving into his music, and I find it very enjoyable. Not all, mind you, but quite a bit. I'm looking at K310, K330, and K333, and several transcriptions right now.

Though I have a recent queue of Bach to delve into. He is a composer I have never played, so that will be interesting when I get to it.

For me it's been Liszt and Rachmoninoff. They've gone up huge in my mind. I used to genuinly dislike liszt, but the last week or two I've gotten really into liszt, particularly the Sonata, 2nd Ballade, and a number of the Années de pèlerinage. Also his lieder transcriptions are fantastic. Rach I just hadn't listened to much - I always knew I liked him but recently got really into his music.

Chopin has actually gone down for me. I used to think everything he did was gold, but lately I've only been liking a few nocturnes [opus 27 and 48/1] and a few etudes. The rest just hasn't been doing much for me.

My views on composers have been ridiculously stable (or maybe I should say stagnant) for 5 years, and much longer. The only changes I can think of are that Scriabin has moved up from 'remarkable' to unique and great, and that my appreciations for Bach and Beethoven deepen with every passing year.

Up: Liszt, Beethoven, Bach, Schumann, Schubert.
Down: Chopin.

My top 10 (just piano music) would now look something like:

1. Liszt.
2. Beethoven.


3. Chopin.
4. Schubert.
5. Schumann.
6. Debussy.
7. Rachmaninoff.
8. Brahms.
9. Bach.
10. Scriabin.

I'm stepping way out of the the 5 year frame:

Liszt. During my teens and 20's, I thought most of his music was either pompous or trivial. Though I admit I wasn't beyond using a piece like the 6th Hungarian Rhapsody strictly as show-off material - which is all I thought of it at the time. Ah, stupid, egotistical, young vanity!

I did have rather soft spots for the bmin Sonata and the Faust Symphony. But I frowned on all the rest until I guess I,... ahem (cough cough).....matured ...into my 30's.

A couple of colleagues had always told me that I was suffering from a lack of imagination when it came to Liszt. It took me a long time to admit that they were right. I hope to be able to make amends by soon diving into his work with more um, serious intent (as schedule permits).

Interesting that his being the major 'down' still leaves him at #3!

I used to think I didn't like Liszt until I heard my teacher play it. Now I love his music. I still don't like Ravel.

Have you heard your teacher play Ravel?

Funny these were my first two thoughts:I remember a Kissin concert from several years back where he programmed Schubert's D960, some Schubert-Liszt, and some more Liszt. At the end I remember a young-ish woman (maybe in her 30s) comment to an older companion (a woman in her 70s or so) who I imagine was a pianist based on previous conversation that I had overheard. The older woman said "the Schubert and Liszt are a little boring" to which the younger woman quickly replied "Mozart is boring!" The elder responded "yes yes.. he can be." I remember thinking "Mozart, boring?"

I kinda see her point now... I am not familiar with much Mozart outside of the solo keyboard and concerto repertory. Eventually I'm sure I'll discover his symphonies and operas, but I've had my Mozart fill for the time being.

-Daniel

Hello Deborah! Give Ravel by Richter a shot if you're feeling generous:



-Daniel

Brahms ↑

Mozart ↓

Shostakovich ↑

There are two composers that stay pretty much the same as far as my reverence for them and they are Chopin and Rachmaninoff. I still think they are just the pinnacle of piano writing/piano music, even after years of listening and playing their works.

I used to include Liszt in that group but now, besides a couple of pieces, I can barely listen to his stuff. Honestly though, I think a lot of it has to do with how people perform his works.

I started out snubbing Schubert for the usual reasons, and over the years he's quietly shattered all of my stupid prejudices.

When I was young (i.e. before I became old and grizzled ), my allegiances to various composers changed depending on how much I immersed myself in their music or the country they lived in and took inspiration from. So, when I visited the Nordic countries, I thought Sibelius, Nielsen and Grieg (and even Stenhammer) were the bees' knees for several months, and found Beethoven too grumpy and pushy, Haydn too sunny, Schubert too sweet and sad , Chopin too decorative, Liszt too virtuosic, Rachmaninoff too much of a 'six-foot scowl' etc, etc. Only Mozart stayed as my constant companion and never left my side.

These days, I'm more adventurous and often try to listen to music by composers I've never heard before (contemporary or otherwise). And the more I hear Kaija Saariaho, the more I like her music.

But the more I hear Papa Haydn, the more I think his life was too comfortable for his own (musical) good.....

Yup. Didn't like it.
@ Daniel. I listened. I guess I'm just not a fan on impressionistic music. Debussy doesn't do much for me either. It's pretty but also, IMO, pretty boring.