All true but remember we should add that we are describing best or greatest for European or western classical music. To disregard the rest of the world and their music is sad. We should speak with some awareness of our relative place on our planet.
Bach the Father, Mozart the Son and Beethoven the Holy GOAT... 🙂 It is true what you say: he did not merely write music in this or that genre, he completely redefined every genre he touched, often in ways so original that it was downright crazy. What crazy fool would start a violin concerto with a few soft taps of the tympani, and then take that and turn it into one of the main themes of the entire first movement? What kind of a complete maniac comes up with something like that awe-inspiring storm sequence in the pastoral symphony? We have become so used to these famous works that we tend to forget just how revolutionary they were in their own time; he truly turned the entire musical landscape upside down in a way that was probably never done before or since. Add to this his famous and infamous general bad-assery (who else before or since so defiantly told both authorities and invading dictators to go f*ck themselves?) and you have the makings of a legendary cultural icon. :-)
The man was a total Rock Star before there was even an idea of having RockStars. The girlfriends, the nomadic lifestyle, tearing up hotel rooms and throwing chairs out the window,because there were no televisions 😉😄. Having money then not having money, the legal battles and the deafness. Even today, this man looms large over music as the great pyramid of Giza.
@@michaelwu7678 stop simping. Beethoven’s 3rd has been widely recognized by a majority of famous professionals as the greatest composed symphony of all time. If you can give factual reason for why, somebody might listen to you, but you’re just giving your opinion.
@@gagegarner6654 you must not understand what irony is. Give me a factual source for your claim about Beethoven's 3rd. Otherwise you should stop simping and pulling opinions out of your ass like they're fact.
@@EntelSidious_gamzeylmz If true that’s because he’s more recent. More variety I’m not sure about. Certainly not more melodic or harmonic skill. What Beethoven could do that was really impressive as far as I’m concerned was what was maybe his one stab at programmatic writing. The storm in the Pastorale is magnificent, particularly the beginning, the lulls, and the end. It’s frighteningly good writing.
@@koshersalaami I would say its because on top of being a great composer beethoven was a huge intellectual too, which is something bach wasn't, Beethoven wrote for the mankind and the world, Bach wrote for god Ig. Bach's choice of conveying one emotion in one mvmt made his stories way less engaging than they could have been imo. Melody vise, I would agree, with harmony I would say Beethoven is greater. And don't get me wrong I absolutely love Bach and played like half of his wtc1
I am nearly 70 years old and just learning to play piano. I am doing good to get out Blow the Man Down in Alfreds book 1. Just shoot me now! I am worthless.
I'm 74 and about to give up the dream of playing the piano. Thinking of trying juggling. Or maybe just drifting away.... you have to think that if Beethoven and Tolstoy have totally failed to civilise even their own native states then the rest of us have no show.
There's been so many great composers but Beethoven is on my list of the greatest it's interesting to note that Beethoven was also extremely popular in his own time
There is no greatest and it depends of your visual angle. But for the point of view of music fundmental contributions, you can choose between Bach, Mozart and Beethoven, three huge rocks predominating the music headstream. All others are the subsequent marvelous spoondrifts in the grand river of the Music.
I'm perfectly agree with you. I have always listened to all types of music, but from a young age I understood that Ludwig van Beethoven is the greatest musician of all time. Your considerations are very precise and profound. Compliments!
Mahler: Copies Beethoven's idea of choirs in symphonies (9th) Berlioz: Copies Beethoven's idea of programatic symphonies (6th) Tchaikovsky: Copies Beethoven's idea of fate knocking at the door (5th) ...
Like many such debates, this is as much about what we mean by "the greatest" as who we think deserves that title. But here's what I think is an interesting question. Which of the candidates for GOAT is most likely to be successfully copied by AI? I have my own views...
I don't quite agree. I've attentively listened to both Bach's and Beethoven's (and Mozart's and Haydn's) complete works, and it's somewhat of a close call, but Bach takes the crown for me.
@@samuellabrecque880 Overall I prefer Bach myself. But I think Beethoven's late piano sonatas and string quartets are the pinnacles of musical creativity. But of course this is my subjective view.
@@zombiemachinery4868Bach's music is dead inside. Maybe some of his later works are nice, but for the most part, his music is extremely dated. If I listened to his music 300 years ago, it would have blown my socks off. But after hearing literally everyone that came after him, Bach's music is just a testament to his time period, and nothing more.
@@vaukest5888 Bach's music is some of the most profoundly emotional music ever composed and it was _very_ ahead of its time. You will understand this as you grow up and revisit his music again at some point later on in life.
Agreed… However, the pronunciation of the name « Beethoven » is wrong hence it sounds awful. It is not « Behoven »; it is Beethoven, just as it’s written.
For piano? Absolutely. But he can’t really compete with composers like Beethoven or Bach for example because he wasn’t very diverse in his composition. For example: writing symphonies, quartets, masses, string, and voice. So his abilities as a composer were very limited. But within that domain he was phenomenal, still to compare him to anyone else is almost like apples to oranges. Chopin once said talking about the piano: “my kingdom is rather small, but within it I am truly king.” So within that same breath, if we are talking overall musicality, emotional expression, and just sheer influence, Bach is the greatest classical composer. This is widely agreed upon by all the masters as well. Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, and Chopin are known to have admired and studied Bach lately and all agree that he is the master of masters.
@@myklkay What Beethoven 's Melody can be opposed to Chopin Melody. Chopin is the God of melody. In music It's the Melody that matter. Chopin is the BEST.