Mozart or Bach - Page 7

Here's my take.

The Brandenberg Concertos by Bach are the most impressive pieces of music I have ever heard. Mozart has some great symphonies, some great concertos, and some great sonatas, but none of them captures me like Bach's best. I love Mozart, and can listen to him all day, but if I were to choose just one set of pieces...

After working out I was reminded of another weak point of your reply Tamarin, and this one, my friend, might be fatal. You've really changed your argument from the original offending post. From saying that a work doesn't exist or have meaning if one doesn't recognize its context, to saying all works have context, which, of course, is self-evident and irrelevant as I pointed out early. The need to shift your argument was driven but the fact your original absolutist statements were untendable. It's still hard for me to resist not elaborating all the ways people like music without a complete understanding of its context but, like I said, I'll live happily knowing most people, after reading my post, aren't so cynical as deny reality. Go enjoy some music! My yammy/ad2000 is all warmed up now, that's what I plan to do.

I guess our differences in opinions regarding knowing about the composer are akin to our differences of opinions with headphones and amplifiers.
I guess it would be interesting what % of Beyer fans like Bach or Beethoven most, and the same for AKG or Senn lovers.

Well, you have no argument from me rainy. Though I would consider myself on the opposite side of the argument - using your gross example, I would simply love to know what Mozart created on the days he was sick - I simply hate people telling others how to listen to music. I kind of put the hammer down. I mean, to be clear, no one is saying a piece exists without a history or context, but as to if one can find meaning in a song without knowing it the answer seems pretty clear, where people are free to come down where they will on the issue.

See below

We Mozart fans are alive and well! It's important to assess Mozart by looking at all of his opus, especially the operas which were revolutionary. Only listen to the Opera Seria which were being performed and written at the same time.

Mozart's lack of interest in religious music stems from his early days in Salzburg when his family's major patron was the Archbishop. He couldn't wait to leave his family behind; despite the great love he felt for them he needed to establish himself far from his father's shadow. Thus he left Salzburg for Vienna and the court of the Emperor. He was more concerned with secular music for the court than Masses, for which there was incredible amounts of music already in existence and which Haydn provided with great style and regularity. His bread and butter was his performances on the fortepiano, hence his fortepiano concerti, his symphonic concerts, and especially his operas which raised him to the level of a rock star. His operas are probably his most amazing and influential works, both for musical and formualaic reasons. Only listen to the Opera Seria and you will understand how Mozart truly revolutionized the Opera and transformed it into the art form it is today. Without Mozart, there could be no Rossini, Verdi, Puccini, or Gilbert and Sullivan, or Rodgers and Hammerstein for that matter. If Mozart were alive today, Andrew LLoyd Webber would be a nonentity.


I must agree with this! Was Einstein a greater physicist that Newton? Music is not a competition! Mozart was a GREAT composer. Bach was a GREAT composer. Händel, Vivaldi, Beethoven, Schubert, Berlioz, Wagner, Brahms, Mahler (Gustav), et al. were also GREAT composers. You are just arguing taste in this thread, which should never be argued.

Mozart worked on his Requiem in the last days of his life when he was mortally ill. That's pretty impressive work for a deathbed, don't you think?

I like Bach better, because I find Mozart's brass writing to be dull and uninteresting, pretty much just doubling timpani most of the time. Since I play trumpet, that annoyed me enough to develop a dislike for Mozart. Thus, Bach wins.

Ouch! Listen to the Tuba Mirum of his Requiem or to the some of the divertimenti such as the Posthorn Serenade. I don't think there was a composer who could write better for wind instruments than Mozart while he was alive. Also remember, when Mozart was composing, most of the horns didn't have valves and were hand-stopped which made prolonged brass solos something for only the most virtuoso horn players. Biffs were frequent, to say the least.

what about Mozart four Horn Concertos? I would say that you have to wait guys like Miles Davis and John Coltrane showed up to hear music that showcases brass instruments to the same extent.

I just remembered; Bach had the harpsichord. That's a strike against him.

i consider bach, mozart, and beethoven to all be at the very top in terms of overall output and quality of works. to me, they are the best with everyone else falling somewhere below them.

Ya, Mozart's Horn Concerti were good, but I meant, in my playing experience, and in large orchestra settings (Symphonies, Operas, etc) the parts were quite dull. The Horn Concerti are quite interesting, though.