Best Composer or Songwriter

[Nathrad Sheare]

Who do you think is or was the best composer or songwriter out there? Tell us what about his or her work makes it special to you. What is its meaning to you?

I'm a classical man, I'm sure just about everybody here knows, and there are many composers I love, but if I had to pick one favorite, Sergei Rachmaninoff would be it. The beauty of his work is undeniable; so is a Gothic quality about it. My mind is littered with faces and places I've made up over the years, and the bipolar turns of his symphonic works, piano concertos, operas, and pieces for two pianos and piano solo have been the ultimate creative inspiration for me, not that these are the only creations of his I love. I'm a person who loves to explore the emotions, thoughts, and many other wonders of the mind and heart, and Rachmaninoff has a way of painting all of it in tones. I feel as if I'm connected to the core of humanity whenever I listen to anything he wrote, as if I am to be found somewhere inside.

[suzy1124]

Great thread Nathrad!...

Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto no.2 has been one of my " most listened to " classical pieces throughout my life...

I vote for:
1- Rodgers and Hammerstein, creators of a new " genre " the American theatre...........pure genius!
2-Leonard Bernstein ( if for nothing more than the song " Maria " from West side story...
3-Aaron Copland, for pure " Americana "..." Fanfare for the Common Man " , Rodeo, Appalachian Spring...
4-Irving Berlin..always hits me " where I live "
5-Geo. Gershwin............" painted " my hometown Manhattan w/a musical brush as only he could do..
6- Jerome Kern..in a class by himself...
7- Cole Porter..never misses...
8-Andrew Lloyd Weber.........Phantom of the Opera has already made history...
9- Leonard Cohen, artist and poet ( Susannah, and Hallelujah )
10-John Lennon, Imagine...never tire of this song..

Many more!............the above geniuses all made " good music " accessible to the masses, which classical composers had never achieved, particularly in America....

[Nathrad Sheare]

Wow, I haven't heard or read any mention of Rogers and Hammerstein in a long time. I guess their work is usually something theatre aficionados are familiar with. Indeed, they had some great moments.

Leonard Bernstein is a master of classic Broadway theatre, but my favorite work of his was Candide. June Anderson, the illustrious coloratura who starred as the "Queen of the Night" in the movie, Amadeus, is wonderful in the lead role. I also loved Bernstein as a conductor. He worked with the greatest opera stars and orchestras around, including Maria Callas and the Orchestra and Chorus of La Scala, Milan. A gifted man.

I LOVE Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah. It's one of my favorite contemporary songs. I first heard it while watching the movie, "Shrek." I've heard several renditions since then. One of my favorites is K.D. Lang's. Of course, you can't beat the original with Cohen, himself, vocalizing.

Andrew Lloyd Webber has to be one of the best things ever to happen to musical theatre. The "Phantom of the Opera" is one of the best Broadway works ever written, in my opinion, and I don't care what any of the opera freaks who made him a target of the Puccini Foundation said. You know he had to pay an incredibly generous sum to the board because some of the bits from the ensemble pieces and duets resembled themes of Puccini's "La Fanciulla Del West?" Ridiculous...

One name I have to throw in is Claude- Michel Schonberg. "Les Miserables" is a masterpiece. I have the complete soundtrack from the movie, and I treasure it as much as I treasure any one of my best opera sets. The emotional power Anne Hathaway, Hugh Jackman, and Russel Crowe bring to the music is astounding, and the orchestra and chorus! WOW! Amanda Seyfried has a better voice than I ever knew she did. I've never heard a high- set Broadway voice like that... Eddie Redmayne as Marius sang with some real conviction. I loved his "Red and Black." I'm definitely not an official fan of Broadway, but... wow...

[anomalocaris]

My favorite singer songwriter ever is John Denver, but that is in part, because of an abiding affection for the man himself. He had his issues, but he was an amazing person.

I think Jackson Browne is the best lyricist I've ever encountered. He was writing amazingly deep lyrics at the age of sixteen. His songs always have something to say, and he says it so beautifully. His Before the Deluge, about the moment in history when the Vietnam war destroyed the childlike innocence of the hippie movement captures it like no history book ever could: On the brave and crazy wings of youth, they went flying around in the rain, and their feathers, once so fine, grew torn and tattered. In the end they traded their tired wings for the resignation that living brings, and in a moment they were swept before the deluge." I think it's his ability to crystallize enormous emotion into a few words that I really love about him. Sometimes it's really deep emotion, like in For a Dancer, his ballad for his wife who took her own life, or "Anything Can Happen," where he talks about the need to give whatever love we can now, and not wait, because the future is too uncertain to rely on.

But sometimes it's just a really simple moment, like this:
Now you say "Morocco" and that makes me smile.
I haven't seen Morocco in a long, long while.
The dreams are rolling down across the places in my mind
And I've just had a taste of something fine.


He's amazing!

[Nathrad Sheare]

Hey, anomalcaris!

Those are some interesting choices. I loved the Jackson Browne quotes. Quite a lyricist is he. You're right when you write he makes the most of the fewest possible words. A beautiful talent. You know, you can tell a lot about someone by their favorite songwriter or composer. Are you wondering what I think about you?

Ha, ha. I'm kidding. I won't give you the Moriarti song and dance. Nice choices. Very, as you put it, amazingly deep.

[AMP76]

Bob Dylan has always been an amazing lyric writer, poetic at times.

[phonicphoenix]

Tori Amos has the ability to make me feel so much I can only give my vote to her

[IvaDivkovic]

Annie Lennox always seems to wake my spirit up in the morning with 'Little Bird', it's a wonderful song!

[anomalocaris]

Hey, anomalcaris!

Those are some interesting choices. I loved the Jackson Browne quotes. Quite a lyricist is he. You're right when you write he makes the most of the fewest possible words. A beautiful talent. You know, you can tell a lot about someone by their favorite songwriter or composer. Are you wondering what I think about you?

Ha, ha. I'm kidding. I won't give you the Moriarti song and dance. Nice choices. Very, as you put it, amazingly deep.

Uh-oh. Now I'm in trouble! That's okay, I already know I'm a long way from top of the "normal" curve. Normal people don't sit on rattlesnake dens to relax. Glad you're on board with Jackson though! I heard in the news that he turned 60 last year and my instant reaction was, "That's a filthy lie! He's only 27!"

[Nathrad Sheare]

Ah, the rattlesnake den... That's high quality seating, if you ask me. Don't worry about being normal... I don't even know what it is... Speaking of normal and venturing toward the idea of acceptability... I think I misspelled Moriarty, didn't I? Ha, ha! In my not so humble opinion, there's no need to be normal when you can be interesting instead. Whenever anybody calls you "eccentric," take it as a compliment.

Ivadivkovic:

Annie Lennox is awesome! Her voice is like a box of firecrackers. I've heard at least ten songs by her and have smiled wide at something about each of them. Her performance style is incredibly unique, too. Her eyes... They're wicked, aren't they?

I really enjoy Ennio Morricone as a composer of songs. He's written several for soprano soloist and orchestra for soundtracks, each of them beautiful, almost prayerful. Oh, the deliciousness of music.

[chiliabowl1998]

Brantley Gilbert

[Nathrad Sheare]

I'm not familiar. Please, expound.