In your opinion, who is the greatest composer of our era?

[1monster]

My vote goes to Yanni:

[hlthe2b]

1. You will surely get "shit" for that choice...

but I appreciate Yanni's work.

My tastes run the gamut, but I do believe that he is quite talented.

[1monster]

2. Yes, well there are some people who consider themselves connoisseurs of music and will trash

different artists for lacking in some quality or another that makes up their (in my opinion, artificial) criteria for greatness..

To those who trash Yanni, I'd say that experts in music have found that Yanni's music has the same effect on developing minds that Mozart's does. I appreciate Mozart's music. Some of it is truly beautiful. But I find it appeals to me more intellectually than emotionally. Yanni's music touches my soul (and many other people's souls, too).

And in the end, the opinions of music "connoisseurs" and "experts" are just that, opinions. The true test of music is if it touches the emotions and how deeply. That is what makes it art and great.

Using that criteria, I know that it would be possible for even something a silly as "My Wife Ran Off With My Best Friend, and I Miss Him" to be considered by some as great art. But that's the breaks.

In the end, I guess time will tell whether or not Yanni is on the level of a Mozart of if he is an Antonio Salieri.

[shenmue]

3. I like Deuter

[1monster]

6. Ommmmm.... So why, ommmmm, do I feel like assuming the lotus possition, ommmm...

and ommmm.....

Ommmmmmm....

feeling very peaceful...

[randr]

4. Mingus, Coltrane, Davis, Monk.......

Need I go on.
Comparing Yanni with these men is like comparing Wonderbread to whole wheat.

[1monster]

5. So you like blues and jazz... Great. But why do you feel you must put down

another composer just because you prefer a different type of music?

[randr]

7. I love all music

Just grade it as I hear it.

[Number9Dream]

8. John Williams, Ennio Morricone

Not sure what "our era" encompasses. Music is subjective, so I won't say anything negative about Yanni. I like some of his music. With five Academy awards, four Golden Globe Awards, 21 Grammy Awards and 49 Academy Award nominations, John Williams is amazing. The body of Ennio Morricone's work is also terrific (Cinema Paradiso, The Good, Bad, Ugly, etc.)

[1monster]

9. John Williams has an impressive resume and his style is unmistakable.

I love they Good, The Bad, The Ugly...especially
The ukelele version.

Vangelis also comes very high on my list of composers.

[Magleetis]

10. Frank Zappa

IMHO Frank did things that were new and fresh. His use of odd meters, poly rhythm and complicated non-traditional chord progressions and harmony are the reasons why I think he is the most innovative composer of the 20th century. He also combined genres in a way that had not previously been done. One aspect of Frank's music that I find particularly fascinating is his ability to take a simple motive and develop it into a musical journey. His sense of thematic development was off the charts. Frank was a true pioneer.

[Number9Dream]

11. Long time fan

When we saw The Grandmothers of Invention over a year ago, both Don Preston and Napoleon Murphy Brock talked about how they still loved performing Frank's music, keeping it alive for us fans, and exposing new listeners to his genius.

[Fumesucker]

14. I just watched this for the first time this morning.. Didn't realize Frank had covered it..

[KatyMan]

12. McCartney...Fripp?

[hobbit709]

13. Robert Hunter

[Robert Prewitt]

15. Big 5

1. Lennon/McCartney--Greatest songwriters/composers of modern music
2. Bob Dylan--Greatest lyricist/poet of modern music
3. Brian Wilson--Greatest example of producer as genius
4. Radiohead--Greatest Rock band ever synthesized Rock, Jazz, and symphonics
5. Jimi Hendrix--Greatest innovator/visionary of a modern instrument.

[pangaia]

16. Chris Rouse

[greendog]

17. Larry Wellington

The composer of the Roto- Rooter Jingle.

[bif]

18. Alan Hovaness

[bif]

19. And Brian Eno

[cemaphonic]

20. You could make a pretty good case for Philip Glass.

He has a really distinctive and recognizable style that musicians from pretty much every genre have incorporated into their own styles. He and his colleagues in the 70s NY scene did a lot to shake "art" music out of the Modernist rut that had developed where institutionally trained composers were pretty much writing for each other and failing (and not even really trying) to connect to a larger audience. Along the same lines, he and some others developed the idea of organizing a composer/performer collective much like a rock or jazz band, instead of shopping scores around to universities and classically-oriented orchestras and chamber music groups.

Also, incredibly prolific, which seems to be a common element of most candidates for "best composer of their era"

Spaceship scene from "Einstein on the Beach":

[Tom Ripley]

21. I'm a Terry Riley man myself, but you make a compelling argument for Glass (who I also enjoy)