Who is the third greatest classical composer?

Mozart and Beethoven are widely recognised as the two greatest classical* composers of all time, but who is the/is there a third?

First, you are relying on a false premise. I have never seen a critical list of composers that didn't have J.S. Bach as the greatest of all time or was at least top 3. Do a Google search.

I'm with Dark Elf on this. Mozart and Beethoven both had great difficulty wrapping their heads around J.S. Bach's fugues. Handel is way up the list, too, but Bach is typically rated number one.

Some others I really like are Domenico Scarlatti (who wrote a bazillion sonatas ... Sonata in A being my favorite) and Muzio Clementi, a brilliant pianist who competed with Mozart. They say Mozart won, but I'm not sure if that was just because he was more brazen (the squeaky wheel gets the grease). Clementi's pieces are absolutely beautiful.

There are also awesome stuff from less known or obscure composers. I always take delight in exploring the Classical territories. (Dvorak is very well known, of course. But not seen as one of the "giants", I guess.)







Edited by Shadowyzard - August 12 2020 at 18:02

My fav is Sibelius.

Well, actually, that's a bit of a relief for me, since Bach and Elgar are my favourites.

FatherChristmas wrote: Mozart and Beethoven are widely recognised as the two greatest classical* composers of all time, but who is the/is there a third? I'm asking this because I used to think Wagner was the third, but I've been doing some research and I found there are people who are arguing for Haydn and Bach, and some who are saying it's just Mozart and Beethoven, so I'm a bit confused.  *Yes, I know Beethoven was in the Romantic period, I mean"classical" as in not popular music.