Top 10 Greatest Classical Composers Ever

Just for fun, my son Brent and I made a brief poll: Who is the Greatest Classical Composer ever? 115 people filled in the survey. Here are the results (by the way, the difference between no. 1 and 2 was only 1 vote):


Top 10 Greatest Classical Composers Ever

10. Gustav Mahler (1860-1911)

9. Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901)


8. Franz Schubert (1779-1828)


7. Georg Friedrich Händel (1685-1759)



6. Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)

5. Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)


4. Frederic Chopin (1810- 1849)


3. Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)  

2. Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)


1. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 – 1791)


Preferences of different groups
We also asked respondents about their age, gender, and their knowledge of classical music. Als the tables below show there were slight differences in preferences for those groups:

Less knowledgeable	More knowledgeable
1.      Mozart 2.      Bach 3.      Beethoven 4.      Chopin 5.      Vivaldi	1.      Bach 2.      Mozart 3.      Beethoven 4.      Chopin 5.      Vivaldi

Man	Woman
1.      Bach 2.      Mozart 3.      Beethoven 4.      Chopin 5.      Vivaldi	1.      Mozart 2.      Bach 3.      Beethoven 4.      Vivaldi 5.      Chopin

Old	Young
1.      Bach 2.      Mozart 3.      Beethoven 4.      Chopin 5.      Mahler	1.      Mozart 2.      Beethoven 3.      Bach 4.      Chopin/Vivaldi

The greatest classical composition ever
Finally we asked respondents what they thought was the greatest classical composition of all time. Unfortunately, quite a few people appeared to have misread the question and mentioned a composer (Mozart was mentioned most often, then Bach). Overall, Bach compositions were mentioned most frequently. But Beethoven's Fith symphony tops the list for the greatest composition ever.

The greatest classical composition ever

1.      Symphony No. 5 (L. van Beethoven)  2.      Matthäus-Passion (J.S. Bach) 3.      The Four Seasons (A. Vivaldi) 4.      Symphony No. 9 (L. van Beethoven) 5.      Requiem (W.A. Mozart)

Some other compositions which were mentioned were: Bach's Art of Fugue, The Brandenburg Concertos, Cello Suites, and Air; Beethoven's Piano Sonata No.32, Moonlight Sonata, and Piano concerto 5; Mozart's Don Giovanni, Figaro, and The Magic Flute; Dvorak's New World Symphony; Pachabel's Canon; Prokofiev's Dance of the Knights; Handel's Messiah; Orff's Carmina Burana; Grieg's Peer Gynt; Elgar's Nimrod; Saint-Saëns' Dance macabre; Debussy's Clair de Lune; and Ravel's Bolero.