Why bach is the greatest composer

The resulting Top 50 is a fascinating list which includes a wealth of international leading composers throughout history, from the 12th century to the present day. Want to learn how to play Bach? Download our digital special, Play Bach, here. Learn how to play like Bach in our Play Bach digital special. Other composers in the Top 5 include Russian iconoclast Igor Stravinsky in second place; Ludwig van Beethoven, hugely influential composer of the most famous piece of classical music ever written, is positioned third, ahead of the prodigious and prolific Austrian Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart at four; Claude Debussy, famed for his lyrical melodies, poetic piano works and exquisite chamber music, completes the list at five.

British composer Benjamin Britten narrowly missed out on the top 10, voted in at 11th place in the rankings. Johann Sebastian Bach named greatest composer of all time. No British composers made the top ten. Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp. Facebook Twitter Email. Gardiner is an agnostic, but admits to feeling close to becoming a Christian when performing Bach. He humanises the Lutheran theology of his time and makes it approachable.

He makes it speak to people of all beliefs, and of none. There is so much wit. Bach suffered devastating personal loss and his music, while occasionally saturated in grief, is somehow always immensely consoling. This is particularly true of his two hundred-odd cantatas, an astonishing suite of works that form the centre of his musical universe. When you're feeling frazzled, you need Bach not Beethoven to relax you.

He has a calmness that makes people feel that all's well with the world and that they'll be all right. Helmuth Rilling, another outstanding Bach conductor, reckons the true extent of Bach's genius is only now becoming apparent. When I asked pianist James Rhodes recently why Bach was the ultimate, he put it pretty succinctly. And I was going to say, how about the Double Violin Concerto, second movement? But maybe it should be the Violin and Oboe Concerto second movement instead?