Walter Meyer wrote:

>Walter Meyer, who shares Wes' and others' admiration for J. S. Bach
>but refuses, by singling out a "best" to enter into a monogamous
>marriage witrh any composer,....

I well understand the refusal or reluctance to get into a ranking mode,
but I have no problem doing it.  I have to make choices among alternatives
every day, and I'm usually primed to do just that.  Bach is my favorite
composer and the others, in order are as follows:

1.  Bach
2.  Mozart
3.  Beethoven
4.  Handel
5.  Schubert
6.  Mahler
7.  Shostakovich
8.  Schumann
9.  Brahms
10. Wagner
11. Zemlinsky
12. Debussy
13. Haydn
14. Ravel
15. Telemann
16. Vainberg
17. Scelsi
18. Spohr
19. Hummel
20. Weber

Wait a week and the list could change a little.  About five years ago,
Mozart was on top, and Mahler/Wagner/Vainberg were not in the picture at
all.  I look forward to seeing where my tastes will head in the next few
years.

"Donald Satz" <[log in to unmask]>