Greatest Composers of All Time

I don't doubt that this will be of interest, in the sense of inciting a riot. Haydn
below Rachmaninov, Liszt and Schumann above Brahms and Mahler?
Shostakovich, Bruckner and Dvorak completely absent? Oh my!

Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Mahler, Haydn in that order. The next tier, in no
particular order, Brahms, Wagner, Shostakovich, Schubert, and Schutz. The
next tier, also in no particular order, Tchaikovsky, Bruckner, Dvorak, and
Chopin. For the final spot, I'd go with Sibelius over Schumann.

Czbbl, I also like Radio Swiss Classic. They are on the same page as me with
respect to there preferences for performance of a given work. Its almost like
they are playing from my own library, but I've also found much new and to my
liking. Plus, I get a little practice on my woefully inadequate German.

Tubegroover, Astute comment regarding Chopin. It was for exactly that reason that I excluded Verdi (although not Wagner) from my list. I don't see Debussey in the top 5 or Bartok in the top 10, and with Schubert, he just died too young. His late chamber works and the Lieder, as well as some of his piano sonatas are of the highest quality. I could easily agree to Stravinsky being on the list, but that is objectively questionable in view of who you would need to move off. I could, based on personal preference, argue for R. Strauss. But his own judgement, I am a first rate second class composer" should stand.

Chayro and Charles1dad, Well stated commentaries on the current non-sustainable inherently wrong headed pour someone else's money down utterly ridiculous holes mentality. As has been stated, "Socialism works great until you run out of someone else's money." Now, back to the music. I could not live without Bach, Beethoven and Mahler. Charles1dad, add to the above recommendations Aaron Copland's piano concerto. Leonard Bernstein is the only one I ever heard get this piece right. It is just a gas. Might want to give that a try. Lenny was unique.

Learsfool. Bruckner made my list. I like Ives and Copland, but I would have a hard time bumping someone else off my top 15 to include one of them. Another interesting observation, by my memory, there were no British composers. I would wonder if one could not make a case for Britten in a top 15 list. I find so much of his work to be of outstanding quality. While he was not as prolific as some, there are outstanding examples in chamber, orchestral, and vocal genres.

Newbee, an answer from"anyone else." I like Lewis's Schubert very much, but I like Richter's better. They are older, with dated sonics, some audience noise, but personally, its the best Schubert I've heard. Cheap too, on the alto label. Praga has a couple SACD releases (remasters I assume) that I haven't heard yet. For the money, the Alto releases are a no brainer.

Newbee,
Take a look at this. http://www.talkclassical.com/ 21995-who-your-
favorite-schubertian.html. Apparently I am not alone in thinking Richter
has a way with Schubert. To your question, I do not own a Richter
recording of the Wanderer and only have a couple of the impromptus by
Richter. There are a couple of recordings on the Alto label for sale on
amazon. Archivmusic appears not to carry this label anymore.

JSBach
Beethoven
Mahler
Haydn
Mozart
Schubert
Shostakovich
Brahms
Schutz
Wagner

I could almost have listed Bach as 1-9 with LvB #10. The breadth, depth, beauty, and genius, and profundity of his works that survive is astonishing. No one save LvB approaches.

Schubert, I too place his cantatas at the pinnacle. What Bach did with his cantatas, especially the Leipzig work, is just superhuman. 54 cantatas a year for 3 years, in addition to his other duties as cantor. He wrote at least one new cantata a week on Monday and Tuesday, practiced with the choir the remainder of the week. How is that even possible? They are not formulaic tripe. They are masterworks. And lets not forget his choral preludes, cranked out at the same pace. The man was a gift from God, pure and simple. All this, while being a husband and father to double digit children, not to mention his teaching duties, and the constant frustrations of dealing with the blockheaded pietistic clergy in Liepzig, who regarded him as nothing but a third rate composer.
Can't wait to hear your thoughts on the Sigs! I think you have probably made a great choice.