[QA] Beyond Mozart - Liszt and Chopin

Q: ...mozart's works are the most beautiful among others. all of his worksare great. other composers, like beethoven, sometimes produce mediocreworks ...

hi

i happened to find your site. i like it very much. i just started to listen to classical music. and mozart's works are the most beautiful among others. all of his works are great. other composers, like beethoven, sometimes produce mediocre works (it's just my view. maybe others find them great) but as a layman, mozart's works impress me even it's the first listening.

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xxx

Thanks for your email. I'm glad that you like my articles.

Among other human culture heritages, Mozart's music is definitely one of the most precious. I'm a big fan of his music and he's still my favorite, but as a composer, I also enjoy listening to all kinds of other music. Beethoven has his style which may not be as approachable as Mozart, let along Stravinsky. However, it's somewhat like literature written in different languages. Each language has its own flavor. You may have your taste but if you are able to enjoy more kinds of things, that's even better, right?

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Tsan-Kuang

hi tsan kuang,

thanks for your reply. i try to expose myself to different composers. but it seems to me that i prefer those in classical period and before that and must say that mozart is my favourite. i have listened to some pieces by liszt, but didn't find it much attractive except for la companella. can you suggest any works by him that you like?

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xxx

I actually like Liszt a lot. He's usually compared to Paganini and Chopin. They say Paganini has superb techinques on violin, and Liszt on piano. They also say Liszt's piano music tend to be technique-oriented and less musical than Chopin.

I don't play vioiln so I can't comment on Paganini but Liszt's use of harmony, in my opinion, is far beyond his contemporaries. Some of Chopin's later works also show bold use of harmony but I'd say Liszt's contribution in the history of harmony is undeniable.

Popular pieces such as La Companella are usually more conservative (which may actually be the very reason they became popular), harmonically speaking. If you listen to or analyze music composed after 1850, you may found Liszt's influences.

That said, I really love Chopin's pieces in that he has so many nuances in harmony, rhythm, structure, and many pianistic decisions.

Tsan-Kuang