What is your favorite classical music?

What is your favorite period of classical music and why? What is your least favorite and why?

• For those who don't know: http://www.good-music-guide.com/articles/periods.htm Medieval Period - from about 800 to 1400 AD Dominated by church music. Gregorian chant or plainchant is typical. Monophonic refers to the fact that only one note is sung at one time. Renaissance Period - from 1400 to 1600 Still dominated by the church but with more sophisticated melodies and harmonies (polyphony). Different styles begin to emerge. Composers include Palestrina, Monteverdi and William Byrd. Baroque Period - from 1600 to 1750 Music flourishes in complexity, and scope. Instrumental music becomes dominant, and most major music forms become defined. Composers include Bach, Handel and Vivaldi. Classical Period - from 1750 to 1830 After flowering during the baroque, music now settles into several well-defined forms, following strict rules. The main forms being the sonata, the symphony and the concerto. Composers include Mozart, Haydn, Schubert and Beethoven. Romantic period - from 1830 to WWI Music begins to break out of the classical strictness, and becomes more expressive and emotional. Rules get broken and new ideas develop. Composers include Brahms, Schumann, Tchaikovsky and Wagner. Twentieth Century While some composers on the twentieth century remained in the romantic style, most composers moved on. The only rule was that there are no rules. New music, new styles, new ideas. Composers include Bartok, Stravinsky, Prokofiev and Ravel.

• Answer:

  I don't know much Medieval music so there's not much I can say as to whether I like or dislike it. I have heard some amazing Renaissance music so I would count that as a favored period, however, there's still plenty I haven't heard. Baroque is probably my least favorite. Compositions tended to be much too flowery and complicated, to the point where they can be monotonous. Bach has some great pieces and he has a lot of range, so he sticks out in my mind. The Classical period is the easy favorite. Much simpler and more expressive than baroque. Famous melodies, emotive, string sections... really all that needs said is Mozart and Beethoven. The Romantic period is kind of a mixed bag. There was a lot going on, and certainly some of the most beautiful pieces were written here. Many different sounds. Yet nothing that sticks out in my mind quite like the Classics. The Modern period is kind of like the Medieval period... hard to comment on. Some compositions rival anything done before (Rhapsody in Blue comes to mind) while some are sheer experimentation, and many others are completely off my radar. Also, the distinction between art music and popular music starts to disintegrate. So in order starting with my favorite I would say it's Classical, Romantic, Modern, Renaissance, Medieval, and Baroque.