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Posted by Ralph Moore on July 28, 2023, 1:38 pm, in reply to "Re: Wot, No Bax !?"
Mine are predictably easy:
Elgar
Vaughan Williams
Purcell
Tallis
Byrd
(we can't really count Handel as British) 
Previous Message
Picking up on Jeffrey Lague's final comment in his initial posting, it seems only fair to point out that BBC Music Magazine, on pages 38-41 of their August 2023 edition (i.e. the pages immediately following the link we have been given) DID indeed list not only the names of all 167 'leading musicians', but the five composers they each gave in answer to the question.
Looking through that list of replies it is clear that many of them interpreted the question in different ways, thereby rendering the exercise even less meaningful.
Perhaps Jeffrey would like to enlighten us which 5 composers would have made up his list of the 'Greatest British Composers of all time' - and does it include Bax? Previous Message
All this list shows is that "leading musicians" can be ignorant ones too with more than a smattering of virtue signalling thrown in for good measure. Previous Message
What I forgot to include is that this list is meant to show the 25 best British composers of all time....yes, it's not a typo, "Of all time."
Here's the link:
https://www.classical-music.com/composers/best-british-composers/ Previous Message
"We asked 167 of today’s leading musicians to have their say, with five votes each, based on the criteria of originality, influence, technique and, of course, sheer enjoyability to listen to and perform. We then totted up the votes to draw up the following Top 25, in reverse order…(BBC Music Magazine)"
Elizabeth Maconchy
Herbert Howells
Coleridge-Taylor
Malcolm Arnold
Oliver Knussen
Helen Grime
Jonathan Dove
Judith Weir
Holst
John Dowland
George Benjamin
Ethel Smyth
Frank Bridge
Harrison Birtwistle
Tallis
James MacMillan
Handel
Thomas Ades
Tippett
Walton
William Byrd
Vaughan Williams
Purcell
Elgar
Britten
Although absolutely gobsmacked by some (actually quite a few) of the names on the list I'm even more astounded by many that have been ignored... Delius, Bax, Stanford, Parry, even Alwyn, Moeran, Holbrooke and Sullivan. Malcolm Arnold, whose music I love , surprises by his inclusion because his music is usually denigrated by those who would rate Harrison Birtwistle as a great composer.
What would be most interesting would be to know who the "Leading musicians" are who formulated such a list. "Name and shame 'em" is what I say.
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Wot, No Bax !? - Jeffrey Lague July 27, 2023, 7:43 pm
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