Who's Greater?!

Who's Greater?

I've noticed a disturbing trend in the classical music section, as well as other classical music forums. It seems that there are many who are obsessed with asking questions such as; "who is better...Bach or Beethoven?". Why are so many interested in ranking these great composers? They are each great and unique. They each contributed something different to classical music. But when speaking of the "greats", it is a pointless exercise. In fact, all it does is attest to your complete lack of understanding and appreciation of classical music. Forget about whether Mozart was greater than Beethoven or not, and enjoy the music.

2 days ago
Italian...I would like to address your interesting comment. Of course I would agree with you that one can make a clear distinction between composers such as Bach, Beethoven, and Mozart, and say, composers from the sameperiod who can be called "second tier"...such as Clementi. What I object to, is ranking those who have cemented themselves as the "greats" of their period. Furthermore, I would like to emphasize, that it is my feeling that one should not compare "first tier" composers from different periods, such as Bach to Brahms. I do not find it fair to compare the "greats" of the Classical period to the "greats" of the Romantic period. They are substantially different on many levels, thus they are impossible to compare from an "objective" point of view.

Following suit would be too easy; of course, ranking doesn't make much sense. But let's take an opportunity to expand the point. Would it be realistic to rank Shakespeare, Goethe, Racine and Dante ? Simply impossible. The fact is, music is more universal than literature, because there isn't the language barrier. One more step and we get into a hornets' nest. Let's stop here. It's "more normal" to compare musicians, because the overall judgement is exactly more universal. It's a generally accepted fact that Bach, Mozart and Beethoven belong to tier 1, for objective reasons (complexity of form, invention, innovation). In painting, it's the same: would anyone deny that Michelangelo belongs to an upper level and Turner somewhere below ?
What we "like" is different. Personally, I find Otello, Don Giovanni and Tristan to be the peaks of opera, but when it comes to listening, I'd spend my entire life on Don Carlo, Trovatore and Ernani. Those were played around when I was in the cradle.

Later: Point taken. I just wanted to elaborate on a seemingly obvious issue.