Vote

John Williams.

Lennon-McCartney

Frank Zappa

Ralph Vaughan Williams

Frank Zappa, beyond any shadow of a doubt. No musician or composer showed his amazing musical versatility. From rock and pop to classical, not to mention lots of music that defied any attempts at classification. I saw him in concert 4 times and no one had more fun doing live shows. Add to that his amazing sense of humor, unique perspectives and large output and you have a figure that, I believe, towers over all others. He may not have gotten the commercial recognition he deserved, but my opinion, Frank Zappa was the BEST!

Joni Mitchell. Period.

Lennon-McCartney's music is still as fresh the day it was produced.

Ravel

Jean Sibelius

Dave Brubeck. This century has blessed us with a bunch of brilliant musicians, such as Ellington, Pete Townsend, and Copland, but for my money, Mr. Brubeck gets the nod.

John Williams

Tough call, but I would have to say Joaquin Rodrigo.

Lennon-McCartney

Guess I should answer my own question, but it's no easier now than when I thought it up. I think Lennon and Stevie Wonder will have the longest overall effect on modern music, but Ray Stevens is just plain FUN!

Anton Webern, Béla Bartók, Arnold Schoenberg

Glimmer Twins (Mick & Keith)

Lennon/McCartney with out a doubt

It's hard to pick only one, but my one is Dmitri Shostakovich. I might choose Malher, but he's not a 20th Century composer (since the 20th Century began in 1914). DM is *echt* 20th Century. His output was highly variable; but, at his best, he was one on the great composers and great witnesses of the Century.

Brian Wilson -- the man was a genius, whether it was coming up with a simple but catchy melody (Like Surfer Girl or California Girls) to composing dense mini-symphonies in his mind (like Good Vibrations and Let's Go Away For Awhile). But his greatest gift was that of vocal aranger. Cabinnesence, Cool Cool Water, and Heroes & Villains sound absolutely fabulous. The kind of stuff that could come from the mind of Brian Wilson!

Now you have dones it... How in the world can you narrow such a question down to one person?... If you really have to have an answer to this lame question, I'll say... "Limp Bizkit" LOL!

Sergei Rachmanninov

Dmitri Shostakovich He managed to write 15 varied and poignant symphonies, numerous fascinating string quartets, sonatas etc. all while surviving and flourishing under the government of a satanical leader. He also managed to write a touching 7th symphony while enduring the siege of Leningrad (St. Petersburg once again) by Hitler's armies as he performed his duties as air marshal. There was a seriousness and depth to his compositions that escapes most modern composers.

Serge Prokofiev and Gustav Mahler

Malcolm Arnold

Frank Zappa

Frank Zappa

Jean-Michele Jarre. He plays some great tunes!!

Now this is a difficult one... It has to be someone who has a great range - Zappa is a good choice but in the end he is so obsessively controlled. There has to be a wide range of emotions as well - Lennon- McCartney would fit that bill. But we're talking composers so that means the emotions should be conveyed mainly through the music, not the lyrics. That removes Kurt Weill from the running as well. It also has to be one you actually want listen to and return to which leaves out a lot of pop music composers. I guess the only composer who would fit all the requirements is Gustav Mahler. Even though he lived mostly in the 19th century all his symphonies except the first were either written or finally revised in the 20th.

Lennon-McCartney Among all my friends, I humbly claim to have the most diverse and biggest collection of music. I am also the only wanna-be audiophile in this late-twenties group. So, when I took up the task of introducing my girlfriend to Western Popular music, I realized that I had to start with the Beatles. Granted that until Lennon met Dillon, the lyrics were silly, but they are the Godfathers of popular music. I was again astonished when I listened to "A day in the life" (forgive me if I do not get the name correct)and my girlfriend was soon humming along with "Let it be". These songs are ageless.

Lennon-McCartney. Apparently, the greatest of this century considering their influence on contemporary music and the number of fans all over the world. Being an audiophile for years, nowadays I tend to listen to something more like Andreas Vollenweider and Emma Shapplin rather than the Beatles. But, frankly, I don't need to play their records now. Almost 95% of them are still in my head. 5% lost due to natural ageing process over the period of nearly 30 years.