Well, I dont think anyone can argue against Beethoven seeing as he was deaf! Edit changed the spelling of deaf.

Arguments can be made for quite a few names here. In my opinion, Johann Sebastian Bach is the greatest composer of all time. Amazing religious and numerical sequences have been found in his music. Occurrences of the number three in pieces based on the Trinity are just a few examples. Accompanying his abilities, his personality was one of humility and modesty. He wrote trio sonatas, solo sonatas, concertos, solo instrument suites, keyboard suites, hundreds of cantatas, Passion Oratorios, hundreds of major organ works encompassing chorale preludes, preludes and fugues, toccatas, and an organ mass. Some of his most noteworthy compositions include Die Kunst der Fuge (Art of Fugue) and the B minor Mass, just to name a few.

Beethoven...everyone else is trying to catch up to Mozart, Bach and Schubert in the race for 2nd place.

I would say Beethoven and Mozart.

Tchaikovsky

J.S. Bach, without a doubt.

I would have to say Johann Sebastian Bach is the greatest composer. His works included emotion and feeling, he was great. Of course there are many close behinds.

Ooog the cave man. His rock symphonies were amazing!!!

Since it is all a matter of personal choice and is usually between the Austrian , German Russian and Polish composers I cannot possible pick only one from so many I love Ballet Music by everyone. That means that there are so many composers that I think are great The greatest in my mind can depend on my mood and what i am listening to at the time Mozart to Debussy, Wagner Borodin , Tchaikovsly, Bach, Handel, too too many.

Ludwig Von Beethoven. Passion, fire, grace and power describe his musical achievements. For popular music, definitely Sir Paul McCartney. What can I say...? Dr. Guzman

J.S. Bach. Arisztid asks that you email him. Happy New Year!

I presume this question relates to Western Classical Music. It is difficult to decide the greatest among the innumerable Composers who have done marvelous musical works at various period of time. Music is also,a Cultural evolution. It doesn't stop with one great person. Of course the names of Ludwig van Beethoven, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Piotr Ilych Tchaikovsky, Felix Mendelssohn and Jean Sibelius come to our mind when we think about best composers.

This is easy. Ask the experts themselves. All great composers that came after Bach studied, praised and revered him above all others. All music before Bach reached its zenith with him. All music after him was influenced most by him. No one has ever matched his his combination of contrapuntal skill, harmonic mastery and melodic invention. And there is also that elusive "magic" that his music produces. Despite all the super genius technical mastery, there is something much deeper in his music. Not all are able to hear it unfortunately. But those that can never tire of it. When you listen to a Bach piece over and over, you constantly hear new things! It seems to renew itself. It is miraculous.

FRANZ LISZT!!!! Liszt is clearly the greatest classical composer of all time without a shadow of a doubt. Listen to his Hungarian Rhapsodies and you will see what music really is.

Beethoven, is there any argument? He wrote the most powerful, most beautiful, most amazing music the world has known... and he was deaf. Certianly, all other composers were very talented, Gods even, but Beethoven couldn't even hear...

I'm not even sure if I'd say he was the greatest, but Chopin definitely should be up there. Also, when it comes to classical guitar, villa-lobos is outstanding.

The six greatest composers of all time are Bach, Handel, Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, and Schubert.

bob marley. beethoven and his oldschool crew have nothing on the king of reggae :)

Yes, Bach for his profound expression of human/divine soul, but Beethoven for his emotional heights and depths as important for communicating the human spirit.

1) "A composer (literally meaning "one who puts together") is a person who creates music, usually in the medium of notation, for interpretation and performance. The composer is the author of the music." "The term "composer" is often used specifically to mean a composer in the mainstream Western tradition of classical music. In popular and folk music, the composer is typically called a songwriter (since the music generally takes the form of a song)." Source and further information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Composer Further information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Songwriter http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_composers http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Baroque_composers http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Classical_era_composers http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Romantic_era_composers http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_20th_century_classical_composers_by_birth_date http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_21st_century_classical_composers_by_birth_date 2) Who are we to judge who has been the greatest composer of all times? We are a child of our time and of our particular culture, We have heard only a few particular kinds of music and are only able to understand some of them. Shall we let the majority decide? Any poll made in some music magazine or whatever? Or ask some particular music specialist? Is my humble opinion of any worth? 3) Bach grounded Western music as we know it. Beethoven wrote some of the best musical pieces. And many others contributed to this music, up to the present time. Sometimes I like to hear again some of the classics, sometimes I appreciate discovering new territories. I think that as long as I can appreciate it, the best composer of all times is always the one who wrote the music that I am just listening to in this very moment. Forget the rest and just concentrate on this music. 3) Some of my favorite modern composers: Claude Debussy, Arnold Schoenberg, Béla Bartók, Edgard Varèse, Arthur Honegger, George Gershwin, Olivier Messiaen, John Cage, Benjamin Britten, Iannis Xenakis, György Ligeti, Luciano Berio, Pierre Boulez, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Mauricio Kagel, Henryk Górecki, Krzysztof Penderecki, Arvo Pärt, Terry Riley, Philip Glass, Frank Zappa, Paul McCartney. Further information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_20th_century_classical_composers_by_birth_date I am sorry I did not find a great woman composer that I really appreciate. But there are a lot of great women interprets, singers and also songwriters. Okay, here some names outside of the classical world: Patti Smith, Amy Winehouse, Katie Melua, Joss Stone, Björk, Kimya Dawson, KT Tunstall.

personally i like carl orff and micheal nyman

I prefer Bach or Vivaldi as a matter of opinion. I can't speak for others, but as the widely accepted frontrunner, I'd say Beethoven would top the list, solely on account of everyone knowing him.

beethoven,mozart and yanni

Beethoven, the forefather of Romantic era of music, is the single greatest composer of all time - there not a single figure that could even compare to what he has done for music both spiritually, politically and spiritually.