Classical Music: The 50 Greatest Composers and Their 1,000 Greatest Works by Phil G. Goulding

Amazing these kind of works, very interesting and require a lot of research and previous knowledge, I only loathe this thing of dividing everything in perfect numbers like '1000', divisions like this will never work.

The book makes such mischievous mistakes as saying that Mozart was German, he never was, as well as saying that Schubert and Beethoven are classics, or even to say that Brahms is romantic.

By the way, 'Maria Antonieta' and the kind of "bread" called 'Croissant' that went to the guillotine, were never French, like Mozart they all were/are pure Austrian. She was gone, but the croissant remained beside the brioches, the name of it is Kipferl.

The book does not include the Russian Scriabin and the American Charles Ives. Political and sociological division also do not matter, especially when you are Catalan and refuse to be Spanish to the death, that's the same as saying that Stalin was Russian, he never was or Hitler was German, he never was.

The popular taste is very different from the erudite ear, when nobody knows to explain why the three 'Concertos for piano and orchestra' of three composers are so famous and anyone like it:
Nº 2 of Rachmaninoff ; Grieg in A minor Op.16, and Nº1 of Tchaikokovsky, all they are so simple in harmony and orchestration, but they are in the absolute taste of two groups, laymen and professionals.

It is also worth remembering that there are guitar concerts by Spanish composers that can not be left out of the universal repertoire.

The evaluation criterion is very subjective, and modern schools have shown that the analytical philosophy of the past has not worked right. Like Richard Strauss, who is not easy to hear, but his contribution to new ideas in music are so primordial and considered innovations that encourage other composers.

But apart from these mistakes or misinterpretation of the author, the book brings a lot of useful information. Maybe he has put some silly music of some composers, only to achieve 1000.