Composer you love his/her music, but HATE the guy?

[Archae]

For me...

Richard Wagner.
He was a vicious anti-Semite, yet he wrote some terrific music.

The famous "Wedding March" ("Here comes the bride...") was written by him, did you know that?

[redqueen]

1. I was going to say Wagner.

Durnit.

[Parche]

8. radiohead

Of course:shrug: :hi:

[redqueen]

9. You're SO not right.

:P

[Rabrrrrrr]

2. Lou Reed.

Arrogant, unfriendly bastard. Great music.

[Xipe Totec]

3. Mozart - What an ass

what beautiful music.

[Archae]

4. Mozart?

How was he an ass?

[Xipe Totec]

6. Mozart was obsessed with filthy verse and breaking wind

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2004/10/13/bmoz12.xml

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

18. So he would have fit right in, here in the Lounge?

[Xipe Totec]

27. 'xactly! nt

[JVS]

30. What an awesome dude!

[regnaD kciN]

34. Don't base your view of Mozart solely on "Amadeus"...

...which was pure pseudo-historical caricature.

Mozart did love bawdy and scatological humor -- but so did the average person of that less-puritanical time. He was far more straight-laced than Peter Shaffer's portrayal of him, on stage and screen, as the 18th century equivalent of the out-of-control rock star. (Needless to say, Shaffer's portrayal of Salieri is even more slanderously fabricated.)

[Xipe Totec]

38. Where did you see me quote the movie? nt

[NC_Nurse]

5. In Steppenwolf (by Herman Hesse), Wagner is in hell

for "heavy orchestration". :D
I like a lot of his stuff, but he is a bit heavy handed. And was quite a jerk in person apparently.

[mvd]

7. Phil Spector

Boy did he take a turn for the worse. :-(

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

10. Beethoven was said to have been an irritable, cranky pain in the ass.

He wrote some good stuff, though.

[ironflange]

14. ESPECIALLY AFTER HE WENT DEAF!!!

WHAT?!? BEG PARDON?!?!?
               \

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

16. Must have sucked not to be able to hear his own stuff. No wonder he was a grump.

[ironflange]

21. He had perfect pitch

He knew what it sounded like.

[graywarrior]

17. The poor bastard. It wasn't his fault

http://youtube.com/watch?v=nJGESRc3XfY

[Karenina]

11. Freddie Hubbard

He assaulted me. "SHE thinks she's gonna play with US??" Grabbed my lip and tried to drag me across the stage.

[mitchum]

12. Satan

[mitchum]

13. That nasty little prick Miles Davis

I'm amazed that he only had the shit beat out of him once.

[Karenina]

15. He was a BRILLIANT musician (for MEN only)

but an incredibly nasty piece of work. ESPECIALLY SO towards females. I admired him from afar and as with Mike Tyson found the nearest exit the moment either of them entered the room.

[mitchum]

19. He was brilliant, but I have never understood why so many musicians put up with his bullshit

there are tons of players who can walk around and say "I played with Miles", but I would equally respect anyone capable of saying "I loosened that belligerent midget's teeth"

[Karenina]

20. That's just NOT how it works.

Bullies are ADMIRED and feared, 'specially if theyre "heavies."

[Dr. Strange]

22. Wagner was an anti-Semite?

I didn't know that! I always loved him in "Hart-to-Hart!"

[Aristus]

23. Yeah, Wagner for me too.

What an irredeemable jerk. And he wrote the achingly lovely "Redemption" motif from the Ring Cycle.

If I had ever met him, I'd be glad I wasn't Jewish. And I'd keep my wife far away from his clutches...

[MilesColtrane]

24. Keith Jarrett

The music is incredible, but so is the douchbaggery.

He probably got Chronic Fatigue Syndrome from having to carry that massive ego around constantly.

Jarrett shows his love for an Italian audience.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BB9mMABRM0c

[Amerigo Vespucci]

25. The liner notes from Miles' "Complete Cellar Door Sessions" are pretty enlightening...

For those who aren't familiar with the box set, Miles' four-night performance at the Cellar Door spawned the live tracks on the legendary "Live Evil" double album. John McLaughlin showed up with his guitar on night four only. Jarrett didn't care for McLaughlin or the notion of a guitarist in the band, and I can only imagine the veins popping out on his forehead as McLaughlin blew the minds assembled in that tiny club (named "Cellar Door" because that was the approximate size of the stage).

I've never read a single word about Jarret being a nice guy. I've read positive reviews of his music, but every discussion of the man centers around his douchbaggery, as you put it.

:toast:

[SecularMotion]

26. Wedding March

was written by Felix Mendelssohn

[CBHagman]

28. You're thinking of the OTHER "Wedding March."

It's the Lohengrin-Midsummer Night's Dream smackdown!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wedding_March

The traditional processional at Western weddings is the Bridal Chorus from Richard Wagner's Lohengrin, while a traditional recessional is the Wedding March from Felix Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream.

It is ironic to note that while their musical works are often paired today, Mendelssohn, a Jewish composer, was a target of Wagner's anti-Semitic essay Das Judenthum in der Musik.

See also here for what's played when during the typical American church wedding.

http://german.about.com/library/bltrivia_wed.htm

And if you want to listen, see here. Wagner's march is #9 and Mendelssohn's is #15.

http://wc04.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:3jfyxqqgldse

[SecularMotion]

29. Thanks for the enlightenment

Felix Mendelssohn wrote the "Wedding March".

Richard Wagner wrote the "Bridal Chorus".

They are both known as wedding marches(sans quotes).

[TreasonousBastard]

31. Buddy Rich. He was jsut plain mean and would...

pick a fight with anyone.

[CBHagman]

39. A story that circulated after Buddy Rich died.

Several versions of this anecdote exist online, and for all I know it's an urban legend, but click here and scroll down for one take on Buddy Rich.


http://forums.allaboutjazz.com/archive/index.php/t-16220.html

[TreasonousBastard]

40. Good one! It's an old joke, but shows...

how much he was loved.

I was at his club one night and saw him stop the set and threaten a customer because the poor guy dared to actually drink his drink and let the ice clink in the glass-- how DARE he do that when Buddy was playing!

[YellowRubberDuckie]

32. When we were doing our pre wedding counselling....

The deacon told us that song "wedding march" was written for Prostitutes and that it was no longer allowed in the Catholic Church.
And apparently it was written by a douche bag.
Duckie

[regnaD kciN]

33. Yep...Wagner

Wagner was one of the biggest assholes in the history of music. (Even if he hadn't been a rabid anti-Semite, his other behavior would be enough to rank him as a total jerk.) But I love the Ring Cycle and many of his other music-dramas.

[HEyHEY]

35. Anton newcombe - what a tool

[LTR]

36. Bernard Herrmann

I consider him to be the greatest film composer ever (Citizen Kane, Psycho, Vertigo, Taxi Driver) but he was a difficult, insufferable ass.

I certainly don't hate the guy, though. Why would I? I'm not much of a hater of anyone.

I guess most musical geniuses had peculiar personalities.

[WritingIsMyReligion]

37. Miles Davis.

A huge asshole, but one of the world's greatest trumpet players and jazz composers/innovators. It's a shame he had to be such a prick, almost literally.

ETA: I've heard conflicting things about Miles. In one of his biographies he was called incredibly psychotic and yet some have called him oddly generous. Apparently the music brought out his assholery, as well as women.