--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The three greatest composers are Bach…" description: "\"The three greatest composers are Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms. All the others are cretins.\" — Hans von Bulow" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/120/hans-von-bulow-60620_brahms_the-three-greatest-composers-are-bach-be_2059443.jpg" --- # The three greatest composers are Bach, Beethoven, and… ![“The three greatest composers are Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms. All the others are cretins.” quote by Hans von Bulow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/120/hans-von-bulow-60620_brahms_the-three-greatest-composers-are-bach-be_2059443.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/120/hans-von-bulow-60620_brahms_the-three-greatest-composers-are-bach-be_2059443.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/120/hans-von-bulow-60620_brahms_the-three-greatest-composers-are-bach-be_2059443.jpg) > “The three greatest composers are Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms. All the others are cretins.” [Hans von Bulow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-von-bulow/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms are the top composers; all others are inferior. **In simple terms:** Three great composers, everyone else is terrible. Key Takeaway Recognize the lasting impact of master composers. Themes classical music greatness comparisons Mood critical reflective Type musical historical When to use this quote - concerts - education - listening habits - music criticism Key Concepts music history cultural canon Questions to Reflect On - Who are your favorite lesser‑known composers? - How does personal taste shape your judgment? A Different Perspective Other composers also have unique contributions. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Beethoven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beethoven/) [Brahms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brahms/) [Brahms Cretins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brahms-cretins-3921151/) [Composer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/composer/) [Composers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/composers/) [Composers Bach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/composers-bach-2680581/) [Greatest Composers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greatest-composers-574381/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Song](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/song/) [Three](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/three/) ## Related quotes > [As far as rock groups, I really like Stone Temple Pilots. As for classical composers, it's Bach. I love Paganini, too, the Italian composer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-schulze/as-far-as-rock-groups-i-really-like-stone-temple-pilots-as-for/) [Matt Schulze](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-schulze/) > [“History's greatest composers world be rolling in their graves if they knew that their beautiful compositions were reduced to distorted hold music.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-p-naughton/history-s-greatest-composers-world-be-rolling-in-their-graves-if-they/) [Michael P. Naughton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-p-naughton/) > [“History's greatest composers would be appalled to hear their greatest works reduced to distorted hold music for businesses.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-p-naughton/history-s-greatest-composers-would-be-appalled-to-hear-their-greatest/) [Michael P. Naughton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-p-naughton/) > [Reviewer: 'One of your themes was very similar to one of Beethoven's!' Brahms replied, 'Of course it is. Everyone steals - the important thing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johannes-brahms/reviewer-one-of-your-themes-was-very-similar-to-one-of-beethoven-s/) [Johannes Brahms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johannes-brahms/) > [If you think of the history, in the days of Brahms and Beethoven and all these guys, almost every concert was a new music…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esa-pekka-salonen/if-you-think-of-the-history-in-the-days-of-brahms-and-beethoven-and/) [Esa-Pekka Salonen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esa-pekka-salonen/) > [After working with Ligeti I began to hear Brahms and Beethoven differently.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esa-pekka-salonen/after-working-with-ligeti-i-began-to-hear-brahms-and-beethoven/) [Esa-Pekka Salonen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esa-pekka-salonen/) > [If you go to Japan for instance, you should know that they have a different way of playing Beethoven or Brahms. But if you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-masur/if-you-go-to-japan-for-instance-you-should-know-that-they-have-a/) [Kurt Masur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-masur/) > [Composers most identified with the chamber music form are Corelli, Vivaldi, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert and, of course, Bach. Of course, Bach. If there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-decrow/composers-most-identified-with-the-chamber-music-form-are-corelli/) [Karen DeCrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-decrow/) > [I listen only to Bach, Beethoven or Mozart. Life is too short to waste on other composers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-edensor-littlewood/i-listen-only-to-bach-beethoven-or-mozart-life-is-too-short-to-waste/) [John Edensor Littlewood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-edensor-littlewood/) > [I grew up on Bach and Beethoven, and now I'm listening to more modern composers who I can't even name. But since I'm constantly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-r-rahman/i-grew-up-on-bach-and-beethoven-and-now-i-m-listening-to-more-modern/) [A. R. Rahman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-r-rahman/) > [There are some composers - at the head of whom stands Beethoven - who not only do not know when to stop but appear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-graham/there-are-some-composers-at-the-head-of-whom-stands-beethoven-who-not/) [Virginia Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-graham/) > [Composers in the old days used to keep strictly to the base of the theme, as their real subject. Beethoven varies the melody, harmony…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johannes-brahms/composers-in-the-old-days-used-to-keep-strictly-to-the-base-of-the/) [Johannes Brahms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johannes-brahms/) > [For many years, I've always been attached to what they call the Great American Songbook, and Kern was a great leader of that because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-bennett/for-many-years-i-ve-always-been-attached-to-what-they-call-the-great/) [Tony Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-bennett/) > [Let us not forget that the greatest composers were also the greatest thieves. They stole from everyone and everywhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-casals/let-us-not-forget-that-the-greatest-composers-were-also-the-greatest/) [Pablo Casals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-casals/) > [I remember going to a music company and while I was sitting there I saw Panchamda. He saw me and hid from me -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anu-malik/i-remember-going-to-a-music-company-and-while-i-was-sitting-there-i/) [Anu Malik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anu-malik/) ## More by Hans von Bulow > [A tenor is not a man but a disease.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-von-bulow/a-tenor-is-not-a-man-but-a-disease/) [Hans von Bulow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-von-bulow/) > [You must have the score in your head, not your head in the score.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-von-bulow/you-must-have-the-score-in-your-head-not-your-head-in-the-score/) [Hans von Bulow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-von-bulow/) > [In the beginning there was rhythm.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-von-bulow/in-the-beginning-there-was-rhythm/) [Hans von Bulow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-von-bulow/) > [In the beginning was rhythm.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-von-bulow/in-the-beginning-was-rhythm/) [Hans von Bulow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-von-bulow/) [Explore all 5 Hans von Bulow quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-von-bulow/) ## More Beethoven quotes > [For me, musicians are poets. Beethoven describes himself as a poet of tones, just like Coltrane's a poet of tempo.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/for-me-musicians-are-poets-beethoven-describes-himself-as-a-poet-of/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [I believe so, but at first he must know. He must know in which spirit Beethoven has composed this piece. He must try to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-masur/i-believe-so-but-at-first-he-must-know-he-must-know-in-which-spirit/) [Kurt Masur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-masur/) > [And now, in honour of the 150th anniversary of Beethoven's death, I would like to play 'Clear the Saloon', er, 'Clair de Lune', by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-borge/and-now-in-honour-of-the-150th-anniversary-of-beethoven-s-death-i/) [Victor Borge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-borge/) > [“That Beethoven was capable of producing the ultimate musical definition of heroism in this context is itself extraordinary, for he was able to evoke…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maynard-solomon/that-beethoven-was-capable-of-producing-the-ultimate-musical/) [Maynard Solomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maynard-solomon/) > [“He had said it bravely, and that is why one can trust Beethoven when he says other things.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-forster-2/he-had-said-it-bravely-and-that-is-why-one-can-trust-beethoven-when/) [E.M. Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster-2/) > [The point of recapitulation in the first movement of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony unleashes one of the most horrifyingly violent episodes in the history of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-mcclary/the-point-of-recapitulation-in-the-first-movement-of-beethoven-s/) [Susan McClary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-mcclary/) > [“You'll have a good, secure life when being alive means more to you than security, love more than money, your freedom more than public…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilhelm-reich/you-ll-have-a-good-secure-life-when-being-alive-means-more-to-you/) [Wilhelm Reich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilhelm-reich/) > [I shall never forget Juliek. How could I forget this concert given before an audience of the dead and dying? Even today, when I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/i-shall-never-forget-juliek-how-could-i-forget-this-concert-given/) [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) > [“Did Beethoven create his symphonies for his glorification? I don't believe it. I believe he created them because the music in his soul demanded…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/did-beethoven-create-his-symphonies-for-his-glorification-i-don-t/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [“On behalf of all that is good and melodic, Ludwig van Beethoven, I apologize.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-strohmeyer/on-behalf-of-all-that-is-good-and-melodic-ludwig-van-beethoven-i/) [Sarah Strohmeyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-strohmeyer/) > [Beethoven can't really be great because his picture isn't on a bubble gum card.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-m-schulz/beethoven-can-t-really-be-great-because-his-picture-isn-t-on-a-bubble/) [Charles M. Schulz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-m-schulz/) > [“I hope Ludwig van Beethoven gets his cut, Langdon thought, fairly certain that the original inventor of bone conduction technology was the eighteenth-century composer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-brown/i-hope-ludwig-van-beethoven-gets-his-cut-langdon-thought-fairly/) [Dan Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-brown/) > [“A deaf composer's like a cook who's lost his sense of taste. A frog that's lost its webbed feet. A truck driver with his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/a-deaf-composer-s-like-a-cook-who-s-lost-his-sense-of-taste-a-frog/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [Pulse as an active means of expression, Stravinsky and Beethoven are the two masters of that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esa-pekka-salonen/pulse-as-an-active-means-of-expression-stravinsky-and-beethoven-are/) [Esa-Pekka Salonen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esa-pekka-salonen/) > [I think there are very few people that I would give the title of genius to, really, but Beethoven unquestionably is one of them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-hough/i-think-there-are-very-few-people-that-i-would-give-the-title-of/) [Stephen Hough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-hough/) [Browse all 240 Beethoven quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beethoven/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The three greatest composers are Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms. 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