Favorites vs Greatest

Fifty

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I'm going to discuss this in terms of classical music, but you're free to make your favorite vs greatest list for any other art, musical or otherwise.

Does your top 5 favorite list with respect to some art differ from your judgment of the top 5 greatest list with respect to that art? It does for me.

My favorite 5 composers:

1) Bach
2) Faure
3) Chopin
4) Schubert
5) Haydn

5 Greatest composers in my judgment:

1) Bach
2) Beethoven
3) Mozart
4) Wagner
5) Haydn / Tchaikovsky (I can't decide which belongs here)

So what are some top 5's where your favorites list and your greatest list are different?

Don't ask me to define "greatest". I guess I just mean creativity, aesthetic splendor, and cognitive power.
 
I define "greatness" for an artist by how well they are regarded by the audience of their respective genre. Hence for classical composers, I consider "greatness" by how well they are regarded by those who listen to and enjoy classical intensely.

My preferences:
1. Brahms
2. Beethoven
3. Chopin
4. JS Bach
5. One of Schubert, Tchaikovsky, and Mahler

My belief of greatest:
1. JS Bach (The god)
2. Mozart and Beethoven (The demigods, and probably the biggest divide in classical preferences)
4. Brahms and Wagner (Titans of the 19th century)

and afterwards

6. One of Haydn, Schubert, and Handel (Other top members of the top tier)

1&2 form the god tier, and 4&6 are top of the top (but not god) tier. However, music is not a contest. I look at pieces independent of the composer, and I don't restrict myself to listening only to my favorites or to the "greatest".
 
I feel unqualified to have a "greatest" list.

For my favorites:

1. Gustav Holst
2. Carl Orff
3. Aaron Copland
4. Amadeus Mozart
5. George Handel
 
rachmaninov and chopin make my top 5 list, but they are arguably not in the top 10 of greatest composers ever
 
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