Who's number 4?

A 1921 sketch of Prokofiev by the French artist Henri Matisse (public domain image). Prokofiev turned 30 in 1921. By the end of 1921  he had written the first three piano concertos, the second piano sonata, the first violin concerto, the Scythian Suite  and his first symphony, among other works. 

Some months ago, I ran across a podcast interview with Tyler Cowen (because I look at his blog every day), and he talked about music. He expressed the opinion that the top three composers in classical music were J.S. Bach, Mozart and Beethoven. 

This is the conventional wisdom, but I agree with it. For each of these three, I can endlessly explore, and find one work after another that I'm happy to listen to again and again. I have a particular interest in modern Russian classical music, so I listen to the Russians a lot, and I listen to a lot of other music, too, but I return to Bach, Mozart and Beethoven over and over. 

But this raises a question: Who's number four? 

I wrote to Professor Cowen and posed that question, adding, "My head says Stravinsky, although my heart says Prokofiev." He wrote back briefly: "Brahms? Stravinsky after that?"

Stravinsky and Prokofiev remain my two strongest contenders. Other plausible suggestions: Haydn, Handel, Brahms, Schubert, Tchaikovsky, there must be some other obvious contenders I have missed.

And if I am forced to choose between Stravinsky and Prokofiev, I have to go with Prokofiev, simply because I listen to Prokofiev as much as any other composer who ever lived.

Here are some Prokofiev pieces I listen to over and over: Lt. Kije Suite, the third and sixth symphonies, Scythian Suite, Violin Sonata No. 1, Violin Concerto No. 2 and the second and sixth piano sonatas. If you want to try something, I suggest Kije.  

This list leaves out some of the more famous Prokofiev pieces that have been recorded over and over again, such as the first and fifth symphonies. All of the famous stuff seems good to me, too. And I haven't even listened to the operas yet!