Brand new composer,need calssical music?

i am just starting to compose my own pieces,and classical music really gives me inspiration.i dont really like the slow classical music, but i do enjow songs with tempo changes, like gustav holst's THE PLANETS.are there any real musicians or composers out there that would like to introduce me to some GREAT classical artists?

the romantic era is the last era i enjoy.i cannot stand the rise of nationalism era,the later romantics era,and i can't even listen to the twentieth century.

ya know im not much in to classical but i dow write my own songs for my band but i have been inspired from some classical artist such as handel and bach

kk, don't want to sound snobbish, but make sure you call them pieces not songs.
Some of my favorites are:
Mahler Symphony No. 2
Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4
Brahms Symphony No. 4
Do you prefer Baroque, Classical, Romantic, 20th century?
There's so much out there,
For newer stuff, try some minimalism by John Adams
Works by Samuel Barber,
Oh and don't forget impressionism, like Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel (for something simple and nice, Erik Satie's Gymnopedies are a nice listen)
I could go on forever, maybe if you are a little more specific I can give you better options

You may want to try Beethoven. In my opinion, the most manic composer of all with usual writings consisting of ever changing moods within the same piece. For all-out bombastic classical music with plenty of tempo changes, try The Rite Of Spring by Stravinsky. The famous tone poem, Also Sprach Zarathustra by R. Strauss is another good one.

Listen to any piece you can get your hands on by Maurice Ravel; he's one of my favorites. Familiarize yourself with his piano music first, then orchestral. Much of his orchestral pieces are orchestrations of his piano works, and provide good studies in orchestration. He was an incredible orchestrator. Also listen to his arrangement of "Pictures at an Exhibition" by Mussorgsky.

I would also listen to a lot of Bach. I don't compose in Bach's style at all, but he was a master of harmony, counterpoint, and voice leading, so his influence is definitely welcome.

Another one of my favorite composers (and one who has an audible influence on me) is Steve Reich. He's my favorite of the "minimalist" school. While you might not like the minimalist sound, there are techniques and ideas he uses that are pretty cool and could be used in almost any setting.

If you're into tempo changes, check out Elliot Carter. He practically patented the technique of "rhythmic modulation," where a triplet or some other rhythmic variation in one part of the piece becomes the quarter or eighth note in the next. He's pretty out of the box.

I really like Igor Stravinsky because there is so much variety in his work; his compositional style is definitely distinct, but consistenly inconsistent, in a good way. Le Sacre du Printemps, The Firebird, his Mass, L'Histoire du Soldat, Symphony of Pslams, Les Noces... all worth listening to.

If you can compose anything remotely as cool as The Planets, hats off to you!

>i cannot stand the rise of nationalism era,the later romantics era,and i can't even listen to the twentieth century.

You are missing out on some wonderful, moving music with this closed-minded view. Hopefully you are very young with plenty of time to change your mind!