Unless of course you agree with the illustrious Mudcatter who has assured us that Frank Zappa is every bit the equal of Mozart, Brahms, Bach, Tallis, Byrd, etc.

Illustrious, eh? Well, on an average day maybe, when I might get as far as Bach, Dowland, Tallis, Tye, Handel, Morley, Lawes, Ferrabosco, Jenkins, Byrd etc. but the humanity of their evident secularism (the occasional In Nomine notwithstanding but I'd argue that was essentially a secular convention) transcends their so-called sacred output; Purcell likewise, who, like Zappa, was a master of the ostinato and had fondness for folklore & obscenity. Purcell was at his most potent celebrating the human dimensions - even to the point where many feel his music for Queen Mary could well betray yet deeper emotions... Lawes evokes classical paganism by way of popular fantasy, the eroticism of which makes it still pretty effective as music to fuck to, likewise Purcell, of course, covering some of his most sensual work in the likes of King Arthur and The Fairy Queen which prefigures Handel's finest work, which most certainly isn't The Messiah. Give me the Arcadian revels of Acis and Galatea (HWV 49) any day. Compositionally, however, I'd say Uncle Meat (1969) is the equal of anything any of these guys ever came up with and is every bit as trascendent.