Modern day composers

hello all

I've been wondering for awhile what some of you think about composers from these days. I really enjoy the famous Beethoven and 40's saxophonist/composer Charlie Parker but those were great people from a long time ago. Either A) I'm completely out of it and there are some great famous composers for our time or B) music today is lacking what it used to have.

let me know what you think

Beth

There are some great composers alive today. But they are hiding. The trick is to find them amongst the staggering plurality and diversity that the world now contains.

I don't recommend relying on fame to give you names, for fame and consumption has become so image-based.

I do recommend constraining your search beyond "greatness" or "something worth my time," though maybe you already do implicitly. Get a specific expectation in mind and then scour the earth for it. Find the greatest bassoon concerto of our time (thinking about specific instruments), or the most beautiful ear-bending sonority or most beautiful stretching melody or most earth-shaking fortissimo that you can find.

I limit my musical sights to get an interesting cross-section of music at large in the same way that I limit my life to music (err, "focus" is a better word) to get an interesting cross-section of life.

Jacob, I don't always agree with you or even understand you, but you have the most amazing way of looking at things. You, Stefan Inglis and David Hately have all given me a lot to gnaw on over the years. :)

Here's a few modern living composers that you should turn your ear to:

John Corigliano - American, uses tonality and atonality as it suits him. Some of his notable works are his Symphony No. 1 'Of Rage and Rememberance', Creations, Pied Piper Fantasy (written for James Galway), and Concerto for Piano and Orchestra

Jennifer Higdon - American, feels like a successor to the Piston's, Schuman's and Copland's. Recommended works are her Concerto for Orchestra and blue cathedral.

Carl Vine - Australian, his sound is somewhat similar to Higdon's. Notable works include 'Microsymphony' (Symphony No. 1), Symphony 4.2, and Piano Concerto.

Jean-Pascal Beintus - French. A very clear rich quality to his music. Quite tonal. I recommend his 'Wolf Tracks', a successor of sorts to Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf.

Those are just a few that I can think up on the fly.

Originally posted by J. Lee Graham@Aug 17 2005, 07:54 PM

Jacob, I don't always agree with you or even understand you, but you have the most amazing way of looking at things.

Hi thanks for the imput, I defintely agree about originality being a big factor of composers these days

What's originality? Wait... no.... not here!

There are plenty of great composers alive today... the real challenge is in finding them, because there are so many composers around now.

One living composer in particular has really impressed me: Charles Knox. American, definitely a successor Piston and Copland, with a bit of a playful touch to his music. Stretches tonality enough to be interesting, but still very accessible to the average classical listener. No one I know seems to have heard of him, but he deserves a lot more notice than he's received.

Recommended disc: http://cdbaby.com/cd/knox?cdbaby=47c4b5298...39da7d5002dc89b

Listen to the samples and decide for yourself.

Bah humbug! you only get really famous and 'great' 100 years after you die or commit suicide so tralala

May I recommend some composers whose music I like:

I'm always interested to hear your recommendations and views. I'd say 'please do', but you already did. *grin*

Harrison Birtwistle. I haven't heard much of his music, but what I heard, I liked very much. There's a double CD box of his music (British Music Collection on Decca). "Earth Dances" is excellent.

Pierre Boulez. "Pli selon pli" is probably his opus magnum. It exists in several versions, get the most recent one (on Deutsche Grammophon). And I'm particularly fond of the 12 Notations (Pierre-Laurent Aimard has recorded these).

Olivier Messiaen. Best to start with the Turangalîla Symphony. David (our Lord Hately) is our resident Messiaen (and Shostakovich) expert. Refer to him for recording recommendations.

That double CD of Birtwistle is a really nice collection and cross section of his music. I've not played it for a while though: perhaps I shall search for it this afternoon. Pli selon pli is an interesting work. I like how Boulez thinks about the staging of his music and not just what sounds are being made. (If I remember rightly, that's the one with one singer located next to an instrumental player and the performers are on a specific layout with rostra of specific heights...)

Messiaen! Shostakovich! For me, two of the few true greats of the past one hundred years. Fot the Turangalila Symphony, you could do much worse than the 1992 recording on DG with the Loriod sisters. OM was present at the recording session and has personally stated that it was a fine performance of the work. Other recordings are very interesting too: particularly the one on Teldec (I think). Pierre-Laurent Aimard played the piano, whom I saw play the work live in the Royal Albert Hall a few years ago (without the part in front of him). The Chandos recording, I think is good, but don't quote me on that. I've not listened to that recording for a while. I have nearly ten recordings, I think.

Shostakovich... I wouldn't know where to start recommending! Probably the fifth and tenth symphonies. Maybe the early (ie first four) quartets. He wrote 15 each of String quartets and symphonies. His Viola Sonata is purely beautiful. I think it was the ninth symphony that I first heard of his: I played it in a Schools orchestra and wanted a recording of it. On that CD was a recording of the fifth also. (Naxos, cond. Wit, I think. Fine recording.) I then listened to more and more of his symphonies. Now, I have many CDs and many different interpretations of his music. One fascinating CD is of his Finnish folk song arrangements which were discovered only a few years ago.

:cool: this is awesome, there's a lot more out there than i thought huh

thanks all!!

Beth

Let me recommend Krzysztof Penderecki and Einojuhani Rautavaara (the guy with the most beautiful name ever).

Penderecki did some amazing orchestral and choral works.

Rautavaara has the most stylistic(as in unusual and refreshing) piano concertos, very atmospheric and no piano concerto cliches.

Oh! Me, me!!

Composers to check out:

Jacques Hetu: Canadian composer who uses ... well, it's what I'd call Tonal atonal music. See, he takes the ideals of tonal music and applies it to an atonal framework/harmonic language. He sounds a bit like messiaen, (maybe because he studied with him at one point?!). His music is breathtakingly beautiful and mysterious, with plenty of comedy and such. Highly recommended to check out his piano concerto, flute concerto, and whatever else you can find :P

Reiterating Messiaen and Higdon....

Eric Whitacre: More beautiful choral music I dunno if you will find. He is sometimes a bit cliched but he is amazing and his harmonic language is brilliant. I would say he is a Tonal Composer but he plays with tonality a lot. Similar to Part, really...

Christos Hatzis (spelling?!): Canadian composer who is quite amazing. Check out his choral works (Everlasting Light, (something to do with angels)), and his piano trio "Old Photographs" from Constantinople. Enjoy :lol:

Reiterate Lygeti (the etudes are hella awesome!), and part and takemitsu.

I could go on for ages... I love modern music...

Christos Hatzis (spelling?!): Canadian composer who is quite amazing. Check out his choral works (Everlasting Light, (something to do with angels)), and his piano trio "Old Photographs" from Constantinople. Enjoy :P

I attended what I'm pretty sure was the American première of 'Everlasting Light' in Portland, Oregon last November. The groups performing were Cappella Romana and the Tudor Singers. Really enjoyable performance, interesting piece. I'd probably strongly second that recommendation if at the same concert I hadn't preferred the Thomas Packe selection (heh).

I went to the TSO (Toronto Symphony Orchestra's) "New Creations" festival and sadly didn't hear a piece that I enjoyed. In fact, I walked out on one of the concerts because I couldn't stand the music anymore. Let's just say that it didn't help my views on modern composers, but that I am still open and hoping to hear one that I enjoy.

Jonathan, it wasn't until I joined this group and began to hear a lot of contemporary music that I learnt to enjoy a lot of what's out there - and there is still stuff I don't care for. I just don't get what all the hullaballoo is about MacMillan (sp?), just for one example. But I'm really starting to develop a taste for newer music, much as I developed a taste for escargots a la bourgogne and Roquefort cheese. I didn't pop out of the womb loving this stuff, but I sure enjoy it now - in due moderation. Maybe you will too in due time.

My performing life has helped hone my taste for newer stuff as well. Had I not learnt some of these things from the inside out as a performer, I might not appreciate them as much.

For some reason, I can scarce imagine not liking new music. At first, I just liked 'weird' stuff- and I thought to myself "You know, the stuff that just sounds like random noise I don't like..." but I've even come to like that.

In my opinion, it's all about learning what to listen for. In some pieces you listen for sounds and go "Wow, I really like how he combined the crashing over of a lamp with a string pizzicato" (fictional example). Others that are more melodic you listen as a piece. Etc.

I strongly believe that the more you hear it the more appreciative you become. And, it helps to have a score.I find I can appreciate almost any music if I have a score with me.

Does anyone on this site take an interest in composing modern music or is everyone here in to classical sounds? I just joined up randomly and Im wondering what the general feel to this forum is.

Does anyone on this site take an interest in composing modern music or is everyone here in to classical sounds?

We span most genres, I think. There are a few modernists lurking here: we're into slightly different modern areas though. Throw some of your music into the appropriate forum if you like, and we can start chatting about it.

I'm very much into minimalism, electroacoustic and conceptual musics.

I want to build an orchestra of new instruments, for what it's worth. Timbres you've never heard of.

Let me recommend Krzysztof Penderecki and Einojuhani Rautavaara (the guy with the most beautiful name ever).

Penderecki did some amazing orchestral and choral works.

Rautavaara has the most stylistic(as in unusual and refreshing) piano concertos, very atmospheric and no piano concerto cliches.

Penderecki is good, I'm found of several of his works.

But Rautavaara... ah, there you are dealing with a brilliant composer, one with a distinctive voice. His ability to sing in his orchestral scores is unparalleled. Forget Gorecki's Third, if you want a symphony that sings, go for Rautavaara. His 7th and 8th Symphonies especially in this regard.

And yes, his Piano Concertos are classic. I especially love his First Concerto. Wheere else will you hear tone clusters sound so natural?

And one cannot forget his Concerto for Birds, Cantus Arcticus! What a delightful piece! I've a dozen Rautravaara CDs. :-)

Modern Composers.... personally after we performed an arrangement of his work, I've take a liking to John Adams. He's pretty awesome. Harmonium is pretty phenomenal. That's my $0.02