In memoriam of 'official' BigSoccer classical threads eaten by the crashes, let the world know who's your favorite composer. Do you prefer the trinity of Bach, Beethoven and Mozart or are your classical tastes a little lighter, like Vivaldi or Handel? Are Russian masters like Tchiakovsky, Shostakovich and Prokofiev more your style or would you rather listen to a lesser-known composer like Brazil's Heitor Villa-Lobos? Let your opinions be known here.
I'm pretty biased, but I've always been a big fan of Aaron Copland, especially after spending a year playing his music. Few composers can portray the American spirit in their works like he can. Honorable mentions go out to Samuel Barber, Gustav Holst, Dmitri Shostakovich and Leonard Bernstein.
At the top of my list are Beethoven and J.S. Bach. Beethoven's piano concierto's his symphonmies particularly this 5th, 6th, 7th and 9th. His piano sonatas and string quartets. For Bach the Brandenburg conciertos, Jesu, and his tocata and fugue in D minor and pretty much anything from the well tempered Clavier. Genius, pure genius. A lot of Mozart is too light and whimsical for my taste. I like Brahms, particularly his symphonies and his violin concierto. Pachelbel's Canon in D Vivaldi's the Four Season's For piano concierto's nobody tops Rachmaninov. I would like to cite his Rhapsody on a theme by Paginini, and the 2nd and 3rd Piano conciertos. Incredible, particularly his third. Love Ashkenazy's interpretation. Prokofiev's third piano concierto. Rossini, his opera overtures are amazing particularly his Thieving Magpie Overture. Rodrigo's Concierto for Aranjuez. Sublime guitar playing particularly by the Romeros. Debusy's Prelude to the Afternoon of a Fawn and Le Mer. Ravel's La Vasse Mussorsky's Night on Bald Mountain and Pictures at an exhibition (one of the great pyrotechnical experiences in live music. Saw it performed live at Avery Fisher Hall with the NY Philharmonic under Zubin Mehta in center first row orchestra, blew my mind). American's Gershwin, Rhapsody in Blue and an American in Paris. Copeland Rodeo, Appalachian Spring, and Fanfare for the common man. More stuff, but the hour is late and I am tired.
Tchiakovsky. Period. Anyone who actually used a cannon in a song has to be a cool guy. and his other stuff aint bad either.
Morton Feldman, Gyorgy Ligeti, Iannis Xenakis- In order of preference. As for a more "classical" pick, as these guys aren't always considered as such, I also like Bela Bartok, though he is considered "modern" by most. As for currently active composers, Bernhard Gunter and Brian Ferneyhough are where it's at. Tan Dun and all the other *************** film soundtrack composers are the orchestral equivalent of Air Supply.
i was actually thinking about starting this thread this morning and bang, there it is. anyway, to answer the question: My favorite, if I had to choose one and listen to nothing else would be the modern Estonian composer Arvo Part. I have a huge list of honorable mentions though: John Tavener, Bela Bartok, Antonin Dvorak, Steve Reich, Philip Glass, Toru Takemitsu, Dmitri Shostakovich, Sergei Prokofiev, Kryzstof Penderecki, Olivier Messaien, Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel and Tan Dun. Regarding the earlier slighting of Tan Dun, I take it you are making your assesment from the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon soundtrack? Tan Dun isn't a film composer, CTHD is the only film I can think of that he's scored, at least that have gotten any attention in the west. His 'Water Passion after St. Matthew' is awesome as is "Ghost Opera," "Bitter Love," "Symphony 1997" and "Cage IV" and countless others.
Actually, as I understand it, it is his new focus, and has underscored it in academic forums. Apparently, he is looking for more "Universal" applications for his music. He also composed the music for "Fallen", staring Denzel Washington. He is composing the music for beijing's 2008 olympic bid. He is working on the music for Zhang Yimou's upcoming film "Hero." 2000 Today was comissioned for the BBC/PBS millenium special. Film composition is the biggest threat to real modern classical composition- Ask any composition student who isn't interested in film composition. The Universities are selling out and pushing film composition.
in February the Boston Symphony Orchestra is world premiering Tan Dun's The Map, a multi-media concerto for cello & orchestra. http://www.bso.org/singleTickets/perfDetail.jhtml?id=prod190056 His most recent release "Water Passion" uses a ton of percussion, a large choir, cello & violin while utilizing chinese opera techniques and mongolian overtone singing. neither of those sound like Air Supply to me film scores aren't a threat to composition, they are a lifeline. most modern composers wouldn't be heard if it wasn't for film. prokofiev, shostakovich, takemitsu, part, khachaturian, glass have all composed for film and there's no shame in it. while i don't like john williams' film scores, his "serious" music is awesome and very different, very "avante-garde."
from a BBC article about Tan Dun: "Upcoming world premieres include his new opera, Tea, directed by Pierre Audi and commissioned by Japan's Suntory Hall, in celebration of its 15th anniversary, in a co-production with the Netherlands Opera. Future commissions include a new opera for the Metropolitan Opera (scheduled for 2006) and The Map, a cello concerto for Yo-Yo Ma and the Boston Symphony; it premieres in Boston in February 2003 and tours to Carnegie Hall the following month." while he's doing film, he's doing other stuff too. for full article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/classical/features/tan-dun.shtml
I can't do the light, whimsical, baroque stuff. Give me thunder. Preferably with a choral group mixed in. Hence: Beethoven's "Symphony No. 9 - Ode to Joy" and "Symphony No. 5." Carl Orff, "O Fortuna" from Carmina Burana Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture" Handel's "Messiah" Holst's "Mars, the Bringer of War" Strauss, "Also Sprach Zarathustra" (aka 2001:A Space Odyssey) Wagner, "Ride of the Valkyries"
i can't believe i forgot Mahler, symphonies 6 & 7 are my favorites. regarding the light baroque stuff, i was the same way until i heard the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir & Tallinn Chamber Orchestra perform Vivaldi's "Beatus Vir" in person. it was unreal. of course, i enjoyed their modern composer performance of arvo part's "te deum" even more, but that one group alone gave me a respect for baroque music. i learned it isn't bad, you've just got to hear the right people performing it.
No. Basically, there is an emerging trend, especially among undergraduate programs, towards an emphasis on music composition for film/media. There are those who argue (myself included) that this kind of composition not only relegates music to a functional role, dictated by the terms of the movie, but it is also extremely creatively limiting. Of course, there are those who also argue that it is more creatively challenging because you (often)have tighter confines to operate within, but I don't really feel like that argument holds a lot of water. While film score composition is certainly a rewarding fiscal option for a select few, it is also not the only way for composers to make ends meet, and it tends to reward mediocrity more than innovation.
I completely agree with this. Part of a film score's functionality is to create an instantly recognizable mood. So it must be simple and derivative. That's why listening to film scores sans the film gets boring after a few times. The only time "real" classical music can work as a score is when the audience is already familar with the music beforehand.
It must be very recently emerging because I have friends that are professors and students of compositions at three different music schools: Miami, Stoneybrook & Birmingham-Southern and I have never heard this. Film composing is just another genre of composition along with opera, symphonies, string quartets, electro-acoustic, etc. Film scores like Alexander Nevsky, Vertical Ray of the Sun, and yes, even Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon did an immense amount of good to help heighten the atmosphere and drama of the films. Not only that, but they stand alone fine as "pure" music not attached to a film. Just because something is innovative doesn't mean it is good. The problem with most (not all) modern composers (or any genre of music for that matter) is their music has zero soul. They are writing music for themselves and other academics, which is fine, but for the most part, nobody wants to listen to it because it isn't very interesting. I love Xenakis, Nono, Cage, Stockhausen, Ligeti, and any other stuff you can throw at me, but they are at the top of their game. Even then, it takes a highly trained and patient listener to be able to wade through that stuff. Just like with rock music, most people don't want to listen to Slayer or something aggressive like that, most classical music listeners don't want to listen to Boulez. It isn't a crime, it is a matter of taste. Yes, most people have bad taste, but they have had bad taste since the dawn of time.
In particular, I was speaking of UofL and the University of Illinois, which was, up until very recently (some say it directly coincided with Herbert Brün's passing), considered a bastion of experimental music. If I am to believe what I am told and have read, these are not the only places.
I don't doubt that some places are in fact doing that. Since my main contacts come from the the three previously listed universities I just hadn't run across it. Those places are extreme bastions of experimentalism. Recently, Birmingham-Southern for instance, presented three nights of electro-acoustic opera for pretty large crowds (several hundred people per night.)
Depends on my mood. If I'm happy I listen to just about any of Vivaldi's concerto grossos. "La Notte" is one of my favorites. If I want something a little more tragic I go for Beethoven, especially the late string quartets (God, they're gorgeous!) I noticed a couple of "composers deserving wider recognition" types mentioned: Janacek by GringoTex and Part by nicodemus. Have to strongly agree with both of these. Janacek's two string quartets are wonderful and Part's is the kind of music that makes you stop in your tracks and just say "What is that piece? I've got to own it!"
I've really lucked out lately in that I've actually seen some Janacek and Part performed live recently. I got to hear Janacek's "In the Mist" as well as his opera "Jenufa." As far as Part, I got to hear his "Te Deum" and his "Fratres" in concert. One composer I forgot to add to my earlier list is Einojuhani Rautavaara of Finland (might as well add Jean Sibelius too.) The one that really blows my mind is Carl Nielsen. His symphonies are incredible and they are seldom played. I did get to see his "flute concerto" performed a few years back though. thinking back to the film thing, couldn't the same be said for ballet and music for plays? People love Grieg's "Peer Gynt" and Prokofiev's "Romeo & Juliet" or Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker", but those were all written as music to "back" other forms of entertainment.
I couldn't agree with you more, but sometimes art needs innovators to move things forward. I hope you don't think my slagging of Tan Dun and the other painted ladies of composition is based on this. Non-sequitor. So if this is a universal problem, why are you attributing it to a specific group? Isn't that last part a matter of opinion? I would say a great majority of the worst music in the world was composed for other people. Could you imagine a more milquetoast musical landscape than one where the listening public dictated what musicians create? People are most comfortable with the familiar, but regurgitation is certainly not the purest of creative actions. (Note: I'm not saying that to be innovative, something has to be completely non-derivative.) I would respect your opinion even if you only listened to Raffi. And you forgot Berio and Kagel. Wait, it almost seems like you're arguing my point. That said, I also don't think people should be listening to what I listen to- It's their choice, and I'm not one to push anything on anyone.