Igor Stravinsky - Prog? I think so!

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 The T wrote:

Please... If we start adding classical composers with influence on prog or "prog" themselves (classical music always was a progressive-moving thing, always changing and developing, treated sometimes as a science, which only adds to the progressive evolution -not qualitative of course-) we really would have to add almost everybody....

Well, I always said that prog really started with the gregorian chants so...

No-one's talking about adding composers of proper music... yet 

However, the core style of the composers mentioned (bringing in a mixture of varying styles, both traditional and popular, mixing them all up into a new sound, creating concept albums, using dense complexity of composition in melody, rhythm, harmony, form and timbre whilst avoiding the traditional song forms - even eschewing such trivial notions as Classical Sonata Form - preferring instead a more organic, developing style of composition - and bringing radical popular styles such as Jazz into the music) is undeniably Prog.

Composers like Mozart and Haydn, who stuck to the old forms (by and large - let's not get too deep here!) wouldn't even get a look in - Mozart was progressive, but not Prog.

Most 20th Century composers would fall by the wayside too - aside from inventing new methods of compostion (which I feel is cheating somewhat - especially given the bureaucratic nature of some of the systems, and the airy-fairy do-what-you-like free nature of others), introducing new timbres (especially electronics - but generally the music tends to suck because the method of composition is too rigid/free) and getting melodically and rhythmically out of kilter - the biggest sin of most of these guys is to ignore form, the most critical element of any progressive genre, IMHO.

Trouble is, most of it was written before Rock, so the chances of seeing it in the Archives anytime soon are pretty slim, I'd guess... although Zappa's here, and he was a composer.

Listen to "La Mer" by Debussy (it's more than 20 minutes long, dude!) - puts Echoes into the shade a bit. Once you understand the concept behind it, it makes more sense - and the music really comes alive. What Debussy does with form is astonishing.

Then listen to "Rhapsody in Blue" by George Gershwin - ELP coulda learned something from that piece - that dude could really rock, even though, you know, it hadn't actually been invented in 1924...

Edited by Certif1ed - May 22 2008 at 15:34