Our favorite classical composers - Progressive Rock Music Forum

jamesbaldwin wrote:

3) Schumann

There's a family legend that we are descendents of Robert Schumann because (secured historical fact) he played four-handed piano with my greatgreatgreat(...)grandmother some nine months before the next in the line was born, and her husband is said to have been travelling at the time. Big smile

And I don't list him... shame!

I haven't really been able to warm up to most classical music from before the late Romantic period with the exception of Bach; his music to me represents the height of what composers could accomplish within the rigid tonal and structural systems that were in place during his life, but I personally find music more interesting once composers began wrestling themselves free from those systems during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Ravel, Stravinsky, Debussy, Bartók, Schoenberg, Liszt and Satie are my favourite "mainstream" composers from that era, but I also like some of the composers inspired by the futurist movement like Varèse, Antheil, Mosolov and Ornstein; way ahead of their time, all of them.

The second half of the 20th century has to be my favourite period of Western classical music. Ligeti is all my all-time favourite composer and a huge personal influence; other favourites include Xenakis, Schnittke, Schaeffer, Lachenmann, Stockhausen, Nancarrow, Penderecki, and of course the minimalists (Adams, Reich and Riley particularly; Glass's music is mostly fine but always kinda struck me as pedestrian compared to his peers).

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Saperlipopette! wrote:

Lewian wrote:

By the way am I right that Eliane Radigue and Ikue Mori are the first women listed here?

I have Kaija Saariaho in my opening post. There aren't many living composers I'd place above her.

Btw, you're favorite from the modern period is interesting and sort of impressive. I've heard works I enjoyed my most of the ones you list. But as I get older I find myself less willing to invest the time and effort the music of Berio, Nono, Ligeti... and a few more demands. I guess I never really enjoyed them to begin with. But I was certainly interested and willing to listen to what they had to offer.

Yeah, probably something is wrong with me because most people tend to say that getting into newer "classical" music is hard work and the older stuff (maybe including Stravinsky, Prokofiev and the like) appeals to most people more easily, emotionally. I was always different in that respect, Ligeti's music was love at first listen and came pretty early to me, although I've got to say that the first classical (modern) music that really clicked with me was Stravinsky's Sacre du Printemps, which I think has more qualities that appeal to a larger set of people. My grandfather played some Stockhausen to me when I was 16 or so and that was indeed too early, but from the age of 19 or so much of the avantgarde went smoothly for me, much better than any Mozart or Verdi ever.

Edited by Lewian - February 26 2023 at 13:43

Kaija Saariaho sadly passed away a few days ago.

Anton Dvorak ( New world symphony , tri concerto for violin , cello & piano)
Holst Gustav : Planets ( thx to Prog rock)
Satie Erik : an old time fav'
Edvard Grieg : Hase's death from Peer Gynt is probably a conscious (or unconscious ?) influence of some prog musicians
Claude Debussy : for his minimalism
Jean Sibelius ( from Finland ) Tuoleema Swan, La valse triste, ..)
Lot of baroque church organ opus(es) from Bach, Buxtehude, Pachelbel
Lot of small italian and rather obscure concertoes for unusual instruments ( mandolins, ...)
I like to see Jordi Saval ( a spanish musician specialized in Renaissance music from Italy, Spain France , ...) and his musicians, I recommend the Fronteveaux abbey concerts... available through U-tube)

Edited by mellotronwave - June 09 2023 at 18:17

I only own a hadful of classical albums and have never really delved that deeo into it. Elgars Variations (for ''Nimrod'' mainly) Dvorak's New World Symphony and Holst's Planets are maybe the only things I really care about.

Surely deserving of a mention is Sir Michael Tippett (think his son Keith played on ITWOP?). There was a BBC prgramme dedicated to him that was broadcast on Thursday evening. Apparently he composed notoriously dificult stuff for piano. He wasn't a good pianist himself and someone theorised that was the reason because anyone any good would not have done it!!

RIP Kaija Saariaho. I heard of her name, but I don't think I ever heard her music before. The above piece tells me that I have to correct that.

My preferences regarding classical music are firmly grounded in the 20th century (and beyond):

- Igor Stravinsky

- Dmitri Shostakovitch

(I could also mention Prokoviev, but he's a bit behind these two...)

- Arnold Schoenberg

- Olivier Messiaen

- Hanns Eisler

- Pierre Boulez

- Iannis Xenakis

- Henryk Górecki

- Arvo Pärt

- Luc Ferrari

- Steve Reich

- Louis Andriessen

- Michael Nyman

- Mauricio Kagel

From the 19th century I do like Mahler and some of Wagner. Everything before appeals much less to me (with some exceptions, of course, but Mozart is not one of them).

The razamataz is a pain in the bum

Thanks, listening to it now!

The razamataz is a pain in the bum

America has Glass, Reich, Bernstein, Ives... I'm sure there are more, but off top of head I would say America is definitely not without.

The Dark Elf wrote:

^ I had mentioned Gershwin and Copland previously, both of whom took distinct sections of the American experience and brilliantly translated those themes into the classical mode -- Gershwin with his experimentations in synthesizing blues and jazz into classicism, and Copland capturing the expansive nature of the American West in his compositions. Bernstein and Glass are two other excellent examples.

Hi,

Agreed, though I wish they had a more appreciated talent as so many other composers listed here ... maybe after 50/100 years?

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