The Essential Music Library project is an attempt to get the many musical minds of the SDMB to sit down and discuss what works are absolutely necessary for a well-stocked musical library. There will be roughly 20 threads detailing a variety of genres so that we can get the depth that would be missing from a single-threaded discussion and the breadth necessary to cover what’s out there.
This thread’s topic is classical music ranging from about 1900 to the present day.
And how about Aaron Copland (Fanfare for the Common Man, Rodeo, Appalachian Spring), George Gershwin (Porgy and Bess, Rhapsody in Blue, An American in Paris), and Prokofiev (Symphonies, Lieutenant Kije, Peter and the Wolf).
Will film score composers be considered here, or is that going to be a separate thread?
I’m misusing the word contemporary here to mean anything after 1900 (as was mentioned in the OP). It just worked out to be a convenient splitting point to keep the discussion focused.
Hmm. Well, that’s not what contemporary means. Ravel and Debussy could never be described as “contemporary classical,” so perhaps the OP should be corrected. Otherwise the term is meaningless. Seems the OP is seeking what might be termed “modern classical.” Wikipedia says (grain of salt, but I agree with it): “In the broadest sense, contemporary music is any music being written in the present day. In the context of classical music the term applies to music written in the last half century or so, particularly works post-1960.”
Cool, but (and I assume you’ll do this, but just wanted to make sure) be sure to give those two topics their own threads, since Ennio Morricone doesn’t have a lot to do with “Annie.”
Leonard Bernstein would fit, on the basis of some of his non-theatrical stuff – the symphonies and the Chichester Psalms come to mind.
John Cage: The Perilous Night
John Corigliano: Symphony No. 1
Charles Ives: Three Places in New England; The Unanswered Question
Harry Partch: Barstow
Krzysztof Penderecki: Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima
Arnold Schoenberg: Pierrot Lunaire; Transfigured Night
Edgard Varese: Arcana; Integrales
Anton Webern: Five Pieces for Orchestra
Alrighty, that’s a decent start. I might contribute more later.
Please educate me a little about this category. Would Klaus Schulze, Tangerine Dream, Isao Tomita or Trans-Siberian Orchestra fit in here?
What about Twelve Girl Band?
(That last one was meant as a joke. I really don’t know much about this kind of music.)
Ahhh, this is the thread I get really opinionated in:
John Adams? I’ll give you Shaker Loops and The Death of Klinghoffer. Other than that, most of his stuff is rubbish.
Steve Reich? Again, I’ll concede Different Trains, Six Marimbas, and not a lot else.
Corigliano? Shudder
Ones I’d agree with: Varese, Ives (the symphonies especially), lots of John Cage, and a few bits of Part. Penderecki, however, is so-so - while on the ‘eckis’, I’d offer Gorecki’s second symphony (not the third, which is the famous one), and a healthy chunk of Lutoslawski’s orchestral output.
Now for some really important music, in no particular order
Berio - Sinfonia and the Sequenzas
Schnittke - first symphony. Actually, make it all the symphonies.
Gubaidulina - Stimmen…verstummen
Ferneyhough - Etudes Transcendentales, Time & Motion Study no. 2
Xenakis - just about everything he wrote
I’m fairly sure Debussy, Ravel, Holst and certainly Rimsky-Korsakov belonged in the Classical thread. It’s silly to try and define a single cut-off date, when it’s simple to say that anything that’s part of the mainstream classical canon can be classified as such.
Whilst the OP may or may not be misusing the word ‘contemporary’, I’m all for that misuse in this thread. IME knowing that some work was written before or after 1900 is usually a much better indication of what to expect from it, than knowing whether or not the composer is dead yet. Any label is arbitrary but I’ve found ‘20th century’ to work quite well. Until five years ago anyway .
Having said that I’ve only heard a handful of composers.
I’ll second Steve Reich and John Adams. Plenty of great pieces but some boring misfires too.
Why has no-one mentioned Bartok yet? All of his string quartets are essential. Basically his entire ‘serious’ output, ie everything except the arrangements of folk-songs for piano and/or voices. (I had to learn such a piano piece for grade 8. What a waste of time. Bleurgh)
Schoenberg, Berg and Webern - I haven’t really got into their stuff but they’re big.
I’d agree with that. Having had the opportunity, or maybe bad luck, to have to categorize chronologically composers into epochs for ease of reference, I found it hard and rather pointless. So maybe the Romantic Period ended around 1890 and the Modern period started 1890; what do I do with composers who straddle this line? Modern? Romantic left-over?
Anyway, considering modern classical composers, I’ve got a few suggestions:
[ul]
[li]Ralph Vaughan Williams - A Sea Symphony, some of his songs – I have the collection Over Hill, Over Dale, there must be others.[/li][li]Edward Elgar - Enigma Variations[/li][li]Benjamin Britten - Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, War Requiem. While not necessarily a fan of Gardiner’s work in the classical period, two of his modern recordings (this one, and Gustav Holst’s The Planets) are truly outstanding.[/li][li]Arvo Pärt - takes some getting used to, but he’s worth the effort if for nothing but the immensely simple and powerful Cantus im Memory of Benjamin Britten. Shut down everything, close your eyes, turn the volume up for this.[/li][li]Jean Sibelius - Finlandia. Not great music necessarily, but a really fun piece.[/li][li]Carl Orff - Carmina Burana. This is an absolute must – the one piece of classical music that I have no-one ever found to dislike. [/li][li]Aaron Copland - Appalachian Song. Copland isn’t a great composer either, but should be on the list of essentials for his innovations.[/li][li]Leonard Bernstein - Chichester Psalms. Great music, and fiendishly difficult to sing to boot.[/li][li]Maurice Duruflé - Requiem. I just like the piece; I couldn’t say if it is really great and essential.[/li][/ul]
Ralph Vaughan Williams - A Sea Symphony. I’ve no preferred recording.
ditto - some song collection; I have Over Hill, Over Dale, which is very good.
Anyone care to comment? This is also available for other periods; I’ve checked the Baroque listings against my personal favorites and we are in large agreement, therefore I pronounce this a very cogent and intelligently assembled list of great accuity and perceptiveness. On the other hand, the Classical Period list lists some pieces which I would definitely not include, and leaves some out which I would, which leads me to consider it a deficient and hastily assembled list which does not show great ability on the part of the assembler…
