any listeners of modern composers?

[mark1]

I was curious as to how many forum members listen to the modern stuff(not pop)? Any good suggestions for someone unfamiliar with modern?  Thanks    Mark

[comme_le_vent]

i do.

i dont like minimalism, and i dont like atonal music much.

but there is plenty music that isnt either - being composed now.

i really like lowell liebermann's piano concertos, and the solo pieces ive heard.

i really love dre's(hamelin) piano compositons too.

also if you dont count these as pop - radiohead write some great stuff - and o'riley's piano transcriptions of them sound really amazing.

[comme_le_vent]

also what do you mean by modern? because even stravinsky is considered modern to some people...lol

contemporary is what i assumed you meant in my above post.

[comme_le_vent]

i also like violette too - his 3 hour piano sonata 7 is rather accesible - try it if your feelin adventurous.

[mark1]

is there a compilation recording out there with a variety of contemperary pieces?... and could you also do the bernhard thing and explain the different types;minimalism, atonal etc..   Thanks a ton     Mark

[comme_le_vent]

i dont have the patience to do the bernhard thing.
there is a great cd on naxos with schoenberh, weber, and berg's piano music on it, that should be a great introduction to their style for you.

[ayahav]

Stephen Hough is a bit of a composer (mostly a pianist), and he has great transcriptions as well...

[ravel]

i recently got  a cd from library of ligeti s works, his piano concerto, cello concerto and violin concerto, condcted by boulez. i must say i liked them.  the piano concerto has some really interesting music.
his piano music seems interested.
i heard boulez s sonata no. 2 played by pollini, actually i didnt hear through the whole of it, just could not  understand that piece.
there was a cd of angela chang playing messiaen, which i liked a lot. that much as far as contemporary music is concerned.
i dont like stockhausen much, not ba big fan of electronic music.

[ravel]

also speaking of minimalism, i tried john cage.
except for one of two pieces i didnt like them at all.
there was one i liked considerable " in a landscape".
and another one called " dreams " not that great but much better than his other stuff , all that prepared piano stuff, .

[ravel]

and stravinsky IS  modern.
as modern as schoenberg or berg or webern.

[Hmoll]

It's difficult to outline the different styles of 20th/21st century classical music because there are so many styles.

Berg, Schornberg, Webern were serial composers - strict adherents to the tone row, and that sort of thing.

Prokoffiev wrote in classical forms, and his music - although very chromatic - was diatonic.

Messiaen developed his own theory based on serialism, Indian music and many other influences.

etc.,etc.,etc. There are too many to describe. Listen to it a lot with an ear to appreciation. If you have not listened to it a lot, it may not grab you at first.

[anda]

i listen and i play as well modern works (meaning works composed after 1950). i think there has been a lot of crap written in the 2nd half of the 20t century, but also a lot of wonderful works. by the way, if you know any sites i could download for free from... please. thanks

[matticus]

mark: there is a 5-cd set of Boulez conducting various late-20th-century works on the Erato label, which could be a good introduction for you. If you can't get hold of that then have a look for stuff by Berio, Feldman, Ligeti, Penderecki and Carter; they're all pretty well known and have good budget-priced cds available - with the huge wealth of great music being produced these days, investigating it can be an expensive business and knowing where to start is tricky. Remember though if you ever get the chance to hear a new piece in concert, don't pass it up because the composer isn't a Big Name or you've heard bad things about them; you may regret it later. Contemporary music is thankfully relatively free of the hierachies of Great Composers that past music has; listen hard to whatever you can and make your own mind up about how good it is, and don't expect to love everything (at least not at first hearing).

[ahmedito]

Contemporary piano music is basically what I want to do with my career. There is a lot of crap written in the last 30 years.... but thats the same as alway (simply listen to music from 19th century "masters" as Reis, Kalkbrenner, Thlaberg, and youll know what I mean), although not all of it is crap (even then). In the last 30 years there have also been works that are complete masterpieces.

I have a special liking for the minimalists, but I like almost everything. Right now I am working on the 2 hour piano and string quartet by morton Feldman (listen to his Coptic light and piano and orquestra, they are incredible), ein kinderspielen by Helmut Lachenman, piano phase steve Reich, and some other stuff from composers in my area.

There is a lot of great music for the piano out there from the past 50 years.... For starters, Id recomend listening to some the stuff thats a little easier to listen to.... ligetis musica ricercata or his etudes, or the piano concerto or the Cage prepared piano stuff, or MEssianīs catalogue of osieaux.... theyre all great stuff, work your way from there. Youll encounter a lot of music youll hate, but you will also find great gems that in a hundred years Im sure will still be heard....
Id also recomend getting your hands on Berios piano sequenza

[Beet9]

OMG mark1 you MUST listen to music by John Tavener!!
His music is mostly religious choral music, but it's sooo beautiful in a freaky way.  
I don't know if it's tonal or not, but i think he uses a lot of eastern modes and in the style of the greek orthodox church.  
Listen to some of his shorter pieces like the lamb and the tyger.  Innocence is also a really good piece.  A little morbid sounding, but really really cool.

[ahmedito]

More on that line, you definately would like Arvo Part and Gorecki.... Listen to Part's Fratres or Fur Alina.... In the case of Gorecki listen to his third symphony or his string cuartet.... By the way, did you know Gorecki's third symphony is one the biggest selling classical Cds by modern composers? It actually beat Maddonas single when it was first released.... dont get confused though, its great music.

[mark1]

I truly thank all of you for your replies ! Now I'm off to the record store!                                    Mark