top five composers that are still alive.

[loonbohol]

1st place : Kajiura Yuki
2nd place : Ryuichi Sakamoto
3rd place : John Cage
4th place : Taku Iwasaki
5th place : Steve Reich

[minor9th]

Henze
Penderecki
Lindberg
Corigliano
Fernyhough

[mad_max2024]

John Cage is dead

[sharon_f]

Elliot Carter
John Adams
Krzysztof Penderecki
Arvo Part
Sofia Gubaidulina

[bjenkins24]

1st place : Kajiura Yuki
2nd place : Ryuichi Sakamoto
3rd place : John Cage
4th place : Taku Iwasaki
5th place : Steve Reich

lol, hate to break it to you but John Cage has been dead for 16 years. 

[chopinmozart7]

yes he did.   

[ahinton]

Elliot Carter

Is anyone here going to buy him that second "t" for his birthday on 11 December?...

Best,

Alistair

[sharon_f]

Is anyone here going to buy him that second "t" for his birthday on 11 December?...

Best,

Alistair

Sorry I shortchanged Mr. Carter, who is one of our greatest treasures.

[db05]

Totally personal list:

loonbohol
Philip Glass
Toshiro Masuda
Jay Chou
db05     

[retrouvailles]

Louis Andriessen
Peter Sculthorpe
Krzysztof Penderecki
Sofia Gubaidulina
Elliott Carter

A bit of a tentative list. Also, that's in no particular order.

[communist]

Is anyone here going to buy him that second "t" for his birthday on 11 December?...

Best,

Alistair

December 8

[retrouvailles]

December 8

It's actually December 11th. Alistair is correct.

Also, Alistair, I would love to see your list of your 5 favorite living composers (you can't name yourself).

[cherub_rocker1979]

Carl Vine
Lowell Liebermann
Frederic Rzewski
Steve Reich
Michael Daugherty

[retrouvailles]

Michael Daugherty

Really? Most of the works I've heard are very poppy and film scorey. They don't seem to have much substance. His percussion concerto UFO was rather cool though.

[argerichfan]

James MacMillan.

He is Scottish Catholic -I'm Anglican myself- but he is one of the great writers of church music today.  Also worthy of mention would be Stanley Vann (still alive in his 90's!), Bryan Kelly, Francis Jackson (also in his 90's), Jackson's successor at York Minster, Philip Moore... all very great composers for the Anglican communion.  Their canticle settings and anthems are done on a regular basis.  Very well written music. 

[retrouvailles]

Ah yes, I would definitely put James MacMillan up there. His piano works haven't really amazed me (i.e. The Berserking, Piano Sonata, etc), but I do like the symphonies and choral works of his that I have heard. His Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis are some of the best recent choral works I have heard. Also, his Easter Triology of pieces (The World's Ransoming, Cello Concerto, and Vigil Symphony) is a powerful set of works.

[pies]

a

[sharon_f]

Radulescu, Kagel, Otte, Ligeti, Stockhausen.

  

dead, dead, dead, dead, dead

and spookily, with the exception of Ligeti, all within the last year.

[presto agitato]

Michael Nyman
Frederic Rzewski
Philip Glass
Fazil Say
Keith Jarret

[retrouvailles]

Michael Nyman
Frederic Rzewski
Philip Glass
Fazil Say
Keith Jarret

With the exception of Rzewski, probably the worst list yet.

Radulescu, Kagel, Otte, Ligeti, Stockhausen.

Quite a sad list, considering they all died so recently. I had no clue Radulescu was dead. Quite a shock to me. I am just starting to like his music.

[communist]

It's actually December 11th. Alistair is correct.

he is 

Well i think John Cage is alive in all of us 

[ahinton]

Michael Nyman
Frederic Rzewski
Philip Glass
Fazil Say
Keith Jarret

Well, at least Elliott Carter is not the only composer to lose a "t" in this thread - though what that means remains unclear to me...

Best,

Alistair

[ahinton]

It's actually December 11th. Alistair is correct.

Also, Alistair, I would love to see your list of your 5 favorite living composers (you can't name yourself).

As if I would! Mind you, I think that I'd be struggling abit here - Elliott Carter for starters - er - um - Ronald Stevenson - er - no, I give up...

Best,

Alistair

[jabbz]

Just my current top 5 favourites (not in any order, and change nearly from day-to-day):

Piers Hellawell
Michael Finnissy
Simon Mawhinney
Harrison Birtwhistle
Alistair Hinton

...If I could have myself on the list I would, I love my own music.

[webern78]

This thread reminds me just how bad the state of classical music really is. Most of those composers are terrible, and then only one i'd be comfortable in considering "great" is Penderecki. Sad sad sad.

[jabbz]

I think the lack of understanding by what appears to be the general concert going audience to be the only terrible thing here really. That truly is sad.

[retrouvailles]

This thread reminds me just how bad the state of classical music really is. Most of those composers are terrible, and then only one i'd be comfortable in considering "great" is Penderecki. Sad sad sad.

That is pretty subjective to call a lot of the ones named bad. Some of them really are, but a lot of them will live on for a long time yet. I would go out and listen to more music by these people before saying such a rash statement, particularly those from my list, hehe.

[mephisto]

Rautavaara
Penderecki
Vine
Rzewski
John Adams

[imbetter]

panderecki
vine
rzewski
carter
liebermann

[amanfang]

I actually heard my first concert of music entirely dedicated to Elliott Carter.  I was pleasantly surprised. 

In answer to this thread, I'm a Liebermann fan too.  I also enjoy the choral works of Dan Forrest, some sacred and some concert.

[retrouvailles]

Just my current top 5 favourites (not in any order, and change nearly from day-to-day):


Alistair Hinton

...If I could have myself on the list I would, I love my own music.

You've actually heard enough of his music to put him in your favorites list? Do tell about his music! Not much of it has been served by recordings.

[jabbz]

Unfortunately there is very little to nothing recorded but what I've heard I liked. A lot. The Variations and Fugue on the Grieg were excellent, a long with the string quintet. And don't forget the triple etude on Chopin's themes!

[richard black]

I think we ought to have Ned Rorem's name in this thread somewhere.

And I can feel the flak coming already, but I'm going to nominate John Williams too.

[healdie]

I would agree with John Williams his music to Schindlers list is wonderful

in that case then I would also like to nomnate John Barry although he is not purely classical, he has a very strong Jazz influence in his works

he composed 11 of the James Bond themes and many other popular films suchas Zulu and out of Africa

[retrouvailles]

John Williams is a great film scorer, but a horrible concert music composer. I don't think his name belongs with the likes of Penderecki, Carter, et al. This isn't a thread which asks who the best film composers are. I think that the best film composers, in my opinion, were from the era of Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Miklós Rózsa, Bernard Herrmann, etc. They are miles ahead of the likes of John Williams, Howard Shore, and others like that.

[healdie]

aha but this topic is entitled top 5 "composers" it doesn't discriminate against the genre of music in which they compose

yes it may be film music but it is still a composition therefore it does belong in this thread 

(phew didn't breath whilst i was typing that)

[argerichfan]

I think that the best film composers, in my opinion, were from the era of Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Miklós Rózsa, Bernard Herrmann, etc. They are miles ahead of the likes of John Williams, Howard Shore, and others like that.

Absolutely no question... and we certainly won't forget Max Steiner.  I find the main theme for Star Wars particularly galling.  Very effective, yet a complete rip-off from Korngold's Kings Row.  But compare the two and Williams comes in distinctly 2nd place.

[Petter]

Loolbohon, Alan Menken, Hanz Zimmer, Haydn, Paul McCartney

[retrouvailles]

aha but this topic is entitled top 5 "composers" it doesn't discriminate against the genre of music in which they compose

yes it may be film music but it is still a composition therefore it does belong in this thread 

(phew didn't breath whilst i was typing that)

Would you seriously put the theme from Star Wars alongside Elliott Carter's Night Fantasies? I think not.

[retrouvailles]

Loolbohon, Alan Menken, Hanz Zimmer, Haydn, Paul McCartney

Gotta love your sense of humor.

[communist]

Richard Kastle

[healdie]

Would you seriously put the theme from Star Wars alongside Elliott Carter's Night Fantasies? I think not.

no i wouldn't but they are very different compositions but i think John Williams is one of the most popular composers of modern times everyone knows his compositions i havn't met anyone who hasn't heard jaws, star wars or schindlers list

Also i think Paul Mccartneys liverpool oratorio is surprisingly good for someone who cn't even read music

[richard black]

I put John Williams in because he is without any doubt a very skilled craftsman, and I believe one can make a case for him being also a fine artist. I think the criteria by which to judge a composer are pretty simple, in essence - in no particular order....

Can make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up now and then;

Doesn't sound like anyone else - recognisable personal style;

Leaves you mentally replaying the tunes for hours, even days, afterwards.

Then there's the question of taste. I would have to accept that Andrew Lloyd Webber passes all those tests (sometimes, at least!) but I still don't like his schtick.

[richard black]

Suddenly thought also of Aulis Sallinen.

[indutrial]

My top four:

Elliott Carter
Charles Wuorinen (just turned 70)
Frederick Rzewski
Per Norgard (4 recent string quartets 7 through 10 FTW)

The fifth slot is a rotating nomination shared amongst 40-50 other great composers from around the world. It's too hard to pick just one.

[zemyk4e]

heres  my  take:

Frederic Rzewski

Lera Auerbach

Michael Finnissy

Lowell Liebermann

Nikolai Kapustin

my 2 cents ..

[communist]

in no order

Thomas Ades

Elliot Carter

Frederick Rzewski

Einojuhani Rautavaara

Giya Kancheli

[tanman]

Richard Kastle

 

[communist]

only one other person said Einojuhani Rautavaara? (pretty sad he is the second most well known Finnish composer)

[retrouvailles]

Rautavaara is great, but I don't think he belongs in my top 5. He isn't really innovative in any way. His music is just very attractive.