top five composers that are still alive.

[mad_max2024]

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.

So does mika  lol

[quirky]

Part

Gorecki

Glass

Adams

Birtwistle

[retrouvailles]

Part

Gorecki

Glass

Adams

Birtwistle

Wow, Birtwistle sticks out like a sore thumb in that list. One would think that you would HATE him considering the others in your list.

[indutrial]

Part
Gorecki
Glass
Adams
Birtwistle

No offense, but this list sounds about as un-fun as classical music can get.

Dear god, not Glass! Why not also nominate Vangelis and Tony Banks!

Gorecki's work of late amounts to a resounding disqualification from even a top-20 list of today's finest living composers. The 3rd string quartet was the last straw and one of the worst wastes of $15.00 I remember from the past few years. Drone-dee-drone-drone-drone-drone-"oh so profound!"-drone.

[communist]

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.

It is not all about innovation. Rautvaara's music has a very intangible depth to it . (In my opinion). 

[retrouvailles]

It is not all about innovation. Rautvaara's music has a very intangible depth to it . (In my opinion). 

Well, yes, but he doesn't match the "intangible depth" of the composers I had picked previously. Also, the composers I picked both have innovation and "intangible depth". I think Rautavaara's student Kalevi Aho is much better than him, personally. They share a common language (to some extent), but Aho is not afraid to come out of his bubble, whereas Rautavaara can be too much of a one trick pony.

[communist]

Well, yes, but he doesn't match the "intangible depth" of the composers I had picked previously. Also, the composers I picked both have innovation and "intangible depth". I think Rautavaara's student Kalevi Aho is much better than him, personally. They share a common language (to some extent), but Aho is not afraid to come out of his bubble, whereas Rautavaara can be too much of a one trick pony.

I guess thats a legitiment opinion  .

[giannalinda]

trisha yearwood
reba mcintire
carrie underwood
david archuleta
Antonio Vivaldi
Wolfgang MOzart

[db05]

trisha yearwood
reba mcintire
carrie underwood
david archuleta
Antonio Vivaldi
Wolfgang MOzart

LOLOLOLOLOL

[retrouvailles]

trisha yearwood
reba mcintire
carrie underwood
david archuleta
Antonio Vivaldi
Wolfgang MOzart

Well, this post can simply be glossed over, given that all those people either suck, are dead, and/or are not classical composers. This is probably the stupidest response in the whole thread.

[weissenberg2]

Lowell Liebermann

David Alpher

Carl Vine

Schulthorpe

Frederic Rzewski

[retrouvailles]

David Alpher

Who is this? I don't think I've ever heard of this guy, and I consider myself pretty updated on new music.

[imbetter]

Lowell Liebermann

David Alpher

Carl Vine

Schulthorpe

Frederic Rzewski

I like Alpher very much. He's virtually unknown, I find it to be an amazing coincidence we've both heard of him. His music isn't the usual modern music but he does it in a way that's extremely effective.

[weissenberg2]

Who is this? I don't think I've ever heard of this guy, and I consider myself pretty updated on new music.

David Alpher is an American composer. A lot of his music takes influence from modern jazz and blues. He studied piano under Manehem Pressler at Indiana University where he graduated with high honers. for more information visit here: https://www.davidalpher.com/

[yumyumtree]

in no order

Thomas Ades

Elliot Carter

Frederick Rzewski

Einojuhani Rautavaara

Giya Kancheli

THANK GOD. Someone FINALLY mentioned Ades, who has been escaping everyone's lists until now and should NOT BE. I don't really agree with Rautavaara in the top 5...I think his student Salonen rivals him in skill...

ALSO, where is Saariaho?!?! Where is Knussen?!?!
COME ON PEOPLE!!!

[retrouvailles]

I don't really agree with Rautavaara in the top 5...I think his student Salonen rivals him in skill...

ALSO, where is Saariaho?!?! Where is Knussen?!?!
COME ON PEOPLE!!!

Yeah, I agree with these statements. Rautavaara doesn't really warrant a top 5 rating. His student Kalevi Aho, while still in the Rautavaara vein a bit, is more original, daring, and attractive at the same time. Salonen is still a bit too conservative for my tastes, but his new Violin Concerto (premiered in April) made me reconsider him as a great of our time. I really like Saariaho as another great Finn of our time, and I consider her one of the more original voices. Knussen is one I haven't really learned to appreciate much yet, but i recognize the man's originality and talent.

[weissenberg2]

is more original, daring, and attractive at the same time.

by that do you mean he is more experimental and explores different harmonies, instrumentation etc...? If so I agree even though I prefer Rautavaara.

[giannalinda]

Michael Jackson, Fergy, lol... me. 

[retrouvailles]

Michael Jackson, Fergy, lol... me. 

Why couldn't you come up with suggestions that are actually good?

[indutrial]

Why couldn't you come up with suggestions that are actually good?

Or remotely serious...

[weissenberg2]

Or remotely serious...

or not overall stupid

[giannalinda]

Why couldn't you come up with suggestions that are actually good?

Cause i dont feel like it

or not overall stupid

Cause thats not me. If u knew me you would think thats funny but u dont so...u take it differently

[retrouvailles]

Cause i dont feel like it
Cause thats not me. If u knew me you would think thats funny but u dont so...u take it differently

Just don't post in this thread if you don't want to make even a marginally intelligent contribution.

[giannalinda]

Just don't post in this thread if you don't want to make even a marginally intelligent contribution.

Dont tell me what to do...

[communist]

Dont tell me what to do...

please do not give Retrovailles an attitude.

[retrouvailles]

OK, so MOVING ON, does anyone have a serious list of 5 composers that they'd like to share? I'll give a more updated version of the top 5 living composers, in my opinion:

Louis Andriessen
William Bolcom
Elliott Carter
James MacMillan
Krzysztof Penderecki

Honorable mentions: Thomas Adès, Kalevi Aho, George Crumb, Steven Mackey, Einojuhani Rautavaara, Peter Sculthorpe, Carl Vine, and the list can go on and on...

[giannalinda]

please do not give Retrovailles an attitude.

dont tell me what to do either.

[communist]

dont tell me what to do either.

telling me not to tell you what to do is telling me what to do so you are very hypocritical


a more updated list:


Rautavaara (I do not need to be told again that Aho is more original and what not)

Peter Schulthorpe

Carl Vine

Alexander Goehr

Salvatore Sciarinno

[pianogirl88]

Well, this post can simply be glossed over, given that all those people either suck, are dead, and/or are not classical composers. This is probably the stupidest response in the whole thread.

Agree....except for stupidest. That's not a word. lol You would probably want to say, "This is probably the *most stupid* response in the whole thread."

[pianogirl88]

I don't have 5, but what about:

Yiruma

Kevin Kern

Ludovico Einaudi


They're not classical, but they're all really good. I LOVE Yiruma's music.

[mattgreenecomposer]

S. Reich
Ennio Morriconie
Howard Shore
Dave Brubeck--(Yes he is still alive)
Joe Hisaishi

[retrouvailles]

S. Reich
Ennio Morriconie
Howard Shore
Dave Brubeck--(Yes he is still alive)
Joe Hisaishi

I can understand Steve Reich, but you would really put the other 4 composers you mentioned above the many greats that have been mentioned by other people? Wow, you must not know much about contemporary music (which is rather shameful, considering that you yourself are a composer).

[opus10no2]

Retrouvailles, what do you consider the qualifying parameters for our top five lists to be valid in your eyes?

Why, for example, wouldn't one be permited to include either Paul Mccartney or John Williams?

[retrouvailles]

Retrouvailles, what do you consider the qualifying parameters for our top five lists to be valid in your eyes?

Why, for example, wouldn't one be permited to include either Paul Mccartney or John Williams?

There are no hard and fast rules for a composer to be "great", and there really aren't any such rules in music. However, for purposes of argument, I think a composer should have some sort of component of originality, an ability to communicate his or her thoughts with his audience effectively, and should be enjoyable to listen to. Paul McCartney is a great musician, but not classical (this is a predominately classical forum). John Williams is a film composer. He has composed some wonderful film music. However, his concert music is atrocious. It lacks the three "criteria" that I mentioned (nevermind the arbitrariness of my "criteria", for it's only for purposes of argument). The same goes for Howard Shore. His opera "The Fly" was an absolute travesty. I couldn't stop laughing at it's awfulness when I heard it. However, he is a great film composer. And here at this forum, we focus on concert music (mainly because it is a reproducible art, hence the term). When one considers all this, and all of the composers that are still alive, it is hard for one to list composers such as John Williams, Howard Shore, Ennio Morricone, etc alongside the many excellent composers of concert music (such as the ones I have mentioned).

[opus10no2]

I'd agree with much of what you say, but for a couple things - is it actually specified or only implied that this forum is exclusively for concert classical music?
Also do you mean to infer that other idioms are inherently inferior?

[retrouvailles]

I'd agree with much of what you say, but for a couple things - is it actually specified or only implied that this forum is exclusively for concert classical music?
Also do you mean to infer that other idioms are inherently inferior?

It is only implied. If another form of music were predominant, then the appearance of the forum would be different, but concert music is what most people talk about here. It is the musical version of the lingua franca here, if you will. I didn't say that other idioms are inherently inferior, but it is just what most people prefer (including me).

[gep]

This is a most difficult questiuon to asnwer, since the "right" place of any composer in history usually only emerges after said composer has become history (i.e. has died). The only still living composer who is also already part of history is, I think, Elliott Carter. John Adams is the most performed living composer, although that has proven to be not always indicative about the "furture history" of composers.

A very tentative and extremely incomplete (probably) list of XXth Century composers who may be still well known in, say 300 years time (assuming humanity hasn't managed to obliterate itself by then). Some al already dead a while, so the list is not entirely a la manière de titre

Elliot Carter
Maxwell Davies
Olivier Messiaen
Dmitri Shostakovitch
Hans Werner Henze
Pierre Boulez
Kaikhosru Sorabji
Allan Pettersson
Luciano Berio

Michale Jackson may also still be know then; after all the plague has also not been forgotten yet, after several centuries for simmilar reasons...

All best,
Gep

[weissenberg2]

This is a most difficult questiuon to asnwer, since the "right" place of any composer in history usually only emerges after said composer has become history (i.e. has died). The only still living composer who is also already part of history is, I think, Elliott Carter. John Adams is the most performed living composer, although that has proven to be not always indicative about the "furture history" of composers.

A very tentative and extremely incomplete (probably) list of XXth Century composers who may be still well known in, say 300 years time (assuming humanity hasn't managed to obliterate itself by then). Some al already dead a while, so the list is not entirely a la manière de titre

Elliot Carter
Maxwell Davies
Olivier Messiaen
Dmitri Shostakovitch
Hans Werner Henze
Pierre Boulez
Kaikhosru Sorabji
Allan Pettersson
Luciano Berio

Michale Jackson may also still be know then; after all the plague has also not been forgotten yet, after several centuries for simmilar reasons...

All best,
Gep

This may seem irrelevant, but you mean Micheal or Michael, not Michale. He was American so you should use the American spelling 

[pianisten1989]

Even the one who made this post listed a dead composer, so why can't i?!

Beethoven
Chopin
Schumann
Liszt
Schubert

[retrouvailles]

Even the one who made this post listed a dead composer, so why can't i?!

Beethoven
Chopin
Schumann
Liszt
Schubert

Well, your list is absolutely pointless. Why can't you name 5 living composers you like? It isn't that hard.

[thalbergmad]

It is difficult if you can't find 5 living composers that you like.

Thal

[ahinton]

It is difficult if you can't find 5 living composers that you like.

It ain't necessarily so (I know that this is a song by a dead composer, but...); "top five" living composers doesn't necessarily have to signify individual preference - it can just as easily be the five living composers anyone might consider to be the most significant. One's own preferences (in terms of the top five living composers whose music one likes best) tell others only what those preferences are; one's estimation of the top five most important living composers, whilst still a personal opinion, need not be restricted by the extent to which one may or may not care to listen to their music - it's more of a value judgement.

Mine? Difficult question to answer. Carter, Boulez, Dutilleux - er -

Best,

Alistair

[gep]

Boulez

Just heard Pli selon Pli for the first time in the most recent "DG version", and for the first time in a while anyhow.

Wow, it is a great work!

On to the masterless hammer (also the DG, just arrived!)

[weissenberg2]

Alexander Goehr

Really? his music is very deep but it is emotionless 

[communist]

Really? his music is very deep but it is emotionless 

With the exception of his some of his earlier works, yes, it does lack catharsis. However, the nuances he captures are beautiful.

[weissenberg2]

With the exception of his some of his earlier works, yes, it does lack catharsis. However, the nuances he captures are beautiful.

Agreed. But the nuances can't make for the lack of emotion. I have not been familiarized with enough of his music to know if the depth can make up for it.

[communist]

Agreed. But the nuances can't make for the lack of emotion. I have not been familiarized with enough of his music to know if the depth can make up for it.

You should listen to more of his music. It is very deep and compelling. I don't think everyone would like it though.

[lc604]

Dario Mareninelli and Yann Tiersan 

[djealnla]

Deleted

[chopinmozart7]

Wolfgang Beethoven.

Franz Mozart.

Ludwig Schubert.

Johann Chopin.

Frédéric Bach.